VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- With four quarterfinal matches in the men's Olympic ice hockey tournament on the schedule Wednesday, hockey fans had a choice.
The sensible folks could pick a game to watch, meet up with some friends and while away a few hours. But being that Canada is a hockey-crazy country, it only seemed right to take the lunatic's path: watch them all, from noon to 11:30 p.m.
That's what I did, to the best of my ability. The task was simplified somewhat by three of the games being held at Canada Hockey
Place in downtown Vancouver. The fourth game, Finland vs. Czech Republic, was held in the distant UBC Thunderbird Arena, so it immediately was relegated to TV status.
The opening match was United States vs. Switzerland, and it wasn't much of a draw among the locals. The walk to the arena was strewn with the broken remains of scalpers overburdened with tickets for the game. At faceoff, there remained large sections of empty seats at center ice, normally prime locations.
Egged on by friends and feeling a little sorry for the victims of NBC's love of the tape delay, I kept people informed of the game's progress via Twitter. Despite being fairly friendly neighbors, the Canadian crowd was solidly behind the Swiss, with support growing as the game went on. An apparent goal by the U.S. at the end of the second period was disallowed, preserving a scoreless tie and sending the crowd into hysterics.
The Swiss wouldn't last, though. As the game wound down to a 2-0 U.S. victory, talk turned to the next game, Canada vs. Russia. My problem: I didn't have a ticket. True, I have a press credential, but the game was deemed a high-demand event by the folks running things, so you needed both to get to see the game.
Unticketed media were allowed to stay in the site's media center during the game, however. I figured I'd hang out then see how much of a weasel I am when it comes to sneaking into the seats.
I'm not a good weasel. Security was pretty tight about the ticket thing, and at one point I had to do some quick talking just to get back into the press center. I spent the first period under the stands on the third level, watching monitors and listening to the crowd through some curtains.
I wasn't alone. Dozens of volunteers and charity workers were stuck in the halls with me. One kind woman tried to sell me a 50/50 ticket at least three times. I got chummy with a door monitor, asking him how crowded his section was.
"Oh, it's packed." How do you feel about standing so close but not being able to see the game? "Ah, it's better than being outside."
There are worse places to be. You did get a decent sense of the crowd's excitement there. The noise was impressive, and when Canada scored, the building shook enough to snow up the video feed on my monitor.
After one period, it was clearly time to punt. Luckily I have some friends in town and was able to watch the rest of the game with them. From their place 25 stories above Gastown, you could hear the cheers and boos from the local pubs and the foghorn that blasted when Canada earned gold and silver in women's bobsleigh.
Unfortunately, Canada-Russia wasn't much of a game, so I didn't miss the hockey match of the century. We tuned in the Finland-Czech Republic game while I stalled for the start of the Sweden-Slovakia match. I had seen Finland get spanked by Sweden earlier and after two periods the Finns had not scored. I made the smartass comment that they may not score again, only to be proven wrong seconds later. They went onto notch a 2-0 victory.
It was now time to head back to CHP for the Sweden-Slovakia game. This time, no ticket was necessary and the media seating was a bit of a lonely place. There were a few empty seats in the paid section, too, but it was understandable. A late weeknight game following a huge Canada victory is not a great draw.
That's a shame, because this was one of the best games of the day. The teams traded goals with Slovakia coming out on top, 4-3, sending the defending Olympic champs home.
Earlier in the day, I would have thought that eleven and a half hours of hockey was too much. But after doing it, I wouldn't mind trying it again.
USA goalie Ryan Miller (39) makes stop on a shot by Switzerland's Thomas Deruns (18) as Paul Stastny (26) and Ivo Ruthemann (32) battle in the first period of a men's quarterfinal round ice hockey game at the Vancouver 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia, Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2010. AP Photo/Julie Jacobson
