The Hockey News has released its archive to all THN subscribers: 76 years of history, stories, and features. Subscribe now to view the full THN Archives here [https://archive.thehockeynews.com/] Also, go to thn.com/free [http://thn.com/free] to subscribe. It Was The Time Of My Life—Dec 23, 2013 - Ken Campbell IF YOU’VE EVER SEEN THE movie Groundhog Day starring Bill Murray, you know what covering an Olympic hockey tournament is all about. Well, almost. The only difference is that, unlike Phil Connors, the Pittsburgh weatherman who finds himself stuck in a continuous time loop in Punxsutawney from which he desperately wants to escape, you find yourself hoping that it never, ever ends. Such was the case in February, 2010 in Vancouver, the Spring Olympics as I called them four years ago. Every day I would wake up in my spartan motel room, go for a run along the spectacular sea wall and through Stanley Park, then arrive at the rink in time for the first game at noon. I would leave the arena 12 hours later after watching and writing about three games. And I would think to myself: “I can’t wait to do it all again tomorrow.” By my estimation, I wrote about 25,000 words at the Vancouver Olympics between the men’s and women’s tournaments. I spent countless hours in the media center where the only consumables to satisfy a late-night hunger were provided by McDonald’s. I recall seeing what I thought was a river of vomit running down Robson Street some nights. And it was, quite simply, the highlight of my career. Covering an Olympic hockey tournament in the country where hockey is one with the national identity and sense of worth, it doesn’t get any better than that. But it was more than that for me and my friend, Randy Pascal. Randy and I grew up in Sudbury, Ont., in the 1970s. Back then it seemed there were 10 months of hockey and two months of bad skating. Randy and I would talk about how one day we would play in the NHL together for the Montreal Canadiens. We would make up our own board games based on hockey statistics. We would sit in the same two seats at the top corner of the Sudbury Arena to watch Randy Carlyle, Alex McKendry, Mike Foligno and Ron Duguay play for the Sudbury Wolves every Friday night. The spring of 1976 we would also watch local product Dale McCourt break our hearts by knocking the Wolves out of the playoffs during a season when Sudbury stood its best chance to win a Memorial Cup for the first time since 1932. “ IT WAS A TOURNAMENT FOR THE AGES FOR THE LATE PAVOL DEMITRA And we both made it to Vancouver – me as a journalist covering the event for the world’s leading hockey magazine, him as a scorekeeper/timekeeper. When Randy found out after the semifinal that he had landed the assignment for the gold medal game, he felt the same rush of pride and enthusiasm the players felt when they were named to the Olympic team. Sharing that tournament with my dear pal was what made it an emotional highlight of my life. The hockey was what made it the professional highlight of my career. I remember talking to Canadian assistant coach Ken Hitchcock about it and he remarked that the coaches were almost powerless to impose any of their will on the games. That was because the pace was so fast and things were happening at such a dizzying pace that it was an achievement for the coaches to simply keep up and hold their heads above water. It certainly looked that way from where I was sitting, and not just in the games involving the world hockey powers, either. Maple Leafs Sign Norwegian Prospect To Entry-Level Contract [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/4afb4170-0a8e-4f5a-b26e-d4734b99bd72.jpeg] Maple Leafs Sign Norwegian Prospect To Entry-Level Contract Fresh off an underdog bronze medal and a breakout international campaign, Tinus Luc Koblar brings size and high-octane production to Toronto’s system before returning to Sweden. [https://thehockeynews.com/international/latest-news/maple-leafs-sign-norwegian-prospect-to-entry-level-contract] In a tournament chock-full of memories to last a lifetime, here were the ones that stood out most: THE HITS Alex Ovechkin was a one-man wrecking crew and a Rule 48 suspension waiting to happen. After doling out a series of crushing hits against Slovakia, Ovechkin put the hit of the tournament on Jaromir Jagr in the neutral zone that measured on the Richter scale. Ovechkin would receive his own comeuppance in the quarterfinal when Shea Weber stepped into him and he disappeared for the rest of the game. THE SLOVAKS They were what you would call plucky. Defeated the Russians in a shootout, beat Sweden in the quarterfinal and gave Canada an enormous scare in the semifinal in a 3-2 loss. It was a tournament for the ages for Pavol Demitra, who 18 months later would be killed in a plane crash with all his Lokomotiv Yaroslavl teammates in the KHL. THE FINNS You never get tired of seeing a team so happy to finish third. And they should have been happy. The Finns came to Vancouver with a group only three-quarters comprised of NHL players, but played with the grit and determination they always display in international competition. THE WOMEN The torch being passed from Hayley Wickenheiser and Jayna Hefford to Meghan Agosta and Marie-Philip Poulin. I’ll always remember Poulin looking sincerely surprised that so many people wanted to talk to her after the gold medal game. THE RIVALRY The roundrobin game between Canada and the U.S. was so intense you could feel the sense of urgency in the building. Team USA won 5-3 and Ryan Kesler’s emptynet goal late in the game to seal the victory touched off an enormous celebration on the U.S. bench. The loss dropped the Canadians to an unimpressive record of one win, one overtime win and one overtime loss, forcing them to play a qualifying game. But it also galvanized them for the remainder of the tournament. THE GOLDEN GOAL Regardless of which team had scored in overtime, the Olympic tournament had already delivered the greatest hockey played at the highest level ever. That includes the 1987 Canada Cup or any Stanley Cup final. But for Sidney Crosby to score the winner on home ice was more than any scriptwriter could have written. I remember asking him after the game if he thought he was born for that moment and Crosby said, “I don’t know about that, but I’m sure glad I was there.” THN Archive: Swiss Bank Account [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/bc4f81f1-739b-4212-87d7-e53f196f8cad.jpeg] THN Archive: Swiss Bank Account With his ability to produce up and down the lineup, Fiala is paying big dividends in Los Angeles [https://thehockeynews.com/international/latest-news/thn-archive-swiss-bank-account] THN Archive: Don't ZZZ On Czechia [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/0aaf590b-9ca3-4c06-9e09-424f9e1927c7.jpeg] THN Archive: Don't ZZZ On Czechia The Czechs have just enough high-end firepower, experience and game-stealing goaltending to be a threat for any other nation [https://thehockeynews.com/international/latest-news/thn-archive-dont-zzz-on-czechia]
