Canadians and supporters sing the Canadian National Anthem at the conclusion of the 2014 Olympic Men's Ice Hockey game as Canada downs Sweden 3-0 for the gold.
Even half way around the world, on a tiny tropical island as far removed from winter as you can be, #WeAreWinter – as evident by the number of people wearing red that packed Harry’s pub in the Boat Quay area of Singapore.
Canadians in Singapore came out in droves to support our country in our favourite national past time and Team Canada treated those in attendance to three pretty goals and a shutout to earn our country its third Olympic Men’s Ice Hockey gold medal in the last four attempts, and ninth overall.
I thought I would arrive at the pub midway through the first period, conveniently forgetting that Olympic hockey had no TV timeouts for advertising, so their game time runs a lot quicker.
Though I missed Team Canada’s first goal by Toews, I got to celebrate Crosby’s beautiful deke with the Canadian crowd at Harry’s pub.
A Swede walked out at that point and I think I heard someone tell him “we’re sorry”. Stereotypical Canadian behaviour.
I did not know there were so many Canadians in Singapore
It was delightful to cheer on our Canadian team with the home crowd, sharing our Canadian memories and discussing our favourite NHL teams.
I even notified one die-hard Ottawa Senators fan that their previous favourite captain, Daniel Alfredsson, was now a Detroit Red Wing. I guess things change when you leave Canada, possibly including the team captain of your favourite NHL team. She would not believe me until I pulled up the information on Wikipedia.
During the second intermission, I heard the Canadian Dragonboat Team in Singapore was hosting their own event and had their own party upstairs so I climbed up to the second floor.
While chatting with their captain and being recruited for the team, Kunitz released a perfectly placed shot right under the crossbar, drawing more cheers from the crowd. Disclaimer: I’m a Pittsburgh Penguins fan. Watching Kunitz and Crosby score made me happy.
The final seconds had all the energy of a new years celebration
The crowd counted down the last ten seconds, erupting in hugs, cheers and congratulating each other on the Canadian victory at the buzzer.
For their part, the Swedes were like an Ikea customer struggling to find the right pieces to put together an offense against Canada with a perfect Price.
The two Swedes who dared to dress themselves up in their national colours with their flag draped across one of their shoulders were probably cursing the Canadian Price.
One of my proudest moments being a Canadian in Asia unfolded as our Canadian flag was held high beside the television and we sang “Oh Canada” with pride as our country’s flag rose to the rafters at the Bolshoy Ice Dome in Sochi.
Canadians and supporters cheer at the conclusion of the 2014 Olympic Men's Ice Hockey game as Canada downs Sweden 3-0 for the gold.
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