Maple Leaf Magic

Nobody is supposed to beat Canada in Hockey, just like nobody is supposed to beat India in cricket and the US in Kardashians (: P). I was in Toronto, Canada and could really feel that Canadians wanted Hockey Gold more than Favre wants to wave another Super Bowl ring at Green Bay. How often do you see deserted downtown streets and a relatively quiet harbourfront (Toronto) on a nice although not such a balmy day? My Uncle quipped “Apparently most of them are glued to the idiot box as the match begins in couple of hours and also the bars look busy!!”

Like Kevin Greenstein said “If several NHL owners are nervously watching the Olympics Hockey, it’s with good reason. More than $300 million worth of hockey players are still participating in the tournament, risking injury for the sake of national pride.” That’s right; the combined salary of the final four Olympic Hockey teams would cost more than $300 million in combined NHL salary and the combined value of the two final Olympic Hockey teams (the US & Canada) would cost more than $200 million.

I so much wanted to see the game but could not as I had to travel later that day and also had some personal commitments. Being from Buffalo where Hockey is really ‘the most in thing’ and Buffalo Sabres the only thing to write home about, I started following Hockey sometime in 2008. I was, in fact, completely nonchalant about the free tickets from my workplace which I used to get then (and I still get) for the Buffalo Sabres game. So like when I start to follow any new game, I tend to check out the teams and the players doing well in that particular league. Sidney Crosby (a Canadian & plays for NHL) was the name that crossed my mind couple of times during 2008-09 seasons and I was not surprised Crosby’s team, Pittsburg Penguins, actually won the NHL Stanley Cup that season. Although Crosby had already shown his mettle in his earlier years in NHL, with the Stanley Cup victory in 2008-09 season Crosby became the youngest NHL captain to hoist the Cup. He remains one player to watch out for, along with Ryan Miller (Buffalo Sabres Goalie), in this season of Stanley Cup. Why Miller? After all the silver medalist got louder cheers in Pittsburg on yesterday night than those given to the Penguins own Sidney Crosby. Frankly, on Sunday I was cheering for the US only because of Ryan Miller, but Sidney outshone him.

“Sidney Crosby recorded an assist in his first game after a star-turn capping Olympics. Crosby has won a gold medal and the Stanley Cup in the past eight months, and he is a threat to win his first NHL goal-scoring title this season. At 22, he is the toast of Pittsburgh -- and the hockey world.” ~Yahoo Sports