1. The biggest lesson of the Vancouver Games: In Canada, any athlete \u2013 not just a hockey player \u2013 can handle the pressure, given the proper infrastructure to succeed. There is a reason this is the best hockey country in the world. It is demanded. To their credit, the men\u2019s and women\u2019s players\/coaches\/executives embrace that challenge. For the first time ever, it was expected of the other athletes and they delivered. <\/p>\n
2. Some of them complained about Own the Podium, saying it put too much emphasis on victory. But, 14 golds and 26 overall medals later, I can\u2019t help but wonder why we didn\u2019t do this before. Isn\u2019t that much, much more preferable than being the answer to the trivia question: \u201cWhat is the only country not to win a gold medal on its own soil? Oh, and did I mention it happened twice?\u201d<\/p>\n
3. Who cares who really \u201cowned the podium?\u201d It\u2019s more important that Canada showed it can be an Olympic sporting power. Wouldn\u2019t it be awful if many of the same athletes didn\u2019t have a similar chance in Russia because this program is cut? <\/p>\n
4. After 12 days out of the country, I only had to be in Vancouver for less than 24 hours to see how the athletes\u2019 successes made Canadians proud. \u201cJust glad to be here\u201d should never be acceptable again.<\/p>\n
5. Hopefully, the Vancouver\/Whistler success means Quebec City gets the 2022 event. If the U.S. can get three Games (two summer, one winter) in 18 years, why not two here in 12? <\/p>\n
6. I don\u2019t know if I\u2019ve ever seen a more nervous crowd than the one at GM Place heading into the third period of the gold medal game. Despite the 2-1 lead, the people weren\u2019t as energized as they\u2019d been for the first 40 minutes. It was as if they were expecting a U.S. goal. The full energy didn\u2019t return until Crosby\u2019s winner. <\/p>\n
7. Funny story: Apparently, the wife of one Canadian-born NHLer (not on the Olympic Team) said with about 30 seconds left, his wife blurted out \u201cwe\u2019re going to win!\u201d Six seconds later, wonder if he considered calling a divorce lawyer.<\/p>\n
8. A starting NHL goalie said Monday he was happy for Roberto Luongo because \u201cit means Luongo doesn\u2019t have to answer questions about not winning anything.\u201d<\/p>\n
9. That said, even though the Canucks are predictably downplaying Ryan Kesler\u2019s comments about Luongo fighting the puck, the goalie clearly didn\u2019t appreciate it. Luongo is very, very sensitive and it will be interesting to see if hard feelings last.<\/p>\n
10. I asked a Canuck fan sitting behind me how he\u2019d feel if Kesler scored the winner in OT. He said, \u201cBittersweet.\u201d Just a guess \u2013 but probably a lot more on the bitter side.<\/p>\n
11. If I was Mike Gillis watching Pavol Demitra play for Slovakia, I\u2019d ask for a refund for the first half of the season.<\/p>\n
12. And Jonathan Toews was the tournament\u2019s best forward. <\/p>\n
13. Can\u2019t believe there is a belief Ryan Miller allowed a softie on the tournament winner. Think about it: out of nowhere, a guy with 40 goals and the game\u2019s most lethal backhand gets the puck right in front of you. There was no way to predict that would be Crosby\u2019s move.<\/p>\n
14. Doesn\u2019t it look like Rick Nash is dying to play in meaningful games?<\/p>\n
15. The coaches found a great role for Brenden Morrow with Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry, but credit to Doug Armstrong, who fought hard for his spot on the team. <\/p>\n
16. How will Evgeni Nabokov and Miikka Kiprusoff\u2019s Olympic failures affect their NHL performance? Tommy Salo was never the same after that Belorussian shot bounced off his cranium.<\/p>\n
17. Slava Bykov \u2013 who speaks fluent French \u2013 was apparently a legitimate contender for the Montreal Canadiens\u2019 coaching job. Bob Gainey\u2019s top three choices were said to be Bykov, Jacques Martin and Jacques Lemaire (in no particular order). <\/p>\n
18. Most ridiculous controversy: The Canadian women\u2019s gold medal celebration. Those players spend four years training for one game. (The world championships are nice, but not what really matters.) If they don\u2019t win Olympic gold, it\u2019s a failure. It\u2019s not like an LSAT or MCAT, which you can take several times. Under that kind of pressure, was the celebration really that bad?<\/p>\n
19. Most ridiculous controversy II: American snowboarder Scott Lago sent home because someone took photos of a female fan kissing his bronze medal as it hung around his waist. Who\u2019s the biggest problem? The athlete, the person who took the photos, or the person who put them online? Lago is the least guilty. Complete overreaction.<\/p>\n
20. That\u2019s why even though I didn\u2019t really like seeing Ovechkin forcefully push away that fan\u2019s phone, I find it harder and harder to get upset about it. In this era of people refusing to respect others\u2019 privacy, we\u2019re going to see more and more of this.<\/p>\n
21. The most impressive thing about VANOC was its ability to fix problems. Everyone is going to make mistakes. What separates the best from the worst is their ability to adapt. Early on, there were complaints about the buses and the fence around the flame. Instead of ignoring those issues and praying they\u2019d go away, VANOC fixed them. That\u2019s the sign of a good organization. Also liked how it used the closing ceremony to give Catriona Le May Doan her chance to light the torch after bad hydraulics prevented it from happening in the open. Terrific touch.<\/p>\n
22. That said, both VANOC and the IOC still owe Nodar Kumaritashvili\u2019s family an apology for the embarrassing (and probably legal-driven) decision to blame the Georgian luger for his death. Really hope the IOC learns and makes it policy that host countries can\u2019t prevent foreign athletes from practicing on Olympic tracks.<\/p>\n
23. The only good thing about losing Clara Hughes as an athlete is that TV will be gaining one heckuva commentator.<\/p>\n
24. The way Jon Montgomery can walk and chug beer, he\u2019d probably be a good media member too.<\/p>\n
25. Felt a little badly for Kaillie Humphries\/Heather Moyse and Helen Upperton\/Shelley-Ann Brown that their 1-2 bobsled finish came on the same day as the Canada\/Russia game. Anything that happens against men\u2019s hockey gets overshadowed amidst the hype. <\/p>\n
26. Non-athletic highlight of the Games: Neil Young at the closing ceremony. What a performance. <\/p>\n
27. How many people think Stephen Harper prorogued parliament solely to attend the Olympics? Then again, at least he wasn\u2019t stiff-arming women in bars like Jack Layton.<\/p>\n
28. Best thing about Ovechkin\u2019s hit on Jaromir Jagr: No stupid revenge fight for a clean hit. (I know there\u2019s no fighting. It was still nice to see a team suck up a clean hit where a star player got hurt. And I don\u2019t mind the fisticuffs.) <\/p>\n
29. John Furlong\u2019s bucket list should include learning French. <\/p>\n
30. Best tweet of the Olympics came from Ethan J. Skolnick, a Florida Sun-Sentinel sportswriter. When Sarah Palin used her Twitter feed to cheer for the U.S. during its 5-3 round-robin win over Canada, Skolnick wrote, \u201cReconsidering rooting interest.\u201d Beautiful. <\/p>\n