Dater: Why I'm Rooting For American Gold Tomorrow

When I was in kindergarten, Keene, N.H., circa 1971 or so, we had assignments to make little flags of different countries. Paper, scissors, Elmer’s glue, the works.

The country whose flag I became obsessed with was Canada. The big, red Maple Leaf in the middle, the red borders, the white interior. I loved the flag, and would draw it constantly in notebooks and such for many years.

When I first got the full-time job covering the Avalanche in 1995, I had only kind of passed through Canada to that point. Both times were brief, overnight trips to Nova Scotia, including a senior high school boat cruise made memorable by a crazy lady passenger who said she had a bomb and would blow up the ship (the Royal Canadian Mounted Police made sure she was swiftly disembarked).

My first real trip to Canada was a preseason Avs trip, ‘95, that took me through Cornwall, Ontario, Ottawa, Toronto, Hamilton, and Montreal.

Canada! I loved it. The accents, the food, the hockey culture, the genial nature of the people, the scenery, the exchange rate, the passion for the game of hockey. It was, then and that point forward, an honor to be there, actually writing about the game.

I’ll never forget my first time inside Maple Leaf Gardens, standing on the Avs’ bench for a morning skate, hanging with other Canadian hockey writers such as Bob McKenzie and Frank Orr. Talking hockey with those guys was like a first-year physics student talking with Einstein or Oppenheimer.

Then, Western Canada! Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton! Wow. Talk about three awesome places. There is no question that Vancouver is one of the most scenically beautiful places on Earth. Not just downtown, but a one-hour drive to a ski resort in Whistler is one of the most incredible drives you’ll ever take.

The loudest building I can remember in my many years of covering the NHL was the old Northlands Coliseum in Edmonton, particularly during the 1998 Avs-Oilers playoff series. The Oilers upset the Avs in seven games, and the sheer decibel level during some games there in that series has my ears still ringing (truly, as I have a mild case of tinnitus, which 28 years of loud arenas helped induce).

Being in the old Montreal Forum for the first time, looking at the framed pictures all over the walls, eating the famous press-box hot dogs between periods - it was just an indescribable experience.

I remember being a TV guest between periods one time in Toronto, for an Avs-Leafs game, and saying what an honor it was to be talking hockey in Canada. I remember saying, “The guy in the back row of the nosebleed seats knows more about hockey in his pinkie finger than I do in all my body.” And, that was the truth!

I love Canada, and will always love Canada. I’ve seriously thought about moving to Canada before. I’ve always thought of myself as an honorary Canadian.

But I’m rooting for the Americans tomorrow in the Gold Medal Game in Italy.

I’m rooting for the red, white, and blue because, well, I’m an American. And, a proud American. I was 15 when the Americans beat the Russians and won gold the next game against Finland, completing the Miracle on Ice in 1980.

My dad filmed that USA-Russia game (more on that at some point soon), and so I feel just a tiny vicarious connection to USA hockey because of that.

As I wrote recently too, I don’t like how this Canadian team snubbed Joe Sakic and Jared Bednar in regard to being part of coaching/management. I think that’s a joke, and I want to be able to say “See, they should have had a Sakic or a Bednar there instead of Kyle frigging Dubas!”

It won’t greatly disappoint me, either, to see the arrogance of some of Team Canada get humbled by the US of A. Yeah, Canadians are very nice people and they should be proud of their hockey tradition (they invented the sport, as they’ll always be quick to tell you), but the arrogance can be a bit much at times.

So, I’ll be up early just like the rest of you. I’ll be cheering for my country.

But, don’t take that personally Canada. I still luv ya, oh fer sure eh?