Final Thoughts from Vancouver

Rafi: You have no reason to hang your head.

______________________________

Most of you who read this blog with some regularity already know that I live in Seattle. If you didn’t know, well, now you do. Seattle is an interesting city when it comes to sports. I can say with certaintly that the most popular team out here right now is the MLS’ Seattle Sounders FC. The city is rabid for the team and part of me is glad that a metropolis like this can get behind a sport, even if it is soccer. However, people tend to forget that professional sports and Seattle have a rocky history. It’s tough when a franchise like the NBA’s SuperSonics get shipped out of town, leaving in their wake a city that may not have always rallied behind their team with butts in seats, but who put on a vehement show of support in the waning hours of the franchise’s stay here in the Emerald City.

Seattle is also an outdoor town. With winters full of gray skies and rain, the first signs of sunlight prompt everyone out of their houses and into the sun. It’s not uncommon to see folks walking through the city in shorts, even when it’s 40 degrees in the middle of February. As long as there’s sun, people will come. Yesterday was a particularly nice, sunny and mild day, one perfect for all of the aforementioned Seattle-ites to be out and about, enjoying the weather and basking in the warm sunlight that eludes us most of the winter months. In that vein, I decided that I was going to enjoy the weather by walking to our gold medal viewing party, an easy 15 minute stroll into the downtown area from where I live. As expected, throngs of people were out and about, taking in a beautiful day.

I arrived at the bar about an hour before puck drop, and the bar was about half full, a usual sight for our regular NHL viewing location. Our group had already reserved a private room with a huge TV and dartboard, so seating was of no concern for us. We all knew that this would be a big game, and we wanted to be prepared in case the bar somehow got crowded during the game. What happened over the next 4 hours still hasn’t fully sunk in yet, but was amazing nonetheless. Not only did the bar fill up, it got so packed that you couldn’t even move. As we watched a spectacular game unfold on the TV in front of us, I found myself looking out over the entire bar, filled to capacity with Canadian and American fans, some covered head to toe in Stars and Stripes, others simply wearing a Canadian jersey, all totally engrossed in a game that is mainly scoffed at in this city. When Zach Parise tied the game late in the third period, pandemonium broke out in the bar. You would have thought the Mariners just won the World Series or the Seahawks scored the game winning touchdown in the Super Bowl. And when Sidney Crosby netted the game winner, the bar let out the traditional “Awwww” amidst the cheers of the Canadian fans, and everyone sat down and collected themselves in their own way.

Yes, I wish the US of A would have won that game. Yes, it sucked watching Crysob net the winner. But for those three to four hours, the city I live in embraced the sport I love to watch and follow. I’m part of a small group out here that actively promotes NHL viewing parties and tries to encourage folks to give hockey a try and celebrate the game with the like-minded individuals in our city. On my way out of the bar, I was stopped multiple times by folks asking when our next viewing party was and how they could get involved in hanging out with us and taking in the games. “Surprised” doesn’t do my feelings justice at that point.

In ten years we will all look back on this game as one of the greatest that we’ve ever seen. One can only hope that the energy and emotions of a classic battle between hockey’s traditional superpower and an upstart group of gritty, passionate players have stoked the fire enough that the game takes hold not only in Seattle, but across the country and around the world. Win or loss, gold or silver, it doesn’t matter. The greatest achievement of all to come out of that epic contest yesterday is hockey. Hockey awareness. Hockey playing. Hockey passion.

Don’t let the fire die. There’s plenty of hockey to be played before Sochi in 2014. Are you willing to embrace it and join us? We’d love to have you.

Tags: Brian Rafalski, Gold Medal Game, Sidney Crosby, Zach Parise