Into Vancouver: USA vs. Switzerland Hockey Game

Day 5 of the 2010 Vancouver Games

 To: Sandra

Today I decided to drop 50 bucks and about 5 hours of my life in order to transport myself into the other center of Olympic action - the city that is known as Vancouver. The trip was absolutely worth it in the end however, if only because as soon as I hopped off the Chinatown-Stadium skyline stop at around 11 AM, there was hawkers everywhere pawning off tickets to the 12 PM USA-Switzerland hockey game for under 100 bucks at what was formerly known as GM Place but is now called Canada Hockey Place. 

On a whim, I bought a single ticket.

No way was I going to pass up watching a hockey game for that kind of discounted price, particularly one that involves the NHL-calibre players that the US team sports. It came out to be cheaper than what I'd have paid for those same seats for a Toronto Maple Leaf game. And that reality really underlines the irony here.

Plus, it was the first men's hockey game of the Games itself. And I knew I'd regret it if I had let it go.

I did have concerns about the quality of the competition going in. I thought the game was going to be lopsided. As I said to the Seattle-based visitors (and Team USA supporters) beside me in the box, the Swiss team has NHL-calibre goaltending in the form of Anaheim Duck goaltender, Jonas Hiller, but the players in general do not have NHL-calibre talent, outside the likes of Mark Streit and Yannik Weber. Generally, most of them play out of the Swiss Elite League, which is respectable in its own right with a very good team in HC Davos, but is still not at a comparable talent level as present-day NHLers.

This is contrasted with guys on the fourth line on Team USA that could easily make the second line of most NHL teams and what can be argued as the best goaltender in the NHL today in Ryan  Miller.

My worries were largely inconsequential though. The game was a fantastic piece of hockey magic. The teams appeared fairly evenly matched and both goaltenders played a phenomenal game, stopping what should have been sure goals left and right. The best save of the night though has to go to that incredible save Miller made on the seat of his pants that saw David Backes take the puck 120 feet back up ice to score the eventual game winner to make the score 2-0 in the second. The place went wild for that save, and even wilder for that goal.

Honestly, I was a little surprised at how pro-USA the crowd was, though I was quick to note that I had four Americans hooting and hollering happily next to me. Still, given the number of Team Canada jerseys that were in the arena, not to mention myself who was decked out in my Team Canada stuff myself, I thought the atmosphere would be a bit more neutral.

Granted, Vancouver Canuck Ryan Kesler was on Team USA, a fact that was not lost on most in the arena. He got a massive roar every time he touched the puck and then some. These Vancouverites sure do love their Vancouver Canucks, that's for sure.

The funniest statistic and consequentially game tone was that though Swiss were being outshot in this game by a near 2-to-1 margin with only 15 shots on goal by the end of the game, but it seemed Miller was the subject to miracle saves and blocks just about ever time that puck came within 5 feet of his net. I couldn't believe at the number of golden chances the Swiss team missed out on any more than I could believe some of the saves that Miller managed to pull out of his ass.

Or maybe I'm just not used to good goaltending, being a Leafs fan and all.

Too bad about that shutout for Miller. Someone must have uttered the dreaded "s" word (read: shutout) within hearing distance of him because the sequence of events that led to the goal were simply unfortunate. First of all, that penalty that the US team took that led to the Swiss powerplay for roughing involved just about the cleanest, most legal hit I've seen in hockey by Ryan Suter in his defensive zone. And then on a Swiss centering pass during said powerplay, wouldn't you know it, Miller tries to deflect it away, and instead deflects it between his legs and behind him. And the Swiss went wild.

I'll be honest, I wanted the Swiss to score at some point. The fans were beginning to get a little lifeless in the arena and with a 3-0 score for the USA, a goal would definitely liven the game up further and make the whole thing just that much more interesting. Which it did, right up until the end of the game itself.

The seats were fantastic. They were in a corporate suite above Ryan Miller's net at an angle that would have easily made a great place to set up a high wide camera for television. It made for a fantastic perspective of the game, and for a hockey nut like me, an even better way to analyze the action. The Americans next to me were energetic and fun. It's good to see a non-Canadian group that was incredibly passionate about the game, although I was shocked when one of them admitted to me that he thought they didn't have a chance against the Swiss. You can be sure, I very quickly corrected him on the perspective and explained to him the depth of the American team's talent.

And the hockey was terrific. It exemplified one of the purest and best form of the game I love.

Cheers!

Grace