Backpacker Buzz

First mission in Banff – watch the gold medal match!

So…. My first day in Banff and there was only one thing on the agenda – finding a drinking hole and watching the most important (for the Canadians) part of the whole Olympics. All through the games they have proffered the slogan “Hockey is our game” on banners and now it was time to put everything on the line to prove it.

On recommendation I headed to Wild Bills on the main street in Banff…. Outside it boasted the biggest screen in Banff and it didn’t disappoint.. It was pretty packed with people huddled up to view every TV they had.

The beer was flowing and the hot wings and nachos were flying past on trays…I found the last spare bar stool and propped myself up. To one side I had a Canadian celebrating her 70th birthday and on the other a friendly Canadian couple Angie and Jason. The stage was set for one of the most tense games ever….

I really hope that you watched it, but unless you were with a few hundred Canadians the atmosphere will have been a bit lost…. There were cheers, screams, woops and boos throughout…. just behind me were a couple celebrating their 1 year wedding anniversary and it turned out Dustin was a Canadian from Gibbons, Alberta and Brittany was an American from Arizona! During the whole game they competed with each other to get the cheers going for their respective sides…. Brittany’s main tactic involved throwing in a soft “U.S.A.” cheer in the middle of Dustin’s big and brash “Go Canada Go” but it was great to watch them!

As full time drew near it looked like everything was in the bag as Canada lead 2-1…. But with 24 seconds left USA equalized and the place went nuts… The crowd were distraught….

The Canadian press and public seem to have been heaping lots and lots of pressure on their lead man, Crosby, to perform.. and at the most crucial of times he did! During the sudden death extra time period he managed to get Canada the most important gold of the whole games…. If they hadn’t won this I am sure there would have been rioting on the streets of Vancouver, but with a puck in the back of the net it was a signal for country wide celebration!

At the end of the match, there was a prize draw for a Crosby hockey shirt – who should go and win that???? Yep, our American chanter, Brittany!! Hilarious!

Right after the game people spilled out onto the streets of Banff….. now there are way fewer people here than I have witnessed in Vancouver or Whistler of course, but their spirit and celebrative tenacity were mighty! They stopped the traffic on the main crossroads and went kerrrr-rayyy-zeeee! They were jumping on cars, bouncing them up and down and slapping the sides of passing buses like giant drums!

Eventually the police arrived and regained order, but the people of Banff were cued up for an evening of partying!

Massive congratulations to Canada, what a perfect end to their Gold Medal Olympics!!