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            It was an exciting game… I was up until like 2 a.m. watching, and hoping that the Canadian Women’s Hockey Team could clench gold at the Olympics. It was a great game. People say women’s hockey isn’t physical because checking isn’t allowed… but it was definitely a physical game and the refs were (from my vantage point) letting both sides away with a little bit.

            Although ice dancer Scott Moir was irate in the stands when the refs didn’t call something against the Americans… somehow Poulin got away with a heavy hit in front of our net with no call.

            But, when all was said and done – overtime, shootout, and sudden death shootout – it was the Americans that ended a 20-year gold medal drought in the sport… and to be honest I think they deserved the win, they were flying on the ice, while Canada was looking a little flat footed. There were still standouts on the Canadian side of things, like our goalie Shannon Szabados, on defence Reneta Fast, and our captain, Marie-Philip Poulin. Also, that goal by Haley Irwin off a pass from Blayre Turnbull was a thing of beauty.

            It’s too bad that at this level a tie after a single overtime is determined by an individuals’ skill competition. However, having said that both sides did a phenomenal side in the shootout, that goal by Melodie Daoust was sublime. She came in wide on the right, came over for a forehand shot and when the goalie went down brought the puck around to her backhand nestling the puck in the net with one hand as she went tumbling over the American goalie. It was a thing of finesse.

            What really has people talking, however, was when Jacelyne Larocque took off her medal. Now a similar thing happened at the World Juniors, when Sweden’s captain took off his medal and actually chucked it away.

            Now, although these two instances are similar, I do find them quite different. In a team sport, a silver medal means you lost… you earned your way to the final, but you don’t earn a silver medal, you lose to win it. It’s not like figure skating where each one of the people receiving medals earns them – women’s figure skating: no one fell, each of the medalists had small wobbles or mistakes, but they were by far the deserving medal recipients – each medal earned based on their merits.

Also at that kind of level, you’ve been working towards gold for the past four years and the range of emotions you’d feel as you represent your country would be huge… after all you’d feel like you let down your teammates, your coach, your family, your friends, and your entire country. So, wearing a medal that you got for losing that game would be tough.

            The difference between the two events, however, is that Larocque simply held the medal, while the Swedish captain literally tossed it away. Larocque has explained that she just couldn’t appreciate it in that moment, but in time she will because it is still an accomplishment.

            Although, yes, it’s disrespectful in my opinion to have removed it, I can understand why she would. She never tossed it away and she apologized, explaining herself afterwards, which I think takes courage. You could just avoid the press and not bring up those emotions you were feeling at that time again; but, she chose to confront what she did which is respectable.