Ohhhhh, Canada

[winghaz]

This has to be one of the strangest Winter Olympics ever for Canada.

Canadians are, as of now, tied for third place in the medals table with 19. They are tied with traditional Winter Olympics powers Austria and Russia. Only Germany, with 24 medals, and the U.S., with 20, are ahead.

But what will these Games likely be remembered for in the Great White North is Team Canada not getting a medal in men's hockey. To compare, for us in the U.S., that's even worse than Team USA not getting a medal in men's basketball during the Summer Olympics.

And to think: It's quite possible that, during the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics, Canada will WIN the medals race and NOT medal in men's hockey. That's how good Canadians have gotten in other winter sports while the rest of the world has gotten better in men's hockey.

Strange ... very strange.

[Roger Clemente]

The fact that the Men's hockey team is out actually doesn't faze me much at all. I mean, sure I love hockey and love Canada, but I never expected them to actually do well because there didn't seem to be much hype to it (sure there was some, but not as much as 2002) and the team wasn't even finalized until two weeks ago. Here we are two weeks later empty-handed. Sigh...

I've only seen a majority of two of Canada's six games. I saw maybe ten minutes total of the Women's games. But I can't stop watching everything else in the Olympics. It's exciting. The fact the hockey part is over allows me to focus on the rest of the Olympics for once and it makes me appreciate the actual power of sport more.

--Roger "Time?" Clemente.

[BCBoy]

This has to be one of the strangest Winter Olympics ever for Canada.

Canadians are, as of now, tied for third place in the medals table with 19. They are tied with traditional Winter Olympics powers Austria and Russia. Only Germany, with 24 medals, and the U.S., with 20, are ahead.

But what will these Games likely be remembered for in the Great White North is Team Canada not getting a medal in men's hockey. To compare, for us in the U.S., that's even worse than Team USA not getting a medal in men's basketball during the Summer Olympics.

And to think: It's quite possible that, during the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics, Canada will WIN the medals race and NOT medal in men's hockey. That's how good Canadians have gotten in other winter sports while the rest of the world has gotten better in men's hockey.

Strange ... very strange.

Quite amazing actually. These Olympics have shown me that Canada MUST have put a lot of money in the Olympic training program despite many people upset with the funding we get. Personaly, I will remember these Olympics as the Olympics that Canada, overall, were a great success, despite what the mens hockey team failed to do. However, if the WOMENS hockey team hadn't won gold, that might be another story.

[officeglenn]

While I am disappointed that Canada will not win a medal in men's hockey, I think it is a positive sign overall that we are doing so well in other sports.

I've long thought that too much emphasis has been placed on hockey in this country; it's the sport that almost every kid wants to play ? or is pushed into ? at a young age. And sometimes, by the time they've realized they aren't in the small percentage of players who are going to make it to the NHL, they're either too burned out, too disappointed or too old to switch to other sports.

Our success outside hockey, I think, is indicative of a trend of diversifying our athlete base. More kids are taking up speed skating or cross-country skiing instead of hockey. And I think we'll be better off for it in the long run.

Now we just need to translate that over to the summer sports.

[Lee.]

Now we just need to translate that over to the summer sports.

If we had a summer, I'm sure we'd be able to do it.

[oakland ehs]

as much as i love hockey, the team losing out early is what is best for CANADIAN SPORT.

way too much coverage was given to the hockey team and not much to anything else.

as much as i am a major hockey fan and pretty disgusted with the result, this is probably the best thing for sports overall in canada, as well as for international hockey, because canada got a little too dominant lately.

(women winning EVERYTHING but last year's world championships, men winning in 02, back to back world champs, world cup, back to back world juniors)