SLC Winter Olympics 2002 Flashback P.5 - Hockey, Trophies and Hockey
Up next, more Women's hockey, this time at the new E Center in West Valley City, a SLC suburb located in the flat remnants from when the lake was much larger.
While walking to the rink, we saw a fairly low-key sign in front of a hotel across from the rink saying "NHL Trophy Exhibit." There were also a bunch of NHL and various Hockey Federation-marked vans around. We wandered in and were greeted with EVERY SINGLE TROPHY in the NHL collection in a gallery with almost no one in it.
Stanley, Dave and Guy
I ran around like a lunatic touching the trophies, looking at the names, gazing at the splendor and smiling at our luck. Dan had seen the glorious mug before so was a bit nonplussed (as is his style) but i made him take my pic with Lord Stanley. I pointed at Guy Lafleur in 1977 and you couldn't smack the smile off my face.
I also ran my finger over the Vancouver Millionaires and the Seattle Metropolitans insciption and noticed the missing year 1918 when the Spanish Flu epidemic wiped out the cup tourney and sent Montrealers home sick and dying, and saw the corrected Adam Deadmarsh entry. I also spent some time observing some favorites, the Selke (best defensive forward) and the Clarence Campbell (which the Canucks have won twice). I wanted to stay longer to just "sit" but game was waiting.
Vancouver Millionaires won in 1915 over the Ottawa Senators
E Center in full Olympic spendor
Inside, the facility was grade-A, totally intimate and small compared to massive NHL-sized rinks - 11,000 capacity perhaps.
We checked out the beers and they had a local Cutthroat Pale Ale from Uinta Brewing Company. Not strong of course (Utah beer must be below 3.2%), but tasty and much better than the macro-beer swill sold at the other venues. Remind me to mention the controversy caused by Park City Brewing Company with their Polygamy Porter and Unofficial 2002 Ale.
Canada, as expected, had no problems with the Kazakh team - indeed there is a significant gap between Canada/USA and the rest of the women's hockey world.
The only real mysteries for this tourney is who will win the Gold between the 2 powerhouses, and whether or not the Swedes or Finns could stay up with the top 2 teams and "close the gap" a bit.
Vicky Sunohara getting it done for Canada
The rink wasn't close to full and some local school kids were gifted tickets to fill some seats and spread the Olympic spirit amongst the masses.
Media section at E-Center (not a busy day here)
Canada went on to win 7-0 with an enormous shot differential of 66-11. The Kazakh goalies deserved a drink in her honor so we grabbed another Cutthroat to celebrate her diligent performance.
Canada celebrates the victory
The tradtional handshake
At the game, I was interviewed in an in-game deal by the little wealsy guy (Dan Moriarty) who hosts a weekly hockey high-light and lifestyle show hockey aimed towards younger fans in the US called "Cool Shots." At each venue, there was a hired in-game interviewer announcer who would find interesting or famous people for a short interview on the big screens in intermissions (later we would see interviews with retired figure-skater Elvis Stojko and Tyler Stewart (drummer from Barenaked Ladies) who was hilarious.
Anyhow, he asked me to prove i was a Team Canada fan so i pulled off my new-retro Team Canada sweater to reveal the old-retro style sweater with the Maple Leaf emblazoned proudly. The crowd dug the spontaneity and I offered a few comments about events we'd enjoyed. For our participation and enthusiasm, Dan and I were given a special green foam ball which would get us into the medal ceremony that evening downtown.
You see, rather than give medals out at the end of each event, for many smaller profile events or events in which the winner isn't known immediately, the medals were awarded downtown in a big group ceremony with rock bands and celebrities playing along. Throughout the day, at each venue, the hired touts would pick a few "superfans" to populate the area right in front of the stage - so when the TV cameras show crowd, you see the dressed up and enthusiastic fans right away. The bands were all high-profile acts and there was busy business swapping and selling the tickets into the medal plaza.
That night the Foo Fighters were slated to perform, but we had tickets to see Ukraine and Switzerland match up in hockey at about the same time. We came to the Games to watch hockey and, though i dig the Foo, we went out briefly between games for a hoot and a drink, and then back in to see the game.
Switzerland has come along as a hockey country with a couple of NHLers including David Aebischer in goal. Ukraine roster was thin but the players tough, if slow.
David Aebisher in net for Switzerland
Swiss Powerplay against Ukraine
Ukraine won 5-2 despite being outshot by the Swiss squad. A decent game by two teams unlikely to advance but both hoping to not get knocked down to the Pool C so as to have to qualify for a berth at the next Olympics. 
Handshake between Ukraine and Switzerland
Final Score 5-2 Ukraine over Switerland
After the game, we strolled back into the crispy night and drove back to buddy Dane's to rest up before a lighter day with just one hockey game - Austria and Slovakia at the E Center. After that, the days became more hectic with the Pool A Men's hockey tourney starting up which meant more fans and more mayhem, so we'd be wise to sort out ticketing conflicts and other housekeeping while we still have time.
