2010 Winter Olympics photo gallery: Men's hockey gold medal game, Canada vs. USA

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      Here is a collection of photographs from the February 28 men's ice hockey gold medal game.

      View more photographs from the 2010 Winter Olympics Games. And read the Georgia Straight's Olympic Journal.

       

      Comments

      11 Comments

      Carmen2009

      Mar 1, 2010 at 7:01pm

      Would have been far better to chance earning a silver with a team of non-pros than the gold we did get.

      Olympics are for amateur athletes. If the pros want to participate then they can coach but should not be allowed to compete.

      ROB

      Mar 2, 2010 at 5:24pm

      Olympics are for the best players your country has.
      The NHLers are the best hockey players in Canada

      Carmen2009

      Mar 2, 2010 at 6:35pm

      NHL players are professional players...Olympics are for the amateur players. Gold medals to be earned on outstanding amateur athletic accomplishment. The last 17 days was not ever meant to be Hockey Night in Canada or another Stanley Cup (where is Stanley anyway?).
      And what a great way to tell our poorly funded athletes that they haven't a hope of being competitive in a field of amateurs without stacking the deck with the NHL.

      steve604

      Mar 3, 2010 at 3:12pm

      'Amateur' is just a label. All the athletes that competed in the Olympics are as Professional as they get. There's no opportunity for them to turn 'Pro' because it doesn't exist in the majority of sports. Name one 'Pro' athlete that could've competed in the Olympics but couldn't. You'll be hardpressed to find any because they don't exist.

      yates278

      Mar 3, 2010 at 9:53pm

      thats the dumbest thing i have ever heard, Olympics are to show the world the best your country has to offer. is kevin martin not a pro curler, just like all of canadas 14 pro athletes that won gold. those hockey players are just the best canada has to offer. get a better team and see you in 2014

      CANADA RULES (:

      Mar 4, 2010 at 5:48am

      hey uh carmen2009..
      dont see you in the olympics eh ?
      nice try...american..

      mike c

      Mar 4, 2010 at 1:09pm

      There hasn't been an Olympic games with amateurs since the 1950s. Before then, the handful of people that earned an income from their athletic pursuits, they made very little money. It was a part-time job. All of them had regular jobs the carry them through the year.

      The 1960s, we started seeing athletes earn big bucks, and could afford to drop their regular job and train for athletics year-round. That's when the notion of amateur vs professional athletes in the Olympics came about. But the old eastern block communist countries got around the "no-professional-athletes" rules for 30+ years by claiming that their athletes were "in the army" or otherwise employed by the state. But these "army" volunteers weren't doing alot of 10 mile hikes with a 50 lb pack, or very much weapon training. They were training in their athletic field for 11 months out of a year. For practical purposes, they were professional athletes. They just didn't pull down an income, because in a communist state, you don't need an income, the state provides everything.

      Even in the western countries, athletes who pocketed multi-million dollar advertising endorsements for "Wheaties" cereal managed to get around the "professional athlete" rule because they we're being paid for their athletics, but for a product endorsement.

      In the early 1990s, the Olympic organizers finally realized that it was too difficult (and pointless) to enforce an "no professional athletes" rule because it was too easy to find loopholes in the rules.

      That's when they dropped the "amateur vs professional" designations and decided they wanted the best athletes possible.

      Brent W

      Mar 18, 2010 at 11:55am

      Yes it's nice to see Gold medals, however these are professional athletes.These were not Olympic Hockey Games, these were Professional International Hockey Games - NHL style.Larger ice made the field more competitive with the old rules. When it was amateur Olympic hockey, Canada had an Olympic Hockey Program as well as the U.S.These games today are like watching the Canada Cup Series.

      It was awesome to watch Canadian amateurs go up against the Soviet Red Army and it was a credit to AMATEUR coaching to watch AMATEUR players step up to the international stage.

      Go back to amateur or it will turn into complete domination as the women's hockey has become.

      Wth?

      Jul 14, 2010 at 4:25pm

      The Olympics are for the best athletes. The best North American athletes happen to play in the NHL. The best European athletes play in European leauges (KHL, etc.) So why can't the best athletes play in the Olympics, regardless of the amount of money they make?

      stix11

      Feb 27, 2011 at 5:04pm

      like stated...these games are for the best. the entertainment value is at its peak when the best compete. olympics aren't designed to have the 2nd string athletes, they are designed to have the best of the best from every country. "Go back to amateur or it will turn into complete domination as the women's hockey has become." women's hockey needs a better fan base and by bringing in 2nd string women players for hockey, it would make for terrible games and the fan base will diminish from its already unpopulated crowd. point being...olympics are not amateur hour. they are for the skilled, the best, and our nation's top representatives to compete for their respective country. If we want to be technical, the hockey players don't get paid to play in the olympics which makes them "amateur"