Canada vs USA at The Irish Volunteer

This is it: the marquee event of the XXI Winter Olympic Games has its marquee matchup on the final day of competition. (With all due respect to the men’s 50 km cross-country skiing race, we’re not talking about that). By all indications, Canada vs. USA for men’s hockey gold at 12:15 p.m. Vancouver time, 4:15 a.m. (Monday morning) Beijing, will overshadow the closing ceremony. So why is this match important and where can we catch the action in Beijing?

Hockey is both Canada's official winter sport and its sporting soul, and to that end, getting upstaged by swashbuckling Yankee boors on its own turf would be devastating and unthinkable. Forget Own the Podium; owning one rink for 60 minutes is enough (incidentally, a win would give Canada the most gold medals won by a single country at the Winter Olympics).

Upstaged again, we should say. Exactly a week ago, the U.S., which hasn’t won hockey gold since a group of college kids pulled the upset of the century in 1980, defeated Canada 5-3. The Vancouver Sun nicely captured the malaise of the nation the following day with the headline: “Woe Canada: U.S. sticks stake in our hearts.” But the team responded to premature reports of its postmortem by beating Germany and then so thoroughly whipping Russia in the quarterfinals that MSNBC’s commentator called it an “old-fashioned schooling”; the Russian goaltender added, “They came like gorillas coming out of a cage.” And then, not yet halfway through the third period of the semifinals against Slovakia, fans started chanting, “We want the U.S.”

Well, they’ve got it – the No. 1 team at this tournament. While Americans aren’t quite so patriotic when it comes to hockey, they do love a good sporting spectacle, especially when it involves the potential to rib their friendlier, dumpier, French-mangling cousins to the north (no hate mail please, Québecois). Besides, Olympic hockey is awesome, and these Games have been especially good for the sport; if you haven’t seen it yet, this is your last chance until Sochi, Russia 2014.

And where might you catch this epic rematch? The game’s on CCTV-5’s docket for those who want to watch from home. Many of the usual places aren’t staying open to show the game, but 24-hour mega sports bar Goose ‘n’ Duck said they should have it, and the manager of All-Star Sports Bar and Grill said he would entertain advance requests to keep the restaurant open and might if there’s sufficient demand.

The party, however, will definitely be on at The Irish Volunteer, which will be getting the official NBC feed. This cozy bar has shown nearly every Olympic hockey game and has more or less become the official gathering place for Canadian fans. During the game, happy hour drink prices apply, and patrons can get a nice breakfast for 35 RMB. “A few drinks will get tossed around if things go our way,” says Toronto native J.P. DiCaprio, bar manager and partner.

“I expect Canada to absolutely destroy the U.S.,” he adds. “That’s all I can hope for and all I can expect from our boys. It’s probably not going to be close, I’m not going to lie.”

Sounds like fighting words. You Americans out there, take it personally: hockey may not be our national sport, but what a damn shame if we let the Canucks take home gold. (Insert stock joke aboot Canadians’ funny pronunciations.)