Athletes from more than 200 countries and regions have participated in the Olympic Games, some of which are famous and some of which are little known. Today, we are approaching Canada, the world's number one hockey country.
About the "Winter Olympics Road to Great Powers": In the history of the Winter Olympic Games in the past hundred years, many countries have left their footprints in the development of ice and snow sports. We hope that through the series of articles "The Road to the Great Powers of the Winter Olympic Games", we can show the success behind the major countries of the Winter Olympics, so that everyone can look at the world of the Winter Olympics from a more macro perspective, and bring some inspiration and thinking from it.
Text/ Fu Haonan, Liu Xueting
Editor / Masto
In the first issue of the "Road to the Great Powers of the Winter Olympics", we introduce you to "Norway, which ranked first in the gold medal list in the history of the Winter Olympics". In this issue, it is the ice and snow power Of Canada and its "national ball", ice hockey.
You may have heard of the high level of honor and popularity of Canadian ice hockey. But how this country has promoted ice hockey all the way to North American land, and how to shine the Olympic arena to trigger the "earthquake" of national celebration, it is worth telling! Let's take a look.
01
Canada: The promoter of the sport of ice hockey, the mainstay of the NHL
Of the 7 major events, 15 sub-events and 109 sub-events of the Winter Olympics, which event has the greatest impact? There is no doubt that ice hockey is a well-deserved project with the highest commercial value and greatest impact. And when it comes to ice hockey, Canada is a country that has to be mentioned.
In Canada, they have a saying about ice hockey: "It's our game."
It can be seen how much the Maple Leaf State attaches great importance to ice hockey.
Canada was the first country to develop ice hockey into a modern sport, with a strong ice hockey atmosphere. In the early 19th century, European soldiers and immigrants brought the prototype of the sport to North America, and the Indigenous peoples of North America invented a similar movement.
Subsequently, ice hockey gradually rose in eastern Canada, along with the migration of soldiers stationed in eastern Canada, and eventually the sport of ice hockey spread throughout the country and even the whole of North America.
In December 1879, the first official ice hockey game was held in Montreal, Canada, and the sport was officially on track, and ice hockey clubs everywhere sprung up. In 1917, the NHL, now one of the four major professional leagues in North America, was established in Montreal.
Canada has a long history of ice hockey
When the NHL was founded, the league had five teams, all of which were from Canada. Today, one hundred years later, the NHL has 32 teams, including 7 teams in Canada, accounting for the highest proportion of the four major leagues.
Over the years, a large number of stars who have been active in the NHL have been Canadians. Whether it is Wayne Gretzki, the "hockey jordan", mario Rameau, the NHL legend Bobby Orr, or the now-famous Connor McDavi and Sini Crosby, they are the pride of maple leaf country.
Gretzky (right) and McDavid (left)
Ice hockey is known as Canada's "national ball". Canada is located in the middle and high latitudes, and the winter is cold and long, so Canada has many natural ice rinks, which also provides unique conditions for the development of ice hockey. In winter, many times there are people playing "street hockey" on the frozen streets of Canada.
Ice hockey is a very fast-paced sport, and the game is full of confrontation and collision, so ice hockey is also regarded as the sport that best reflects the strong, brave character and team spirit of Canadians. It can be said that in Canada, from politicians to children, the whole people are fascinated by ice hockey.
02
Shine on the Olympic ice and snow arena, and the whole country celebrates the earthquake that caused a magnitude 2 earthquake
In the Olympic ice hockey arena, Canada also occupies an absolute hegemony.
Men's ice hockey entered the Olympic family as early as the 1920 Winter Olympics in Antwerp, and the Canadian men's ice hockey team also won 9 gold, 4 silver and 3 bronze medals in history, with a total of 16 medals, ranking first in both the gold medal table and the medal table. In particular, between 1920 and 1956, Canada won 6 of the 7 Winter Olympics. In the last 5 Winter Olympic Games, Canada has also won 3 gold and 1 bronze.
In addition, the Canadian men's national ice hockey team has won one Summer Olympic men's ice hockey championship and 18 world men's ice hockey championships, making it the team that has won the most winter olympic ice hockey matches and men's ice hockey world championships.
Women's hockey was officially selected for the Winter Olympics at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, but the Canadian women's hockey team has now won 4 gold and 2 silver. In other words, the Canadian women's ice hockey team can reach the final every time they play in the Winter Olympics.
Canadians' fanatical feelings about hockey simply cannot be made clear in three words. This is especially true for the Vancouver Winter Olympics, which arguably marks the pinnacle of Canadian hockey.
At noon on Sunday, February 28, 2010, Vancouver was largely crowded. Local residents gather in front of bars or televisions in their homes, surrounded by family and friends. Because it was the final of men's hockey, Canada against the United States, and it was at the home of their own country, local residents definitely did not want to miss a second of the game.
According to the Canadian Olympic Games Event Broadcast Media League, the match attracted a total of 2/3 of the Canadian population and was the most watched TV show in the country's history. In the United States, it is also the highest-rated ice hockey game in the past 30 years, with 27.6 million people.
On that recorded afternoon, vancouver's ice hockey rink was packed with more than 17,000 people, the Stars and Stripes and Maple Leaf flags flying all over the field, and the fans seemed to be about to topple the roof before the game began. The boiling atmosphere in the stadium makes people feel like an electric current passing through the body, and the sweat hair is towering. With Gun Rose's famous song "Welcome to The Jungle" sounding, the race began in a deafening noise.
Canada relied on Jonathan Tyfoss and Collie Perry to score consecutive points to take a 2-0 advantage in the first move. However, the U.S. team was not a fuel-saving lamp either, first relying on ryan Kessler's lucky blow to close the score gap before the end of the first half, and then against the pressure 25 seconds before the end of the game to score a crucial goal to equalize, and the two sides drew into overtime.
In the end, Canada defended its home stadium and defeated the United States in overtime with the deadlock of ice hockey genius Sini Crosby, triggering a national celebration for Canadians.
People are pouring into the streets, not just in Vancouver, but all over Canada. It is said that this celebration artificially caused a magnitude 2 earthquake, and Crosby became a national hero in one fell swoop.
03
What are canada's chances of winning the Winter Olympics?
At present, the competition pattern of men's ice hockey at the Winter Olympics is mainly composed of Canada, the United States, Russia, Sweden, Finland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Switzerland, and the women's ice hockey is the two giants of Canada and the United States competing for gold medals.
In the latest IIHF (International Hockey Federation) World Rankings, the Canadian men's and women's ice hockey teams rank first in men's and women's second respectively. The ranking is mainly based on the team's hockey performance in the past four years of the World Hockey Championships and the last Winter Olympics, which shows how well Canada has performed in ice hockey this year.
However, in the grouping of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics ice hockey competition announced in April this year, the Canadian men's ice hockey team is divided into the same group as the men's ice hockey teams of China, the United States and Germany. The United States and Germany are at the top of the world rankings and are also fierce rivals for Canada.
Canada announced its first roster for the men's ice hockey team for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics in October, including three NHL players, namely Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins, Conner McDavi of the Edmonton Oilers and Alex Pitrangoro of the Vegas Golden Cavaliers.
However, although the International Ice Federation, the NHL and the NHLPA (NHL Players Association) have reached an agreement in September to participate in the Winter Olympics. But the NHL and NHLPA retained the veto, with the International Ice Federation saying: "It provides the NHL and the NHLPA with the flexibility to refer to the situation and retain the right not to send NHL players to participate in the event of the intensification of the COVID-19 epidemic."
Due to the complex situation of the epidemic, there is still uncertainty about whether NHL players can participate in the Winter Olympics. Whether these officially announced players in Canada can fight for the country, and it is not known whether they can lead the team out of the death group. But Canada, as the world's number one ice hockey country, believes that this country that regards the ice hockey rink as a battlefield will go all out to compete for a good ranking. Let's look forward to Canada's presence at the Beijing Winter Olympics!