DORIAN GEIGER
Sports Editor

VANCOUVER – Although tickets to most Olympic events in Vancouver cost about $300 to $400, hockey tickets have been much cheaper, ranging anywhere from $60 to $200 — with a noticeable markup on Team Canada games, however.

Since Canadian hockey tickets were too expensive, my travelling companions and I settled on checking out two of Sweden’s men’s hockey games at Canada Hockey Place and a women’s playoff game at Thunderbird Arena to save every last buck we had.

The Sweden and Finland gold medal rematch of Turin’s 2006 Olympics promised to be likely the most intense game we would lay eyes on during our stint in Vancouver.  

Aside from seeing Daniel and Henrik Sedin and a few other NHL superstars up close — as well as some cute Swedish fans — the Swedes’ 3-0 victory proved to be more of a snooze than the heated international rivalry it was made out to be.

With one game of women’s hockey left to watch the next day, I felt my opportunity to witness a historically great hockey moment was slim. How impressive could the women’s playoff game deciding a lowly fifth place really be? Canada’s women’s team would be an absolute pleasure to watch but when it came to a fifth place showdown, I was skeptical.

I couldn’t have been more wrong. Simply put, the Swiss and Russian clash was unreal.

Words like surreal and dreamlike were other appropriate descriptors of Switzerland’s 2-1 triumph over Russia. Why so good? It didn’t matter that the game was for fifth place; it was still undoubtedly some of the best international hockey I’ve ever laid eyes on.

From a hockey fan’s perspective, overtime is a bonus, and a shootout is pure heaven. The Switzerland and Russia game delivered just that. A mix of powerful hits, miraculous saves, speedy offence and textbook stickwork accompanied the 1-1 gridlock throughout 60 minutes of regulation to send the match to sudden death.

    And after a grueling 10-minute overtime in which the teams remained knotted at 1-1, the game proceeded to shootout mode. In the climax, Switzerland scored on their second and third opportunities, holding the Russians to only one goal and securing an unexpected win on the international stage.

Watching the Swiss goaltender Florence Schelling reject the final Russian shoot-out attempt and getting to see the ensuing outpouring of the Swiss bench onto the ice in celebration is a memory I’ll hold forever. Too bad most people will only recall the 2010 Olympics for what Canada’s men’s hockey team accomplishes; I know I have been partially guilty of this in Olympics past.

    Regardless of Canada’s men’s waning chances at the 2010 Olympics, I’ll always hold a permanent soft spot for the Swiss women’s hockey team and their fifth place finish in Vancouver.

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