Well, it's only a week away now! 99% of the preparations have been made, and now it's just a matter of waiting out the days until the big day!



I can't believe how many people have shown an interest in my trip! As it gets closer and closer, almost everyone I talk with has some questions are just wants to talk about the trip! I hope this blog is a good way for everyone to share in the experience.


Just a reminder, here are the events I have tickets to:

Friday, February 12th
Opening Ceremonies - 6 pm BC Place



What kind of incredible spectacle will the Canadians pull off? Who will light the Olympic Cauldron? How cool is it going to be to see all the nations march in behind their flag bearer! This the ONE ticket I had to have when I began making my plans to attend. I still don't know exactly where I'll be sitting at BC Place. It's a Category B ticket, so it's not the best (A), and it's not the
worst (C) available ticket. I just hope I'm positioned to get some good photos!



Sunday, February 14th
Women's Ice Hockey - Noon UBC Thunderbird Arena


USA vs China



While the USA is heavily favored to reach the medal round, the young Chinese team is looking rebound. The Chinese women finished 4th in 1998 at the Nagano, Japan games, but the team fell to 7th in Salt Lake City in 2002, and then failed to qualify for the 2006 games in Turin, Italy. China qualified for the 2010 Games with wins in November 2008 over Norway, Czech Republic and Japan. Unlike the USA squad which is chosen from literally thousands of players, there are only approximately 200 women hockey players in China to choose from. There are 12 teams in the tournament. There are 3 groups, A, B and C. The USA and China are in Group B, along with powerhouses Finland and Russia.

Women's Ice Hockey - 4:30 pm UBC Thunderbird Arena


Finland vs Russia
I will get a chance to get a little lunch after the USA vs China game and the settle back in and check out the other two teams in Group B, Russia and Finland. The Fins are widely considered the 3rd ranked Women's Hockey team in the world, behind Canada and the USA. Finland defeated the USA for the first time ever in the 2008 World Championships in China by a score of 2-1. Finland won the bronze in 1998 in Nagano, and finished 4th in both 2002 and 2006 in Salt Lake City and Turin. The Russians are ranked 6th in the world. They failed to qualify for the Games in 1998, but finished 5th in 2002 and 6th in 2006.



Monday, February 15th

Caydee Denney and Jeremy Barrett


Figure Skating - Pairs Free Program - 5:00 pm Pacific Coliseum

This is a medal event! So that in itself will be extra exciting. I'll be honest. I don't know much about figure skating, but I'm not too worried because everything I've heard and read leads me to believe that even the so called "experts" get confused by the scoring system used by judges. The US team consists of 16 year old Caydee Denney and 25 year old Jeremy Barrett, who won the US National Pairs Figure Skating Championship last weekend in Spokane, Washington. Also on the team are the pair of Amanda Evora, 25, and Mark Ladwig, 29, who finished 2nd in Spokane.

Tuesday, February 16th



Men's Curling Men's Round Robin - 9:00 am Vancouver Olympic Centre


This is an event I'm really psyched for! The USA takes on Germany, and at the same time, the defensing World Champions from Great Britain take on Sweden, Norway battles Canada and Switzerland goes against Denmark! I was reading online today that the USA Olympic team, both men's and women's teams, had a sendoff today (Feb. 3rd) from Eveleth! Even more exciting about the Men's team is that ALL of the members of the team are from Minnesota! The coach is from Eveleth, the Skip, John Shuster, is from Duluth, the Third, Jason Smith, is from Chisholm, the Second, Jeff Isaacson, is from Duluth, and the Lead, John Benton, is from St. Michael. Even the alternate, Chris Plys, is from Duluth. So I guess I'll have to be extra patriotic for the USA AND Minnesota!

Wednesday, February 17th 2 GAMES TODAY!
Men's Hockey - 4:30 pm Canada Hockey Place
Sweden vs Germany

The Swedish men's national hockey team, Tre Kronor (Three Crowns in Swedish) as it is called in Sweden, is the reigning Olympic Gold Medal Champions. They also won the gold at the World Hockey Championships in 2006 against the Czech Republic, making them the first hockey team ever to win both events in the same year. The Swedes, like most Olympic teams, are loaded with NHL stars...Nicklas Lidstrom of the Red Wings, Daniel Alfreddson of the Ottawa Senators, Goalie Henrik Lundqvist of the NY Rangers, Henrik Zetterberg of the Red Wings, Henrik and Daniel Sedin of the Canucks (think they won't have a big cheering section?) and also longtime NHL star with the Avalanche and currently playing in Sweden for Modo, Peter Forsberg, among several others....The Germans are not a highly regarded world power in hockey, currently ranked 11th. As a matter of fact, their most recent medal in International Competition came with a Silver in the 1953 World Championships. The German roster is sprinkled with lesser known NHL'ers from the Sharks, Sabres, Canucks, Panthers, Predators, and Bruins.

9:00 pm Czech Republic vs Slovakia

Every player on the Czech roster is either a current NHLer or former one, led by the great Jaromir Jagr, who currently plays for a team in the Czech League. The Minnesota Wild are represented on this team by Defenseman Marek Zidlicky. The Czech's are not considered a Gold Medal contender, but are a threat to medal. As far as Slovakia goes, I had no idea who would be on their team until I googled their roster. Wow, they will have some talent on their squad, including former Minnesota Wild player Marion Gaborik! Other familiar names include Pavol Dmitra of the Canucks (another former Wild player), Marian Hossa of the Red Wings, Miroslav Satan of the Penguins, Zdeno Chara of the Bruins, and Goalie Peter Budaj of the Avalanche.

Thursday, February 18th
Men's Hockey 9:00 pm Canada Hockey Place
Russia vs Slovakia

Well, I just told you about the Slovakian team. Russia.....Considered by many to be the most talented team in the tournament, the Russians might be the Gold Medal favorites. Just look at their roster....their first line will consist of Evgeni Malkin of the Penguins centering Alexander Ovechkin of the Capitals on the left wing and Ilya Kovalchuk of the Thrashers on the right wing. Add Pavel Datsyuk of the Wings, Alexander Semin of the Caps, Sergie Federov of the Caps, Alexei Kovalev of the Canadiens, and former NHLer Alexei Yashin help make up perhaps the most explosive offense ever. On defense, the Russians feature Sergie Gonchar of the Pens, Andrei Markov of Montreal, Sergei Zubov of Dallas, and in goal, either Evgeni Nabakov of San Jose or Ilya Bryzgalov of Phoenix. Nikolai Khabibulin of the Blackhawks is also an option in goal.
This should be fun!

Friday, February 19
Alpine Skiing, Men's Super-G 11:30 am
Whistler Creekside

Super G incorporates aspects of both downhill and giant slalom racing. It involves skiing between widely spaced gates as in giant slalom, but with fewer turns over a longer course and with higher speeds approaching those achieved in downhill. Super G skiiers will often assume the "tuck" position as in downhill, but will continue turning constantly as in giant slalom, rarely encountering the periodic straight "gliding" sections of a downhill course. Super G courses in international must be at least one minute in length and can be as long as a minute and 45 seconds. Speeds at the World Cup level generally average from 55-60 mph. Super G is unique in that it is conducted over one run, like downhill, but racers are not permitted to train the course at full speed before the race. As in giant slalom and slalom, they are allowewd only a one hour visual inspection of the course on the morning of the race. This distinction adds to the unpredictable nature of the event and requires ski racing abilities that are different from the other three disciplines. Hermann Maier of Austria is regarded as the greatest Super G skiier ever, with 24 World Cup victories, 5 World Cup titles, a World Championship and an Olympic Gold Medal. The most well known USA Alpine Skiier is Bode Miller, who recently announced he's be taking part in all 5 Alpine events in Vancouver.

Thanks for reading!