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I hope this entry doesn't get too long, but here it goes anyway!

1.First up is the Canada vs. US hockey game on Sunday

This was probably one of the more sought after events among the athletes, aside from the men’s hockey final. As athletes, we’ve had access to a certain number of tickets that the COC set aside in designated athlete sections at the venues (other countries have access to tickets for their athletes as well). We put in our requests, hope to get the tickets, and that’s that.

Anyway, once I got to the game Mathieu and I ended up sitting by Chad Hedrick and Ryan Bedford (two of the American long trackers). That alone made for a good game because all we did was heckle each other the whole time...in good fun of course!

As for the game itself – it was awesome. The “Go Canada Go” chants and the “U-S-A” chants (that I swear were sometimes even louder than the Canadian chants...) resonated throughout the whole game. The hockey was pretty good as well some might say. Ya, ok, it was some of the best hockey I’ve ever seen – the last 3 minutes especially. The Canadians seemed to be skating circles around the US in a last ditch effort to tie up the game. And even though they didn’t make the comeback, it was a lot of fun.

2. The Can Fund House and the VIP lounge at the Shaw Tower

Monday afternoon I made it over to the Can Fund house to meet the people behind the scenes of such an important organization. They’re the ones who make the connection between people and businesses who want to support our Canadian athletes and the athletes themselves. They’ve got one of the floors in the Shaw tower for family and friends to hang out, watch the events, and have a good time. As much as it's already said, a big thank you to the Can Fund for helping our Canadian athletes!!

From there I went up to the 17th floor VIP lounge where I met a few Calgarians, Julie and Linda, who I promised I'd make mention of them in this post. The penthouse lounge was decked out with food, drinks, plenty of seating around a 130inch TV, and an incredible view of the harbour and mountains. I was on a bit of a tight schedule so I couldn’t stay too long, but it was great checking out the VIP lounge and meeting Julie and Linda.

3. The Oakley Safehouse

The Oakley safehouse is another one of the “houses” that I was able to get to a few times. It’s probably one of the most laid back places to hang out because it’s only open to the athletes, a few guests, and of course the Oakley employees. With everything going on downtown, the safehouse was an awesome getaway from all the commotion.

Along with everyone I got to meet at the safehouse, I also got to meet Alex Bilodeau shortly after his gold medal moguls run. After they had a little bit of a celebration for him, I introduced myself and got a picture with the guy who brought home Canada’s first Olympic Gold medal on home turf! He’s a pretty cool guy, too!

4. The Sask Pavilion

On Tuesday, SaskCanola had a kick off breakfast for Saskatchewan Day at the Sask Pavilion. I almost couldn’t make it because of my training schedule, but I’m glad it worked out because it was a lot of fun. I met the premier Brad Wall, Joan McCusker, Gene and Tammy Makowsky (who I haven’t seen for years now), and a few other key figures from Saskatchewan. Rick Hansen was also there for the event and I got to chat with him for a bit. One thing led to another, and if things work out, we might go sturgeon fishing when things settle down for the season! 

There’s more I could get into, but this’ll have to do for the night. It’s time to wind down a little, stretch out, and get to sleep. Starting Friday we'll be shooting for 3 solid rounds of the Team Pursuit and I'm looking forward to every bit of it. Canada just had an awesome day in competition today – Clara’s bronze in the 5k, women’s short track relay silver, a gold AND silver in the women’s two-man bobsled, and a big win in men’s hockey against Russia – which has the team in good spirits!