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Sports See other Sports Articles Title: Canadians Forced to Apologize for Celebrating Normally, celebrations that don't involve directly taunting the opponent or lighting something on fire go unnoticed in sports. Canada's women's hockey team did neither of these things Thursday night. After a 2-0 win over the United States clinched them a third straight Olympic gold medal, they celebrated with cigars, champagne, and beer on the ice, long after the stands had emptied. The International Olympic Committee was quick to react with shock and anger at such a horrifying scene. Naturally, Hockey Canada couldn't just ignore the IOC, so they apologized on behalf of their apparently overexcited players. Steve Keough, a spokesman for the Canadian Olympic Committee, said the COC had not provided the alcohol, nor instructed the players to celebrate on the ice. "We condone celebrations. ... We don't condone actions of irresponsibility," Keough said. "I think Canadians understand it's quite an emotional moment for our team. It was not our intention to go against any IOC protocols." In a statement released late Thursday, Hockey Canada apologized for the on-ice party. "The members of Team Canada apologize if their on-ice celebrations, after fans had left the building, have offended anyone," the statement read. "In the excitement of the moment, the celebration left the confines of our dressing room and shouldn't have. The team regrets that its gold-medal celebration may have caused the IOC or COC any embarrassment. "Our players and team vow to uphold the values of the Olympics moving forward and view this situation as a learning experience." The main problem, it seems, was that underage players were photographed with alcohol. The drinking age in British Columbia is 19, even though neighboring province Alberta has a drinking age of 18. Alberta is where the team did most of their training for these Games, so confusion is understandable. No, ignorance of the law is no excuse, but it seems pretty obvious that the Canadians meant no disrespect to anyone. Just watch the way they celebrated their gold. The players and the crowd couldn't have been kinder to the defeated U.S. contingent. The ovation Team USA got was unexpected in many ways, given the rivalry these two countries have on the ice. Canada's behavior might have been arrogant at various points in this tournament, but they were far from it when it counted most on Thursday. Instead of handling this situation behind closed doors, the IOC decided to drag it out into the public, indignantly pointing at the Canadian players as if they had desecrated the meaning of the Olympics by daring to be happy and proud of their accomplishment. This team spent months together training for this moment. Let them enjoy it. As we've seen over the years, there are many worse ways to mark a major sports achievement than skating around with a beer in your hand.
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