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For those of you that do not know, I am a Canadian. Honestly, at the mention of peace, order and good government, I start to get really excited. So, there is no better way to celebrate all that is great about Canada then to take part in the best game on earth: hockey. I know not everyone will agree, but I told you I was Canadian, so I do not need to defend it.

With last year’s 1-0 American win still hovering in our memories, the players took the ice for what would be one of the best CanAm games in recent memory. As the lights went down and U2’s “Where the Streets Have No Name” filled the George Preston Recreation Centre, the crowd took to their feet and welcomed the American boys and the Canadian girls.

The American squad took to a fast start. Wait, I mean the International squad took to a fast start with goals from two South Africans – Dan Cloake and Robbie De Fleuriot – which sent the packed Canadian side to a silence only heard at a Phoenix Coyotes home game. However, you can never put the Canadians out of the game as the latecomer Julia Church took to the ice and ended the Canadian goal drought.

The beginning of the second period was hard to watch as the Americans pulled ahead to a 4-1 lead. This included the first American-born-and-raised goal.

The feeling was grim in the red-and-white section, but not for long. Canadian women have a distinct resiliency that only comes from those long Prairie winters. Before you could say “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” the Canadians had made it a one-goal game.

Nothing made the Canadian fans cheer more, though, than when any American player was sent to eat ice by our girls in red and white. On the unfortunate side, the Canadians watched as their captain and two other players went down to the ice with game-ending injuries.

The clock ticked down and the Canadians ran out of time. For the first time in at least six years, the Americans have won back to back CanAm hockey games. The sparsely populated American section of the arena erupted with a sound drowning out the huge Canadian group.

With the game now over, it fills me with pride to think that Canada may have lost the game on the scoreboard, but we have won in other ways. We have taken our friends to the south and turned them into hockey fans – even if just for one night. We have embraced not only Americans, but other nationalities including Dutch, German, South African and South Korean. Most importantly, we have shown grace in defeat, which will build bridges in the long run with our international friends.

I never truly understood the Stompin’ Tom Connors song until today. This is why it is “the best game you can name, the good old hockey game.”