VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- Hanging from the rafters at Vancouver's Rogers Arena is one banner that stands out among the rows of Canucks-colored banners for retired jersey numbers and regular-season honors.
It's white with a red maple leaf above the words, "VANCOUVER - 2010 HOCKEY GOLD MEDALS - MÉDAILLES D'OR DE HOCKEY," a reminder of the men's and women's teams both winning gold on home ice over the U.S. in the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
Sidney Crosby doesn't exactly need to be reminded.
"Every time you come back it crosses your mind," Crosby told me of the feeling in playing in Rogers Arena.
Crosby, of course, scored the overtime goal for Canada to secure that gold medal. Canada and the U.S. went to overtime after a Zach Parise goal in the final minute tied the game. At the 7:40 mark of overtime, Crosby drove to the net and yelled "IGGY!" to call for a pass from Jarome Iginla before putting a wrist shot five hole on Ryan Miller:
"It's a great memory and a moment that I'll always remember when you come back to the city, the rink," Crosby added. "It was just everything. You don't just think about the goal, you think of the atmosphere during the whole Olympics. The weather was beautiful. It was just an awesome experience overall. The city's always pretty special to come back to."
For Crosby's Canadian teammates especially, they remember that moment well too.
"I remember where I was," said Danton Heinen, who was 14 at the time. "It was one of those moments where you remember where you were. The city was pretty electric after that, it was a big moment."
P.O Joseph was just 10 years old when Crosby's overtime heroics won Canada a gold medal.
"We were all on our feet basically the whole overtime," Joseph recalled. "Overtime is always nervous, and it was Canada-U.S. so it's a big rivalry, it was such an exciting game as well. And it being in Canada, you don't see that often for the Olympics. Even thinking about it now, thinking of all of the years of the Olympics, it's such an iconic moment. I'm sure he was happy about scoring that goal on Canadian soil. I feel like maybe he still has a bit of butterflies when he comes back here."
MORE FROM THE SKATE
• It was an optional morning skate. Participants were Jason Zucker (non-contact), Jake Guentzel, Jeff Carter, Brock McGinn, Ryan Poehling, Chad Ruhwedel, Joseph, Jan Rutta, Heinen, Sam Poulin, Drake Caggiula, Jeff Petry, Tristan Jarry and Casey DeSmith
• Sullivan confirmed after the skate that Guentzel has been cleared for contact. I have more on that here. Guentzel, Zucker and Teddy Blueger remain sidelined for tonight.
• Jarry will start.
• Ruhwedel stayed out late on the ice with Zucker, Guentzel and DeSmith, while Joseph came off around the same time the rest of the regular players did. Likely means that Joseph gets back into the lineup tonight and Ruhwedel is back in the press box.
• The Canucks didn't have a morning skate after playing in Seattle last night. They won that game 5-4, improving to 1-5-2 on the season.
• Bruce Boudreau said yesterday morning that "everything is day-to-day right now" on whether Thatcher Demko would start back-to-back after starting in Seattle or whether the Canucks would turn to backup goaltender Spencer Martin against the Penguins. Martin, 27, has 10 NHL games in eight pro seasons. His one game this season was an overtime loss against Columbus in which he made 29 saves on 33 shots.
• Vancouver is really hurting injury-wise. JT Miller was felled by a blocked shot in the final seconds of Thursday's game, and Quinn Hughes (IR), Brock Boeser (IR), Curtis Lazar (IR), Riley Stillman (IR), Travis Dermott (LTIR) and Tucker Poolman (LTIR) all missed the game vs. Seattle.
• Daniel and Henrik Sedin were in the stands watching the Penguins' morning skate.
