'A great opportunity for all Canadians to get their courage back'

The opening ceremonies for Vancouver's 2010 Olympic Winter Games were hours away.

Flowers Cove Elementary students Andrew Genge, 12, and Blair Genge, 10, leaned forward on their mini chairs, their backs straight and their elbows on the mini desk, folding their hands to keep from fidgeting, the postures of hockey insiders on television.

The two saw the event differently than the hockey and cultural critics of these games so far: all that matters is how our boys perform (perfectly), not what hockey means culturally.

In so many words.

Besides, it's their favourite sport.

"I'm excited to see hockey," Andrew said.

"I am too," Blair weighed in.

Can the Canadian men, with the pressure of playing on home ice after finishing seventh four years ago, compete with an offensively explosive Russian side?

"I says Russia's going to be ahead and I says Canada and Sweden are going to be fighting for second place," Andrew said.

"Yep," Blair agreed.

"Canada got good players but the Russian's got good players - (Ilya) Kovalchuk, (Evgeni) Malkin and (Sergei) Gonchar - and they got good goalies. But Canada's going to be good too, they got (Danny) Heatley and everybody too," Andrew said.

Boys, come on. Sidney Crosby or Alexander Ovechkin?

"I rather Ovechkin because I like the way he plays, he's always-" Andrew said.

"Crosby is not a body-contact person," Blair put in.

"He's like Gretzky," Andrew added. "Gretzky checked when he needed to. Ovechkin just goes out there and plays the game, hits, and I like seeing him on the ice."

"Ovechkin and Crosby like to win," Blair said, nodding seriously.

"I think it's going to be a great opportunity for all Canadians to get their courage back for all the other years that they lost, and plus the hockey is going to be on home ice," his friend said.

Andrew and Blair were still energized from Straits Elementary's own opening ceremonies, which included their own version of the Olympic torch lighting, and the subsequent workouts led by public health nurse Gladys White.

The day (Feb. 12) incorporated Healthy Living Commotions with the Olympic celebrations.

Students were divided into nine teams representing different countries, marched into the gymnasium, passed the torch and lit the caldron.

"It's important for students to get the Olympic experience," principal Geneva Woodward said. "And the torch did come through this area, and a lot of people went to see it and some more people in this area had an opportunity to carry the torch, so it's really for the Canadian spirit and pride in the country."

As part of capturing the spirit of the games, the school decided to hand out gold, silver and bronze medals to countries with the highest points. At the end of the day the students enjoyed a fruit tray.

"Very excited," Ms. Woodward said. "My favourite sport is hockey. We can't afford not to win the gold in hockey, it's the Canadian sport."

The importance of physical activity and healthy living came hand-in-hand with the Olympics, she added.

"Hopefully they'll watch the Olympics and be inspired by that too."

Andrew and Blair agreed that holding their own opening ceremonies would inspire fellow students to watch the games.

"I think a lot more (students here) are going to watch the Olympics after this, a lot more than usual, because this is like our little own Olympics," Andrew said.

Would you guys like to compete in the Olympics some day?

"I'd like to play for Canada, against Russia," Andrew said.

Blair added, "And beat Ovechkin."