The "ladies" from the Great White North decided to plop down at center ice after their gold-medal victory over the United States and quaff some beers as if they were in a Calgary trailer park -- not an Olympic venue.
After the American women, who lost, 2-0, Thursday, had left the arena to cry in their beer, the maple leaf-wearing hockey gals returned to Vancouver's Olympic hockey rink brews in hand.
With gold medals hanging from their necks, Haley Irwin was spotted pouring beer into the mouth of teammate Tessa Bonhomme. Goalie Charline Labonte sprawled out at center ice and plopped a bottle of brew right on top of the Olympic rings.
Some were lounging around with cigars. One gal tried to start the Zamboni.
Such "Strange Brew" antics left uptight Olympic officials steaming. :doh:
"[This is ] not what we want to see," said International Olympic Committee Executive Director Gilbert Felli. "If they celebrate in the changing room, that's one thing, but not in public."
The heat eventually drew an apology from Canadian hockey officials.
"The members of Team Canada apologize if their on-ice celebrations, after fans had left the building, have offended anyone," the sporting body said in a statement. "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 [Canadian Olympic Committee] any embarrassment."
Among normally laid-back Canadians, however, the levity raised few eyebrows.
"Let them celebrate, they WON GOLD FOR CANADA for goodness sakes," a reader posted on the Vancouver Sun's Web site.:snickerpup:
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