Coffee and beer were both flowing as bleary-eyed fans in Western Canada tuned in to the breakfast-time Olympic hockey semifinal against Finland.
The Games in northern Italy are taking place eight time zones ahead of Alberta and Saskatchewan, and nine hours ahead for folks in British Columbia.
It’s been a similar situation to other Olympic Games over the past decade, held halfway around the world in Paris, France (2024), Beijing, China (2022), Tokyo, Japan (2020) and Pyeongchang, South Korea (2018).
At the Shark Club Sports Bar and Grill in Vancouver, the 7:40 a.m. puck drop didn’t deter more than 100 fans from soaking up the action and watching Canada win the match 3-2.
There were servings of breakfast tacos, home fries, eggs and bacon, alongside coffee, Guinness and mimosas.
Simon Marshall only arrived in Canada the night before from Australia but managed to pick up a Canada jersey to watch the match.
He was jet-lagged and admitted he was still learning the finer points of the game.
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“I watched ‘Mighty Ducks,’ 1, 2 and 3 for the second time recently, just to educate myself,” said Marshall, who noted he typically just follows the Summer Games.
“I’m just a sport lover, so I’m trying to embrace the Winter Olympics.”
Malik Dhami and John Cookson, who were sipping coffee, not beer, at the Vancouver bar said despite the early hour, it was important to share the fan experience.
“Sure, we could watch it in the four walls of our own homes,” explained Dhami. “As a Canadian, you’ve got to come out.”
“We were just looking for a place that would have the game on and would have it loud,” Cookson said.
General manager Murray Saunders said the city extended the bar’s liquor licence for the Olympics and it could be serving beer as early as 5:30 a.m. for Sunday’s pre-dawn men’s final.
“It’s cheering on Canada,” Saunders said about why people came to his bar so early on Friday.
He said the Vancouver Goldeneyes hockey team was in the packed bar on Thursday to watch the “amazing” Canada-U.S. women’s final, and the bar is already fully booked for the men’s final this weekend.
At Kelly’s Pub in downtown Edmonton, Amelia Carruthers said watching a game at home “doesn’t have the same camaraderie.”
“You have these fans here cheering and groaning and it’s fun,” she said, after ordering breakfast with her daughter Chloe Paré.
“The tater tots are amazing,” she added, saying she was a little taken aback that others were ordering beer.
At a nearby table, Schyla Courtorielle sat with a friend and her dad, who was working on a laptop.
“We can plug in and have the game on in the background while still working,” said Courtorielle, adding she had taken in a lot of early morning Olympic hockey so far.
“We start with breakfast and tea, and once we have some food in our system, then we’ll move to the booze,” she said.
Like watching hockey at a bar at night, the breakfast show had fans on their feet at times, with the Shark Club crowd singing a round of Stompin’ Tom Connor’s The Hockey Song after Canada’s win.
Hockey fans will do it all over again this weekend: the puck drops on Sunday’s gold medal match at 5 a.m. PT/8 a.m. ET.
— With files from Karen Bartko, Global News
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