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How Canadians watched, and celebrated, an early-morning men’s hockey gold medal in bars across the country and around the world

andrew bucholtz

While heading to a bar between 4 and 8:30 a.m. may not be a typical Canadian practice, it certainly was Sunday morning for Canada's 3-0 win over Sweden in the men's hockey gold-medal game.The time zone difference at these Olympics really impacted this one, as the game started at 4 p.m. Sochi time, which translates to 8:30 a.m. in Newfoundland, 8 a.m. in the Maritimes, 7 a.m. in Quebec and Ontario and so on, all the way down to a 4 a.m. start on the West Coast. (See, even without Brian Williams, we can still get our time checks.) That didn't stop Canadians from heading to bars to watch it communally, though, thanks to some late-breaking liquor law exceptions (bars were allowed to open everywhere, and serve alcohol as far west as Alberta, where the game started at 5 a.m. local time; B.C. allowed bars to open, but they were stopped from serving alcohol), and that led to a pretty unusual and remarkable morning at bars across the country. (Check out Yahoo's Andrew McKay's live blog from Toronto's Real Sports bar for some on-the-ground observations, photos and videos of what the atmosphere there was like.) Here are some of the best photos and tweets from bars across the country illustrating how Canadians watched this:

The watching party wasn't limited to Canada, as Canadians outside the country packed bars as far away as Dubai and Bangkok:

Jonathan Toews' goal, the first of the game and the eventual game-winner, brought the Canadian crowds to life:

But the celebrations at the end of the game were really something, with "O Canada" breaking out in bars at home and abroad:

Bars weren't the only communal gathering place, as plenty of churches showed the game too. That's a little different than your typical Sunday service:

Of course, the scene in Canada was quite different than the one inside the Bolshoy Ice Dome in Sochi. Oskar Garcia of The Associated Press writes that it was a rather restrained atmosphere at the game:

Empty seats, relatively quiet crowd — the final gold medal competition of the Sochi Games feels more like a lazy Sunday warmup to the closing ceremony.

Not the atmosphere you'd expect for what's supposed to be the main event in a country known for its love of hockey.

Perhaps that's because Russia isn't playing, having lost to bronze-winners Finland in a quarterfinal. Gone from the Bolshoy Ice Dome, besides one half-hearted attempt through the first period, are the "Ro-ssi-ya" chants that have permeated games even the host country isn't in. A few Russia flags remain, dotted throughout the Canadian and Swedish symbols in the arena.

Many spectators who did come showed up late, and remained relatively polite even as Canada took a 1-0 lead during the first period.

And the loudest cheer of the first period? When arena officials announced Russia's gold-medal win in the four-man bobsled, its second gold of the day along with a podium sweep in men's 50 kilometre biathlon.

CBC also showed video from bars across Canada multiple times throughout the broadcast, and play-by-play announcer Jim Hughson commented that the atmosphere there looked much better than the one inside the arena. So, it sounds like this was definitely a better game to watch without a ticket, early hours and all. It probably made a lot of bar owners happy, too. After all, it's not every day you see a packed bar before nine in the morning...