IOC downplays Canadian women's gold medal celebration

The Canadian women's hockey team appears to be in the clear after their impromptu beer-and-cigars gold-medal celebration.

At a Friday afternoon news conference, an International Olympic Committee spokesman downplayed any controversy over the on-ice festivities on Thursday evening.

Mark Adams said that the IOC is writing Canadian Olympic officials a letter asking for further details of what happened, but said to "characterize it as an investigation would be wrong."

"We hear all sorts of stories, and we see the pictures obviously . . . we'd just like to get an idea from them . . . " he said. "What I would clearly say is that a very quick apology from the team looks to me to have drawn a line under it, but I can't fully say that until the letters have come back and we've finished the process."

When pushed on the issue, Adams went on to say, "people are in search of a story that doesn't exist . . . they're looking for someone to say it's terrible."

After vanquishing the Americans 2-0 to take the gold medal at the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games on Thursday night, several of the Canadian players — still wearing their jerseys and gold medals — returned to the ice after the fans vacated Canada Hockey Place.

They cracked open cans of beer and brandished bottles of champagne, smoked cigars, clowned around for photos and lounged on the ice surface, soaking in their victory. One player was photographed sitting in the driver's seat of an ice resurfacing machine parked on the rink.

Hockey Canada issued a swift apology.

"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."

However, Canadians themselves seemed divided on whether their golden girls had any reason to apologize.

A minority of online reader comments on stories about the post-game celebration criticized the players' actions, some of them on sexist or nationalistic grounds.

"If the U.S. had won and celebrated like this, the comments here would be completed different. Everyone would be saying how inappropriate and classless these actions were," one reader wrote.

"They are NOT complaining about beer drinking — it was done in the a public place. Classless act. Even beer league players have more class," another chimed in.

However, the overwhelming reaction seemed to be staunch support of the players and their post-game party. Many people pointed out that Stanley Cup and other hockey victories are celebrated in similarly exuberant style by male hockey players without repercussions.

"In other news, IOC to investigate last 100 Stanley Cup Final celebrations," Elliotte Friedman, a reporter with CBC's Hockey Night in Canada, posted on Twitter.

"Ladies — Thinking Canada is proud of you," a reader commented on a news story. "You deserve a little post-game release along with the admiration of hockey fans no matter which country they are from."

"Let them celebrate, they WON GOLD FOR CANADA for goodness sakes," another chimed in.