Much Ado About Nothing
BY SCOTT TAYLOR Photos by Rusty Barton and courtesy Canadian Centre for Sport Manitoba and hockeycanada . com
Offering up an “ apology ” that she didn ’ t have to make , Ste . Anne , Manitoba ’ s magnificent Jocelyne Larocque showed nothing but grace under pressure .
After playing a remarkable 31 minutes in the gold medal game at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics , Larocque was heartbroken that Canada fell 3-2 to the United States in a shootout . We ’ ve all known for a long , long time that shootouts should never decide Olympic gold medal games , but rules are rules and in the end , Canada lost gold , not on a hockey outcome , but on a skills competition . The heartbreaking loss was not Larocque ’ s fault .
So when the silver medals were being handed out , Larocque lowered her head , accepted the medal and then immediately took it off and held it in her hand . She didn ’ t throw it into the stands and she didn ’ t stomp on it in front of international TV cameras . She simply took it off and held it .
You ’ d have thought she burned the flag .
Later , in one of the most childish examples of international blue blazerwearing officials acting like dickheads in front of the greatest athletes in the world , Larocque was confronted just outside the Team Canada dressing room by an upper-class twit from the International Ice Hockey Federation who proceeded to dress her down .
According to the Globe & Mail , “ few people saw the incident , but there was Larocque , tears welling up in her eyes , holding her unwanted silver medal , being told by a man in a suit about the ‘ legal ’ reasons why she can ' t refuse to wear it .”
“ The conversation with the IIHF official ended with Larocque nodding compliantly and agreeing to wear the medal ,” the Globe & Mail report continued . “ She understood the situation . She then turned a corner and walked down the hallway leading to the Canadian dressing room . It ' s not clear if she ever put it back on .”
Make no mistake , IIHF regulations do state that “ medals have to be worn by the players around the neck in respectful manner for the duration of the closing ceremony and the following post-game mixed zone and media conference procedures . Failure to follow those rules will be reported to the IIHF disciplinary board and could result in additional disciplinary sanctions .”
It ’ s unlikely any hockey player has ever actually read those regulations . Who
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