One shot for gold.

VANCOUVER - It was the late Fred Shero who first said it, more than three decades ago, when he had his Philadelphia Flyers on the verge of winning their first ever Stanley Cup.

"Win today," he told his players, "and we walk together forever."

VANCOUVER - A dozen days ago, Mike Babcock suggested that if everyone lived up to expectations, if everyone performed their best, we just might be on the verge of seeing one of the best hockey events ever.

VANCOUVER -  Okay folks, everyone take a deep breath and relax. That the Canadian women's hockey team had  beer, champagne and cigars on the ice long after their gold-medal winning game on Thursday is not an international incident. It's not even a big deal.

VANCOUVER - For the past six or seven months, maybe even longer, Mike Babcock has been carrying around a notebook in which he has jotted down thoughts about various players, notes from conversations he had about his roster, and every line combination he could possibly think of for every situation. He was constantly tinkering with lines on paper and since these Olympic Games have begun, well, he has been tinkering with them on the ice, too.

VANCOUVER - In the end, the game plan was really quite simple.

VANCOUVER - Practices resume in the NHL on Wednesday morning for non-Olympians. For at least one more day, however, that group does not include Team Canada.

VANCOUVER - It is often a fine line between success and failure, and for Team Canada that line has been coloured bright red in these Olympic Games.

And now it is up to Roberto Luongo to make sure nothing gets across that line. Or at least as few pucks as possible.

VANCOUVER - Everyone knew coming into the Olympics that, on any given night, Team USA goaltender Ryan Miller was capable of virtually winning a game on his own. And for the longest time Sunday night, the Americans decided to test that theory. Well, it's true.

VANCOUVER - Ryan Kesler calmly spit out the words and, a few minutes later, tried to grab them back. Well, sort of. "I hate them," said the American winger of Team Canada, the two teams meeting Sunday night in their final preliminary-round game of the Olympic hockey tournament.

VANCOUVER - As troubled or concerned or maybe even relieved Team Canada might have been feeling the morning after the great scare, the sun still came up, literally, Tiger finally came out, also literally, meaning life in its various altered states went on. And no matter how bad your day might seem, that Tiger fellow is a constant reminder of how it really can be worse.

VANCOUVER - It was four years ago to the night. You might have heard about the game, a determined Swiss team hung a shocking 2-0 shutout on Team Canada and if they didn't fully derail the Canadians' Olympic dream, then they certainly inflicted enough damage and doubt that they never really recovered. Couldn't happen again, right? Think again.

VANCOUVER - Let's make one thing perfectly clear, if you are going to blame anyone for the lopsided scores in the women's hockey tournament, don't blame the Canadian ladies. Or the Americans

VANCOUVER - Four years later, the memories are still very fresh, the desire to make amends - no, make that exact revenge - just as acute.

VANCOUVER - Admit it, for a while Tuesday night you were just a little bit concerned, maybe even a wee bit nervous. A while, by the way, is defined as being precisely 22 minutes and 30 seconds.

In the opinion of Team Canada coach Mike Babcock, if everyone performs as expected and hoped in this Olympic hockey tournament, we could be on the verge of seeing the "best hockey event of all time."

This whole debate about who should light the Olympic cauldron in Vancouver on Friday night is so, well, Canadian.