True Patriot Love - Canada LOST More Than Hockey… Here’s Why

00:00:00.000 yes the pain of team canada's loss the team eosa and the men's gold medal game of hockey the

00:00:10.000 olympics continues as a matter of fact the goalie and my beer league team was so upset he deleted

00:00:15.340 all his social media for three days so he didn't have to see the videos and photos of team usa and

00:00:20.460 it's something still being talked about to this moment joined by paul micucci paul how are you

00:00:24.740 good jim yeah i feel the pain well i felt the pain for the whole olympics to tell you the truth

00:00:29.220 is that right yeah i really did and you know uh we did a show on funding for the olympics which

00:00:34.660 you know wonderful uh efforts by certain people but the commitment just not there from a canadian

00:00:42.300 perspective and you know we were 11th in golds this year 11th in medals overall no 11th so

00:00:49.460 i'm not trying to be norway was number one no but there's a committed country yes it is there's a

00:00:57.560 country that's disciplined that you know i'm sorry but you know we talk about this on shows on

00:01:03.740 everything now when it comes to canada right lack of discipline like we talk about it onward and

00:01:09.420 discipline here no all around quite frankly all around we we don't make a plan quite frankly as a

00:01:16.660 country we don't commit to anything then we don't put the money behind it and then we don't go forth

00:01:22.300 and it happens it happens in the economy it happens in politics it happens in sports

00:01:27.660 why have we been a culture that can't commit to make a darn plan about something and move forward

00:01:35.240 and you know what i'm sorry to get excited about this but no please men's hockey and women's hockey

00:01:40.000 is just a symptom of that you know and i know they played well they tried hard i get it right

00:01:46.640 but we fell short okay let's i'm gonna say two things here first of all yeah leading into the

00:01:55.060 2010 olympics in vancouver the canadian government and the canadian olympic committee got together and

00:02:01.420 created a thing called own the podium yeah where they invested significant money into training coaching

00:02:07.520 um support for the athletes and the result was a phenomenal effort in vancouver and whistler

00:02:14.280 medals everywhere fantastic effort by everyone and that funding has trailed off while the cost

00:02:20.560 of living goes up the cost of feed an athlete goes up the cost of equipment goes up the funding has

00:02:26.400 gone down and we have proven as a country that when we do it right we can have great results

00:02:31.720 yeah we've proven it beyond a shadow of a doubt paul but you know and the significance and then

00:02:37.940 here's the thing that i think we forget and i know we're seeing it now and again this is a

00:02:43.080 canadian thing you're watching the american so did you watch hughes last night oh it was phenomenal

00:02:47.840 in new jersey phenomenal amazing those people that full stadium the flag waving around the crowd

00:02:55.720 and then he grabs tage thompson from the sabers to join him out brings him out arm in arm grabs the

00:03:01.060 mic man that's a moment right here's their eyes in the stands yeah i was watching i was like wow

00:03:06.800 that's pretty cool i'd like to have been part of that right the significance of doing well in the

00:03:11.800 olympics for your country is not only to do with the sport it's to do with the culture in the country

00:03:17.640 and people you know it's funny because you listen to people talk about the game and from the american

00:03:23.780 side now and if you watch you know you know those are gonna people are gonna throw up comments if you

00:03:28.640 watch fox news they have people after that game saying for the first time i felt united with america

00:03:34.800 i felt that we were one a hockey game a hockey game connected a country right olympics are you know

00:03:43.620 the olympics are more than that and i i think canada missed it again because they don't realize and

00:03:49.480 the athletes god bless them you know they they go in debt they mortgage themselves they sleep in

00:03:56.080 churches like you listen to the myriad of stories of our olympic athletes trying to make it through this

00:04:01.460 this this obstacle course of of financial tyranny that we give them to go to the olympics

00:04:07.600 and then and then quite frankly what do we do after what do we do what are we doing right now

00:04:14.780 with the celebrities the people that won what are we doing with our five gold medalists well they

00:04:20.820 should be on every a talk show and news channel and columnists in canada being talked about and

00:04:26.380 interviewed in profile have you seen them no because they're spending all the time ripping

00:04:30.260 apart team usa now just a point the hockey is a unicorn because the nhl was back you had the most

00:04:37.580 expensive highest paid brightest stars performing the gold medal game head-to-head was a phenomenal

00:04:43.340 game it was canada outshot in some ways outplayed the usa yeah nathan mckinnon missed an open net

00:04:49.760 connor hellebuck had one of the best games i've ever seen i and former nhl or hall of famer texted

00:04:56.360 me and said that's he's never he's on all his years of hockey he's never seen the single game

00:05:01.440 performance what connor hellebuck did in the gold medal game and what medal did trump give him

00:05:07.960 the presidential medal of freedom exactly yeah the first hockey player to receive that he stood on his

00:05:13.000 head and that's what he got right so i remember vividly the miracle on ice in 1980 yeah me too this

00:05:18.680 was around the height of the iran hostage situation and america was being kicked down a lot of everyone

00:05:27.200 was hating on them yep and then they win the gold medal against the soviet union and then the gold

00:05:32.320 medal game miracle on ice miracle on ice but it's been 46 years for the americans and you have to

00:05:38.500 understand people wondering why would they celebrate like that these american players when they're starting

00:05:44.060 when they're 12 13 compete against the elite canadian players in the quebec international

00:05:49.160 peewee tournament and then midget showcase tournament and then june world juniors and then the u18s and

00:05:56.360 then the world championships and it's been a lot of heartbreak for team usa against canada head to

00:06:01.940 head especially at the olympics it's 46 years since they won an olympics game and for a lot of these

00:06:08.180 americans maybe canadians don't understand how much wearing the stars and bars and how much being

00:06:13.840 american means to them and how much the american institutions mean to them but it means a lot to

00:06:19.380 them and i think a lot of canadians are failing to see that yes they hate donald trump yes they're

00:06:25.220 upset with america right now but you have to put yourself in the shoes of a 22 23 24 year old american

00:06:32.700 hockey player who won the gold medal who's a proud american and was invited to the white house yeah

00:06:39.180 invited to the state of the union address this is something they thought would never happen

00:06:43.620 i can see why they all said yes if i'm an american as a canadian we're going why would they do that why

00:06:51.000 would they go there well because they're they think they're americans and they think differently

00:06:55.900 the canadians and we have to remember that yeah have you been to the white house in washington

00:07:01.340 have you toured not inside i've been outside but not inside so i lived in annapolis maryland yeah i

00:07:06.020 think i told you that i had a home there and i trained for a triathlon in washington one summer

00:07:11.980 so i had a training team that when we ran uh around the monument and no really yeah we trained all in

00:07:18.520 the core of washington for the triathlon and i gotta tell you like even as a canadian moving around all

00:07:24.700 all of all of the downtown washington monuments and abra uh abraham lincoln and all the great

00:07:31.540 things that are going the war memorial vietnam war memorial you know what it was it was for me it was

00:07:37.800 just unbelievable just to see it so think about them they just they just played probably the one of the

00:07:44.160 toughest hockey games of their life they probably shouldn't have won they won so luck against all odds

00:07:50.760 luck was on their side so you know you know think about the adrenaline when luck's on your side you

00:07:55.020 know go to a horse race and win a horse race and see how you feel you're feeling pumped because you

00:07:59.580 caught that luck you won that you scored that goal you overcame a 46 year old jinx yeah and now the

00:08:06.960 president whether you like him or not calls you in the dressing room and says i'm sending a plane

00:08:11.380 and we're going to take you to the white house you're coming to the white house and we're you're going

00:08:15.560 to be at the state of union state of the union yeah pretty cool very cool i know but but okay so

00:08:21.900 like back up for a minute and you know i've kind of been uh reflecting on certain shows about sort of

00:08:27.920 what things we're doing now um hey we have five gold medalists where they put on a plane where they

00:08:34.480 brought back to ottawa where they stood on a podium did we make a big deal about it those speed skaters

00:08:40.000 that we should we rocked we rocked in speed we should have a rally in ottawa with the prime minister

00:08:47.100 for the speed skaters they should is the canal still open i'm sure they can out yeah it's still

00:08:51.520 skating yeah why are our speed skaters not speeding down the canal right holy crap jim like take your

00:08:58.320 moments of pr and make these bigger than they are the thing i did like about america i must admit

00:09:05.540 is they do do that right you know i don't agree with the speeches i don't agree with all the things

00:09:11.920 they say that's all yeah you know what it is but i do like the fact that the doors open those

00:09:17.680 young men walk down those people cheer for them they give him that medal right to the hellebuck

00:09:26.960 and quite frankly what a night that is what a night for that and for people and you know what as you

00:09:33.300 watch the whole thing and i'm going to go in for a minute to stay please as you watch the whole thing

00:09:38.100 not not bring tears to your eyes at certain points you have to be the hundred year old korean war man

00:09:44.780 who gets the medal of honor that couple that lost their daughter oh when they stood up you know if you

00:09:50.980 don't shed a tear for some and and i know that's all you know set up and i know it's all planned but

00:09:57.060 you know what good on him because quite frankly he's making his point with an example right he's

00:10:05.720 making an example out of those men who won that gold medal to make them heroes in that country he's

00:10:11.180 making an example out of those people who suffered heartbreak that he's trying to change it good on

00:10:16.940 him because he's connecting that dot right and again it's the communication that we lack in canada

00:10:22.800 that we don't do and shame on us for not doing it because quite frankly we don't connect those dots

00:10:29.120 and we don't bring that patriotism back to canada and we don't celebrate those men and women who

00:10:33.960 go into debt who sacrifice their time and their and their money and their effort you know olympian

00:10:40.280 performed at the elite level they are the absolute best in the world the best in the world yeah just

00:10:46.820 real quick paul something has to be said two things can be right at the same time i could not

00:10:53.240 like donald trump not agree with donald trump i didn't vote for donald trump and as a matter of fact

00:10:57.980 i think he's disgusting but i also could be an american a proud american who won a gold medal and

00:11:05.040 wants to see the white house yeah i think you just because you're going i think people are assuming 0.94

00:11:10.940 because they went to the white house because they went to the state of the union oh come on they're

00:11:15.080 i'm telling you they're no donald trump they support donald trump they like donald trump

00:11:20.040 we had i'd like to actually hear someone ask the players that went there that question they're just

00:11:27.240 assuming because they won and went to the white house that they're donald trump supporters we don't

00:11:33.380 know that for sure we don't no they may be there might be a few of them but there's some of them just

00:11:38.580 maybe see wow this is the white house i can't believe i'm here and then i'm gonna go home back to my

00:11:44.420 team how many great athletes have been to the white house maybe thousands and then boxers

00:11:49.000 right olympic gold medalist olympic gold medalist nba champions uh world series yeah yeah did all of

00:11:56.560 them were all of them democrats or republicans of the same shield of the president no come on guys

00:12:02.380 seriously like seriously if that's all you got to complain about you know and the the fact that you

00:12:08.720 know i know he's who he is but even the fact that you know he got pumped up and invited invited them

00:12:16.440 uh to come the women's team he didn't i know those are all mistakes but you know in the heat of the

00:12:23.140 moment they're very excited about some things happening and you know that the women's team is

00:12:27.900 coming now yes and they will be feted and they will get their honors as they should just here's you

00:12:33.700 understand the dress room after the gold medal game they got the goggles they got the beer and

00:12:39.200 champagne cash patel is pounding beers gets the president of the speaker phone guys are hugging

00:12:45.020 music was still playing yeah yeah so guys didn't have and so jeremy swayman and other players from

00:12:51.680 team usa spoke to reporters and said well yeah you know upon review it was not an appropriate joke but

00:12:57.240 they by their own admission a lot of them didn't actually hear what he said and then you know

00:13:01.880 they're just laughing along because first of all they're giddy in the moment oh they're not anti-women 0.79

00:13:06.600 or anti-women's team a lot of them are like are going to the wall to support the women's national

00:13:12.080 hockey team and hillary knight and the women's team yeah but that was that was trump that made the joke

00:13:16.920 that wasn't the players oh yeah and quite frankly you know we we over analyze everything right and

00:13:23.820 what we need to analyze so at the end of the day what we need to sit back and in my mind

00:13:29.420 is we need to dissect how we handle this yeah from our side yeah we need to say did we celebrate

00:13:34.980 enough and did we do a good job on the pier and did we celebrate the athletes that did win the medals

00:13:40.160 and quite frankly what do we do to do more in that regard how do we get more money to get these uh men

00:13:46.940 and so we have more gold medals to celebrate more and if we're committed to this if if we don't have

00:13:52.120 enough money so please if we don't have enough money let's make some adult decisions and let's

00:13:58.280 plan and focus on areas that we want to win and tell people we want to win so let's tell people we

00:14:03.300 want to be the greatest speed skaters in the world let's tell people what we want to be the greatest

00:14:07.460 hockey players in the world also what's that after everything that went on you're 100 right i'm just

00:14:14.660 thinking about this the people that wrote the columns ripping the american players across canada

00:14:19.480 that's fine paul i would love to see a column about the canadian curling team that won gold medal

00:14:24.560 after everything that happened exactly with the swedes that go they were on they were talking about

00:14:29.420 stephen colbert and seth meyers i'd like i'd like to hear a sit down i'd like to see an interview with

00:14:34.460 them with all the guys have you seen them no never not since the actual event yeah no one's talked to

00:14:41.780 them it just went poof yeah why did we let it go poof as canadians like i understand because we're

00:14:47.580 waiting for the hockey game i know but come on did they come on that's i'm not being and you know

00:14:52.540 i appreciate their nhl hockey players but it's the olympics they're all equal they're all going for

00:14:57.640 gold medals so the speed skaters yeah the curlers anyone that won a gold medal i want to hear about

00:15:02.840 them i want to hear interviews i want to talk oh yeah that's amazing what now wherever they are

00:15:08.080 if you want a medal you're invited on to our show jim and i will interview you and i'll tell you what

00:15:13.840 we will have a party here yes we will if you will come in and do it with us we will have your party

00:15:19.200 like paul poirier unionville ontario won a bronze and that's an ice dance an amazing story what a

00:15:25.300 performance yeah i'd love to hear the story i'd love to hear the hardship and injuries and all the

00:15:30.340 things they went through hell to get to that level even to compete paul oh that's a tough sport right

00:15:34.780 it's tough it's so it's like you know you're inches away from disaster right yeah no no i'm with you

00:15:40.400 but but again this is what frustrates me right now is the lack of planning like you think about it

00:15:47.320 there had to be someone in the government right someone in sports and rec the ministry someone in

00:15:53.500 one of the ministries yes adam vancouverton a former olympian yeah that sat there before and said

00:15:58.820 mr prime minister here's the plan for the olympics when they do win when they get on the podium let's

00:16:04.220 figure that i guarantee you in america there was a full pr plan that was planned how to address all

00:16:09.840 these things you know now with trump it goes off kilter because you know it goes back texting but

00:16:15.640 25 years when team usa hockey decided they had to change things that they were going to compete with

00:16:20.480 canada yeah and created an excellence program based in ann arbor michigan and a lot of these superstars

00:16:27.420 on team usa that won the gold medal or a byproduct of something that's been years and they they planned

00:16:33.200 this way before before trump before obama before bush this this is a long time coming right well

00:16:40.760 i'm hoping that the next uh the next olympics yes right summer in paris in uh 2028 right yeah

00:16:49.000 yeah i'm hoping we're more prepared well yeah and then this is where adam vancouverton a former olympian

00:16:55.440 he didn't know more than anyone in the government what it takes to be an athlete and how hard it is

00:17:01.060 to convince hey we need some money for these athletes so they can train better yeah training

00:17:06.340 money right pr support support victory uh celebrations uh watch parties like that's all in

00:17:15.900 your bailiwick man like you got to figure that out you got to be there right you can't wait till after

00:17:21.360 the fact let it all fall down and so i didn't know i had to prep for that yeah i i'd love to see other

00:17:26.760 sporting events or the cultural events in canada bring these medals out and say hey i'm so-and-so

00:17:31.920 yeah this person want a silver or gold for canada and have the people give them their moment i'm with

00:17:37.720 you i'm with you go canada go

True Patriot Love - February 27, 2026

Canada LOST More Than Hockey… Here’s Why

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