Mat Robinson can remember squirming on the gymnasium floor at John G. Diefenbaker High as he and his schoolmates watched one of Canada’s key games at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, where Mario, Iggy and a star-studded cast ended a lengthy gold-medal drought for the Great White North in men’s hockey.
A dozen years later, albeit on upgraded furniture, he recalls being even more uncomfortable as Crosby & Co. tried to eliminate an underdog in quarterfinal action at the 2014 Sochi Games.
“That nailbiter against Latvia that year, that was a very stressful watch for me,” Robinson said, reminiscing about a 2-1 squeaker that was tied with seven minutes remaining.