Putting aside the games themselves for a moment, there’s one question that I’m sure readers of these tiny, pithy dispatches (hi, Dad!) are wondering: “What music do they play during hockey games in Mexico?”
Short answer: Lots of Rage Against the Machine and The Strokes. I’m not just talking “Bombtrack” or “Wake Up” (the Matrix theme): they go deep into Rage’s catalogue. In the three days of the tournament, I’ve even heard a truncated version of NWA’s “Fuck Tha Police” (cut off halfway through the first “fuck,” unfortunately). That was pretty cool: you won’t be hearing that at the ACC anytime soon.
The music has, for the most part, been surprisingly decent, seemingly selected by someone with an affinity for British and what used to be called “Alternative” music back in the day. They still play some typical arena fare – generic grunge and dance music, “We Will Rock You” and that Gary Glitter annoyance – which are probably required by the terms of the IIHF tournament contract, but it’s been balanced off by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, the Killers, the Kills, and Anthrax and Public Enemy doing “Bring the Noise.” I even heard “Boys Don’t Cry” by The Cure, surely one of the least sporty songs ever. And has anyone ever heard VHS or Beta’s fantastic and completely arena-appropriate “Night on Fire” during a Canadian hockey game?
One of the afternoon games even featured not only Motorhead (“Ace of Spades,” natch), but some hyper-aggressive metal that wouldn’t be let within 100 kms of an NHL arena.
Canada was also represented by Hot Hot Heat (“Goodnight Goodnight”), and even by Stompin’ Tom, doing “Sudbury Saturday Night,” of all things – just kidding! If you like hockey, you can probably guess what Stompin' Tom song played. Oh, and a special appearance by Skid Row’s “Youth Gone Wild.”
Ah, memories. I still have my Skid Row “Skids Across Canada” T-Shirt from when they opened for Aerosmith on their P.U.M.P. tour, back in 1863.
I regret nothing.
What I haven’t heard, outside of Mexico’s first game and the Mexican Hat Dance, which gets played every time Mexico scores, is any Mexican music, or any music in Spanish for that matter. The closest you get is Pitbull’s “I Know You Want Me” and “Hotel Room Service,” which are also at the top of the metro bootleg CD vendors chart (just behind the Black Eyed Peas’ assembled-by-machines-for-human-enjoyment hit “I’ve Got a Feeling”).
On to the recap! (No photos, unfortunately. My stupid camera died after one shot. You’ll just have to paint pictures with your mind.)
Day Three, Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Belgium 13, Turkey 1
I was really dreading this game. By this point in the tournament, it’s clear that Turkey has trouble skating with Mexico, let along a smooth-flowing Belgian team that continues to impress and are generally a joy to watch. The Turkish players showed flashes of individual talent and speed, but the outcome of this game was never in doubt. Turkey did take too many penalties that (as in their previous game against Mexico) led to too many power-play goals, but so many of the penalties were the result of attempts to slow down a superior Belgian team that it’s unlikely that a more disciplined Turkish team would have fared much better.
I couldn’t see many, or any, Turkish fans in the “crowd” of about 25 spectators, which is too bad: if ever a team needed moral support, it’s Turkey.
Spain 10, Bulgaria 3
I still haven’t figured out whether Bulgaria is as bad as their 1-2 record suggests. After humiliating Turkey, Bulgaria has been dismantled by Australia and now Spain. On individual plays, it doesn’t seem like Bulgaria’s playing badly: they demonstrated some great passing and stickhandling ability in the plays leading to their second goal, and their goalie has played well in bursts. Bulgaria’s collapse was slightly less dramatic than Belgium’s, but the end result was the same, and even included a short-handed goal with just over a minute to go in the game.
Oh, and Spain’s final goal was a penalty shot, in which the goalie wasn’t allowed to use his stick. I’ve never seen or heard of this happening before.
That said, Bulgaria has the distinction of being the only team to have a lead over Spain, 2-1 early in the game. It only lasted about ten seconds, but it’s something. I’ll be surprised if Spain loses a game or fails to blow out its remaining opponents.
Australia 5, Mexico 2
What a heartbreaker. Mexico really, somehow, had a chance to win this one. I had been expecting to see a repeat of Australia’s manhandling of Bulgaria. Instead, the capacity crowd was treated to an energized Mexican side that, despite their continued inability to play as a cohesive unit, spent a considerable amount of time buzzing the Australian net.
Australia didn’t help their own cause, starting the game by having to kill a two-man power play. They eventually managed a 2-0 lead, the first goal courtesy of a generous rebound and the second a rocket over the shoulder of the remarkably tiny Mexican goaltender.
Improbably, Mexico finally capitalized on their power play with a shot from the blue line that made it 2-1 and brought the fans to their feet. Unfortunately for Mexico, Australia replied with a fluke goal, dribbling over the Mexican goaltender’s glove hand to make it 3-1.
But Australia couldn’t finish Mexico off. Mexico’s tiny goalie kept his team in the game with some brilliant goaltending, which helped Mexico kill off a 4-on-3 Australian power play. He couldn’t do anything about Mexico’s main deficiencies, however: a lack of passing and set plays. It’s a lot easier to defend against a team, even when the other team has a two-man advantage, if you know that the player with the puck is either going to shoot, or make a weak pass.
Again, improbably, Mexico in the third period managed not only to kill off a two-man advantage, but in a rare display of precision passing across the Australian goalmouth, scored the best goal of the tournament. 3-2, and the crowd is on their feat, roaring “Sí, se puede!” (“Yes we can!”) Nobody cheers like Mexicans. If a band, or their team, performs competently, they’ll cheer enthusiastically. And if the people they’re watching pull off something fantastic, they go nuts. Mexican fans are, hands down, the best fans in the world.
Which made it extra devastating when, with nine minutes to go, Australia put the game away with a nice goal that had the tiny (a couple dozen, maybe) Australian contingent somehow matching the entire hundreds-strong (maybe thousands; I’m no good at crowd estimates) in volume.
Like Bulgaria, I can’t get a handle on the Australian team. This game shouldn’t have been as close as it was. Was it Mexico’s sheer force of will and fantastic individual playmaking (and there were many examples of brilliant individual plays), egged on by a supportive crowd that nearly cost Australia the game? At any rate, Australia’s final game, against Belgium, is going to tell us a lot about both teams.
Final Thoughts
Here’s how things stand, three days into the five-day tournament. Spain, barring highly unlikely collapses against Mexico and Turkey, should end this tournament undefeated; they also have the highest goal differential (+18).
The real battle is for second place, and right now Belgium (2-1, +10 goal differential) has the edge over Australia (2-1, +4); the two teams play each other on Saturday, the final day of the tournament. Mexico, surprisingly to me, is currently in fourth place, with a 1-2 record and a surprising +1 goal differential; kudos to Mexico’s goaltending. However, the battle for fourth place will likely come down to Saturday, when Mexico faces Bulgaria (1-2, -5). Winless Turkey (-28 goal differential), well, playing against better teams is the only way to become better yourself. Too bad they have to end the tournament playing Spain on Saturday.
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