It’s the gold-medal game, and he’s thrilled to be in it

Ducks winger and U.S. team member Bobby Ryan is blogging for The Times during the Games. Here’s his post heading into the gold-medal game against Canada:

Hello again, everyone!

The USA and Canada for the gold . . . this is monumental and I’m thrilled to be a part of it. Obviously the game is huge here in Canada, but it’s great to hear about the excitement people have in the U.S. as well. We are obviously hoping we have another good showing, just like the last time we played them. We watched the Canada game against Slovakia and we know we have our work cut out for us. We know what they bring to the table.

I have a pretty ridiculous-looking bandage on my ear right now! I took a puck in the ear, accidentally from Miettinen in the game against Finland. I’m fine to play, but I got cut so I get to wear this thing wrapped around my head. Ryan Whitney just loves it.

As far as the rest of the Finland game, obviously it wasn’t exactly what I was expecting. I thought it would be a low-scoring, tight game. But the guys came out hot and got a couple of breaks. That helped us roll four lines and stay fresh for the gold-medal game.

I spoke briefly with Teemu and Saku after the game. They were both great and wished me luck. I got a chance to congratulate Teemu on the Olympic scoring record. I didn’t want to push the envelope too much, though, because they were obviously upset about the game.

The Canadian fans have been respectful, but it’s pretty obvious they want us to lose! There is definitely some animosity here. There were so many Canadian fans who came to cheer for Finland on Friday. But then when we had control of the game, the crowd started to get quiet between whistles. Then the third period starts, and we heard the USA fans stand up and chant “We want Canada.” We were excited to hear that. The guys loved it!