Jack Johnson wouldn't divulge how much it cost him to participate in the Opening Ceremonies of the Olympics.
"But," the L.A. Kings defenseman told USA Today, "it is worth every cent."
USA Today hockey writer Kevin Allen caught up with Johnson, who became the first active American NHL player to march in the Games' opening. The Kings didn't have a game Friday, so Johnson chartered a plane for himself and his family that got him in and out of Vancouver for the festivities without missing a game.
"It's been an absolute thrill and worth everything I've done through to get here," he told the paper.
Wayne Gretzky helped light the flame, though disappointingly not in the fashion I envisioned. The official cauldron is outdoors, so I figured he'd be inside BC Place with a hockey stick, take a slap shot and flames would slide along the floor as if they were a puck, travel outside the building and end up in the cauldron.
Yes, it would have been difficult, but if they could make it look like whales were swimming through the building, they could have done that.
Just a reminder that Bucky Gleason is in Vancouver for the Games, so be sure to follow him at our new "Gleason at the Games" blog.
---John Vogl
tagged
NHL | Olympics
