I'm not one of those who see the glass as seven-eighths empty. I see it, rather, as one-eighth full. So I'm not crying in my crisp, refreshing Canadian beer over last night's 5-3 loss to the United States in Olympic hockey.

No, there is an upside: Canada won't have to face Russia or Sweden in the gold-medal game next weekend. The downside is that we will have to beat both those powerhouse teams one-on-one to get within even sniffing distance of the podium. Assuming we can first dispatch Germany tomorrow night.

By losing to the U.S., Canada has made its path to hockey gold exponentially harder. I'm cool with that. It's only fair that this team of highly paid superstars should have to scratch and claw and body-check its way to victory (or to honorable defeat), just like everybody else.

Sharp contrast: Virtually every TV set in Canada was tuned to the Canada-U.S. game last night -- while NBC, holder of the U.S. broadcast rights, kept its cameras focused on the figure skaters and pretended hockey was not an Olympic event.

Sentimental favorite: Catch, if you can, tomorrow's performance by Quebec skater Joannie Rochette. Rochette's parents had flown to Vancouver to watch her compete. She was awakened yesterday by her father and her coach with news that her 55-year-old mother had died overnight of a heart attack. Hours later, Rochette was on the ice, practising her short program. She may or may not make the podium, but she is sure to have spectators around the world cheering her grit.