Back From Sochi

Wednesday, 26 February 2014 at 13:23

Woodstock native Brad Kovachik reflects on his time spent in Russia for the Winter Games.

Except for the jet lag, Brad Kovachik says his experience at the Olympics in Russia, overall, was an experience of a lifetime.

Kovachik, a Woodstock native and NHL linesman, was selected to officiate the men's hockey competition at the Winter Games.

Kovachik was on the ice for five games in total, including two Canadian matchups. "It was good. Actually both those games were pretty close, they beat Finland 2-1 in overtime and then they got quite a scare from Latvia in the quarter-finals and they won that 2-1 as well. It's interesting, cause you know, all the Canadians teams they know us, they feel comfortable with us where a team like Latvia, I think maybe there's only one player with NHL experience so they didn't really know us that well."

The larger ice and different sight lines was the biggest adjustment for the linesman while working the games but he said it only took a couple of games to get a feel for it.

It wasn't all work for Kovachik while he was in Sochi. He says during his time at the Olympics, he had the opportunity to watch some curling and long track speed skating; took in some sightseeing, visiting the city of Sochi and venturing up the mountain, which Kovachik referred to as "breathtaking" with the village and mountain surrounding it.

And although he wasn't at the event where the Canadian men captured the gold medal in curling, he was in attendance at the ceremony held afterwards when Team Jacobs received their medals in Olympic Village.

Kovachik was also in the stands to watch Canada beat Sweden 3-0 for the gold medal.

When asked what the highlight was of his time at the Winter Olympics, Kovachik responded with "just being a part of it. Not a lot of people get to say they were a part of the Olympics. I think going over we were a little bit nervous about what we were going to get when we got over there. At no point did we feel like we were in any danger and I think at the end of day you'll probably remember the guys you worked with, that you went over there with and experienced it. For me, it will be a once-in-a-lifetime thing, I'll probably never get back to an Olympics; just looking back at it, being part of an Olympics games."