Stars come out to Canada-US gold-medal Olympic hockey game

Celebrities galore at gold-medal hockey game

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Super Sunday at the Olympics brought out the superstars.

A who’s who of hockey and homeland star power attended Canada’s gold-medal showdown against the United States on the final day of the Vancouver Games.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper came through the suite-level concourse with his security detail Sunday about an hour before faceoff.

Earlier, he bet U.S. president Barak Obama a case of beer over the result. Obama had a case of Yuengling, a Pennsylvania regional brew, riding on the game. Harper wagered 24 bottles of Molson. The beer battle pitted Canada’s oldest brewery against the oldest beer maker in the U.S.

“Mr. Hockey” Gordie Howe was cheered when already hoarse fans spotted him in a suite. Wayne Gretzky was later with the prime minister watching the game. Mark Messier was cheered when shown on the arena’s video board.

Actor Michael J. Fox, who grew up in the Vancouver suburb of Burnaby and was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 1991, was in the arena three days after he watched Canada’s women win hockey gold against the U.S.

Those Canadian women were watching from the third deck. And no, not a beer or cigar could be found among them.

Fans who entered Canada Hockey Place passed scalpers asking $1,000 and up per seat, then saw Jon Montgomery, the Canadian skeleton gold medalist. Singer Bryan Adams was also cheering the home team.

Canadian actor William Shatner watched from midlevel. Perhaps he beamed his way in.

Americans also came out, too, wearing stars, stripes and smiles.

U.S. flagbearer Billy Demong was in the arena. So were Apolo Anton Ohno, ice dancer Emily Samuelson, speedskater Ryan Bedford, figure skater Rachael Flatt, the gold medalists on the four-man bobsled team and the silver medal-winning women’s hockey team.

Actor Vince Vaughn, a friend of the U.S. players, watched from a skybox for the second consecutive game wearing a blue U.S. team jersey, just like his pals on the ice.