Beer cans and cigars and champagne, oh my!

Would someone please tell me why this Canada women’s hockey celebration is causing such a stir?

You’ve no doubt seen the photos by now. I doubt you’ll find any video because the celebration that occurred on Olympic ice after the Canadians beat the United States and won the gold yesterday happened long after the game, long after the medal ceremony, long after pretty much everyone had gone home. The Canadians were celebrating but decided to return to the ice, some toting beer cans, cigars and champagne bottles.

Word was, they wanted to take some snapshots on the ice to commemorate their victory.

Totally normal.

But then when some of those photos surfaced Friday morning and some of the gals were drinking and smoking, you’d have thought they were playing demolition derby with the Zambonis. The International Olympic Committee said it was going to look into the incident. The same went for the Canadian Olympic Committee. Hockey Canada issued an apology.

On ESPN.com, a reader commented that he wondered what the hockey moms in the stands should tell their daughters as they watched the scene.

Thing is, about the only hockey moms in the arena were some of the players themselves.

The arena had cleared out almost entirely. Bob Condotta, a sports reporter with the Seattle Times, blogged about the scene that he witnessed from the arena’s press box:

A dozen or so players came out with a few beers, a couple bottles, a stogie or two, hung around on the ice for a little while, took a lot of pictures. One of them drove the ice-resurfacing machine around for a minute or two. I’ve seen more lawless activity at my local library.