Rise and shine: Edmontonians hit the bars for early morning Olympic hockey final

Fans in Edmonton filled bars as early as 5:30 a.m. to watch the Canadian men's hockey gold medal game. CTV News Edmonton's Miriam Valdes-Carletti has the story.

Edmontonians were up early Sunday to watch the Olympic hockey final as Canada took on the U.S.

While many were at home, perhaps watching from their beds, some fans took to their local watering hole to cheer on their national team.

“I slept three hours,” said Wayne Jones. “But with the adrenaline, the national pride and hockey – you don’t need sleep for this.”

Jones said he had a coffee, a beer, and a fireball to kick off the game.

“I gotta do my part. I gotta go full speed for the country.”

Last month, Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis announced it would allow bars and restaurants across the province to serve liquor for longer hours during the medal rounds of the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Games.

Participating establishments were asked to provide notice at least three business days before the event and were instructed to be closed for at least one hour before and after the event and serve food.

The Canadian Brewhouse in Windermere was at its full capacity of 300 people during Sunday’s game.

“I closed last night,” said general manager Aaliana Herreros. “We shut down, I was upstairs, power hour nap, and we’re back and ready to go for the Olympics.”

She said they ran out of coffee cups part way through the game.

“The crowd’s loving the breakfast food today,” said Herreros. “Me and my assistant general manager spent time polishing them in the back. We’re all a team here, so we got them going and everybody’s got their Bailey’s and coffee back on the way.”

Alex Majeau, the assistant kitchen manager, said his team has been busy preparing for the event since yesterday.

“I’ve been doing this job for 14 years and I have never cooked three-and-a-half cases of eggs in my life in one day,” he said. “We’re just trying to keep that team spirit going. The boys were doing well on the ice, seeing that was making us happy.”

Unfortunately, Team Canada fell to the U.S. 2-1 in overtime.

“It’s really tough,” said Tristin Schlauch after the game. “We fought really hard. Definitely deserved to win.”

The fan expressed sympathy for captain Connor McDavid.

“He does so much so well and it’s just tough that he can’t win on one of the biggest stages.”

But McDavid did not come home empty handed after being named tournament MVP best forward.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Miriam Valdes-Carletti