Teams USA and Canada have met in all but one women’s hockey final since the women’s side entered the Olympics in 1998. Before yesterday’s rematch, Canada had taken gold five times, America just twice.
Well, make it thrice now for Team USA, whose thrilling skate-off victory in Milan slipped like Hilary Knight’s game-tying tip past the usual mass media babble, reinvigorating my interest in these Olympic Games. And hardly a moment too soon, as it reminds me to watch our men’s hockey squad try to clinch a gold-medal game of their own, quite possibly against Canada, later today.
What’s a local non-sportswriter to do with all of this? First, head to Barcade, whose arcade cabinets and retro playlist conjure the era of the Miracle on Ice, America’s greatest Olympics hockey story. Second, grab a joystick and play some hockey.
I started with Hit the Ice, a 1990 cabinet whose generic “Reds vs. Blues” matchup and “VHL” sponsorship (an imaginary league the developers nonetheless trademarked) avoids expensive pro sports licensing fees. The developers did however perch American and Canadian flags over the in-game arena, perhaps to pad the illusion of officialdom, or maybe to induce the feeling that something might actually be at stake. They certainly didn’t do it to fit so neatly into this essay, but I’ll take it.
Ice’s learning curve felt pretty gentle, since, unlike real hockey, this is not a terribly complicated or fast-moving game. Like a much more popular successor in the category, NBA Jam (which stands about 20 feet away in Barcade), the format is two-on-two, the view is from the stands and you can violently shove opposing players around. But where NBA Jam, released a few years later in 1993, yokes the power of celebrity and fandom, incorporating dozens of real pro players with individual play attributes (in turn giving gamers meaningful preferences and strategies), Ice skated by with the meaningless support of that imaginary league: the VHL, or “Video Hockey League.” The game’s players, too, were fabricated—cartoon caricatures with jokey names. Ice’s comedy leanings extend to the ref, an almost literal clown who spins out of control on his skates or falls hard on his keister when the action gets too close.
Still, if you go in expecting simple entertainment, there’s fun to be had. Sometimes the ref’s latest pratfall earns a grin, and once you realize you can lure the goalkeeper to one side before passing the puck to your teammate on the other, even a rookie like me can put some points on the board. Plus, after a score, your avatar and one of your opponents’ might grab each other, at which time you get to furiously smash your buttons until you punch the other guy’s lights out. There are also nice design touches to appreciate for a game that was helping pioneer the format: the players’ reflections gliding through the rink with them, the grooves that build up across the ice as the player’s skates wear it down.
Barcade’s other hockey game, Blades of Steel, is, like its name, much more intense. It’s also much more hidden, part of a Nintendo PlayChoice cabinet that requests your tokens in exchange for time with its multi-game interface. Released two years earlier, Steel offers a more traditional bird’s-eye, TV camera view, where full-size hockey squads (also unlicensed, with teams simply named for American and Canadian cities) zipping more powerfully and more gracefully around a bigger rink. You can still get into fistfights, but even those are more intense, since control of the puck is at stake.
Coded just two years earlier, the graphics were a quantum leap behind Hit the Ice’s, yet Steel’s tighter and quicker action made for a more engaging and memorable gaming experience. My biggest gripe was the awkward, superimposed PlayChoice interface, which I had to waste precious token time deciphering. My New York squad was down 5-1 against Montreal by the time I ran out, though that one goal felt sweeter and more earned than all the rest.
Back in real life, I staged my own imaginary America-Canada contest, pitting what I decided was the most American-sounding beer on Barcade’s long (and technically all-American) tap list against the most Canadian-ish one. For Team USA, I chose the Back East Ice Cream Man (6.9% ABV, $9), an American IPA named after a job America invented that also happens to contain the word “ice.” And I’m glad I did, because it was totally delicious. A creamsicle nose wafting off a fluffy, creamy head led to a palate that took things even higher, topping that already-irresistible orange-vanilla blend with notes of fresh mango and candied orange rind.
Sounds hard to beat, but Team Canada, in the form of the Ommegang Everything Nice (9% ABV, $9), was a worthy opponent. Invoking a cliché about Canadians and brewed as close to the Canadian border (Cooperstown, New York) as last night’s Barcade menu got, it had a nose of waffles and spiked syrup, though, ironically, not maple. Those flavors followed through on the palate, kicked up with nutmeg and cinnamon. With a color shimmering somewhere between bronze and gold, the texture and flavor also found a striking balance, pairing a light and juicy mouthfeel with potent, wintry, boozy flavors.
Which one did I prefer? Like the women’s gold medal game, it was an evenly matched bout between two top pours.
And like that game, America won.
USA! USA! USA!
Written by Dan Mims. Image 1, featuring Team USA celebrating its walk-off win, sourced form NBC/Peacock. Image 2, featuring a pour of the Back East Ice Cream Man with Hit the Ice, photographed by Dan Mims.
