To thunderous, prolonged cheers, the sovereign of Canada dropped a perfect puck for an NHL ceremonial face-off last night, pushing her Deputy Prime Minister's fumbling of the monarchy ball to the margins of national consciousness.
Heralded by a fanfare of navy trumpeters, the hatless, 76-year-old Queen walked out on a red carpet to centre ice, flanked by hockey nobility Wayne Gretzky and Howie Meeker and members of Canada's Olympic teams.
Mr. Gretzky handed the Queen the puck. The Queen leaned down and let it fall from her gloved fingers to plop flat on the ice before nearly 18,000 cheering, yelling, applauding monarchists-for-a-night in Vancouver's GM Place.
It was dubbed in advance the most imaginative moment of the 12-day Golden Jubilee tour across Canada. It was more than imaginative -- it was inspired, a defining, if bizarre, moment of Canadian culture. As the puck dropped, a giant gold EIIR flashed on the JumboTron screen atop an "I Am Canadian" beer logo.
Vancouver Canucks captain Markus Naslund scooped the puck up from the ice and handed it back to the Queen with a brief bow.
She then left centre ice with Mr. Gretzky, Mr. Meeker, Cassie Campbell, the captain of Canada's gold-medal Olympics women's team, and Ed Jovanovski, Canucks defenceman and member of Canada's gold-medal men's Olympic team.
A few minutes later, at the singing of the national anthem, the crowd nearly lifted the roof.
With Mr. Gretzky at her side, the Queen and Prince Philip watched the first period of the preseason game between the Canucks and the San Jose Sharks. She chatted constantly with Mr. Gretzky, on several occasions making him laugh. She then attended a between-periods reception hosted by B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell and then left for her hotel, ending a nine-hour working day.
But even though her job had ended, the Queen, it seemed, was interested in seeing the game through to its end. Mr. Gretzky said that as she left, the Queen asked what channel it was on because she and Prince Philip wanted to return to their hotel and watch the remainder.
At a press conference after the ceremony, a U.S. reporter asked Mr. Gretzky why the Queen was important.
"Every country's different and we grew up in this one with the Royal Family as part of our heritage," said Mr. Gretzky, who called the evening "great for Canada."
He smiled when asked about her puck-drop. "Her technique was fine. She knew what she was doing."
For the benefit of British journalists following the Queen, a press kit from the Canucks organization included a handout headed, "What is hockey?"
They might also have wanted a handout called "Who is John Manley?"
Several British reporters spent the weekend hunting for the Deputy Prime Minister, while many of his fellow citizens who gathered earlier at the B.C. Legislature in Victoria for a musical celebration of the Queen's 50-year reign called him an embarrassment.
"Talk about egg on your face," sneered Grace Higginson of Vancouver, touring a Royal British Columbia Museum exhibit of previous royal visits to Victoria.
Amber Martin, 23, selling tickets for horse-drawn carriage rides on the street in front of B.C.'s Legislature, asked what entitled Mr. Manley to make the comments he did as the Queen began her visit to the province.
And after Saturday's front-page headlines trumpeted the Deputy Prime Minister's hopes that monarchy in Canada would end with the Queen, Britain's Press Association court correspondent, Peter Archer, said in Victoria, "That will be the story."
Yesterday, Victoria's historic inner harbour -- framed by the Empress Hotel and the provincial Parliament Buildings -- was awash in flags, banners, people and a celebratory atmosphere. The day was warm, the sun peeked through the clouds.
Two ships from the Pacific Fleet's nearby base at Esquimalt docked overnight and strung out their signal pennants from mast to stern.
At Christ Church Anglican Cathedral, the site of the first public appearance of the Queen and Prince Philip, hundreds of people crowded behind barricades to cheer the royal couple as they entered the church.
Prince Philip read the lesson from scripture, which began, "When a crowd of many thousands had gathered, packed so close they were treading on one another. . . ."
Canon Herbert O'Driscoll, who wrote the words to one of the hymns sung, said, "Isn't it wonderful to sing God Save the Queen when she's right in front of you?"
As the Queen emerged after the service, she suddenly indicated to the dean, Very Rev. John Wright, that she intended to walk around and meet people at the barricades.
After a few minutes, the couple drove off to a federal government lunch at the Empress, then went to the grounds of the Parliament Buildings for a 40-minute Golden Jubilee celebration of music and native dancing.
For the score of British journalists covering the Queen's Canadian tour, Mr. Manley's comments have provided the opportunity to report on rumblings of republicanism in high places -- echoing coverage of the Queen's jubilee year visits to Australia, New Zealand and Jamaica.