A King is a Winner at the Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony

On Thursday night, Jack Johnson defenseman for the Los Angeles Kings was whistled for a holding penalty and missed a potential game-winning shot in a 10-round shootout. The emerging star skated off the ice at the Staples Center dejected by the loss. However, by the time Friday ended, he was walking in Vancouver a winner.

Johnson, on his day off, woke early Friday morning and boarded a six-seat chartered plane bound for Bellingham, Wash. The flight, which Johnson paid for, was only the first leg of the defensemen's trip. In Bellingham, he rented a car and driver to take him, his parents and his little brother the remaining 50 miles to Vancouver so he could participate in the opening ceremony of the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Johnson wouldn't say how much the trip cost him, but told the Los Angeles Times that the experience was priceless.

"I had to take extreme measures to get here, but it was worth every bit of it," said Johnson, the lone NHL player in the procession.

"To have the opportunity to walk alongside the Olympians from my country and walk in the opening ceremonies is something I will never forget, and there was no way I was going to let this opportunity slip by."

Jim Johannson, assistant director of hockey operations for USA Hockey, told the Times that he applauded Johnson's extraordinary effort. "This is what the Olympics is supposed to be about. It says a lot for a guy that it means so much what he went through to come and do it."

Johnson told the Times that he always wanted to be a professional hockey player, but "never in a million years thought someday he could call himself an Olympian."

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The Vancouver Winter Games are here!

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