Sidney Crosby’s gold medal goal from the closing day of the Vancouver Olympics became a rare poster-style cover wrap on all editions of Monday’s The Globe and Mail.
The wrap shows a double-page photo of both fans and players seconds after Crosby’s overtime goal.
It appeared on each of the paper’s Monday editions with GM Canada ads for Chevrolet running across the bottom, with the headline: “We’re proud to have moved the team that moved a nation.”
Cover wraps are a rarity for the Globe, said David Walmsley, managing editor, news and sports. The tactic was suggested by the editorial team who wanted to create a “cut-out and keep” poster to commemorate the Games.
“The intention was always that this be a poster that was pleasing to the kids of Canada, who’d put it on their walls and in classrooms,” he said. “There was a certain degree of ownership of the Games too. We were the national newspaper of the Games. We believed in committing the resources and providing original material as best we could.”
With Chevrolet’s involvement finalized by Friday, editorial staff designed several versions of the wrap so that, regardless of Canada’s on-ice performance on Sunday, the Globe could meet the deadline for its East Coast edition mere hours after the gold medal game.
If Canada had lost the game, the wrap would have been a collection of images honouring the nation’s record-tying 13 gold medals. Designer David Pratt had been working throughout Sunday night’s game and was all but finished the 13-gold retrospective version when Crosby’s shot snuck past USA goalie Ryan Miller in overtime to put Canada atop the podium.
“Then the job became about the right [single] image,” Walmsley said. “There were a limited number that would work across [the double-page spread].” In the end the Globe chose Jamie Squire’s wide-angle shot because it worked both as a whole and in individual pieces–it had to look good spread out, folded at the spine and quartered when placed in curb-side newspaper boxes.
“That photograph is almost a painting,” Walmsley said. “You can look at every face in the crowd and find your favourite.”
