KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - The eruption of Canadian hockey faithful at Kandahar Airfield after Sidney Crosby's gold-medal goal may have even drowned out the roar of the fighter jets flying overhead.

Now that's loud.

A raucous crowd of more than 100 Canadians serving on this military base in southern Afghanistan leapt to its feet after Crosby tucked the puck behind red-hot U.S. goalie Ryan Miller to win the gold.

They high-fived each other. They waved Canadian flags. They embraced.

And for a few early hours of Monday morning they forgot all about the war raging outside the confines of Kandahar Airfield.

The 12.5-hour time difference between Kandahar and Vancouver meant everyone had to stay up a lot later than usual.

But there wasn't a droopy eyelid to be seen in New Canada House. Not when all eyes were glued to the giant projector screen in the theatre-style room.

And boy were they into this game.

They stomped after big hits.

They cried "Looooo!" after every one of Canadian goalie Roberto Loungo's saves.

They all laughed when someone fixed a pair of laser pointers on analyst Darren Pang's nipples during the second intermission.

But they weren't too cocky, as one guy found out when he tried to start a "Na-na-na-na" chant with less than a minute left and no one joined in.

"Nailbiter," was how Capt. Barrie Ransome described the game.

"I was excited. I was hoping for the best and Sidney didn't disappoint us at all."

Sandy Dixie of Smiths Falls, Ont., said she had a feeling Canada would win.

"You know what? I predicted the game would be 3-2 for Canada. I really did."

A pair of Americans cleared out of the room pretty quickly after Crosby's winning goal.

Sean Wilson says some friendly teasing is in store for Yanks who line up for their double-doubles at Tim Hortons, where he works.

"I'm not going to be too forward, but if they bring it up, I'm going to say 'Hey, we gotcha!"' he said.

"Because they were quite vocal after we lost to them. So it's going to be good because we're face-to-face with them all day, every day."

Watching the win in Kandahar was special for Wilson because his brother, Trooper Mark Wilson of the Royal Canadian Dragoons, was killed when his armoured vehicle struck a roadside bomb on Oct. 7, 2006 in the Panjwaii district.

"I'm very proud of him," Wilson said. "And I'm proud to be Canadian, and I'm proud to serve here with our Canadians."