Travellers the world over know the pains of flight delays due to fog, weather, late pilots or just plain busy airports. But how about a delay due to a hockey game?

An Air Canada scheduled flight sat on the tarmac in Vancouver as passengers finished watching the men's gold medal match between Canada and the United States on the final day of the Olympic Games, the airline's president, Calin Rovinescu, told a Vancouver business gathering Tuesday.

Travellers on the Montreal-bound flight could not be persuaded to board the plane while play continued. Instead, they watched the dramatic hockey game being broadcast on screens in the airport departure lounge, ignoring the airline staff's boarding instructions, Rovinescu said.

He did not say how long the flight was delayed.

Passengers on board Air Canada flights around the world during the Canada-U.S. showdown were kept apprised of the score by the flight crew, who were receiving real-time updates from operations control, Rovinescu said.