Former NHL star Jeremy Roenick called Sunday Night's game between the USA and Canada, "the most important game in hockey history", and I couldn't agree more. Two bordering nations parked themselves in front of their televisions to watch the final event of the action-packed 2010 Winter Olympics. The Canadian team came into this years games as a huge favorite, and for good reason with players such as Sidney Crosby, Jerome Iginla, Patrick Marlauea, Joe Thorton, Jonoatan Toews, Rick Nash, Eric Staal, Dany Heatley, Ryan Getzlaf, Chris Pronger, Scott Niedermayer, Roberto Luongo and Matin Brodoer... just to name a few. The underdog American squad, with players such as Patrick Kane, David Backes and surprising star goalie Ryan Miller had a group of skilled young guys who were hungry to take home gold. The Americans looked promising in the preliminary rounds beating everyone they played, including Canada. They breezed through the playoff games until the final, which happened to be a rematch against Canada.
Though the outcome was disappointing, the game itself was fantastic. From the first face off, even someone who doesn't follow hockey could tell these guys were in for a battle. The final was hard-fought, clean, and super exciting all the way until the very end, an end that became an instant classic. Down 2-1, the USA's Zach Parise scored off a rebound with just 24 seconds left to send the game into overtime. The Americans took all the momentum into the locker room, but came out of the intermission a little flat and it cost them. A few minutes in, Crosby took a pass from Iginla and put it past Miller to secure the gold for Canada.
Of course we all wanted to pull the upset of the powerhouse Canadian team at their own sport, but the effort and success of the young Americans should be very much appreciated. We must remember that Canada was the heavy favorite, considering their team is unfairly good and all these games have taken place on their home turf.
No matter the outcome, this game was a great step for the sport of hockey in America. Unlike the Stanley Cup (hockey's equivalent to football's Super Bowl), the Gold Medal game only comes every four years rather than every year, and its not guaranteed that the USA will be in it. Even more important than that, this game was the one time hockey, non-hockey fans, and everyone else in the country came together and pulled for one team. Rather than rooting for the Sharks or Ducks or Blackhawks or Red Wings, everyone was pulling for the USA. Sunday's instant classic was a great day in hockey history for Canada, and yet still a step forward for hockey in America.
