Duncan Keith, Patrick Sharp, and Jonathan Toews showed their gold medals.
SOCHI, Russia — The only thing that would have made it better would have been making the Russian bear dance to ‘O Canada’ inside his own wintry den. Otherwise Canada’s men’s hockey team ran the table at Olympus and reaffirmed its primacy around the planet.
By snuffing out the Swedes, 3-0, on goals by Jonathan Toews, Sidney Crosby, and Chris Kunitz in Sunday’s final inside the Bolshoy Ice Dome for their third gold medal at the last four Games and their country’s ninth in the sport, Captain Crosby and his maple-leafed teammates checked several significant boxes. They were the first champions to repeat since the Soviet Union did it in 1988 and the first to win every game (six in all) since the Big Red Machine managed it in 1984. And they were the first Canadian team to win a gold medal outside of North America since the 1952 squad did it in Oslo.
“To come in and do what we did, to play the way we played today, it is a tremendous feeling,” declared forward Corey Perry, whose mates allowed only three goals in the tournament and none in the medal round.
If thisindeed is the NHL’s Last Hurrah at the Games, and it may well be, it was important that the nation that taught the world how to play with a frozen rubber disc establish beyond doubt that its best players are also the best in the world.
Until the Soviets first entered a team in 1956 in Cortina d’Ampezzo there was no question about that. From 1920 through 1952 the Canucks won all but one gold medal and that one, in 1936, went to a British team which had nine players of 13 who’d grown up in the Dominion. Anyone they sent — the Winnipeg Falcons, Toronto Granites, RCAF Flyers, Edmonton Mercurys — was the class of the field.
Once the Big Red Machine got rolling, though, the Canadians went off the gold standard for half a century. They didn’t even show up in 1972 and 1976, arguing that they should be able to use pros against the Soviets, who were amateurs in name only. But once they began sending the Yzermans and Lemieuxs and Kariyas and Brodeurs, the Canucks were back atop the scrum.
“It’s the skill they have, all the players they have to choose from,” observed Swedish forward Jonathan Ericsson, who was deftly dispossessed by Crosby on the second goal. “They could probably have three gold-contender teams if they wanted to.”
The question is whether the Canadians will be able to piece together even one if the NHL concludes that its Olympic adventure has run its course after five quadrennia and opts not to go to South Korea in 2018.
The Lords of the Rings and the International Ice Hockey Federation, of course, want the best players available for Pyeongchang and beyond. “Our door is wide open,” declared IIHF president Rene Fasel. “Shocking,” NHL commissioner Gary Bettman replied wryly. “I never would have guessed.”
Having the league stock the medal round with its stars is a five-ringed-bonus for the Olympic family and for NBC, which gets a global showcase for the same people the network is paying $2 billion to televise in the States. What it does for the clubs themselves, who have to shut down in the middle of the season and who get their players back jet-lagged at best and injured at worst (e.g. Islanders captain John Tavares, down for the season with a torn MCL).
“As a practical business matter for the clubs individually the Olympics have no positive effect,” NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly acknowledged during the Games. “Certainly for the visibility of ice hockey, which is good for big-picture National Hockey League, it can be good. The reason we’re here is because, given all the pros and cons, we made a determination that on balance it was more positive to be here than negative. That’s why we’re in Sochi.”
With three of the last four Games in the three most important hockey countries on earth — Russia, Canada and the US — the value of putting the NHL brand on display was undeniable. There’ll be no such value in Korea, whose own pro league collapsed years ago. So the way that a number of NHL people see it, it makes more sense to bypass Olympus and revive the World Cup which last was held in 2004.
The World Cup is all upside for the NHL. The league can hold it in North America before the season under its own format and keep all the revenues and marketing rights. Everything that’s a problem at the Games goes away. Except that the World Cup isn’t the Olympics. “World Cups could be a step below,” said US forward David Backes. “You’re never going to replace the Olympics. It’s every four years and it’s something special.”
That’s the point that the IIHF keeps making to the NHL. “There is nothing like an Olympic gold medal in the life of an athlete,” Fasel declared during the Games. “Nothing.” “Except, perhaps, winning the Stanley Cup,” Bettman retorted.
The difference, of course, is that the Games come once every four years and the whole hockey-playing world is watching. Everyone knows who won at Lake Placid in 1980 and who they upset along the way. Who won the Cup that year?
“The Olympic gold medal you cannot replace,” said Fasel. “Stanley Cup? World champion? Yeah, yeah. Every year there is a Stanley Cup, every year a world champion, but an Olympic gold medal? Look at the faces of the players when they get their gold medal. So different.”
The difference between playing for club and country is enormous. Had the Canadians lost the final to the Americans in Vancouver, the entire Great White North would have gone into mourning. And imagine if they’d lost to the Russians?
That’s why it was so important for the Canadians to win here. “Vancouver was relief,” said forward Rick Nash. “Playing on home soil was such a big deal to win gold and we did it. This time we came into one of the most hostile environments for a Canadian — into Russia — and to win a gold medal in Russia is pretty special for Canadians.”
They don’t play your anthem and raise your flag when you win the Cup and you have to give it back the next year. A gold medal is yours to keep. The Canadians likely will cherish this one like no other.
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Canadian women’s hockey team wins Olympic gold with stunning comeback
SOCHI, Russia – The U.S. women's hockey players didn't feel like they won a silver medal as much they lost a gold medal.
They were within 3:26 of owning an Olympic gold medal and then suddenly their dream was gone, dashed by a 3-2 overtime loss to Canada.
"We were just so focused on doing ourjob and not letting what happened happen," U.S. forward Kelli Stack said. "And I don't know how it happened. I'm shocked."
Again the Americans tried to measure up to Canada, and they were an inch short. With 1:25 left in the game, Stack's attempted clearing pass hit the post on an empty Canada net.
BRONZE: Goes to the Swiss women
"When I first let it go, I thought it had a chance," Stack said. "But when it crossed the blue line, I thought it was going to hit the post."
It might seem like the Americans lost on a bounce, but the collapse was symbolic of the difference between Canada and the USA in women's hockey. At the Olympics, Canada always finds a way to win, while the Americans are still trying to figure out how to close the deal.
Marie-Philip Poulin scored a 4-on-3 power play goal at 8:10 of overtime to cap one of the memorable comebacks in women's hockey history. Trailing 2-0, Canada got a goal from Brianne Jenner with 3:26 left on a shot that caromed off the knee of Kacey Bellamy. Then Poulin tied the game with 54.6 seconds left.
"We kind of let down defensively a little bit," said U.S. forward Alex Carpenter. "We let in two soft goals. It is so hard to explain."
What we know is that it is not luck that has allowed Canada to win four gold medals. The Canadians clearly possess an intangible advantage that the Americans don't own. It doesn't appear to be talent, coaching or desire. Mental toughness seems to be the answer. When the game is on the line, Canada always rises up.
The USA won in 1998 when women's hockey was first introduced at the Olympics, and Canada has won in 2002, 2006, 2010 and now 2014.
The two programs are similar in terms of talent, work ethic and preparation, and they are miles ahead of other countries. But Canada continues to have an edge in confidence and perhaps the mental toughness that helps teams close out an opponent. The Americans might be temporarily stuck in a period where they are trying to win, and hoping to win, while the Canadians are expecting to win.
"Leading up to the game, we talked a lot about how we felt this team was different," Stack said. "We were more prepared and focused. We thought a lot about that 1998."
But the Americans weren't able to find the confidence, or moxie, they needed when their lead began to unravel.
"You just need a little play and momentum of the game gets so switched around," Canadian defender Catherine Ward said. "With that one goal we got, they were on their heels and we just kept pressuring."
The Americans are trying to find that extra layer of bravado that the Canadians possess. They are close. We know that because the Americans have won four of the last five world championships. But the Canadians seem to be inside their heads in Olympic competition.
VIDEO: Hockey heartbreak for U.S.
It feels as if the American women need one Olympic title to get them soaring, similar to what the U.S. men experienced after the World Cup triumph in 1996. The American men's program had a swagger after they downed Canada in Montreal for the World Cup. Right now, in women's hockey, only the Canadians have that swagger.
"When you let other factors come in, it can bounce either way," said U.S. winger Hilary Knight. "It's heartbreaking. You go four years and you think you have the game in the bag, but something happens. It's unfortunate. But this group has represented our country at an outstanding level. So I can't be too heartbroken about it."
The craziness just to get Poulin's moment of Olympic glory was amazing in itself.
In the overtime period, which is played 4-on-4, the Americans got a power play when Ward was called for cross-checking Anne Schleper. The Americans immediately had a scoring chance, but goalie Shannon Szabados grabbed the puck.
Jocelyne Lamoureux tried to knock the puck loose, and earned a two-minute slashing penalty.
It was then a 3-on-3 game when the Americans fed a pass to Schleper in the high slot
area of the Canada zone. She fell down, and that left Hayley Wickenheiser on a breakaway.
area of the Canada zone. She fell down, and that left Hayley Wickenheiser on a breakaway.
PHOTOS: GOLD MEDAL GAME
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PHOTOS
U.S. forward Hilary Knight caught her from behind, and she went down. Knight got a penalty. Poulin scored.
"I didn't touch her," Knight said. "She fell. It was a bogus call. But it didn't (come down) to one call. We had plenty of opportunity to put the puck in the back of the net."
U.S. captain Meghan Duggan scored one goal in the second period and Carpenter added one in the third to give USA a 2-0 lead that it should have held but didn't.
"It was awesome to get a two-goal lead, but I always cringe at a two-goal lead because for some reason we always let them come back," Stack said.
At some point, the Americans will find a way to repair a dam before it bursts. But it wasn't this year.
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