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It wasn’t a “miracle” or even an upset.
It probably won’t go down as either team’s greatest Olympic or international hockey game ever.
It simply qualifies as an outstanding hockey game. It certainly would make any hockey fan’s top five.
Canada’s 3-2 sudden-death overtime win over the United States was as good a game as you could ask for.
The fact the gold medal was on the line made it all the better.
Canada’s roster boasted a list of established stars, from Martin Brodeur, the National Hockey League’s all-time winningest goaltender, to veteran defensemen Scott Niedermayer and Chris Pronger and forwards Jarome Iginla, Mike Richards and Joe Thornton.
The Americans were picked by The Hockey News to finish fourth — one spot out of the medals — behind Canada, Russia and Sweden, in that order.
After all, the Americans weren’t blessed with household names. Possibly the best known players were forwards Chris Drury, a two-time Olympic veteran, Patrick Kane and Jamie Langenbrunner.
When it was over, Sidney Crosby, one of the NHL’s best young stars, launched Canada’s celebration with his game-winning overtime goal. Crosby didn’t have the greatest tournament, but the 22-year-old, already a Stanley Cup champion, got the goal that counted most.
The win avenged Canada’s 5-3 loss to the Americans earlier in the tournament and concluded an improbable four-game winning streak to the gold medal.
Brodeur wasn’t even in the nets for the finale, having been replaced by Vancouver’s Roberto Luongo after Brodeur allowed four goals in the loss to the Americans.
American stars included goaltender Ryan Miller, from East Lansing, Mich., and Zach Parise.
Miller, who was named the tournament’s most valuable player, was easily the best U.S. player and the best of the entire Olympic games, backstopping his team to wins over Switzerland (twice), Canada, Norway and Finland to reach the gold medal game.
Parise (pari-SAY) completed the Americans’ comeback from a 2-0 deficit in the gold medal game, sweeping a rebound into the net with 25 seconds left in regulation, forcing overtime. Parise had four goals in the tournament for the United States.
Canada’s biggest win in international competition likely would be the 1972 Summit Series over the Soviet Union. That eight-game series pitted the best the Soviets had to offer against a team of National Hockey League professionals.
The Canadians, picked by many to sweep or at least win most of the games, rallied from a 3-1-1 deficit, winning games six, seven and eight in Moscow. Paul Henderson’s goal with 34 seconds left broke a 5-5 tie in the final game.
For the United States, it has to be the “Miracle on Ice” victory over the Soviet Union in the 1980 Lake Placid Olympic games.
That U.S.A. team was comprised of amateurs, minor pros and college graduates. The names Mike Eruzione, Jim Craig, Mike Ramsay, Mark Johnson, Neal Broten, Bill Baker and others became better known after they won the gold medal, but entering the 1980 Olympic games, they were unknowns, not favored to earn a medal, let alone win the gold.
On Feb. 9, 1980, in their last exhibition game before the Olympics began, the Americans were crushed 10-3 by the same Soviet team they would beat later that month.
Unlike the Americans, the Soviets played hockey full-time for their country. They were given titles as army soldiers to maintain their “amateur” status. In reality, the Soviets were the equivalent of North American professional hockey players.
They played like it, dominating Olympic play, winning gold medals in 1956, 1964, 1968, 1972, 1976, 1984, 1988 and 1992 (the last as the “Unified” team).
The common thread between two of these greatest international games ever were some of the Soviet players involved. Captain Boris Mikhailov, Vladimir Petrov, Valeri Kharlamov, Yuri Lebedev, Alexander Maltsev and goalie Vladislav Tretiak all played in the 1972 Summit Series and for the 1980 Soviet Olympic team.
Sunday’s gold medal game wasn’t a miracle or an upset. It was, quite simply, a tremendous hockey game.
Jeff Jones is the editor of The Butler Bulletin. Questions and comments about this column may be sent by mail to: The Butler Bulletin, P.O. Box 39, Butler, IN 46721, by phone at 868-5501 or 925-2611, ext. 47 or by e-mail at
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