The innocence of the Olympic hockey tournament is what really made it great. I imagine there are few honors greater than getting an opportunity to represent your country and by extension its people. That’s extra special to everyone, even the most hardened professionals. These athletes make millions every year and perpetuating that livelihood is what motivates them first and foremost but in the Olympics it’s different. It’s about the colors, the flags, the places they grew up in as kids and the people that live there now.
Olympic hockey highlights the best the game has to offer from a fans perspective. The successes felt like pure ecstasy and the failures were emotionally devastating. It was all so real and genuine too. You’ll never see greater sportsmanship from hockey players than during these games.
It’s cliché to say in hockey circles but at its greatest moments, the tension of great hockey match-ups are nearly impossible to beat. It’s back and forth: an incredible save after an odd-man rush followed by a rebound chance ringing off the goal post followed by a diving poke-check leading to a break-away only to be broken up by a back-checking defender that just never gave up.
If you don’t really care about hockey and you watched some of this tournament as an American, you had to be surprised with what this game does to your heart rate. Every moment is a potential crisis or endorphin rush.
Vertigo.
That’s what it felt like when Parise scored late in the third period, Sunday evening. I knew Kane would make something happen. He had been the Americans’ best forward the whole game, the one player that the Canadian defense was having trouble containing. With less than 30 seconds remaining in a 60 minute game, down by one goal in a game where only three goals had been scored in the previous 59 minutes and 30 seconds, Kane swung the puck to the front of the Canadian net, Luongo couldn’t corral it, and Parise punched it in. The Americans had tied the game against the favored Canadians, for the gold medal, in Vancouver . The stakes were insanely high.
Canada eventually got their gold medal. But the Americans had plenty of reasons to celebrate during this tournament. They were a young team who exceeded the expectations of even the most demanding American hockey observers. A silver medal is still a tremendous achievement.
As nice as it was to see the United States reach unexpected levels of success, I was equally happy that so many people were given a chance to see great hockey. For a few weeks, hockey was the center of the American sports scene. And the teams didn’t disappoint. This was about as good as it gets. Everyone was laying it on the line. But as intense as this Olympic tournament was, the NHL playoffs can easily match it. There will be rabid crowds, exciting moment, incredible upsets, all of it. Just tune in and watch. People buy the ticket at first because of the tension and the drama but they keep coming back for the story lines.
The Sabres play the Pengiuns two days from now! Miller is the 2010 Olympic mens hockey MVP. Crosby scored the overtime gold medal winning goal and he did it against Miller. Now the public is starting to taste the story of hockey. Three weeks ago the Pens vs. the Sabres is just another game but now it’s different. That’s how it starts.
There’s plenty of room on the hockey train America, you’re welcome to join us.