At 7:40 of overtime, 22 yr. old Sidney Crosby of Canada snapped a quick shot past USA goalkeeper Ryan Miller to win the Olympic Gold Medal for Canada. The explosive roar that followed first erupted inside Canada Hockey Place and stretched over the Rockies, across the Prairies, to the shores of Lake Ontario all the way to the small town of Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia – Sidney Crosby’s hometown.
Sidney Crosby rifles the winning goal past Ryan Miller in overtime
There were also mighty cheers and RV horns blaring across the Sands RV Resort here in Desert Hot Springs when Crosby scored. Not too surprising I guess as 65% of the 450 sites here are occupied by Canadians. It was definitely the biggest goal in Canadian hockey since Paul Henderson scored with 34 seconds left, in Moscow, to give Canada a great comeback victory over the Soviet Union in the famous 1972 Summit Series.
Sid “The Kid” realizing he has just scored the Gold Medal goal
It was the most important medal of the entire Olympic Games for Canada as the entire country lives and breathes hockey. Losing on home ice would have been a total, unthinkable disaster! It would definitely have cast a dark cloud over what has turned out to be the most successful Olympic Games in Canada’s history. Instead, the win setoff a wild celebration right across the country – downtown Toronto was shutdown!
The on ice celebration was duplicated clear across Canada
To all of my American friends and readers, all I can say is that is the best hockey game I’ve ever seen an American team play against Canada. I just couldn’t believe it when the USA tied the game with just 24 lousy seconds left in regulation. Was I nervous? Just a bit!!
Canada Hockey Place was packed to the rafters for this big game
At the start of the Olympics, not many experts gave the US team much of a chance for even a Bronze Medal in hockey, let alone the Gold. Most of the betting was on a Canada vs Russia final. But, the USA team had other ideas and played better than most other teams in the entire Olympics. So, a big hearty congratulations to the USA for a well deserved Silver Medal. It could easily have gone the other way!
The USA scores with 24 seconds left in regulation time to tie the score
Also, the US hockey silver was the 37th medal won by the United States at these games, also the most by any country at any Winter Olympics. The U.S. won the medals race for the first time since 1932. For Canada, we set an Olympic Games record by winning 14 Gold Medals. So, North America did pretty darn good, I’d say.
Canadian players celebrating an extremely hard fought win
As you can probably tell from this blog, the hockey game pretty much took up all of my day. In the morning, I couldn’t think about much else. From 12 noon until 3pm, I was glued to the TV. Paulette was out walking around during the game and she said the park was just deserted. Why was she walking around? Too nervous to watch which is kind of funny because she’s not even a sports fan.
Last night, we watched the Olympic Closing Ceremonies and I have to say I’m just glad it’s all over. I’m getting way too old to get emotionally involved in these sporting events – it’s way too nerve wracking!
Have a great Monday, and thanks again for visiting!
0 comments:
Post a Comment