It was a Sunday to remember.


        USA HOCKEY...AMERICAN BADASSES               
                                                                      

Yes, it happened in February.  Yes, the weather was crappy outside.  But for any hockey fan of any capacity, how could you not love the treat we all got yesterday?  Six of the best teams in the world facing off against each other, virtually back-to-back-to-back.  For all those who may have had a...festive...Saturday night, you couldn't ask for anything more.  Of course, the highlight of it all was the marquee matchup between the United States and Canada. 

But we might as well go in chronological order when describing it all.  At around 3pm eastern time, the hockey day started with Russia skating against the Czech Republic.  Russia and Canada were seen as the favorites going into all this, with squads like USA, Sweden, and the Czechs being a notch below.  Alex Ovechkin and the Russians were actually upset int he preliminaries, so they felt some extra urgency in this one (keep in mind none of the six teams were in danger of elimination yesterday.)

"So if nobody's getting the boot, why the hell would we care about Russia vs. Czech Republic, Conor?" the readers angrily inquire. 

Well, you're right.  And as expected, Russia won the game, by a 4-2 score.  I write about it because there was one play that changed it all.  Just one.  No more than 15-20 seconds.  It was a legal, hellacious, earth-shattering body check.  On its own, it would have been a play that set a tone for the rest of the game.  The fact that it led to the game-winning goal may have set the tone for the rest of the Olympics for Russia.  I tried to find the clip on YouTube, but the Olympic organization is shooting those videos down like its their own personal game of Duck Hunt.  The only thing I can provide is the highlight package from the entire game.  If you just want to see hit/goal masterpiece, fast forward to the 4:50 mark.  And if you have time and didn't see the game, you won't regret just watching the whole highlight.

The play was so unique for a variety of reasons.  First off, it was one of those things where seeing it live was infinitely better than watching the replay.  It came from nowhere.  Jaromir Jagr was the premier player in the NHL for a decade, and he was dancing with the puck as we've seen him do billions of times.  Then from the depths of pain comes Ovechkin, the player that will lead the NHL into the next decade and beyond.  Seeing it on replay and slow-mo may draw some 'ohhhs' and 'ahhhs.'  Seeing it happen live and in real time drew a gasp, a spit-out coffee, an expletive...some response that could only be considered as tribal.

Ok, enough Euro-talk.

On to the game that everyone's talking about.  It was tough to keep this game in its proper perspective.  After all, it was a day before the 30th anniversary of the USA's Miracle on Ice against Russia.  NBC's pregame show had 45 minutes of interviews and montages that made it seem like citizens of the losing country would be burned at the stake after the game.

But keeping it simple, both teams wanted this game badly.  Bragging rights are nice, but the winner would get a higher seeding and a more pillow-y road in the medal round.  Important game.  Fun game.  Not an end-of-the-world game.  (Then again, I wasn't in Canada this morning.)

This game was special for the same reason that hockey is special as a sport.  Looking at both rosters, Canada's talent on offense and defense is superior to the United States.  Many pundits and fans knew that America's best chance was if goaltender Ryan Miller could 'steal a few games.' 

USA vs. Canada: consider the game stolen.

That's the thing about hockey.  One player, one goaltender can be all you need.   In other sports, you can have game-changing superstars offensively.  LeBron can win a game on his own or Peyton Manning carves up a defense by himself.  In ice hockey, one goaltender has the power to render a squad of superstars utterly ineffective.  One solitary, defensive ace-in-the-whole.  How else do you explain the Devils being great for every single year they have Martin Brodeur (the real one, not the drunk mutant that had a Canada jersey on last night.)  The only thing I can think to compare a hot goaltender to would be a sure-fire ace in baseball (think Johnson/Schilling in '01 or Beckett in '03.  Eat it, Yankees.)  But even in that case, those guys can't physically do it night in and night out.  Goalies are in a unique class of their own.

Miller was the game last night.  Brian Rafalski continued his most-unforeseen scoring streak, Chris Drury kept his reputation in the clutch, and USA defensemen were jumping and sliding in front of shots like madmen.  But the goalies were the difference.  Miller was composed, technically sound, and dominant.  Brodeur looked like a rookie with a gun to his head the entire game.  Carelessly turning the puck over with a baseball swing, sliding in the wrong direction on a low shot, desperately lunging at the puck on Drury's goal.  As an American fan, it was stunning to see.  As a Canadian, it was surely devastating.

I'll stop talking about it and just let you watch the highlight package.  The younger, underdog Team USA were never overwhelmed nor intimidated by Canada.  They played loose and outhustled the Canadians when it mattered most (if you could boil the game down to one play, it would be USA's empty-net goal.  How often do you hear that?)  But I won't even try to compare this game to the 1980 game against Russia.  I know it's convenient with the anniversary and all, but let's give this USA team an identity of its own.  If you're desperate for just one little connection, I'll give you this: both in 1980 and today, there was still plenty of work to be done for the USA to win the gold medal after their upsets.

After that delicious main course, Sweden-Finland was the desert of the night.  (Or for the Canadian fans, the start of the after-dinner bender.)  Admittedly, this was where my time with hockey came to an end.

Because the WWE had one of their most wonderful pay per views of the year, the Elimination Chamber.  It started at the same time as the USA-Canada game, but we were able to watch it on delay.  When Mr. DVR invented his prized apparatus, I'm sure this is the exact scenario he had in mind. 

The wrestling was going along just solidly.  Honestly, it could have been the worst event ever and the USA game would have prevailed anyway.  Long story short--aka Spoiler Alert--Chris Jericho (a blog favorite) shocked everyone to become new champion when Shawn Michaels (a blog god) came from beneath the ring to superkick Undertaker to hell. 

When I woke up yesterday morning, I was hoping for an exciting day of sports.  A hit, an upset, and a Heartbreak Kid later...mission accomplished.