USA Stuns Canada!!! (Click Here to Leave/Read Comments)

In a game in which they were the clear cut underdogs, Team USA pulled of a stunning upset of Canada last night in Vancouver beating the Canadians for the first time since 1960. This was the type of game that you could get into even if you don’t really like hockey. It was a hard hitting game that was constantly going back and forth, and the young American team showed a ton of grit and courage in holding off a hard charge by Canada in the final two periods. The atmosphere was very intense and it felt like I was watching a playoff game. The home Canadian crowd was loud and raucous before the game started and they didn’t let up even after the puck had dropped. Then, out of nowhere, everything changed when Brian Rafalski scored just 41 seconds into the game. Rafalski and Team USA had accomplished the number one task on their checklist for the game: take the crowd out of it. The Canadian team had to be pumped feeding off of the crowd’s energy and the momentum took a big time swing after Rafalski’s goal.

The ramifications of this game are huge and it has completely changed the complexion of the rest of the tournament. Coming off this loss, Canada must now play in a qualifying game on Tuesday against Germany while Team USA will go right to the quarterfinals and enjoy an extra days rest. This also destroys any chance of the Canada vs Russia Gold Medal game that many people felt was a lock because the Canadians will now have to face Russia in the quarterfinals if they can beat Germany on Tuesday. This game has also lead to a bit of a controversy in Canada as people have suddenly begun to question whether or not Martin Brodeur is the right man to be in goal for the Canadian team. Brodeur did not play well at all and looked to have problems handling the puck which is usually a strength of his.

This USA team is very young and very inexperienced when it comes to Olympic play however, they played loose and were able to answer every time Canada took a swing at them. After Canada tied the score in the first period, the US came right back just 22 seconds later to take the lead again on another goal by Brian Rafalski. Then after Canada tied the score early on in the second period, the Americans were able to hold off the Canadians and eventually took the lead on a Chris Drury goal late in the period. Team USA’s goalie Ryan Miller played exceptionally well last night facing 45 shots on goal and while he didn’t steal the show, he certainly made all the big saves and looked to be unaffected by the pressure Canada applied in the second and third period.

As I said earlier, this American team is very young and there were a lot of questions going into the games about whether or not they could handle the International stage of the Olympics. Typically American teams going into International play have included players like Mike Modano, Keith Tkachuk, and Chris Chelios. Team USA General Manager Brian Burke should be given a lot of credit for having the guts to shake things up and not include any of those veterans opting to go with a younger fresher look. While they went into this game unproven, the young Americans certainly took the first steps towards showing the world that they weren’t afraid of the big stage. During the final three minutes of the game, which TV announcer Mike Emrick described as “mesmerizing”, Team USA was able to really buckle down and fight off a late charge by the powerful Canadian team. There was actually a stretch of nearly a minute and a half where the Canadians pinned the Americans in their own zone but Team USA showed real guts diving all over the ice blocking shots left and right.

The key for the US will now be to make sure they don’t have a let down. Beating Canada is a great accomplishment, however the US will now move into the medal round where each team will be very good and it’s basically win or go home from here on out. During a post game interview, Forward Bobby Ryan said, “It's just a game, it really is. It gets us a bye". "It gets us a couple days of rest, a couple of days of practice together, but other than that, I don't think people should read too much into it. We could see these guys again and it could be for a medal." The funny thing is, for anyone to even mention that the US would compete for a medal seemed pretty unlikely before these games started however this win over Canada has people back tracking a bit. This is the one event that I can really get into during the Winter Olympics and I can’t wait for the medal round to begin.