The Day After

It's the question people will ask for years to come: Where were you when Sidney Crosby scored the overtime goal to clinch the gold medal in the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver?

All around the country, there are millions of stories of Canadians watching at a packed bar, on the streets, or in their homes with a handful of friends, all clad in different Canadian jerseys to witness the golden moment.

We all know what happened. But the final was more than an exciting game. There were layers and layers of storylines that only die-hard fans could really understand.

Here's a message I sent to a Canadian friend watching from Australia, detailing to her the different contexts that made the men's hockey final a game for the ages:

Well to start, Canada landed a flurry of gold medals in the last week, and coming into the hockey game, Canada was tied for the most gold medals ever produced in one Olympic Games. Team Canada was the one to get the 14th gold, setting the record in the last event on the last day. (The countries they beat for the record? Norway and the Soviet Union.)

Another reason why it was amazing was because of what the Americans were playing for. Brian Burke, the US general manager, lost his son in a car accident a few weeks ago, so I'm sure they were motivated to win it for Burke. Secondly, this year is the 30th anniversary of the "Miracle on Ice" when Team USA beat the Soviet Union in the 1980 Olympic Winter Games in Lake Placid. It was a David vs Goliath matchup -- think highschoolers beating the NBA's Dream Team. The 2010 USA jerseys were in honour of the historic event, so it was clear they wanted to win to commemorate the past. Also, Canada won in 2002 in Salt Lake City, so they naturally wanted to avenge their loss and do the same to Canada.

There were several teammates in the NHL that played in the game in opposite jerseys. Roberto Luongo -- who plays for Vancouver Canucks -- was playing against Ryan Kesler, an interesting character who I'll get back to later. Another pivotal matchup pegged USA's Patrick Kane, the laid back funny man, against his teammate in Chicago, Jonathan Toews (my favourite player). He's known as "Captain Serious" because the 21-year-old is mature beyond his years. These are two of the best young stars in the game. There were also USA's Ryan Suter and Canada's Shea Weber, two young, talented defenders who play for the Nashville Predators.

Back to Luongo and Kesler. Kesler's got a mouth. In an earlier interview during the games, he said he hated Canada. To be more precise, he said, "I hate them. It's a big rivalry, and for Canadians, it's their game. I wouldn't say I 'hate' them, but Canadians expect to win gold and anything else is not good enough. We obviously have something to prove, and it's going to be fun to try and knock them off."

He tried to retract what he said, but the damage was done. During the second intermission he also had a controversial interview, saying the Canadians always fade as the game goes on, and said Luongo was fighting the puck, meaning he was struggling. Kesler did predict they would tie the game, and sure enough they did. With both being from Vancouver, it was an interesting layer to the game. Luongo is also known for not winning the big game, so this one was huge.

What else? Sidney Crosby. Crosby was having a subpar Olympics, and he hadn't scored in the last two games prior to the final. He didn't look that good today either, so for him to score THE goal after most of the focus was on him coming into the tournament, after all the advertisements orbited around him, spoke volumes. He was marketed as a hero, and he became one. People were looking for him to have a big game, so if he didn't get the winner people would have quetstioned if he was really one of the best players in the world. When he missed his breakaway chance to seal the deal in the third period, I knew he'd come back and do something special.

I think that's all I got for now. I have individual stories for the players, but it's not pertinent to the final game. Well except for Ryan Getzlaf. With a week to go before the Olympics, he suffered a terrible looking ankle injury and many thought he wouldn't play. It was an ankle sprain. They were going to take him off the team, but his ankle held up and got better before the Olympics. In the end, he was one of the more important players in the tournament. He contributed a lot of points and dominated play along the boards along with his teammates.

Oh man.