USA vs. Canada: Is this heaven? No, it's Olympic hockey

Image via Wikipedia

USA's 5-3 upset of Canada showcased everything that is good about hockey – and made a case for why NHL players should come back for the Winter Olympics in 2014.

Vancouver, British Columbia

After this, can National Hockey League owners actually follow through on their threat to take players out of the 2014 Olympics?

Sunday, many Americans watched probably the most exciting game of hockey that they have – and perhaps will – ever see in their lives.

To those who were watching in 1980: You are, of course, excepted. But in the post-cold war world, this is about as good as it is bound to get.

True, no medal was at stake, and Canada will live to play the Germans Tuesday. But the United States’ 5-3 win over Canada Sunday, while no miracle, was miraculous hockey. And in the spirit of a growing rivalry between neighbors, it will surely count almost as much as a medal.

Back in America, do people understand the enormity of what just happened here?

Canada's Mardi Gras

Sunday, Beattie Street in Vancouver looked like the French Quarter, which could be the first time since the establishment of the New World that Canada could be mistaken for New Orleans.

Earlier this month in Miami, the Super Bowl had the feel of vacuum-sealed excitement, something pre-packaged and fed to the masses with Bud Light commercials. It was an excuse for a week-long party, with a football game at the end of it.

Sunday morning in Vancouver was a spontaneous national celebration emanating from Canada’s deep cultural connection to a single sport. The anticipation of this game flushed the streets of Vancouver Canada-red. Thousands upon thousands of hockey sweater-wearing partisans spread like an autumn maple leaf across the city.

What could be seen in Canada Hockey Place was but the minutest fraction of what animated the city and country beyond its walls.

This made Sunday’s game extraordinary. But so, too, did the hockey.

It was a game as advertised – a cross-border bout of Rock ’Em Sock ’Em Robots on ice. Canada, with its superior skill, pummeled the American net with pucks. But, built to do all the little things right – and to thank their stars and stripes that they have Ryan Miller in goal – America not only hung on but counterpunched. And hard.

Never, in 60 minutes of slugfest hockey, did Canada hold the lead.

The ultimate advertisement

Does the NHL inspire like this? In fact, as games near the moment when the steward of the Stanley Cup puts on those silly white gloves, it sometimes comes close.

Anyone who saw the showdown between Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin in last season’s Stanley Cup Playoffs will know that the Olympics do not hold a monopoly on hockey that stirs the soul.

But guess what? If Sidney Crosby and Canada beat a weak German team Tuesday, who will they face? Alexander Ovechkin and Russia.

The NHL should buy that three-hour time slot and promote it as the best possible advertisement for the game of hockey.

There is, of course, logic behind why NHL owners don’t want to shut down the league for two weeks every four years. The Olympics return their players worse for wear, and – with the exception of Salt Lake – the Olympics have done little to sell hockey in the US.

The Games in Nagano came and went well past beddy-by for most Americans, and Turin, well, was Turin. Inspiration came only in small drops.

But 2014 is in Sochi – that would be Russia. Do you think Russia won’t be excited by Olympic hockey?

The fact is, Olympic hockey, while perhaps not the best hockey (teams come together only a day before the tournament starts), is hockey in its purest form: passion, skill, and skating.

Is this hockey heaven? No, it’s the Olympics.

Source: http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Olympics/Olympics-blog/2010/0222/USA-vs.-Canada-Is-this-heaven-No-it-s-Olympic-hockey

Aksel Lund Svindal wins men's Olympic super-G gold

Image via Wikipedia

WHISTLER, British Columbia -- Aksel Lund Svindal of Norway won the men's super-G title Friday, denying American Bode Miller his first Olympic gold medal.

Svindal won in 1 minute, 30.34 seconds on a tough, icy track that gave many racers problems staying within the painted blue lines guiding the course. Miller was second, trailing by 0.28 second, and Andrew Weibrecht of Lake Placid, N.Y., was 0.31 behind Svindal in third.

The U.S. now has six Alpine medals in four races, its most ever, with six events remaining. Norway, with two, is the only other country with more than one medal.

Americans won five Alpine medals -- three golds and two silvers -- at the 1984 Sarajevo Games, when the program included only six races.

Svindal took silver in the downhill won by Switzerland's Didier Defago on Monday, leaving Miller with the bronze.

The 27-year-old Svindal peaked at the right time after a difficult season trying to defend his World Cup overall title. He had a left knee injury in October and was sidelined by a strength-sapping bout of flu over the New Year's holiday.

"It's been a lot of work getting to where I need to be for winning races," Svindal said.

He said his downhill result took the pressure off.

"I felt like it was the last thing I was thinking at the start gate -- 'You already have a silver and it can only get better, so enjoy this and give it all you have. Don't hold anything back."

Svindal threw both arms in the air as he crossed the finish line and held the pose for the crowd. He then stretched his arms out wide and, pushing his palms upward, urged the crowd to cheer louder.

Miller looked on clapping and smiling broadly from the leader's standing spot, in front of television cameras beside the finish area.

He said he got his medal by skiing aggressively.

"You had to be willing to risk everything. All of us -- Andrew, myself, Aksel -- had sections where we almost blew out, where we barely made it," he said. "When you're pushing that hard and you have that much desire to get to the finish, it's usually what separates those hundreths of a second."

Miller's fourth career Olympic medal -- in four different events -- makes him the most decorated American Alpine skier in history. He also got silvers in giant slalom and combined at the 2002 Salt Lake City Games.

The 32-year-old Miller and 24-year-old Weibrecht became the first American men to get medals in the same Alpine event since twins Phil and Steve Mahre went 1-2 in slalom at Sarajevo. Americans Lindsey Vonn and Julia Mancuso were 1-2 in the women's downhill Wednesday.

It was the first elite-level podium finish for Weibrecht, who has never finished better than 10th in a World Cup race. That was in the downhill at Beaver Creek, Colo., in November 2007.

"I haven't ever come down leading a race," he said. He started third and "figured I would stay in there until 10 guys came down. But I kept staying in there."

Svindal, starting No. 19, eight places after Miller, trailed the American by 0.30 second at the first time split but made up the difference and had a 0.02 lead at the halfway point. He extended his lead along the bottom half of the course.

The big Norwegian was clocked at 114.8 kph (71.3 mph) at a speed check where Miller went through at 100.9 kph (62.7 mph).

Miller delivered an expert run that challenged racers' ability to be fast while showing technical skills to keep control through the turns.

"I skied the top almost as well as I could the first 30 seconds," he said. "I knew I needed to put big time on the guys on the top of the course and then hang on and make no errors on the bottom."

Even Weibrecht went wide early in his run and launched into the air at one jump, with his left ski high in the air before landing well.

"I definitely let it go as much as I could today," said Weibrecht, who celebrated at the finish by beating his chest with his right fist. "Going into the bottom, I really hammered because I knew my mistakes would hold me back a little bit."

Svindal continued Norwegian dominance of a race that was added to the Olympic program at the 1988 Calgary Games. Norway's great Kjetil Andre Aamodt won it in 1992, 2002 and 2006 -- giving the Scandinavian nation a 4-for-7 record in the event's Olympic history.

The bumpy 2.08-kilometer (1.3-mile) track on the Dave Murray course was expected to favor those who competed in the downhill because there is no practice run before super-G races.

That was no help for 40-year-old Patrik Jaerbyn, who did race Monday but crashed out badly near the end of his super-G run and appeared knocked out cold.

The Swedish veteran hooked a gate and was turned in mid air before landing heavily on his back. He bounced on the icy surface before sliding to a stop by the side of the course.

Bloodied but able to move his hands, Jaerbyn was brought down the course by toboggan and taken to a hospital.

"It seems that he has a mild concussion and some amnesia from the fall, but there's no signs of injury to the spine," said Swedish team doctor Per Liljeholm.

Course workers tried to create a frozen, consistent racing surface by injecting some sections with water overnight. It made racers' skis chatter loudly on a crisp, clear day.

Alpine powerhouse Austria failed to place any of its four starters in the top 10 after failing to get a medal in the men's downhill.

The strong Swiss quartet did no better than Carlo Janka's eighth place, 0.49 back. Pre-race favorite Didier Cuche was 0.72 behind in 10th, and downhill winner Defago was 1.09 slower than Svindal in 15th.

Erik Guay of Canada was fifth, just as he was in the downhill, trailing Weibrecht by 0.03.

Guay's teammate Manuel Osborne-Paradis crashed out before halfway when tricked by the terrain. He shifted his weight skiing over a compression and was flipped off balance. The next racer, Italy's Christof Innerhofer, nearly wiped out at the same spot, but stayed upright and finished sixth, just 0.08 off a medal.