Before we return to full-time NHL action, let’s spend a few more minutes in Vancouver…Thank You note style.Because there is much gratitude to pass out after what we saw over the last two weeks at the Olympics.
Thank you, first and foremost, to the 42 players that took the ice Sunday at Canada Hockey Place.Was it the greatest hockey game ever contested?No, but it’s on the short list.There was passion.There was meanness and maybe some actual hate.There was a last-second, goalie-pulled, game-tying goal.And there was the game’s biggest name scoring the game-winner in overtime.
Thank you, in particular, Ryan Miller. Not just because you were phenomenal between the pipes, but because you were so crushed after Crosby scored.The images of your utter despair should quiet the idiots who were calling these Games a glorified all-star game.
Thank you, begrudgingly, to Sidney Crosby.First, for being fairly invisible through 3+ periods, which aided the US’s comeback from that 2-0 hole.And more importantly, for being the hero.The biggest names don’t always score the biggest goal or get the biggest hit.Patrice Bergeron or Ryan Callahan netting the deciding goal just wouldn’t have been the same.
Thank you, Team USA general manager Brian Burke.You could not have built a better team for this tournament.Looking back now, tell me who shouldn’t have been on this squad.Who should’ve taken his place?Even Chris Drury, whom we questioned in this space, delivered.
Thank you, Zach Parise, Patrick Kane, Ryan Kesler, and Jack Johnson for demonstrating that the talent gap between US and Canadian hockey is almost non-existent.The host nation roster was scary good when it was first announced late last year, with Burke’s version appearing to fall well short of it.But these four in particular flashed top-end talent over and over again in Vancouver.Parise was rabid in the gold medal game, while Kane controlled the puck better than anyone on either side.And this is really the key lesson from this tournament: Canada picked up another gold medal, but its North American prominence is under attack.
Thank you, Russia, for not showing up against Canada in the quarterfinals.Yes, your abysmal effort robbed us of a possible classic.But had you not wet yourself, we might have been deprived of Sunday’s all-timer.
Thank you, Pavol Demitra, for similar reasons.Had you not hit the post in the final seconds of your semifinal with Canada, your country might have pulled off the upset in OT.
And thank you, in advance, Gary Bettman.While we don’t have the most confidence in you when it comes to major decisions, even you are smart enough to know now that NHL players must go to Sochi, Russia in four years.Sure, the time difference will complicate things.And duplicating Sunday’s drama is near-impossible.But let’s give it a shot.
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The NHL season resumed last night with the Red Wings and Avalanche in Denver.Detroit left town victorious after a 3-2 final.Niklas Lidstrom netted the game-winner on the power play 10:57 into the third period.Tomas Holmstrom scored once and had two assists.
NHL general managers got back to business yesterday as well with the trade deadline looming tomorrow afternoon.The Penguins acquired defenseman Jordan Leopold from the Panthers for a 2nd Round pick this summer.Nashville added blueliner Denis Grebeshkov from Edmonton for a 2nd-rounder as well.
The Flames, meanwhile, gave center Matt Stajan a four-year, $3.5 million-dollar extension.Stajan was acquired before the Olympics in the Dion Phaneuf trade with Toronto.
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