This article was originally published in The Spectator, March 2010.


Before the 2010 Winter Olympics started, when anyone mentioned the United States Mens Ice Hockey team, no one would have predicted they would claw their way into the gold medal round. Even Brian Burke, the General Manager of Team USA, told the team not to see themselves as gold medal finalists.

Though it may have been so the team did not get cocky, Burkes statements reverberated through the tournament. The top teams chosen to win were Canada, Russia, Finland and Sweden. Each country had a list of top-rated players from both the National Hockey League and European leagues.
The opinion soon changed, however, as Team USA took the ice. Team USA blitzed through their opponents in the preliminary rounds, outscoring and outwitting Switzerland, Norway and Canada before going on to the quarterfinals. They outscored their opponents by at least two in every game, upsetting the favored Canadian squad 5-3 in the last round of the preliminaries. They had youth and resilience on their side as well as a beyond-stellar goaltender in the crease by the name of Ryan Miller. Players like Ryan Kesler, Patrick Kane and Jamie Lagenbrunner helped make up a strong Olympic contender.

Team USA surprised Switzerland and Norway with their nearly perfect performances, with both opposing teams only managing to score one goal apiece. Then Team USA took on the home ice opponent: Team Canada. Canada was efficiently knocked back onto their haunches as the US came out shooting in the first period and Miller stonewalled Canada’s offense. Brian Rafalski scored for Team USA just forty-one seconds into the game and nailed another goal late in the first, allowing USA to lead going into the second. USA would eventually nail the door shut with an open net goal scored by Kesler late in the third.

Team USA went on to beat Switzerland 2-0 in what proved to be a nail-biter until the last minute. Zach Parise managed to get Team USA on the scoreboard two minutes into the third, and the US defense helped Miller keep Switzerland at bay. Parise then scored an empty-netter in the final seconds, leading to the elimination of Switzerland from the games.

Perhaps one of the strongest games Team USA had was against Finland in semi-finals. Team USA scored all of their six goals in the first fifteen minutes of the game, the final two being within fifteen seconds of each other. Finland managed to get on the board in the third but still was eliminated by the United States as Team USA went onto the gold medal round.

The US met up again with Canada in what would prove to be a thrilling game. After Canada scored back-to-back goals, the US knew it needed to make a statement on the ice and on the scoreboard. Ryan Kesler managed a goal for the US, shifting the momentum back to them as they surged forward. With twenty-five seconds left in the third period, Ryan Miller pulled and an extra attacker on the ice, Parise came through with a goal that allowed Team USA to get back into the game. Canada’s fans were left stunned and across America, screams of joy could be heard.

The glory was short-lived; however, as Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins snapped a goal past Ryan Miller in overtime, clinching the gold medal for Canada as the US was left with the silver. However, no Canadian was named the game’s Most Valuable Player: that honor went to US goalie Ryan Miller, who plays for the Buffalo Sabres. Miller allowed only eight goals of the many shots he faced and was the driving force in bringing the sixth-seeded US team to the Gold Medal Finals.

So while Team Canada skates away with the gold medal, Team USA goes home with the knowledge that they were once underdogs that became a fearsome contender. Canada might have won the hockey battle, but the US has won the war.

Print this Story