United States Done in By Sid The Kid

So over the weekend, Craig and I setup a Monday deadline for a recap on the Olympic men’s hockey final between Canada and the United States. Sorry it is late and like Teddy Sarandia, I apologize a thousand times. I could make up an excuse like the fact that the game was so awesome that I needed two days to come down from the high and properly digest the splendor. Or I could be truthful and say I had a tremendously busy day at work on Monday, got caught up in the return of How I Met Your Mother and The Big Bang Theory and then spent the rest of the evening shopping for an anniversary gift for my special lady friend. For the sake of my manhood, I am going with option one.

Simply put, that is the best hockey game I have ever watched. And by count, it beats out the 1,654,890 I have seen in my lifetime of youth games, high school contests, college match-ups and pro skates. It had everything. Border rivals. A home-ice advantage unlike any other in history. A clear favorite and underdog on paper. Revenge. Skill. Grace. Beauty. Doc Emrick. The game ebbed and flowed like a true championship affair should. The stronger team built a lead and then the younger, gutsier squad rallied. The best player on the trailing team scored late to tie it. Then, a national hero cemented his legacy to the sport – and his country – at age 22.

Was I angry when Sidney Crosby scored the game-winner seven minutes into overtime? Sure. That anger was spread 95% because of who scored it and 5% because of which team. I could have accepted any other player wearing a Maple Leaf being the hero, just not Sid. While I appreciate his skill and ability, I just don’t root for him. If it was Ryan Getzlaf or Rick Nash and especially Patrice Bergeron destined for a postage stamp, I would be personally happy for them. However, Sidney being the hero takes away that enjoyment and leaves just the memories of the first 67:19 of hockey.

The worst part of this whole thing is that the members of Team USA are not able to really appreciate what they did. Unlike most Winter Olympic sports (except short-track) which are either judged or on time, the gold medal game is winner-take-all. At the end, the silver medalists look over at the team that just beat them. And in a case like Sunday’s game, it literally “just happened.” Something tells me, if Team USA lost that game 2-0 or 5-1, they wouldn’t have been as devastated in the medal ceremony. However, they were so close to pulling the surprise win that second place really did feel like first loser. Now, it will take a while for those young men to understand just how far they exceeded everyone’s expectations and just how much their country was behind them and supported them.

That is unfair. Team USA general manager Brian Burke said all along leading up to the Games that no one was betting a dime on the U.S. in Las Vegas. That is probably true. Most figured they would maybe sneak a bronze and hopefully just win a few games and not lose to a lesser squad. Instead, the Americans had the best record in the tournament, did not trail until the gold medal game and served notice to the world that even though the “greatest generation” of American hockey players is in the past, the next group of U.S. skaters may be even more dangerous. The United States fielded the youngest team in all of the Games and had the best overall tournament. An entire country of Canadians who feel hockey is a birthright almost had their hearts ripped out by its neighboring rival. Those kids, and that is what they are for the most part, should be tremendously proud of how they played against high odds, rather than overly disappointed with a silver medal.

Anyway, here are some quick thoughts on the game. You all watched it and have read about it by now. So I will be brief.

• Is there any position in sports more important than goalie? I say no. Take a look at the games the U.S. played in the Olympics. There is no doubt the Americans went as far as they did because Ryan Miller had the fortnight of his life. Any slippage by him and they do not medal. On the other hand, viewers watched Switzerland’s Jonas Hiller carry a team of glorified men’s leaguers and Hnat Dominichelli to a near upset of Canada and to competitive games against everyone. When the U.S. beat Canada last week, it was in part because Martin Brodeur played like Martin Lawrence. Against Finland in the semifinal game, the U.S. made Miika Kiprusoff look like a Shooter Tutor in goal. Was Team USA really five goals better than Finland? Doubtful, but a mail-in job from Kipper made that point moot.
• While the MVP of the Olympics was obviously Ryan Miller, my favorite player to watch was Ryan Kesler. The center who plays for Vancouver did it all for the United States. He took important faceoffs, played on a defensive line against the other team’s best group, initiated physical contact and was as clutch as they come. He has 54 points this season for the Canucks and his numbers have increased in each of his four full NHL seasons. He is an arbitration-eligible restricted free agent at the end of this season, and a player like him could cause a GM to extend an offer sheet. He is the type of player the Bruins would love Patrice Bergeron to be and would look extremely good in Black and Gold if at all possible.
• Speaking of the Bruins, and not to speak negatively on any member of Team USA, but it was hard not to notice the Where’s Waldo job put forth by Phil Kessel for most of the tournament. He had a goal early in pool play and was a key contributor on the first goal against Finland, but that was about it. No one will ever question Special K’s speed and release. Those are natural talents that very few players posses. However, it was clear that the style of game the gold medal tilt became is not one suited for Kessel. Despite attempts to pressure defensemen on the forecheck with windshield wiper-like swings of the stick, he was never really close to forcing the issue. In a game where players like Patrick Kane, David Backes, Mike Richards, Ryan Getzlaf and others were making defensemen pay for retrieving the puck, Kessel was a welcomed breather. I always liked Kessel when he was with the Bruins and was not a fan of trading him. However, it is certain that Peter Chiarelli and Claude Julien knew he was not a player who would be a factor in the moments which define a season. Watching him shy away from the danger areas when the other 45 skaters had no problem entering them was frustrating.
• When Bruins fans sit and wonder why their team is not in the highest echelon of the NHL, all they have to do is point to the rosters in Sunday’s game. The Bruins had Team USA’s backup goalie and Canada’s 23^rd man. Bergeron is a great player to have on an NHL team and he had somewhat of a role for Canada. However, the guys that made the difference on both sides are not found on the Bruins at the moment. There is possibility for that to change, but right now there are no Jonathan Toews’ or Jack Johnson’s wearing the spoked-B. Can Milan Lucic become a power forward who can do it all? That is what the Bruins have invested in. David Krejci can be very Kane-like in his puck possession at times, but now he needs to do so for a whole season. The area the Bruins have the most work to do is defense. Zdeno Chara is a number one defenseman, but after that there is a lot of #4s and #5s. Sometimes, it is all about the luck of the draw. Remember back in the summer of 2006, the B’s had the fifth pick in the draft after a terrible season. They selected Kessel after Team USA’s Erik Johnson went first and Towes went second. The fourth pick that year was Nicklas Backstrom, Sweden’s prolific young center, to Washington. If a ping-pong ball falls Boston’s way in ’06, one of those three marquee, all-world players is a Bruin right now.
• The final word on the Olympics is that the NHL really needs to step up and capitalize on the success of these Games. People were able to watch hockey at its pinnacle and seemed to enjoy it. Will there be radical changes to the NHL game to follow suit with the international game, probably not. The league should adopt the co-touch icing which helped speed up games and keep players safe. However, the other great thing about Olympic hockey is that there were no TV timeouts. A few times a period they would take a short break to clean the snow, but that was it. It kept momentum in the game and didn’t kill any buzz in the arena. The problem with that as owners will see it is that no two-minute TV stoppages hurt concession sales. So, that will never, ever happen. So, instead of focusing on changes to the rules, the NHL needs to market its players everywhere. Sure, the US losing gold may keep Ryan Miller off Letterman and Patrick Kane away from the ESPYs, but these guys – and most of the core stars from the other teams – are young, personable players who are willing to do anything to promote the sport. The NHL needs to force NBC to step up and take ownership of the partnership which sees games on a national network. DirectTV and Versus need to figure their $&@% out and get the weekly games and playoffs on TV across the country. Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby need to do SportsCenter commercials and be on PTI. Hell, put someone on Dancing With the Stars or something. The moment the public is able top fully understand hockey players are from top to bottom the most regular, easy-going and personable athletes in the world, they will start to identify with the game. The stretch run and postseason is shaping up to feature the absolute best players in the game in cities like Washington, Chicago, Los Angeles and hopefully Boston. Add in Canadian hotbeds like Ottawa and Vancouver and the possibilities for playoff beauty are endless.

A few other notes:

• Looks like Patrice Bergeron tweaked his groin in the gold medal game and he will be out tonight. Hopefully he just needs a day or two off after a busy Olympics and will be back before the B’s head out on the road trip.
• The trade deadline is approaching and anything could happen. The Bruins made a minor deal already, acquiring collegiate defenseman Steve Kampfer from Anaheim for a conditional draft pick. This in no way helps the B’s this year, but does help the depth for next year and beyond. The Bruins have very little defensive help on the horizon and adding bodies helps figure that out. One note about Kampfer, last year he was involved in a horrible incident against Michigan State where a Spartan player attacked him after a clean hit. That followed Kampfer being attacked by a walk-on Michigan football player and having his skull fractured. He is a former fourth-round pick by the Ducks and has 17 points in 37 games for the Wolverines this season.
• A possible defensemen for this season was snapped up by Pittsburgh yesterday when the Penguins added Jordan Leopold to the blue line for a second round pick. Keep an eye on Florida as anyone on that team could be dealt by tomorrow’s deadline.
• The Bruins are back on the ice against Montreal tonight. One way to get the cobwebs of a three-week break out of the system is your hated rival. Hopefully the Bruins can regain the mojo they had on the road before the break against the Habs. The B’s are one point ahead of Montreal at the moment and these may very well be the most important two points of the season tonight.