For those who didn't watch this game, shame on you. Just kidding, I don't shame people like that. Although you should've been! (I assume most of my readers are Canadian; if you're from another country, then I'm not mad at you for not watching it. That's a lie. Just not AS upset.) For those of you who turned the game off after the sixth Russian goal, shame times infinity on you! And for those who didn't watch it, or hear about it, I'll break it down for you because I'm such a nice guy. (Though you still should've watched it).
The game started off weird for Canada. For the first time since the tournament's beginning, they didn't score first! Russia took an early 1-0 lead off a goal by Yevgeni Kuznetsov (aka public enemy #1 in Canada after the game). The Russians scored again in the first to lead 2-0 after one.
2 goals shouldn't be that hard to score huh? Canada's still much in the game! Those were my thoughts coming into the second. It looked like Coach Don Hay gave the troops some encouraging words during the intermission because they came out a'blazin', scoring a goal 2:37 into the second to cut the lead to 1. It only went down from there though. The Russians weathered the Canadian attack, due mostly in part to spectacular goaltending by Andrei Vasilevski. The Russians then took it to Canada, scoring 3 times before the period was over, two of them by Kuznetsov and the third assisted by him, to take a 5-1 lead into the break.
Now, there's a slim margin of hope left, I mean, it's only 4 goals right? Canada played well... Until the Russians scored again. 6-1 with 12:06 left. Okay, Canada's basically done (which basically the entire country thought), though I, and many others, kept our TV's on and kept watching just because we're Canadians and we like our hockey. Boy, did that almost pay off. It started off with a Dougie Hamilton goal with 10:40 left to cut the lead to 4. Yeah, whatever, Russia's still killing us, blah, blah, blah. 23 seconds later though, we all got a spark of hope as Captain Jaden Schwartz scored to bring the score to 6-3. Hmm, we might have a chance! 2:16 later, Canada scored AGAIN, this time by Brendan Gallagher! Wow, we're doing well! 2:18 seconds after that, Brandon Gormley scores! The score is 6-5 at this point with 5:43 left, and Russia yanks Vasilevski from the net in favour of Makarov. HOLY SH*T we can do this! Canada was on its feet, hearts beating, breaths held. Then, in the final minute, they hit the post, and that was the closest they came.
Our boys came so close, but yet so far. To comeback from a 6-1 deficit in 12 minutes is near impossible, but they almost proved us wrong. Vasilevski and the Russians had a third period breakdown similar to Canada's in last year's Gold Medal game, but, unlike us, it didn't cost them. It was a hell of a game; to go from completely deflated, to feeling elated, it had it all. Downs (and there were lots of them), as well as ups. The one thing to take from this game though, is that it will go down in history as another famous clash between our two nations. Maybe not as high up as the summit series, but it's definitely up here. It was an awesome game (last 12:06 of the third basically) to watch, and though they lost, our boys definitely didn't let us down. To see a bunch of teenagers putting it all on the ice to try and have their nation be proud of them is truly commendable, and the least we can do is be proud of them. (Side Note: It's weird that I speak of them in a way that portrays their youth when they're all older than me anyway. Whatever.) So let's be proud of them Canada, they played with their hearts, and they deserve it.
Canada went on to win the Bronze Medal against Finland on January 5, 2012 by a 4-0 score. While it may not be gold, I'm proud of our boys for playing one hell of a tournament. Who's with me?
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