Monday, February 25, 2002
Red, white and gold!
Canada's 50-year drought finally over at Olympics
By BRUCE GARRIOCH -- Team Sun
SALT LAKE CITY -- It was a perfect way to celebrate a golden anniversary.
Exactly 50 years after the Edmonton Mercurys brought home the Olympic Games title from Oslo in 1952, Team Canada gave a captivated nation reason to cheeer again with a 5-2 win over Team USA in the gold-medal hockey game of the 2002 Winter Olympics.
As the crowd stood on its feet and an emotional GM Wayne Gretzky watched from the bench, the Canadian flag was lifted to the roof of the E Center and the players sang the national anthem on an afternoon that will be long remembered in history.
"Fifty years ago, I was probably just a thought. But I'm glad I was a thought," said Team Canada defenceman Al MacInnis. "This win means so much to our country.
"As you get older, you cherish these moments. I told the young guys to cherish these moments because you don't know when you're going to get this chance again."
Nobody will ever forget Canadian assistant captain Joe Sakic's heroic performance with two goals -- including the winner -- along with an assist, and the gutsy day provided by his wingers, Jarome Iginla and Simon Gagne.
The image of goaltender Martin Brodeur raising his arms to the air as he was mobbed by the Canadian players at the buzzer will be replayed in households throughout the nation for years to come.
Yes, Canada was back on top.
"Now, that we've won the Olympic Games, with this group of players, we've served notice again that we are the top hockey nation in the world. We've shown people we can get this done," said Brodeur, who made 31 stops.
"We're the hockey power in the world. Winning the gold will kind of reassure Canada that everything is okay. We felt all the expectations of all the people in Canada.
"I'll always remember this. I've been lucky in the NHL to be with a great organization, win two Stanley Cups and now this."
Canada couldn't have done it without Brodeur. His best save came in the third period with the Americans down 3-2, but on the power play and pressing to get back in it. He stopped Brett Hull point blank and then Iginla put it away at 16:01.
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Up to that point, the U.S. looked determined to pull off another miracle, but it had none left in the bag. Canada's top players -- especially Sakic -- took their games to another level because they could smell gold.
"It was a great feeling to win the gold," said Sakic. "I've won the Stanley Cup and now I've won here. This means a lot because it means so much to your country, but it's hard to say right now which one means more.
"We had to work hard to get here. We played a great game. The one thing we did as a team was we got better as the tournament went on. We've really come together in the last 10 days and we've worked hard to be a team."
The Americans took the loss as well as could be expected because only 24 hours earlier, coach Herb Brooks had criticized Canada's style of play as being "stupid." But for the most part, they were gracious in defeat.
"A big monkey has been lifted off Canada's back," said Team USA centre Jeremy Roenick. "Both teams deserved to be here and they got the big goals today. It was a great game. Today was just their day."
Perhaps this win meant the most to Gretzky. "The players and the coaching staff (led by Pat Quinn) deserve all the credit," said Gretzky. "There's no question there was a great deal of pressure on us. There's pressure on all the teams, but especially us. It's very satisfying."
However, it was an American who summed up what was happening in Canada.
"There's a lot of people singing and dancing in Canada," said Roenick.
"This is what they've waited for a long time. I'm happy for them."
Canadians were happy for themselves yesterday.
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2002 Games Men's Hockey Coverage
