Pure unadulterated awesome

So I've tried to write a good intro for this post at least six different times now and I can't manage to do it. How can I, a lowly hockey blogger, begin to describe the sheer awesomeness that was the USA-Canada gold medal game?

It's not even hyperbole when I say that this was one of the best hockey games I have seen. One for the ages. Those who tuned in just for the Olympic game, as much as the NHL needs your viewership you might as well stop watching. You're not going to see another game like this for years.

I mean, it is scripted like it was some kind of Disney sports movie. Favored home team that was beaten early in the tournament is rematched with the same opponent again for the final game. The bulk of the game is close - nothing like the blowouts either team had previously put up in the tournament. Just when it looks like Canada is going to win it, Zach Parise ties it up with 24 seconds left to send it into overtime. Overtime is again well fought by both teams, but the winning goal is knocked in by the superstar Sidney Crosby.

I mean, seriously. If this was a movie script at that point the producer would step away and shake his head. There's no way that, in reality, the superstar would score the goal to bring the gold medal to his home country on home ice, right? That's just too cheesy, too unbelievable.

But it happened. Sidney Crosby is proving that he is all that he's cracked up to be. Canada takes home the gold, winning the game 3-2.

This is by no means a defeat for the Americans. This is a team who no one thought would be in this position - no one thought they would have beaten Canada once, let alone have won all of their games in the Olympics except for this one. Winning a silver sucks, but at the same time it is an accomplishment that should not be easily tossed aside.

This game was pure, unadulterated awesome. This game pretty much summed up everything that every hockey fan loves about the game. If you think that hockey is confined to be a niche sport, please please watch this game again. There is no way that any sports fan, any person couldn't feel the enjoyment of watching this game. The fun of watching, of cheering, is what has spawned crazily loyal hockey fans like myself.

And, hey, uh, the Canes play the Leafs tomorrow. So maybe watch or listen or something? I promise, it'll be just like the gold medal game - it'll be two teams fighting to the death on ice for... the number one draft pick.

Man, it was nice to cheer for a winning team for two weeks.