Shock On Ice: USA Hockey Defeats Canada 5-3

It wasn't exactly "The Miracle on Ice" which captivated the imagination of the United States public 30 years ago tomorrow. But it was a huge shock to anyone who watched the tremendously entertaining hockey match tonight between the United States and Canada that the United States came away with a 5-3 victory.

The Canadian team is loaded with stars from Sidney Crosby as the star forward to Martin Brodeur as the goalie. The United States was said to be "too young", "too small" and had "not enough offense". And all day NBC and MSNBC showed non-stop highlights of the "Miracle on Ice" team from Lake Placid in 1980. Al Michaels even did the narration. The United States team was wearing jerseys paying homage to its 1960 Championship team--and haven't beaten Canada since. It was a picture-perfect set-up for another huge upset for a United States team that didn't even medal in Turin four years ago.

"The Miracle" it was not, but the riveting hockey match was a huge shock to anyone who watched it. The United States was outshot 45-22 but found a way to win. The Canadians came on hard late in the game, making it 4-3, but a great effort by Ryan Kesler to beat the defense and score an empty-net goal sealed the deal. Ryan Miller turned away 42 shots and the New York Rangers Captain Chris Drury scored the go-ahead goal to help beat the New Jersey Devils goalie Martin Brodeur.

Beating Marty Brodeur (and beating him badly as he let in 4 goals on 22 shots) is extra sweet for me being a Rangers fan. "Marty!" as he is known around Madison Square Garden is one of my least favorite athletes on a rival teams joining the ranks of Michael Jordan, Reggie Miller, David Ortiz, Pedro Martinez, Terrell Owens, and others. Seeing Brodeur in his rival Devil colors while the USA team skated with jerseys that could be confused with the Rangers road unis helped to dial up the passion.

The biggest problem with this game is that many couldn't find it and others couldn't see it at all. NBC decided to bury this game on MSNBC instead of allowing it to be shown on the network, a curious decision especially considering there was nothing that exciting that NBC was showing. And the ratings for the hockey game had to have dominated anything shown on the Mother Peacock network. NBC has made a lot of curious moves this Olympics, but as far as bad ratings-generating decision go, this has to rank towards the top. And many cable carriers don't even have MSNBC in HD, making the viewing experience difficult for many.

For those who did watch it, tonight's hockey game was one for the ages. Team USA is now 3-0 in the Olympics and has a bye in the quarterfinal round. The United States beat Canada for the first time in seven tries and now will set themselves up for a run at medals many thought was out of the reach of this team. Many also criticized the United States selection of Chris Drury to the team, but his game-winning goal proved that his clutch play and leadership are an asset of this team. Many of this will not matter if the United States doesn't find a way to play in the gold medal game--but judging by how they looked tonight, this United States team is looking just as good as the 1960 and 1980 teams before it.

Picture from Masslive