Canada edges U.S. for women's hockey gold medal

CANADA 3, U.S. 2: A last-second goal in the second helps end the Americans' 35-game win streak.

By DAMIAN CRISTODERO, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published February 22, 2002

WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah -- Canada's women's hockey players threw their sticks and gloves into the air and came together in a swirling clash of white jerseys that ended up almost totally in their net.

The U.S. players stood at their blue line and watched. Defenseman Sue Merz turned her back, preferring to look into the rafters of the E Center.

It wasn't supposed to be like this.

The United States, winners of 35 consecutive games and eight in a row against Canada, was supposed to earn its second straight Olympic gold in front of the home crowd.

Instead, with a 3-2 victory Thursday night, Canada crashed the party and avenged its loss to the United States in the gold-medal game four years ago at Nagano.

"It's indescribable," Canada defenseman Becky Kellar said. "It's such a great feeling. To win this one in their rink, it's unbelievable.

"We knew in our hearts we could beat them."

For the first time since April 8, 2001, when Canada won the world championships in Minneapolis, the United States knew what it was like to lose.

The world of women's hockey is such that the United States and Canada have lost only to each other. Canada, which has won all seven world championships, is 28-21 against the United States with 25 games decided by one goal.

"It's a little bit of a stinger when you don't achieve your goal and feel the weight of the crowd on your shoulders and feel that you've disappointed your family and friends," U.S. forward Cammi Granato said.

How disappointed must the U.S. players have been by their performance in clutch situations?

A power play that ran at 23.4 percent efficiency (11-for-47) in eight games against Canada went just 2-for-11. And how in the world did the U.S. defense give up a breakaway to Jayna Hefford, who scored with one second left in the second period to give Canada a 3-1 lead?

"Can you imagine," Canada forward Kelly Bechard said, "the U.S. going into the locker room with us scoring a goal with one second left?

"That's huge."

Karen Bye's goal closed the gap to 3-2 with 3:33 left in the game, but the United States could not mount a sustained attack.

"We kind of liked the underdog role," Bechard said. "It motivated us.

"Everybody may have doubted us, but nobody doubted in our locker room. It came down to one game, and I think we played wonderfully well."

The game was not without controversy.

MVP Hayley Wickenheiser, whose seventh goal of the tournament gave Canada a 2-1 lead, called the officiating "atrocious."

American referee Stacey Livingston came down harder on Canada, calling 13 penalties against it (for 15:52 of penalty time) compared to six for the United States (for six minutes).

"We didn't get anything called our way," Wickenheiser said. "I've never seen anything like it. But we battled through it, and that's all I want to say about it."

"We played as a team despite the poor officiating," captain Cassie Campbell said.

Then there was Wickenheiser saying she saw "the fear" in the eyes of the U.S. players after they fell behind 1-0 on Caroline Ouellete's goal 1:45 into the game, the first goal allowed by goalie Sarah DeCosta in 121:45 of play at these Games.

U.S. coach Ben Smith, fighting back tears, took exception.

"She's a great player," he said of Wickenheiser. "But maybe she's not an optometrist; come on."

The United States' gold-medal vision got a bit clearer at 1:59 of the second period, when Katie King scored to tie it at 1.

But Wickenheiser answered at 4:10, and Hefford provided the backbreaker off of her breakaway as the puck hit a sprawled DeCosta and rolled over her into the net.

DeCosta made 26 saves. Canada's Kim St-Pierre made 25, including one late in the first period on Granato in which she recovered to fill up what had been an open net.

"We certainly had our chances," Granato said. "We just didn't put them in."

On The Wire