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CANADA 5, U.S. 2: The team put together by Wayne Gretzky wins the gold medal 50 years to the day since its last one.
By DAMIAN CRISTODERO, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times, published February 25, 2002
WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah -- It started with about 30 seconds remaining in the game, softly at first. But by the time the buzzer sounded Sunday, the Canadian national anthem was being sung at full bellow.
It was a prideful day for Canada. And for the fans who cheered their hearts out during the Olympic tournament at the E Center, it was a worthy salute as their boys put the finishing touches on a 5-2 gold-medal victory over the United States.
Not only did the victory snap Canada's gold-medal drought, 50 years to the day since its last, it gave Canada a sweep of the men's and women's tournaments.
"It was like you had holes in your body and emotions were pouring out of you," defenseman Eric Brewer said.
"It was awesome," forward Joe Nieuwendyk said. "Just an incredible feeling of accomplishment. So much was made of the 50 years. We tried to live in the moment and create a story of our own."
The story ended with Canada, in this most international of venues, playing a classic North American game. It clogged the slot, clutched and grabbed and crashed the net.
It also got a monster game from Joe Sakic, who had two goals and two assists and was named Olympic MVP.
His sneaky shot through a screen on the power play with 1:41 left in the second period gave Canada a 3-2 lead less than three minutes after Brian Rafalski's power-play goal tied it for the United States.
Jarome Iginla had two goals and an assist.
His second goal, with 3:59 left in the game, made it 4-2 less than a minute after goalie Martin Brodeur stoned Brett Hull from in front with a right-leg save. Sakic finished the scoring with 1:20 remaining on a breakaway.
Brodeur made 31 saves and outdueled all-tournament goalie Mike Richter, who had 34.
"A great feeling," Sakic said. "After the Sweden game, I knew there were a lot of doubters. But it forced us to come together quickly. The egos were put aside, and we became a great team."
Canada, assembled by executive director Wayne Gretzky, was a poor team against Sweden, losing 5-2 in the first game of pool play. But it took noticeable steps in subsequent games and finished 4-1-1.
"They saved their best for last," coach Pat Quinn said.
"This was something our country desperately needed to win," Gretzky said.
"I'm happy for our players, and I'm happy for all Canadians. I'm sure they're happy from coast to coast."
U.S. coach Herb Brooks complained about the tournament seedings, a reference to the United States playing a gut-wrencher against Russia in the semifinals while Canada rolled over weakling Belarus.
The seedings weren't the problem. Had Belarus lost in the quarterfinals, as expected, Canada's semifinal would have been against Sweden.
No, the real problem was Canada, which had a 39-33 shot advantage, played smart and generated more energy than the United States (4-1-1).
"Canada, defensively, did a good job," Brooks said. "But I think it was a matter of legs."
"There was a lot of hooking and holding, and they took away our speed," U.S. forward Jeremy Roenick said.
"When they couldn't get an angle, they would give us a tug on the jersey, a tug on the stick; anything to slow us down."
Canada did a terrific job on the line of Mike Modano, Brett Hull and John LeClair, the United States' best in the tournament, holding it to four shots.
Still, the United States went ahead 1-0 8:49 into the game on Tony Amonte's goal.
It fell behind 2-1 by the end of the period on goals by Paul Kariya and Iginla.
If there was trepidation for Canada, it was in the second period after it failed to capitalize on a 1:08 five-on-three and Rafalski scored five minutes later to tie it. "We knew we'd have to fight adversity in this game," Sakic said. "Everybody kept their composure."
Until O Canada came pouring out of the stands.
"It brought a tear to your eye," Canada forward Ryan Smyth said. "We built on every game. We seized the moment."