Editorial: In hockey, going for the gold but accepting the silver

In the final moments of yesterday’s gold medal hockey match between the United States… In the final moments of yesterday’s gold medal hockey match between the United States and Canada, we kept our fingers crossed. The United States trailed Canada 1-2. There was under a minute left, and it didn’t look good.

Then, a second chance: Zach Parise scored a goal with only seconds left in the final period to tie the game 2-2.

The United States had a chance to breathe — for a moment.

But then, less than ten minutes into overtime, the Canadians ended the United States’ hopes for gold. The Penguins’ own Sidney Crosby scored the game-winning goal for Canada to end the sudden death period.

We would have loved to best our neighbor to the north. We hoped for a repeat of 1980’s epic Miracle on Ice.

When Team USA lost, you might have sunk your head, you might have cursed or threw your remote at the TV.

But was it really so bad?

Sure, we Americans were disappointed, but this game meant a lot more to Canada than it did to the United States. Maybe its hard to believe, but sometimes things are just more important to the other guy than they are to you.

We love hockey, but its Canada’s lifeblood. It’s one of the most entrenched hallmarks of the country’s culture and character. Also, this 14th gold medal for Canada trumps the record for most gold medals won by a nation at the Winter Games.

Canada hasn’t gotten the greatest feedback on its hosting of the games this time around. Whether it be its anticlimactic Opening Ceremony or general lack of snow, Canada’s been the butt of the joke even more than usual. Hosting the Olympics should bring great pride to a country, and Canada needed a grand finale — like, say, winning a gold medal in its marquee sport over Team USA in the final contest of the Games, surrounded by tens of thousands of Canadian spectators — to leave a sweet taste in its collective mouth. Could you imagine the mindset in that country if Team USA had come out with the win?

Except for those who were directly involved with the team, we’ll settle for the silver and move on with our lives. Crosby, Pittsburgh’s adorned hockey hero, might be viewed in a new, lesser light upon his return to the ’Burgh.

But these feelings won’t last. He’ll be back and he’ll win games for the Penguins. Pittsburghers’ respect for Crosby won’t disappear — he won the city a Stanley Cup, after all.

Four years is a long wait, but Crosby and Ryan Miller will surely have an engaging rematch Tuesday when the Penguins play the Buffalo Sabres. We’ll be watching.