September 28th, 1972: Paul Henderson, assisted by Yvan Cournoyer and Phil Esposito, 19:26 of the third period, Canada vs. Soviet Union, Luzhniki Ice Palace, Moscow.
September 15th, 1987: Mario Lemieux, assisted by Wayne Gretzky, 18:34 of the third period, Canada vs. Soviet Union, Copps Coliseum, Hamilton, Ont.
February 28th, 2010: Sidney Crosby, assisted by Jarome Iginla, 7:40 of overtime, Canada Hockey Place, Vancouver.
Could it have been scripted any better for Team Canada and Canadian hockey? Could there be a better or more dramatic ending to Vancouver 2010?
A Sidney Crosby overtime goal to defeat the United States 3-2 to win gold for Canada in the marquee event of the 21st Winter Olympiad; a goal that set a new record for gold medals won -- 14 -- by a country at an Olympic Winter Games.
It was the single last action by an athlete at these Games.
Crosby's shot -- and commentator Chris Cuthbert's call of his "golden goal" on CTV and that of Pierre Houde on RDS -- becomes a defining moment in Canadian hockey history. It becomes an iconic flashpoint for our national heritage and culture, as it does for the game of hockey and Vancouver 2010 itself.
It immediately took its place on the podium of the biggest goals in Canadian hockey history.
That podium includes Paul Henderson's winning goal in the 1972 Super Series between Canada and the old Soviet Union, the 1987 Canada Cup winner over the Soviets scored by Mario Lemieux on a tic-tac-toe passing play from Wayne Gretzky and now Crosby from Iginla in overtime in the Vancouver 2010 final.
There will be debate about which goal goes down as the biggest. Henderson's rescued our hockey pride against the backdrop of the cold war era and did so on faraway ice in Moscow. It is often referred to as the most famous goal in Canadian hockey history and is dubbed the "Goal of the Century". Lemieux's was arguably the most beautiful and decided a memorable Canada Cup of three 6-5 games at Copps Coliseum in Hamilton.
To me, Crosby's goal carries the widest audience, the biggest reward and the largest impact.
The goals by pre-digital Henderson and Lemieux were watched on television and heard on radio in English and French. Crosby's goal not only comes on the three screens of the Internet era of TV, computers and mobile devices, it comes on the massive media and global television stage created by Vancouver 2010, CTV, NBC and official national broadcasters around the world. It was called in multiple languages on multiple platforms. And it was scored in overtime in the most-watched hockey game in history.
Henderson's won an historic eight-game exhibition series between the world's hockey superpowers. Lemieux's goal won the Canada Cup, the unofficial world cup of hockey. Crosby's marker won Canada the biggest hockey tournament in history and an Olympic gold medal. It also gave Canada a stranglehold on the gold-medal podium at Vancouver 2010 and set the record for most golds by a country in a Winter Games. Those are the biggest prizes of any of the three goals.
Yet what distinguishes Crosby's overtime winner from the other iconic goals in Canadian hockey history is its larger impact. Crosby was scoring not only for his hockey team and his country, but for the larger Canadian Olympic team of 203 athletes. His goal came in a 12-team tournament that was part of a larger worldwide competition featuring 2,700 athletes from 82 countries. It mattered to more than the two countries facing off.
That's why it'll hold special status as the most important goal in Canadian hockey history...and Canadian sport history.
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Sunday, February 28, 2010
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There is so much to say about the gold medal ice hockey game at the 2010 Winter Olympics. First, as an American, I am disappointed with the outcome. However, I was impressed that the USA was able to force overtime. The game-tying goal was exciting to see, and I honestly didn’t expect the USA to score it. Luongo played very well in goal for Canada, but I am shocked Miller got the Olympic MVP Award. Giving the award to a player who lost the gold medal game is unusual, but he did keep the USA in the game and had a stellar tournament overall.
ReplyDeleteI hope NHL players participate in the 2014 Winter Olympics in Russia. Gary Bettman, the NHL commissioner, hasn’t said whether the league will shut down for the Olympics in 2014, but I hope it does. It was really great to see players representing their countries. The most interesting part about this tournament to me was that it pitted NHL teammates against each other in some games.
Congratulations to Canada and I am at least glad the men did not celebrate in the same fashion that the Canadian women did when they won the gold medal. I am also happy that this game did not go to a shootout. That would have been an awful way to decide this game and the gold medal winner.
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