Perhaps because of the NHL vibe that permeated the entire Olympic tournament, Canada’s 2-1 loss feels like just another game in a routine NHL season.
The moment was fraught. The stage was set. A hockey battle with geopolitical overtones such as we have not seen since the Summit Series pitted the Free World against Communism.
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The fuse was lit and it burned and burned — but it never quite went off.
I could not disagree more with the NHL shills on the CBC panel who told us that Sunday’s 2-1 loss to the U.S. was the greatest game ever played even before the overtime.
It wasn’t.
The greatest collection of talent on the ice? Not that either. I’ll still go with the 1987 Canada Cup.
Tense? Absolutely. Nerve-racking, cardiac-inducing? Of course.
But the greatest game ever played? Get real. Unfortunately, we’re dealing with broadcasters whose recency bias is such that they have trouble remembering last Tuesday, let alone Sept. 28, 1972, when the real greatest game in history was played in Moscow, with Canada coming from two goals down to score three goals in the third period and win it 6-5 on Paul Henderson’s legendary goal with 34 seconds left.
Surprisingly, perhaps because of the NHL vibe that permeated the entire tournament, this loss in a gold-medal final feels like just another game in a routine NHL season.
Still, it was worth it for the sight of Canadiens linemates Juraj Slafkovsky and Oliver Kapanen embracing on the ice after Finland’s bronze-medal victory over Slovakia — a reminder that I was wrong to wish that all the Canadiens players could have stayed home to rest.
Nick Suzuki, in fact, might as well have been home resting Sunday, because Jon Cooper (who did not enhance his reputation an iota with his fumbling job behind the bench) played him only eight shifts and none in the brief overtime period.
But all the Canadiens players in Europe got to test themselves against the best and inhale an unforgettable experience — including Kapanen, who saw action only when he was inserted in the bronze-medal game after Mikko Rantanen went down and showed why he’s the most underrated rookie in the NHL, while Slafkovsky emerged as an overwhelming talent for Slovakia.
No player on either the men’s or the women’s team needs to feel embarrassed, but a bit of realism from our broadcasters would be welcome. You need goals for a great hockey game, and Sunday’s NHL special produced only three goals. Yes, there was great goaltending from both Connor Hellebuyck and Jordan Binnington, but it was also a game of squandered chances, with Devon Toews and Nathan MacKinnon among those who will be seeing that open net for the rest of their days. Bottom line? Hellebuyck stole this one.
Not the ingredients for a great game, and the 1972 Summit Series finale is not the only game with a bona fide claim to that title. You could say the same for the 1987 Canada Cup final, a best-of-three battle in which all three games ended 6-5, with Canada winning the rubber match on a goal by Mario Lemieux with an assist from Wayne Gretzky with 1:26 remaining.
Then there’s the New Year’s Eve 1975 tilt between the Soviet Red Army and the Canadiens at the Forum, if nothing else the greatest 3-3 tie ever played.
Sunday in Milan, the Olympic final seemed to lack the atmosphere of any of those games. Yes, there was the political background, with a bullying U.S. levying tariffs on Canada in a bid to shatter this country economically and Americans Jack Eichel, Matthew Tkachuk and Ottawa Senators captain Brady Tkachuk openly supporting Trump, as did American GM Bill Guerin.
But once the puck was dropped, it didn’t matter. With Tom Wilson throwing his weight around early, the Tkachuks were all but invisible. Eichel had a flash or two, but nothing more.
This one was more like a playoff game in the NHL, and that isn’t necessarily a good thing. Lots of hitting, yes, lots of chippiness, but the game had all the flow of a clogged toilet even in the second period, when Canada rang up 19 shots while demonstrating that there was a significant talent gap between the two sides.
Might Canada have won it had Sidney Crosby been able to go? Quite possibly. Even with the winning goal he scored against Finland, when you see MacKinnon on the ice with Connor McDavid, there is obviously a vast gap in talent between the two, and another player of Crosby’s status on the ice might have tilted the balance.
Through the group stage and into the knockout rounds, young Macklin Celebrini appeared to be almost McDavid’s equal. But in the final two games, Celebrini’s youth was a factor as he blasted chance after chance into Hellebuyck’s body rather than faking the shot, shifting the angle, giving the hot goalie a change of pace like a baseball pitcher feeding off-speed stuff to a slugger.
Celebrini will learn and Canada will learn. We still produce far more elite, top-tier talent than any other nation, but for some reason we have ceased to mass-produce great goaltenders. Finding one before the 2030 Olympics should be a priority.
But keep those elbows up, Canada. The real battle has barely begun.
jacktodd46@yahoo.com
jacktodd.bsky.social
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