Miracle on Ice 2

The build-up

These Olympics were the first to have NHL players since the 2014 Olympics, when Canada last won gold. The US last won gold in 1980 after it defeated the Soviet Union in that miraculous semi-final. It was the first Olympic Games for almost all the players. Both Sydney Crosby and Drew Doughty played in Socchi and four years earlier in Vancouver. Crosby’s absence due to injury was critical. In any case, this final was the one that everyone predicted and preferred.

The game

The game itself was low-scoring, yet high-tempo. Canada seemed to gain early momentum because of its physicality. The US seized it once Matthew Boldy scored from a solo effort in the 6th minute. He split Canada’s top defensive pair by chipping the puck past them. He corralled it enough to knock a backhanded shot against Jordan Binnington. Boldy’s goal was his first of the tournament, and his shot was his team’s first of the game.

Canada tied the game late in the second period when Cale Makar sniped a shot past Connor Hellebuyck. He was alone on the right point, and the closest US player was late to contest his shot from the faceoff dot. His goal redeemed him and Devon Toews for letting Boldy squeeze past them. The US almost regained the lead when Brock Faber shot from the right point at the other end. His wrister hit both posts as it ricocheted out.

The third period was the only one without a goal. The closest chance was Toews somehow being alone on the edge of the US crease. He got a pass and tried to slide the puck in, but Hellebuyck reached back and deflected it wide with his stick. The next-closest chance was a later scramble around the US goal. Charlie McAvoy kneeled on the goal line behind Hellebuyck and blocked a flip shot with his chest.

Nathan MacKinnon did have a great chance between those two chances. He was alone to the left of the US goal when he got a crossing pass from wunderkind Macklin Celebrini. He’d be the player whom Canada would want in that spot and not only because of his right-handed shot. He hit the side of the net, but his miss wasn’t egregious, in my view. He didn’t have a lot of time and might not have expected the pass.

Hellebuyck was definitely the player of the game. He stopped breakaways against Celebrini and Connor McDavid, the face of the NHL. That stick save against Toews might’ve been on the mind of MacKinnon when he missed. In any case, Hellebuyck got help from the US penalty-kill unit when they killed a 5-on-3 power play. Canada, for its part, killed a double-minor penalty that was an even better chance for two goals.

Binnington made a clutch save early in overtime. His glove deflected a shot from Quinn Hughes, who scored in overtime in the quarterfinals. His younger brother Jack was the hero in this game. His shot through Binnington’s five-hole was the winner. Before scoring, he did enough to force a streaking McDavid to take a tight-angle shot. Then he reached for a soft breakout pass to chip the puck behind a pinching Makar.

If he didn’t win that race to the puck near the blue line, Makar and McDavid would’ve been in position for a 2-on-0. Instead, Hughes’s chip down the ice led to a 3-on-1 going the other way. MacKinnon was in defensive no-man’s land. He couldn’t commit to racing Zach Werenski to the puck with exposing his goalie. Werenski knocked him off the puck and passed across to Hughes for the winner.

Family affairs

There were notable hockey family connection on the US side. The obvious one was the Hughes brothers and their mother, Ellen. She won a silver medal at the 1992 Olympics with the US women’s hockey team. She was at these Olympics too, as a consultant for the team that also had a 2-1 overtime win against Canada in its final. I learned that Brock Faber’s grandfather and great uncle won in 1960 and his uncle won in 1980.

The more poignant connection was the late Johnny Gaudreau. He played for the US at several tournaments, and several players at this one had been teammates. The team paid tribute to him throughout these Olympics. They included two of his three children in the customary photo of the team on the ice after the game. His middle child, John Jr, happened to be celebrating his second birthday.

Hot takes

Unlike the original Miracle on Ice, this showdown has been less of an upset and more of a showcase. Best-on-best tournaments make for entertaining hockey. The Olympics appeal to the very best players, but in my view, the NHL should strive to emulate FIFA. The world of hockey needs a premier international showcase like the World Cup. Olympic hockey, like Olympic soccer, should be less prominent and have more parity.

I would restrict Olympic hockey to players under 23 (or 25) years of age and have a handful of exceptions per team. It would be more like collegiate hockey in that sense. I would even make full-face protection required, in spite (or because) of Jack Hughes’s teeth. I’m in the minority, but I don’t mind the 3-on-3 overtime format for the Olympics. There shouldn’t be potential for an event to drag on. No event is bigger than the Olympics.

I’m a bit surprised to learn that the Italy has solid infrastructure for pro hockey. Other non-powerhouse countries have pro hockey. If stakeholders want the sport to grow, the hockey shown in this final wouldn’t be limited to the Olympics.