Sidney Crosby scored the game-winning goal 7:40 into overtime to lead Canada to a 3-2 win over the United States in the gold medal men’s hockey game at the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games.

Crosby, who had not had a point in nine periods heading into overtime was able to latch on to a Jarome Iginla pass and shoot it past American goaltender Ryan Miller to send Canada Hockey Place into bedlam.

“I can’t even remember what happened, I know I just shot the puck from somewhere around here and it went in,” Crosby told CTV after the game

Remarkably, the game would not have reached that stage if not for a Crosby breakaway miss a few minutes earlier that allowed the United States Zach Parise to jump on a rebound from a Patrick Kane shot and slot it past Canadian goaltender Roberto Luongo to tie the game at two with 24 seconds remaining in the game.

Revenge was on the minds of both Canadian players and fans after the Americans had beat Canada 5-3 in round robin play and the game began with excitement running through the air.

Rick Nash took a pass from captain Scott Niedermayer for the game’s first real chance but broke his stick and was unable to get a shot on Miller

The United States nearly broke the scoring deadlock but Canadian defenceman Duncan Keith made a great play with his stick to keep the puck from crossing the line before the whistle was blown after Luongo had come up with the original save.

Jonathan Toews opened up the scoring at 12:50 of the first period after Mike Richards stole the puck from the United States Brian Rafalski in front of the U.S net, allowing Toews to capitalize on the rebound from Richards original shot and beat Miller on the glove side.

Toews goal marked the first time that the United States trailed during the tournament.

Tension and anger began to build as a late hit on Canada’s Ryan Getzlaf after the first period had come to a close caused a skirmish between the players on the ice.

“All tournament I have been waiting for a chance like that. The game is really physical, both ways,” Toews told CTV during the first intermission.

U.S forward Ryan Kesler turned the puck over early in the second period forcing Miller to stop Iginla’s slap shot in close to start the second.

Ryan Malone’s high sticking call sent Canada to it’s second power play of the game at the 2:33 mark of the second. Shea Weber was the focus of the United States penalty killers as they would not allow Weber the opportunity to get his blistering slap shot off from the point and Canada was unable to take advantage of the power play.

Eric Staal was called for interference at 4:41 of the second to send the United States to it‘s first power play. They also were unable to take advantage of the opportunity due to a persistent Nash scrambling to get the puck out on more than one occasion.

His persistence paid off as soon after fellow Canadian Corey Perry found himself with the puck in the slot in the U.S zone after Patrick Marleau was unable to handle a Getzlaf pass and he quickly fired the puck over Miller’s glove to put Canada up 2-0 at the 7:13 mark of the second.

Down by two goals, the Americans began to pressure the Canadians intensely and were rewarded.

Kesler tipped a Kane shot past fellow Vancouver Canuck team-mate Luongo to cut the Canadian lead to 2-1 at the 12:44 mark of the second.

American Ryan Suter nearly tied the game for the U.S but his backhand from in close went just wide.

Staal broke in on a breakaway with under a minute to go in the second but shot the puck over the net for the final chance of the period.

“They are going to fade as the game goes on, Slovakia was able to make the game 3-2 and Luongo is fighting the puck out there, we are going to tie the game,” proclaimed a brash Kesler to CTV during the second intermission.

Weber and Chris Pronger were unfortunate not to add to the Canadian lead as each hit the goal post in the first two minutes of the third period.

After the opening surge in the period both teams were content on not allowing each other any space or opportunity until Miller was called into action at the midway point of the period turning away Canada’s Dany Heatley twice in the matter of seconds.

Rafalski who scored twice against Canada in the round robin game came close to tying the game with five minutes to go but was unable to beat Luongo after he was able to latch on to the puck from a scrum and shot the puck.

Miller stopped 36 of 39 shots for the United States while Luongo stopped 34 of 36 shots for Canada.

Neither team scored on the power play going a combined 0-for-4

With the gold medal win, Canada set the record for most gold medals ever won at an Olympic Games with 14.

Team Canada’s gold medal dream got one step closer to fruition after a 3-2 semi-final win over Slovakia on Friday at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games.

Ryan Getzlaf scored the game-winning goal and Robert Luongo came up with a spectacular glove save in the final seconds to preserve the win for Canada.

Getzlaf scored a power-play goal from his knees after a rebound from a Corey Perry shot fell onto his stick and he quickly shot the puck past Slovakia goaltender Jaroslav Halak at the 16:54 mark of the second to put Canada up 3-0 at the time.

Luongo, who was not tested very often until the third period, was able to get his glove on a Pavol Demitra shot from close in during the dying seconds to keep Canada ahead.

The atmosphere at Canada Hockey Place as Team Canada stepped onto the ice was at a fever pitch as the team entered to a thunderous ovation to open the game.

Brendan Morrow nearly opened the scoring for Canada in the opening two minutes but fired the puck just over the crossbar with Halak beaten.

Through the first ten minutes, Slovakia did its best to quiet the crowd by clogging up the neutral zone, forcing Canada to rely on dumping in the puck to enter the zone.

Patrick Marleau broke the deadlock at 13:30 of the first period after tipping in a Shea Weber wrist shot from the point past Halak to make it 1-0 for Canada.

A review of whether the puck had been tipped by a high stick was conducted by the referee but the goal stood as called.

Morrow doubled Canada’s lead as he tipped a Chris Pronger point shot past Halak at 15:17 to make it 2-0 for Canada.

Canada out shot Slovakia 10-4 in the first period.

“We just kept going at them and got some tips on net,” Marleau told CTV during the first intermission.

Marian Gaborik led a pressure filled start by Slovakia in the second period that caused Canada’s Drew Doughty to be penalized for hooking at the 1:29 mark of the second.

Slovakia’s top ranked power play was unable to take advantage of the opportunity with Canadian players blocking several shot attempts.

Dan Boyle came close to giving Canada a 3-0 lead but his tipped shot hit Halak’s shoulder and went over the crossbar.

Richard Zednik’s holding the stick penalty at 16:34 of the second sent Canada to the power play and they would capitalize on the opportunity quickly through Getzlaf.

Constant pressure by Slovakia in the third period caused the Canadian defence problems and it felt like it was a matter of time before the Slovak pressure paid off.

Slovak defenceman Lubomir Visnovsky cut the Canada lead to two as he streaked in from point and banked a shot in off of Boyle and past Luongo at the 11:35 mark of the third.

Sloppy defensive zone coverage by Canada allowed Michal Handzus to score off a rebound from a Zednik wrap around opportunity at 15:07 of the third to cut Canada’s lead to 3-2.

Handzus would come close to tying the game in the dying minutes but was stopped by Luongo as the Slovaks fiercely pressured the Canadian zone in the final five minutes.

Both goaltenders were kept busy as Halek stopped 25 of 28 shots for Slovakia while Luongo stopped 19 of 21 for Canada.

Power play opportunities were scarce as Canada went 1-for-2 on the power play while Slovakia went 0-for-1.

Coach Mike Babcock and the Canadian team will now seek revenge against the United States in the gold medal game after suffering a a 5-3 defeat at the hands of the Americans in round robin play.

Goaltender Ryan Miller has led the United States to an undefeated record including a 6-1 semi-final win against Finland earlier on Friday and was the difference in the first meeting between the teams.

Coverage of the gold medal game will begin on Sunday, February 28 at 12:15 PST.

Coach Mike Babcock claimed that in order to beat the Russians, Ryan Getzlaf, Dan Boyle, Corey Perry, and Chris Pronger needed to be more productive.  Those players responded by contributing nine points in Canada’s 7-3 victory against Russia to advance to the semi-final round.

Getzlaf opened the scoring just over two minutes into the first period by converting Boyle’s pass into a nearly empty net.  Boyle would later get his own goal with a wrist shot from just over the blue line that blew by goalie Evgeni Nabokov, giving Canada a 2-0 lead.

Canada’s newly formed shut down line of Rick Nash, Jonathan Toews, and Mike Richards did their job by showing no mercy to Russia’s top forward lines.

The line even produced a goal by using good hard defensive tactics.  After Richards stripped Russia’s Evgeni Malkin of the puck, he moved it up to Toews who saw Nash just over the hash marks and fed him a pass that he beat Nabokov with to give Canada a 3-0 lead.

Goaltender Roberto Luongo confirmed he is the right man to be between the pipes for Canada by stopping 25 shots by the powerful Russian offense.

Dmitri Kalinin brought the score back within reach for Russia with a shot from the point that found its way past a screened Luongo.

Brendan Morrow grinded his way to a goal that slipped past Nabokov to give Canada the 4-1 lead going into the second period.  Shea Weber scored the final goal on Nabokov before he was pulled after ripping a shot passed him just over a minute after Perry’s first goal.

Perry proved his worth after a disastrous game against U.S.A. by scoring two goals, both of which were assisted on by Getzlaf.  Perry second goal was the only tally on Russian goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov, who stopped 18 shots after relieving Nabokov.

Nabokov did not fare well in the match, getting pulled early in the second period after allowing six goals on 23 shots.

Russia also got goals from Maxim Afinogenov and Sergei Gonchar, but it was not nearly enough to get passed the determined Canadian squad.  The Russians received a scare in the third period when Alexander Ovechkin took a puck off the hand and immediately headed to the bench to ice it off.

The ruthless Canadian crowd serenaded him by chanting his name while Ovechkin iced his injured hand.  In a game that was headlined with Ovechkin and Crosby, neither of the two superstars tallied any points in the contest.

An upset Russian squad showed their frustration towards the end of the game by increasing the aggressiveness of their play.  Eric Staal went hard into the boards after an Anton Volchencov check that kept Staal on the ice for a short time.  He eventually skated back to the bench with the trainer, but did not miss any ice time.

Team Canada will now soak in the victory and face the winner of the Sweden and Slovakia match on Friday.

Dany Heatley and Jarome Iginla each had two goals to lead Canada to a 8-0 win over Norway on Tuesday night.

Heatley tipped a Chris Pronger point shot past Norway goaltender Pal Grotnes at 4:27 of the second period to put Canada up 2-0 and became the second best point producer all-time for Canada in International play, passing Eric Lindros.

In the first period, Canada outshot Norway 14-4 but seemed to lack chemistry and were turned aside by Grotnes strong goaltending, causing the game to go into the first intermission scoreless.

Norway’s Mads Hansen took a hooking call early in the second period and Canada would take advantage on the power play as Jarome Iginla one-timed a Sidney Crosby pass to put Canada up 1-0 at the 2:30 mark of the second.

After Heatley had put Canada up 2-0, Mike Richards added to the lead at the 11:06 of the second beating Grotnes with a low shot to increase the score to 3-0.

“It took a while for us to get going, in the second though they started going in,” Iginla told CTV during the second intermission.

Canada started off the third period strongly with Ryan Getzlaf jamming in a rebound off a Scott Niedermayer point shot to score Canada’s fourth goal of the night at 4:29 in the third.

Grotnes was pulled from the game after Getzlaf’s goal and replaced by backup goalie Andre Lysenstoen.

The goaltending switch made little difference as Dany Heatley scored his second goal of the game and Canada’s second power-play goal after taking a pass from Patrick Marleau and firing a shot that beat Lysenstoen at 6:43.

Iginla would notch his second goal of the game taking a cross crease pass from Rick Nash at the 7:36 minute and shooting it past Lysenstoen to put Canada up 6-0.

Corey Perry would make it 7-0 scoring off a rebound from an Eric Staal shot in close.

Rick Nash scored Canada’s eighth and final goal after a wrist shot from the point beat Lysenstoen. Iginla was thought to have tipped the puck in thus notching his third goal of the game but upon review the goal was credited to Nash.

Roberto Luongo was stellar in net for Canada stopping 15 out 15 shots for the shutout. Norway’s Grotnes stopped 28 of 32 shots before he was pulled, Lysenstoen stopped 6 of 10 shots.

Team Canada went 2-for-6 on the power play while Norway went 0-for-5 and out shot Norway 42-15.

The passion and pride Canada carries for its homegrown sport of hockey will be given a whole new light during the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Canada’s men’s hockey team may be under immense pressure to bring back gold, but nobody will be more scrutinized then their general manager, Hall of Fame forward and two time Canadian Olympian Steve Yzerman.

“We are very confident in the team we have put together. Hopefully luck is on our side and we will get the goal we want,” Yzerman told CTV “I’ve found this to be a lot of fun.”

Yzerman has spent over a year putting together what he feels is the proper mix of veterans and youth to carry Canada to the gold medal game and coming out on top on home ice.

The winter games are at home in Vancouver and as important as it may be for all of Canada’s Olympians to perform well, it’s even more important for the Men’s Canadian Hockey Team to strike gold.

Last winter Olympics in Turin, Team Canada went in needing to defend its gold medal from the 2002 games in Salt Lake City, but ended up seventh place, the worst showing by the Canadian National team since 1920.

This year, having home ice advantage, the team needs more then redemption, they need to prove they are the premier country for hockey in the entire world.

Yzerman should have a blast watching his selection of forwards, which has plenty of firepower to make games exciting.  The one player under the closest examination by the Canadian people is centre Sidney Crosby, who will be in his first Olympic games.

Crosby will be wearing the alternate captain’s “A” on his jersey along with Jarome Iginla, who will suit up for his third Olympic stint.

Canada’s blue line holds just as much defensive skill and offensive ability as the forwards, and is anchored by Captain Scott Niedermeyer and his former teammate Chris Pronger, who was also named an alternate captain.

Hockey’s most important position is something Canada needs not worry about with Martin Brodeur, in his fourth Olympic competition, and Roberto Luongo between the pipes.

The competition is fierce and there is no doubt that Canada will have a bull’s-eye on its jersey’s when other countries visit Vancouver.

One country most competitors will fear the most will be Russia as it boasts five of the most dangerous forwards including Ilya Kovalchuk, Evgeni Malkin, Pavel Datsyuk, Alex Semin, and the two time reigning MVP, Alex Ovechkin, who said he is not worried about the competition.

“When you play in an Olympics or world championship, you don’t look forward to play against one person, you look forward to playing some great teams and winning those battles,” Ovechkin told CTV.

Russia’s weak link is easily their defense, but with world class goaltenders Evgeni Nabokov and Ilya Bryzgalov, it’s almost not even worth fretting over the weakness in the Russian blue-line.

Sweden will be looking to defend its gold medal and is always a country that can be considered a threat.  The forwards are headlined by the Sedin twins, Henrik Zetterberg and the return of Peter Forsberg.  Sweden also holds one of the top goaltenders in the 2006 Olympics in Henrik Lundqvist and the blue-line is anchored by six time Norris winner Nicklas Lidstrom.

Even Finland, the silver medalists in 2006, won’t be easy in a tournament where a hot goaltender can easily win for a team, and they boast a deadly one-two punch in net with Miikka Kiprusoff and Nicklas Backstrom.

The dark horse of the tournament Team USA is a group of young, speedy talent with a few older vets mixed in for leadership.  With only two players on team USA having Olympic experience, the pressure may get to some of the young guns.

All-star Ryan Miller, a goalie who can easily guide this team to victory if he continues his stellar play, will be heavily relied on if USA has any hopes of competing for a medal.

One aspect that must be burning in the mind of Team USA is the fact they were defeated by the Canadians on their home turf in Salt Lake City in 2002, so they will be looking for revenge

Canada is a well rounded team with its perfect mix of grit to shut down the big scorers, speed to out maneuver and fly by opposing teams, and the experience that can help them make a repeat of 2002 in Salt Lake City.

This is no longer the seventh place team that left Turin ashamed, this is a new crop of youth and experience, and in the end can be the team that makes the country of Canada proud of its hockey team.

If the NHL season ended today, the Toronto Maple Leafs would be the worst team in the league.

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