‘Game on!’ for Vancouver Games crown
VANCOUVER, British Columbia – The United States is guaranteed to win 37 medals in Vancouver, not just the most in these Games, but the most ever by a single nation in the Winter Olympics. You could say the Americans have “won” the Olympics.
Canada is in third and will win 26 total medals. Thirteen of them are gold, though, four more than the Americans and the most of any nation here. It ties the record for the most ever, set by the Soviet Union in 1972 and Norway in 2002.
You could argue that if gold is best and Canada was best at winning them, then Canada “won” the Olympics.
How can we settle this? How about with a hockey game – say 3:15 p.m. ET on Sunday, between the USA and Canada and not just for the gold medal in that sport but for the unofficial title of 2010 Olympic champions?
“The whole Olympics?” U.S. forward Ryan Callahan said with a laugh. “I don’t know if I want to add that pressure to us.”
The entire debate over who “won” the Olympics is foolish, of course. Skeleton has nothing to do with snowboarding which has nothing to do with speedskating. These are “teams” by birth certificate only.
This is what the Olympic committees of various countries do, though. They set medal goals, they hype their success and they try to explain away their shortcomings.
Canada made a highly publicized $118 million investment in its “Own the Podium” campaign, predicting it would win 30 medals, enough, it thought, to finish first overall. When early success didn’t materialize, it backed down from its bold talk and started holding apologetic daily press briefings.
Turns out they said sorry too soon. They may not own the podium but they got comfortable in the penthouse. “Obviously, ‘Own the Podium’ worked,” said Kevin Martin, Canada’s gold-medal winning curler.
While Germany, with 29 total medals, will finish second in the total medals race, the debate over who had a finer Olympics comes down to two – Canada and the United States.
It’s the perfect ending that they play in the final competition of the Olympics in the sport that generates the most interest in the Winter Games. (It’s predicted it will be the most watched hockey game ever on both sides of the border.) The competitors aren’t particularly interested in the overall title, but they understand it’s out there.
“Don’t get me wrong,” Canada coach Mike Babcock said. “We’d like to do it for the country but we’d like to do it for ourselves first.”
And this from a guy who doesn’t even win a medal – only athletes receive the jewelry, not the coaches.
“We’ll let the fans argue over that,” U.S. forward Chris Drury said. “I’m sure both countries are pretty happy with how it’s worked out medal-wise.”
They should be. This has been a glorious few weeks for both nations. Canada threw a great Olympics, showcasing its modern, beautiful West Coast city and watched its athletes soar to unheard of levels of success. Meanwhile, the United States, once a winter weakling (it won just six medals in 1988), is now the standard bearer on snow and ice.
“I think the U.S. was mainly known as a Summer Olympics country,” defenseman Ryan Whitney said. “It’s been great here being part of the most successful U.S. team in history.
“We’re a good measure of it. No one expected us to medal. We weren’t a favorite.”
The Americans certainly weren’t. The nicest term anyone used to describe the hockey team was “darkhorse.” Many thought general manager Brian Burke built a young team to gain seasoning for the 2014 Games in Sochi, Russia. Burke ended that rumor at a team training camp last summer in Michigan.
“I told them, ‘Anyone who thinks they are here to prepare for Sochi please get up and leave,’ ” Burke said. “We’re going there to win. That was our goal.”
The Americans have been the dominant team in this tournament. They’ve never lost and never trailed. They even upset the powerhouse Canadians last Sunday on their home ice at the end of pool play.
Now they’ll have to do it again.
On Saturday, the Americans practiced and continued to note the strength of the high-powered Canadian team. By average NHL salary, the Canadians make $3 million more per man than the Americans. They have a league MVP in Sidney Crosby. Canada Hockey Place will be packed and popping, 98 percent in red and white. The bars, restaurants and streets downtown will be packed all day.
“We should win,” Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said. “Man for man, our team is the superior team.”
The Americans shrug at it all, though. They have Ryan Miller, the game’s best goaltender in net. They have confidence in improved play from up and down the roster. And they have maintained a simple attitude: Each man was brought to the team to play a specific roll.
These aren’t even the 23 best American players. These are the 23 American players Burke believed would make the best team.
This isn’t an all-star team. This is just a team.
“I don’t think we’ve had to manage egos,” Burke said. “We’re not asking 30-goal scorers to be grunts. We brought grunts.”
To a man, Burke’s players loved that description. It’s a badge of honor. So too is that “USA” across their chest, trying to live up to the gold standard of USA Hockey teams of the past – 1960 in Squaw Valley and 1980 in Lake Placid, The Miracle on Ice team.
“The Americans watch that [movie],” laughed Babcock, the Canadian coach who has two American-born children due to his time in the NHL. “My kids think it’s great. I don’t think it’s that great.”
Someone is going to be a legend Sunday. The stakes are that high. The focus and attention is considerable. It’s the biggest hockey game in the history of North America. It’s the USA vs. Canada, wrapping up an Olympics where the two nations cast such a dominant shadow.
It couldn’t end better. Turns out, everyone has won in these Olympics. So let’s play a little hockey for final bragging rights.
