Canada Wins Gold

2002 Olympic Hockey

"This is a great moment for a proud country," Team Canada executive director Wayne Gretzky said.

Jarome Iginla and Joe Sakic each scored twice in a historic victory Sunday for Canada in their national sport.

"You don't know what it's like to have a piano on your back. No other team had more pressure than ours," defenseman Al MacInnis said. "Everybody in Canada was watching with the same intensity that we played the game with. It's amazing the way a sport can bring the country together."

The loss also snapped the United States' 70-year winning streak on Olympic home ice.

"We would have loved to win, but if we couldn't, there's nobody better to do it," U.S. forward Jeremy Roenick said. "We were playing hockey's creators."

Canada's gold came 50 years to the day an amateur team called the Edmonton Waterloo Mercurys won the hockey-crazy nation's last Olympic gold.

The Olympics proved the be a great showcase for the sport. The NHL should consider adopting some elements from the Olympic game. Namely the hurry-up face-offs and allowing the two-line pass.