On Sunday I sat down and did something I haven't done since middle school. No, I'm not talking about playing four square or truth or dare. I'm talking about watching an entire hockey game, from beginning to end.
Sure, I had caught bits and pieces of playoff games in the last few years. And I did manage to watch some of the Winter Classic this year, because hockey at Fenway seemed cool. But I had not seen a game in its entirety since I was probably 12 or 13.
So it was with some trepidation that I settled in to watch the Winter Olympics matchup between the United States and Canada. But I tried to keep an open mind for two hours of hockey, and things started out well for me when the United States got a goal 41 seconds into the game from Brian Rafalski. I wasn't sure that I could sit through a blowout by Canada, so an early lead was beneficial.
It didn't take long for me to start to get into the game. It helped that I recognized a handful of the players, particularly on team Canada. I made it through the first period pretty easily, thanks in part to the magic of DVR. I have to admit that I was enjoying myself, surprising as it was.
By the second period, I was hooked, spouting off my limited hockey knowledge left and right (example: Chris Drury just scored a goal, that guy went to Boston University!) and cheering like it was the Super Bowl.
The third period lived up to the first two. Amazingly, the U.S. team scored a fourth goal against Martin Brodeur, arguably the best netminder in NHL history. But even when it looked like the game should be over, you knew Canada was going to score a goal to pull within one again. The United States was able to weather the storm, however, and emerged with an unexpected win.
A lot of people are setting this upset up as a comparison for the Miracle on Ice, which ironically enough occurred almost 30 years before, to the day, of this U.S. victory. But while it was improbable, it wasn't of the same significance or magnitude. Instead, I prefer to make parallels to the hockey moment that defined my childhood. Sorry NHL fans because this is probably going to be blasphemous, but did this remind anyone else of the "Mighty Ducks" (1992−1996) movies?
Rafalski? He has come out of nowhere to be the Fulton Reed of the U.S. team. He scored twice on crazy slap shots and added an assist on the Jamie Langenbrunner game−winner.
Team Canada? Let's just make them Iceland. Supremely talented, with players that are apparently infinitely better than the other side, they lost because the opposition was more cohesive. And if they don't perform a miraculous turnaround in these games, you can bet Canadians will be blaming Sidney Crosby like he was Gunnar Stahl.
All that is missing here is a coach pressed into service because of a mandatory DUI sentence. I knew my friends and I were probably taking this a little too far when we replayed a shot because we swore it was a patented Russ Tyler "knucklepuck." Or maybe it was when I incessantly called for the use of the "Flying V" or thought to myself that the empty netter by Ryan Kesler that sealed the deal for the U.S. 5−3 win was a "Luis Mendoza−like" moment. At least I stopped short of comparing U.S. goalie Ryan Miller to Goldberg.
But even without any crazy comparisons, I enjoyed the game much more than I imagined I would. Was it enough to make me actually follow hockey religiously? Probably not. But maybe if I'm flipping through a Bruins game now, I'll stick around to watch a little more. Who knows, I might even stumble upon another game like Sunday's.
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Ethan Landy is a senior majoring in English. He can be reached at Ethan.Landy@tufts.edu.
