Canada defends gold medal for third time, USA accepts silver heartbreak

If there's one thing every sports fan knows, it isn't over until it's over. 

The writing was on the wall when The United States found themselves up two goals well into the third period. The Canadians had yet to score.

In the most intense rivalry in women's hockey, the shutout seemed like the perfect way to dethrone the Canadians. After all, it was the Canadians who shut them out 2-0 in Vancouver four years ago handing them a silver medal.

The Canadian women didn't dominate exactly how the Americans did, but the rivalry is something each team can get up for even after the toughest of games.

As both teams are perennial opponents in the gold medal game, the Americans have been chasing a gold for sixteen straight years now, but Canada prevails every time. A silver isn't what the U.S. wanted, it isn't even a consolation prize. As a former member of Team Canada and CBC analyst Cassie Campbell said, "No disrespect to the silver medal, but as a hockey player you'd rather be in the bronze medal game and win than be in the gold medal game and lose."

The history

A rivalry as old as the Olympic sport itself since it's inclusion in the 1998 Nagano Games, a staged flag-stomping created an irreconcilable rift between the two.

Salt Lake City, 2002. The Americans and Canadians found themselves in the Gold Medal Game. A story surfaced the Americans had the Canadian flag on the floor of their dressing room and were walking over it. The ultimate display of disrespect proved motivation for the Canadians who won by a score of 3-2.

Captain Hayley Wickenheiser gave the CBC an interview after the win that is arguably the most famous quote out of women's hockey. It might even be the best out of any final at the Olympic hockey event. "The Americans had our flag on their floor in the dressing room and now I want to know if they want us to sign it.”

Later the story was revealed to be manufactured for incentive.

The post

The Canadians scored their first goal of the game, they were looking to tie with just a handful of minutes remaining. There's nothing worse than a bad bounce from a referee, actually there is.

As a clearing attempt by the Americans fell short, the referee slammed into the Canadian player manning the point and a shot from an American went down the ice. It looked good, it looked like victory for the USA and utter disappointment for the Canadians.

Bless that post. As the Canadians rushed back the puck dinged off the right post and stayed out of the net. Crisis averted for Canada. With under a minute to go Marie-Philip Poulin would tie the game for Canada.

The most prepared lost to the best prepared

American coach Katey Stone was coaching in her first Olympic games after being one of the top coaches in NCAA hockey at Harvard for 19 years. She's done it all with women's hockey except for coach the Olympic Team. 

Since being named the US women's olympic coach in June of 2012 she has been thinking about systems, players, scouting, drawing up plans. She created her team along with USA Hockey's management and she prepared everything she could including her players.

Kevin Dineen was fired as head coach of the Florida Panthers of the NHL. Just months after that devastating firing, Dineen was offered the position of head coach for the women's national team. An honor for him, he took it.

Sure, there might have been a coaching job in the NHL, but this is what he wanted to do. Oh yeah, and he had 54 days to get to know the women and teach them his systems before the Olympic Games.

He didn't pick his team, and he didn't have time to be the most prepared. He was as prepared as he could be in under 60 days. 

The gold drought continues for Julie Chu

In her fourth Olympics, USA forward Julie Chu was banking on strong World Championships run to indicate 2014 was her year. With a gold at the World Women's Championships in 2013 and four games won a piece against each other in the last year, this was game nine. The tiebreaker game, game seven of the Stanley Cup Finals, overtime. 

The United States were an inch away from gold.