Hockey Breakfast 2: USA vs. Russia

Another early morning at Cole's. I was at the door at 6.45 am. Others were waiting in their cars, but they weren't at the door, were they? Watched the night guy finish cleaning, put the bar stools down, and then... nothing. Fortunately, one of the bartenders was coming to watch, and he let us in. Within three minutes, only four barstools were empty. I was saving five seats, then gave one of them up so a couple could sit together, hoping they'd help me defend. By game time, I couldn't get to the breakfast buffet. Good thing Amy brought donuts.

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Just showed Sidney Crosby in the crowd. Guy behind me asked why he's not playing.

*sigh*

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As I posted already, NBC showed Sidney Crosby in the crowd, and a guy behind me asked why Crosby wasn't playing today. In the USA vs Russia game. Ask Cole Harbour, NS. They have a clue.

During the shootout, a DIFFERENT guy asked why the coach wasn't putting Sidney Crosby in for the shootout. Presumably for the USA. The guy was drunk, but he was also sincere.

That's the answer. The question was, "Why don't you meet guys when you go to bars to watch hockey?" For fuck's sake, men of Buffalo...

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Any flick of a stick could have solved it. Even a net that hadn’t bent off its peg would’ve sent Russia off with the win. That would have been too easy, and anitclimatic. After all, NBC had been showing clips from the 1980 MIracle game, the semifinal game that left the Russians scrambling for Bronze while TEAM USA played for gold. We were in the mood for drama. If we played them ten times, they might win nine. But not this game. Not tonight.

I was in Coles on Elmwood Avenue. I got in line at 6.45 am to get a seat at the bar - the bar was SRO by 7.15 am. Every time Putin was shown, the crowd erupted in boos. We had our own goal light and a “U-S-A” chant for when the US scored twice. The bar’s owner was in Moscow on his way to Sochi, watching the game in a bar and doing shots of vodka across the world with us to celebrate USA goals. The two Russian goals brought chants of “Mil-ler, Mil-ler,” as we lobbied for our hometown favourite to take his rightful place in the net.

It goes to overtime, where Patrick Kane is stopped on a breakaway that would have made for a storybook ending, at least for Buffalo residents and/or Chicago Blackhawk fans. Neither team manages to solve it in extra time.

International shootouts have three different shooters on the first three shots, and then you have only those three shooters to choose from for the remainder of the shootout until it’s decided. “You’ve got to use TJ Oshie, who has 7 shootout goals this season,” says one NBC announcer, as they muse that perhaps some players had been chosen for the team based upon their shootout performance in the NHL. Little-known TJ Oshie plays for the NHL’s St. Louis Blues. We Google him. We didn’t know.

Indeed, Oshie goes first for USA, and scores easily five-hole. Evgeni Malkin is next for Russia, stopped by Quick. Maple Leaf Van Riemsdyk is next, with a shot that Columbus Bluejacket Bobrovsky deflects away. Datsyuk next moves in on Quick, who catches the puck in his glove. Round 3, Pavelski, who has already scored for the US, tries three different moves on Bobrovsky, ovrecomplicating his shot into no shot at all. Ilya Kovalchuk needs to score for RUS to tie up the shootout or the game is over. His shot indeed speeds past Quick into the net, causing the crowd at Coles to wonder what the heck happens next in international shootouts.

Now the Russians get the first shot for the remaining rounds, but both teams have to use the same three players again, in any rotation. Round 4. Kovalchuk gets his chance again, to no avail. TJ Oshie lines up again — a goal would win it — and the shot goes beyond the net. Round 5. Datsyuk tries to redeem Russia, and gets a quick goal, causing the fans to salute him, the lone goal-scorrer for the Russians during regulation, for a hat trick.

Van Riemsdyk and Pavelski settle into the bench. Oshie is the man for the US. There’s a twinkle in his eye as he takes the line every time, staring the goalie down. This is a head game between Oshie and Bobrovsky, and goalies rarely win head games once they’re down. This round, Oshie has to score to avoid the loss. He fakes Bobrovsky out and sends it over his left pad. The Olympic game is tied again. The head game? Advantage Oshie.

Sixth Round. Russia sends out Kovalchuk again, with an easy goal over Quick’s glove hand. Oshie again must score or go home. His shot goes up over Bobrovsky, off the post and in. A little puck, a little luck. Datsyuk takes his turn in Russia’s obvious rotation, shoots right into Quick who stops it. In the bottom of Round 7, the US has a chance to win it. “TJ Oshie, against the Russian Federation,” the announcer dramatically intones. The drama is misplaced, as Bobrovsky stops the shot to his right with the blade of his stick.

Eighth round, Kovalchuk’s turn. He is stopped on the next try by Quick and the post. A chink in the armor? No time to find out. This time the USA can win if they score. It’s Oshie. For the win. A wrist shot that gets past Bobrovsky five-hole. We never saw another shot of Putin after that.

From unknown to household name, Oshie had 40,000 new followers on Twitter within 40 minutes (I’m one of them). #Soshie was trending. Oshie tried to give credit to his teammates in a post-game interview, but was told he had to take credit: it was a shootout, after all. He couldn’t do it: taking credit for no more than his half of the performance, he called Quick his “partner" out there. When he was told he was a hero, he said, “Real heroes wear camo.” Well, shucks, kid…

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"Hockey fans everywhere needing a cigarette when this game was over."
- Elliotte Friedman, CBC Sports