Olympic Update - Men's Hockey Final

This afternoon we saw possibly one of the greatest hockey games of our time. I have never seen a level of play this caliber before. Both teams gave it their all and left their hearts on the ice.

It all started with a goal in the first period by Canada. They may have gotten the first goal, but now the question was "how would Team USA respond?"

The answer seemed to be "not very well" when Canada scored again in the second. It appeared that Team USA would be defeated. They had something to say on the matter though. They scored once in the second to bring the score to 2-1. And that wouldn't be the last we heard from them.

Third period. Less than a minute to go. Empty net left by Miller for the extra man. That was when Zack Parise would get his chance to score, tying the game up at 2-2 in the final seconds. It would seem this game wasn't over yet.

The game ended there and went to OT. Crosby would score about five minutes in, winning the game for Canada. Miller (USA's goalie) looked incredibly dejected after the loss, but he should be proud of himself and how well he played throughout the entire tournament. He was named MVP, which I believe he greatly deserves. He made some spectacular saves and really proved to be an extraordinary player.

If we had to lose to someone I'm glad it was Canada and the level of play was as good as we saw. In my mind, neither team really lost, as they showed us what extraordinary players they all are.

At the end of the day the gold medal went to Canada, silver to Team USA, and bronze to Finland (who beat Slovakia by a score of 5-3 yesterday). The overall medal count for Team USA was 9 gold, 15 silver, 13 bronze, for a total of 37 medals. Germany was in second with 30 and Canada was in third with 26 (14 of which were gold). The medals aren't what's really important though. What matters most are the stories that we got to share, and the memories that will stay with us. Whether it's Apolo Ohno's record-breaking performance or the Canadian who skated in memory of her mother who recently passed away or Hannah Kearney's gold medal in Skiing (which admittedly still makes me cry every time I see the replay), these memories will hold more weight than all the medals in the world. These are the moments that make these games truly special.