Sidney Crosby’s Golden Goal

In a final game that couldn’t have been scripted any better, Canada’s golden boy brought a nation to its feet on Sunday, closing out the Winter Olympic Games 2010 with one for the ages. What makes his goal ever sweeter is that he had been very quiet through most of the Olympic tournament after receiving the lion’s share of the press.

But with everything on the line, Sid the Kid was the guy who stepped up and gave Canada their 14th gold medal, breaking the record for the most at a Winter Olympic Games by a home nation.

It was such an incredible end to such an incredible tournament that we really won’t be able to appreciate it until we relive it for months and years to come. The game was even almost too good to be true as Canada lead 2-0 on goals by Jonathan Toews and Corey Perry but the Americans, true to their scrappy and determined media description, battled back and tied the game in dramatic fashion with just 24.4 seconds left.

Zach Parise, who was Americas best skater all tournament, banged a rebound past Canadian goaltender Roberto Luongo with the American goalie pulled, sending this goal a sudden death overtime period.

The stage was set and every person who was lucky enough to watch that game, hopefully in a bar full of Canadian fans, for the goal that will go down as one of the greatest in hockey history. Crosby took a pass from Jerome Iginla off the left wing and at 7:40 of overtime he snapped a low wrister that caught Ryan Miller by surprise and beat him between the legs to give Canada a 3-2 win and the gold medal.

In a moment that will last forever, a building that was filled with 99% hockey crazy Canadian fans erupted in a sea of red and white.

“Every kid dreams of that opportunity,” Crosby said. “It could have been any other guy in that room. Obviously, being in Canada, that’s an opportunity of a lifetime, to play in the Olympics and try and win a gold medal. You dream of that moment 1,000 times growing up. For it to come true is pretty amazing.

“We didn’t want to have any regrets and that’s the way I wanted to go out.”

You could almost feel the goal coming as Canada was dominating the four-on-four overtime, it was just a matter of time. The goal happened so quick, there was almost a moment of silence after the puck went in, but just like a conductor raises his arms to bring the orchestra to life, Crosby’s arms rose and the country exploded.

“I just tried to throw it at the net, I wasn’t really aiming for anything,” Crosby said. “I didn’t see it go in. I just heard everybody screaming.”

With all the press around Sidney Crosby in this Olympics, in the end, he lived up to all the hype and adds to his already legendary hockey career that is really still just getting going.