GOLD FOR CANADIAN HOCKEY

Story from TSN.ca

Timing as they say is everything.

In a game for the ages, it was Crosby - the leader of Canada's Generation Next - who scored the golden goal 7:40 into overtime, leading Canada's men's Olympic hockey team to a thrill-a-minute 3-2 victory over their arch rivals from the United States.

Crosby, who was 14 and watching Canada's 2002 Olympic championships on television, played give-and-go with one of the key players on that team, Jarome Iginla, to score the winning goal and salvage a game that was hanging in the balance.

On the play, Crosby gave the puck to Iginla deep in the U.S. zone and then drove hard to the net. Iginla - with U.S. defenceman Ryan Suter draped across his back - heard Crosby call out ‘Iggy' and passed it back. Crosby shot the puck without looking. Magically, it found its way between the pads of goaltender Ryan Miller, ending the tense drama and sending the capacity crowd at Canada Hockey Place into paroxysms of joy.

Afterwards, Crosby said he didn't even see the puck enter the net. He only knew it was in when he heard the crowd roar.

"It's a dream come true," said Crosby. "To have a chance to score in overtime, here in Canada, it doesn't get much better than that."

Crosby had had a relatively quiet tournament by his standards, fitting in nicely as a piece of the puzzle on a team that relied on balanced scoring, mostly from its emerging young nucleus. It was fitting therefore that Crosby saved the best for last.

"Guys like that find a way," said defenceman Chris Pronger.

It was Canada's eighth Olympic gold medal overall in men's hockey and they became the first to win on home ice since the U.S. did it in 1980's ‘Miracle On Ice.'

Crosby was one of a handful of players who had a chance to put the game away in regulation. Canada nursed a 2-1 lead into the final minute of play; prior to that, Crosby had been denied on a breakaway with about three minutes to go and both Pronger and Shea Weber hit the post early in the third period.

Normally, in the rhythm of any hockey game, too many missed chances at one end translate into a goal at the other - and yesterday was no exception. With 25 seconds remaining in regulation; Canada getting set for a celebration; and goaltender Ryan Miller on the bench for a sixth attacker, the U.S. tied the game on a goal by Zach Parise. The sequence was potentially heart-breaking: Patrick Kane's shot deflected off Jamie Langenbrunner's skate right to Parise, who skated across the front of the goal crease and tucked a shot past goaltender Roberto Luongo.

To be so close to the championship - and then needing to return for four-on-four overtime - was just the final test in what had been a pressure-packed two weeks for the Canadian team. Thanks to Crosby, they survived.

According to centre Ryan Getzlaf, there wasn't a lot said in the Canadian dressing room during the 15-minute intermission.

"Our guys did a great job - the leaders we have in that room - of staying poised and getting it done in the end," said Getzlaf, who almost missed the Olympics because of an ankle injury suffered the week before the Games started. In the end, Getzlaf proved to be one of Canada's most important contributors, setting up the second goal - by Corey Perry - that for the longest time looked as if it would be the game winner.

"I knew that Canada had a very good chance of winning the gold medal," said Getzlaf, "and I wanted to be part of it. I was fortunate enough that the hockey gods blessed me to get that foot better and be back for the tournament."

Getzlaf played with Crosby on Canada's 2005 world junior hockey championship team.

"That's Sid for you," said Getzlaf. "There's a reason he's the best player in the world. He always shows up in those big moments and scores those big goals."

It was a wonderfully played game on many levels - close-and-tight checking to start, with strong goaltending at both ends throughout. The nerves and what players like to call the "compete" level were at a fever pitch throughout. There was a moment when the cameras caught Iginla smiling on the bench after a particularly hard shift, talking to Crosby. Could it really have been fun too?

"We'd been talking together all tournament as a line - and communicating with each other," said Iginla. On the winning goal, according to Iginla, Crosby "was yelling pretty urgently. There are different pitches of yells; this was loud.

"Sid, he just keeps going. He could have scored on that breakaway in regulation, but he's a positive guy, and it was awesome to see it go in."

A sentiment that was seconded all across Canada Sunday.