The Night Canada Almost Fell Into Civil War

by Slate Quicksilver

In Olympic hockey today, Canada edged by Switzerland 3-2 with a single goal in a 4 round shootout being the only difference. The Swiss had several attempts to actually knock the Canadians off in the shootout and almost had several scoring opportunities in the minutes leading up to OT and the shootout. In the end, Sidney Crosby put in the winning goal in the shootout with a low hard shot over Swiss goalie Thomas Hiller's left leg pad just before Marty Brodeur made the final save in the shootout to seal the win. The game wouldn't have even been close if not for Hiller. He stood on his head several times, robbing the Canadians of certain goals numerous times and finished with 40 saves.

One has to wonder what would have happened if Canada lost. The expectations on Canada is akin to Dallas Cowboys entering a Pop Warner league. They cannot lose, no matter what. And it almost happened. Civil War is a possibility with the factions being split on how to blame: the coaching or the players. Frankly, after watching that game, the blame belongs with the players who just thought they'd roll over a mediocre opponent. They seemingly forgot that the Swiss beat them in Torino in 2006. Canada and the US play on Sunday and seeing as how the US beat the Swiss 3-1, we should win thanks to the plainly obvious Transitive property of sports.

Team A beats Team B by X
Team C beats Team B by X - Y
Team A will beat Team C
X > Y, X > 0
Y > 0