The Canadian women's hockey team celebrates after their 4-1 victory over Sweden
Canadas 4-1 victory over Sweden for the Olympic gold medal in womens ice hockey came in an anticlimactic final. Swedens upset of No. 2-seed Team U.S.A. in the semifinal was described widely as a Lake Placid moment for womens hockey. The Swedes caught the Americans on a bad day, maybe looking ahead to the Canada game. The result effectively rendered the gold-medal match as predictable as finding pizza in Torino. Tickets for the gold medal game were going for all of 3 Euros on Monday.
"I'm kind of sorry that we spoiled the dance, U.S. coach Ben Smith said Monday. Until the Americans lost to Sweden, the U.S. and Canada had been undefeated by the rest of the world. Their only losses had been to each other.
After the Americans defeated the Finns for the bronze medal earlier Monday, Smith referred to a two-tier reality in women's hockey: Canada and U.S.A. on one plateau, everyone else scrambling to catch up. In fact, there are three tiers: Canada and the U.S., Finland and Sweden, then the rest.
The Swedes didn't expect to win. They were thrilled to keep it close, or put another way, pleased that Canada kept it close. "We had no tears for disappointment and no tears for happiness," said Swedish captain Erika Holst. Having outscored opponents 46-2, Canada freshened debate about whether women's hockey belongs in the Olympics. The IOC is committed to women's hockey until the 2010 Games in Vancouver. Beyond that date, there's discussion about limiting the tournament to the top-ranked teams and of introducing a measure to thwart lopsided scores.
Canadian captain Cassie Campbell, who played in her third and very likely last Olympics, looks at video from the women's debut at Nagano in 1998 and thinks, "it's crazy how much bigger and better the game is today." She recalled the boost given hockey in the U.S. by the victory over the Soviet Union in the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics, suggesting the same kicker might occur for women's hockey in Europe now that the Big Two don't appear invincible.
Kim Martin of Sweden, named top goaltender in the tournament and committed to play at the University of Minnesota-Duluth, says women's hockey is under-funded in her country, convincing girls to play the sport is no easier today than five years ago.
By contrast, the American and Canadian veterans are being pressed by a new generation of players who have been inspired to play by the exploits of their national teams. The Century Line (so named due to their combined ages) of Campbell, 32, opening ceremony flag bearer Danielle Goyette, 40 and Vicky Sunohara, 35, understand that it's time to go. Dozens upon dozens of players with equal or better talent, speed and toughness ready to take their place. Not so, in Russia, Italy or even Sweden.
The lack of competitiveness makes for a routinely boring product. During the final, the pro-Canadian crowd mostly sat silent, stultified by the stagnant play. Lacking speed, Sweden followed a strategy that amounted to stacking the neutral zone at mid-ice with all five skaters in hopes of gumming up the offense. Sweden failed to manufacture legitimate scoring chances, even on power plays.
"Salt Lake was a huge emotional victory because we hadn't beaten the U.S. all year in the lead-up games," said Wickenheiser, a three-time Olympian. "This time, the pressure to defend the gold medal was really different. Right now, I'm feeling relieved and exhausted."