‘IT’S DEVASTATING’ Every four years, the intolerable wait for unwanted women’s hockey silver haunts
BEIJING – The cruelest part of this four-year journey always comes after the end for one or the other, when there’s nothing more that can be done to change how the next 19 minutes will go.
Every time in this game, the United States and Canada will hear the final siren and one of them will pile on the ice. The other will retreat to its bench for the hugs, tears and silence of watching their only true rival celebrate beating them for the biggest prize in the sport.
This is how it goes in women’s hockey at the Olympics: A long road to get here far from any fanfare, a rush of buildup to the one game that truly matters and then an intolerable, 19-minute wait for a piece of silver neither team wants to take home.
“It’s devastating,” said Hilary Knight, for so long the standard-bearer of American hockey excellence. “It’s heartbreaking.”
The game that mattered didn’t go their way this time because, well, that’s hockey and that’s this rivalry. The final score was 3-2 because that’s about what separates these two teams: An inch, a bounce, a split-second opportunity that passes by.
The details this time only made it more difficult to accept. The Americans played a poor first period, they fell behind 3-0, and then they fought like hell to give themselves a chance. They outshot the Canadians 41-20. They were faster and stronger for the final 30 minutes. They had power plays and generated pressure on Canadian goaltender Ann-Renee Desbiens, who was fabulous because the Americans forced her to be fabulous.
And after all that determination, after emptying the reservoir of want-to, all they got in return were those 19 minutes the loser of this game dreads the most.
“I’m not going to be able to stop thinking about it for awhile,” said forward Amanda Kessel. “I don’t know if it’s puck luck or what it is. It seemed like we maybe got like one (good) bounce all tournament. It just seemed like that’s the way it was going.”
But it’s the symmetrical essence of what they’ve turned this sport into. Four years ago, the U.S. won this game 3-2. Four years before that, Canada won it 3-2. The smallest margins determining the biggest stakes, with no suggestion that it will change in Italy four years from now. For both Canada and the U.S., the rivalry never gets easier. It only highlights how small the margins really are.
“It’s the greatest rivalry in sport,” said American defenseman Cayla Barnes. “We love the competition, the rivalry, the ups and downs. It’s a beautiful rivalry.”
Somewhere in the tears, there will surely be inspiration for Team USA, just as there was for Canada in Pyeongchang. How can there not be?
They had spent so many desperate minutes watching their work go unrewarded, clawing back to the point where one more goal earlier in the third period might have changed everything. They had seen chance after chance get deflected away or bounce past their sticks, only to cruelly see a puck finally go in with 13.5 seconds remaining when it was far too late to make anything more happen.
And then, instead of being able to walk away and letting Canada have their moment, they had to stay there. Some of them kneeled in front of the bench and watched. Goaltender Alex Cavallini hunched over the bench. Kendall Coyne Schofield skated around, back turned to the joy on the other end of the ice.
After a few minutes, they took off their helmets and put their sticks and gloves on the ice. There were no smiles. They ambled to the other side of the rink as workers laid out mats for the medal ceremony and Coyne listened to instructions while Owl City’s hit song blared from the loudspeakers.
“We don’t even have to try, it’s always a good time.”
Finally, after what seemed like forever, podiums were positioned on the ice with medals and faux bouquets placed on top. The Americans were still just standing there, joyless, empty, as a volunteer held a placard reminding them to put their masks on.
Finally, the Finnish team that won the bronze medal filed onto the ice. At least they were getting on with it. At the 19-minute mark, the U.S. could finally start to see an exit out of the arena, out of Beijing, back to another four years of chasing the medal they really wanted. Ten more minutes after that, the players put silver around each other’s necks and waited for “O Canada” to play instead of “The Star-Spangled Banner” they expected to hear Thursday.
By the time they filed through the area where the media was waiting for interview, the emotions were no longer fresh. The regrets were recited almost clinically.
“(Losing) is not something when you’re training that you even consider. It’s not even a thought,” Knight said. “I’ve seen us practice, I’ve seen us play. I’ve seen us put together 60 minutes and that wasn’t it. But that’s sports.”
In the purest, most majestic and excruciating package they can produce.