Well, the Olympics are done and dusted, but it wasn’t without some stunning competition between the US and Canada for the gold medals in both men’s and women’s hockey.  In case you missed the action, here’s a little recap.

The Canadian women hit the US hard right from the start of the game.  In fact, they scored both of their goals in the first period, and the rest of the game went without either team putting one in the net.  Marie-Philip Poulin started things off for the Canadians at the 13:55 mark with a shot off the point.  She followed it up just three minutes later with the second and final goal of the game.

Though the Americans turned up the heat throughout the second and third periods, they were unable to catch up, and the Canadian women took the gold medal with their 2-0 victory.

Though the women put on a fine show, the men played one of the best games I’ve seen throughout these Olympic games.  It looked like the Canadians were looking for a little retribution for the defeat the USA handed them in the qualifying round.  Jonathan Toews put the first one past USA goalie Ryan Miller at the 12:50 mark in the first period.  Though, with the gold medal on the line, the American defense picked it up and managed to hold off the Canadians for the remainder of the first period.

The 1-0 score lasted through more than half of the second period of the game with both teams playing superb defense.  But Corey Perry knocked one in at 7:13, putting the Canadians up 2-0.  Feeling the pressure, the Americans weren’t about to give up and quickly answered back with a goal from veteran Ryan Kesler to put USA up on the board.  This is when things started to get even more interesting.

The third period was all defense for the Americans.  They held off the Canadian onslaught for the entire period, and, still a goal down, they called a time out with less than 30 seconds left in the game.  Whatever was said during that timeout worked because, in a moment of ice hockey brilliance, they came back and scored a goal!  With just seconds remaining, they hit the Canadian net hard, and Zach Parise knocked in a rebound to tie up the game.  It was heading into overtime.

After a much-needed sweep from the Zamboni, overtime saw both teams working the ice even harder if that’s possible.  Both teams were playing nearly perfect hockey with the defense, once again, working overtime for the Americans.  But just a single slip up in this game is costly, which was proven when the puck just slipped past Brian Rafalski’s stick to set up Sidney Crosby’s game winning goal at the 7:40 mark.  It put Canada up 3-2 and gave them the gold medal.

The final medal count ended up with the USA on top (37), Germany (30), Canada (26), Norway (23), and Austria rounding out the top five (16).  It was a brilliant winter games particularly for ice hockey, but the NHL season must resume.  All players have returned from representing their respective countries to complete the regular season and head into the playoffs.  March 2 kicks off with 12 games, and BetUS is offering odds:

Montreal Canadiens v Boston Bruins
Puck Line
Canadiens: +1 ½ -210
Bruins: -1 ½ +170

Carolina Hurricanes v Toronto Maple Leafs
Puck Line
Hurricanes: +1 ½ -255
Maple Leafs: -1 ½ +215

Florida Panthers v Atlanta Thrashers
Puck Line
Panthers: +1 ½ -250
Thrashers: -1 ½ +210

Chicago Blackhawks v New York Islanders
Puck Line
Blackhawks: -1 ½ +165
Islanders: +1 ½ -200

Philadelphia Flyers v Tampa Bay Lightning
Puck Line
Flyers: -1 ½ +220
Lightning: +1 ½ -260

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