Friday, February 22, 2002
Tears of joy
By ERIC FRANCIS -- Calgary Sun
WEST VALLEY CITY , Utah -- Standing in the middle of the ice with tears in her eyes, Hayley Wickenheiser stood holding on to what mattered most.
The Canadian national anthem was played, a sea of Canadian flags waved frantically in the stands and an Olympic gold medal hung from her neck.
Yet there was something much more precious in her grasp:
Her son, Noah.
"It was very emotional," said a choked-up Wickenheiser, who legally adopted her boyfriend's 22-month-old son last year.
"This team has been through a lot and to have him on the ice was a really special moment."
Indeed, the Canadian women's hockey team has had its share of setbacks since being stunned in Nagano four years ago by the U.S.
This year alone the team had lost all eight meetings against the U.S. and had to deal with a late cut of veteran Nancy Drolet which led to an appeal and subsequent controversy.
However, in a year in which the New England Patriots, the Calgary Stampeders and the Arizona Diamondbacks pulled off the unlikeliest of championship upsets, the Canadian women's hockey team shocked everyone but themselves to win the country's third gold of these Games with a 3-2 victory.
"In the last four years I've learned a lot about perspective," said Wickenheiser, the world's best female hockey player, who was motivated daily by memories of the endless Olympic celebrations in which the Americans took part in Nagano.
"I went to a summer Olympics playing fastball where nobody believes in you, nobody cares about you and then you come back to hockey where there's a lot of pressure and expectations.
"It teaches you a lot of things. When I go to the rink I play hockey and love it. And when I go home (to Noah) I love the game that much more."
A day before the game Wickenheiser predicted the hosts would fold under the pressure.
Sure enough, Caroline Ouellette quieted the raucous crowd less than two minutes in with a goal before Canada had to spend the bulk of the period shorthanded.
After hearing Wickenheiser's post-game observation that her squad saw fear in their opponent's eyes, American coach Ben Smith fired back with the classless retort, "She's a great player but maybe she's not an optometrist."
Smith neglected to point out the one in need of glasses was American referee Stacey Livingston, who made a mockery of the sport by calling 13 minor penalties against Canada to the U.S.'s six.
After having eight penalties in a row called against Canada, thoughts of the French skating judge crept into everyone's head as the Americans scored both their goals with the man advantage.
"I've never seen anything like it," said Wickenheiser, who snapped a 1-1 tie four minutes into the second before Jayna Hefford scored the killer with one second left in the period.
"We could have blamed the officiating and got down but that's not what this team is all about," added captain Cassie Campbell, who labeled the officiating "atrocious."
"We beat them the majority of the game four on five. We learned something in every one of those painful losses to the U.S. and always knew we could win this. We never stopped believing."
After holding on in the final three minutes thanks to huge saves from Kim St-Pierre and frantic Canadian backchecking, tears streamed down their faces minutes later as the Canadian anthem was played.
"These girls are role models for this country, not just for this sport," said coach Daniele Sauvageau.
"They're role models for girls and human beings."
Just ask Noah.
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2002 Games Columnists
