Canada vs. United States - 02-28-10

-What a fitting end to an amazing two weeks of hockey. There was so much hype for this tournament. Ever since Sweden won the 2006 Olympic Games there was so much anticipation in what would happen in Vancouver four years later. This tournament did not disappoint.

-What was so fitting about this tournament was that the clear-cut two best teams in the world met for the gold medal. And they put on a show. They played gutsy, all-out hockey and gave us a thrilling game for one of the biggest prizes in this sport. Ultimately, Canada's depth came through and gave them a 3-2 overtime win.

-Does Sidney Crosby (above) lead a blessed life or what? He had struggled a bit to make an impact in this tournament. He had a chance to end this game late in the third on a breakaway but a wonderful backcheck by Patrick Kane saved the day. Crosby got a second chance off a cycle by Jarome Iginla and buried a wrister by Ryan Miller through the five hole.

-Crosby now has a place with the elite of Canada's hockey legends. He's on par with Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Bobby Orr and Maurice Richard in a sporting and cultural sense.

-Roberto Luongo quieted doubters, including us, that he could win a big game. Winning a gold medal isn't quite the same thing as winning a Stanley Cup, but it's up there. It's a nice thing to have on your resume. It makes you stand out in  crowd when elite goaltenders are mentioned.

-The United States has nothing to be ashamed of. This team wasn't even supposed to contend for any sort of medal. Yet they took the clear cut favorite in this tournament to overtime in the gold medal match. A silver medal for this team is nothing to be embarrassed by.

-Ryan Miller was outstanding as well. He was easily the most valuable player of this tournament.

-Brooks Orpik might've played the game of his life. His defense today was outstanding. He was phyical, positionally sound and blocked several key shots and passes. He finds ways to step up in big games and today was no exception.

-Canada's depth really came through on the game-winning goal. Canada had spread its ice time evenly among its blueliners. Twenty-somethings like Shea Weber and Duncan Keith got similar minutes as 30-somethings such as Chris Pronger and Scott Niedermayer. Meanwhile, the United States demanded a lot out of 35-year old Brian Rafalski while a younger Ryan Whitney was essentially benched after the second period. Rafalski ended up being the one being beat by Crosby for the game-winning goal.

-The United States had a 36-34 lead in shots.

-Rick Nash led the game with five shots.

-Zach Parise, Patrick Kane and Joe Pavelski each led the United States with four.

-Ryan Suter led the game with 31:31 of ice time.

-Pronger led Canada with 23:35 of ice time.

-Crosby had 16:52 of ice time, four shots and was a plus-1.

-Orpik had 15:10 and was a minus-1.

-Ryan Malone had 10:50, two shots and was a minus-1.

-Whitney only had 2:57 of ice time. He did not play past the second period. He finished a minus-1.

-Somehow, the Canadians won despite not having Mike Green.

-Regarding the live chats. We had a blast doing them over the past two weeks. It seemed like most of you did too. We're going to keep the current format for live blogs. But we will figure out a way to work the live chats into some sort of regular rotation. We created a little bit of a community there. It would be a shame to let it just disappear.

-Dejan Kovacevic has postgame stuff.

(Photo: Alex Livesey/Getty Images)