Oof.

If you thought Sidney Crosby could do anything more to negatively impact your spirit…

The Greatest Hockey Team Ever won gold Sunday, in a classic gold-medal game over the United States. It was the only blemish for a previously undefeated American team, and certainly the wrong time to lose a game. As tough as it is to say at the moment, a silver medal can only be considered a success for the USA, as very few outside of the team itself felt it had a chance to do anything of significance in these Olympics. That’s not to say we didn’t want gold, though…

The game was intense, but not overly exciting. Neither team had a great number of chances. Both goalies allowed soft goals. The hitting was there, though, along with the chippiness and after-the-whistle scrums. All of a sudden, there was a minute and a half left in the third period and the U.S. had pulled the goalie. Zach Parise improbably tied the game with 25 seconds left, sending it to overtime, where Crosby won it for Canada at the 7:40 mark.

Canada got off to a good start in the game. Jonathan Toews opened the scoring midway through the first, and Corey Perry gave the Red Maple Leafs a 2-0 lead seven minutes into the second period. USA got to within one goal about five minutes later, as Ryan Kesler deflected a Patrick Kane shot past Roberto Luongo.

No matter the score, it lived up to the hype. Canada was supposed to win the tournament, and only slightly did people waver when they stumbled against the U.S. the first time around. The best team may have won, but the future is bright for the American hockey team. You can only expect it to be better come 2014, when Flyers fans will get a chance to root for team and country with James van Riemsdyk presumably donning the Stars and Stripes (assuming Gary Bettman allows it).

Now we return to our regularly scheduled programming. NHL play resumes tomorrow night; the Flyers play their first game back Tuesday against the Lightning in Tampa Bay. 22 games remain for the Flyers as they attempt to build on their four-game pre-Olympic winning streak and climb the Eastern Conference standings heading into the playoffs.

We can only hope Mike Richards allotted for two championships this year…