2010 Winter Olympics: It Had To Be Sid

Yeah, Canada wins gold! We showed the U.S. whose game they were playing! Yeah, all that jazz!

But now that the reactionary celebration is (slowly) starting to end, it’s time to analyze just how important the goal that Crosby scored was.

Russia has Ovechkin.

America has Kane.

But Canada, we have Sidney Crosby, the kid whose had immense media and fan pressure from Canadians across the nation since he scored 135 points at age 16 and the next year took Rimouski to the Memorial Cup back in 2005.

Since joining the NHL, Canada has become divided on “The Next One.”

He has diehard fans across the nation, on which you will see Crosby jerseys and “Mrs. Crosby” shirts alike. But, he also has a fair amount of haters in Canada, those who label him “a crybaby” and have since jumped on the Ovechkin bandwagon, preferring his flash to Crosby's fundamental ability.

That divide carried into the Olympics.

But, whether you loved him or hated him, you expected a lot from him and because of this, Crosby faced much criticism throughout the tournament.

Going into the gold medal game, The Kid had only put up five points in six games, while Iginla had that many goals.Fans heard about the “San Jose Line”, fans saw that even third-line grinder Ryan Getzlaf had more points than Crosby, and the masses were not happy.

People called into question his playing time, they complained that Crosby took a penalty shot instead of Rick Nash, and they wondered if he would be able to lead Canada to a gold medal.

But, in the classic Crosby way, he delivered in the clutch. Sure, Crosby’s name wasn’t all over the score sheet in every game, but it didn’t really matter in the blowouts over Germany and Russia. Much like how he consistently puts up big points against big opponents in the NHL, he put up points when he needed to.

He scored the goal that brought Canada within one in the key game against the US in the round robin, and he scored the shootout winner over the Swiss to ensure an upset of the century didn't happen.

And with the infamous "San Jose Line" being almost non-existent, with a defence that allowed 36 shots, and in a game where most of Canada's offense came from grinders like Mike Richards, Corey Perry and Jonathan Toews, he scored the tournament-winning goal in overtime over the US, sending a nation into sheer ecstasy. 

And so, with the goal, continues the almost Hollywood-perfect story of Crosby’s career. He has now won the Stanley Cup and an Olympic gold medal in the short span of ten months.

So whether you love him or hate him, you’ve got to admit that it wouldn’t have been the same if anyone else had scored the goal which brought gold to Canada.