My dad had an old saying around the Shannon kitchen table: “When you lose, say little. When you win, say less.” But I must admit, sometimes it’s difficult to listen to my father. Today might be one of those days.
Winning, it seems, is much more enjoyable than losing. The celebrations by Canadians in Boston, and from coast to coast to coast, following Canada’s overtime win in the 4 Nations Face-Off final warmed the country in the harsh cold of winter. Many of us needed something to appease our patriotism in a time of turmoil with the United States. Thursday night did just that.
But let’s put a little perspective on Canada’s 3-2 win in Boston. Recency bias would call it one of the greatest-ever international games for Canada. If you only measured the last nine years, the answer is yes.
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I’m not trying to spoil the party, but was it the greatest international game Canada has ever played? Well, frankly, no it wasn’t: 1972, 1987, 2002, 2010 and 2014 all had single games that superseded Thursday night.
That doesn’t mean we can’t, for a short period of time, enjoy it. It brings Canada together.
Winnipeg Jets fans cheering for Mark Stone, Montreal Canadiens fans rooting for Mitch Marner, Vancouver Canucks fans pulling for Connor McDavid. That’s what makes it special — Canadians cheering on Canadians.
And for one brief, shining moment, Canada has reclaimed its place at the top of the hockey world.
It wasn’t that long ago — just seven weeks — we were lamenting our nation’s performance at the world junior championships.
And it sets the table for an Olympic tournament, next February in Italy, that will be spectacular.
So enjoy the glow of winning. It feels pretty darn good. And oh yeah, it’s back to work Saturday with 14 NHL regular season games. The trade deadline is on March 7 and the Stanley Cup playoffs start in the middle of April.
Oh, and by the way, the game will always be ours.
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