Neither team could complain about a lack of support Sunday. Chants of "Can-a-da, Can-a-da" were buttressed with "USA, USA" over the course of the game and Canadian fans sang "O Canada" as the final minute clicked off the clock. Team USA was greeted by a rousing roar at the end of the game as well.
For the Americans, the silver medal marked the first medal for the United States since the 1980 Miracle on Ice gold medal. In the three Winter Olympics held on U.S. soil, the Americans have won two golds and a silver.
The game was the final event of the Winter Games and it was appropriate as the scintillating contest came as close to living up to the incredible hype as humanly possible.
"A big monkey is lifted off Canada's back," Team USA center Jeremy Roenick said. "Both teams deserved to be here and they got the big goals today. It was a great game. Today was their day."
Joe Sakic of the Colorado Avalanche, named the most valuable player of the tournament, scored a pair of goals for Canada, as did the Calgary Flames' Jarome Iginla, who also had an assist. Sakic also had two assists for a four-point game.
Brodeur made 31 saves in net for Canada and engaged in a terrific goaltending duel with long time NHL rival Mike Richter, who made 34 stops.
"I don't know if they decisively outplayed us," Richter said. "It was 3-2 with I don't know how many minutes left. They were the better team. They played well and we were stuck behind. They played their best game and we didn't have ours."
"As you get older, you cherish these moments," Team Canada defenseman Al MacInnis said. "I told the young guys -- Iginla, (Simon) Gagne -- to cherish these moments because you don't know when you are going to get a chance again."
The moments after the game concluded told a great deal about the mutual respect that was evident between both teams. As the Americans received their silver medals, the Canadians applauded and the Americans were gracious in defeat. As the two teams shook hands at center ice, an unprecedented number of reunions took place on the ice as NHL teammates congratulated players who moments before had been foes.
Brian Rafalski, who scored on Brodeur, his New Jersey teammate, embraced the goalie and both laughed. There were similar reunions all over the ice. Chris Chelios and Brett Hull greeted Detroit Red Wings teammates Steve Yzerman and Brendan Shanahan. Brian Leetch and Richter, members of the New York Rangers greeted teammates Eric Lindros and Theo Fleury. The list goes on and on.
And the opposite was true as well.
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Joe Sakic of the Colorado Avalanche, named the most valuable player of the tournament, scored a pair of goals and dished out two assists for Canada.
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"We had to forgive and forget a lot," Brodeur joked about coming together with often bitter NHL rivals to form a team. "On Tuesday, I will be playing against Theo and the 'Big E' when the Devils play the Rangers. So, you have to cherish the time together."
Canada played an aggressive game, sending its defensemen into the rush early and often. That tactic resulted in sustained pressure in the U.S. end, but also proved costly as the Americans counterattacked and scored the game's first goal when Tony Amonte took a chip pass from a diving Tom Poti and scored on a breakaway at 8:49 of the first period.
Canada evened the score at 14:50, when Paul Kariya took a pass from Chris Pronger and beat Richter from the left circle. Iginla took a terrific cross-ice feed from Sakic and banged the puck home at 18:33 to give Canada a 2-1 lead after the first period.
The U.S. rebounded to tie the game at 15:30 of the second when Rafalski scored a power-play goal off a pass from Mike Modano. Rafalski wheeled in the right circle and took a shot that hit the stick of Pronger, changed direction, and beat Brodeur.
Sakic, richly deserving of MVP honors, put Canada back into the lead for good at 18:19 of the second period with a power-play goal. Taking a pass from defenseman Ed Jovanovski, Sakic fired a wrist shot past a screened Richter.
The game remained a taut, up-and-down battle in the third period, until Canada took advantage of the U.S. having to press the attack. First it was Iginla at 16:01, netting his second of the game with a drive from the left circle that struck Richter's arm and trickled into the net.
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Canada's on-ice celebration was reminiscent of any Stanley Cup celebration as the players mobbed Brodeur at one end of the ice.
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That made it a 4-2 game and the clock was winding down against the Americans. And when Sakic scored his second goal at 18:40 with a wrist shot from the slot, the Canadian fans were able to start their celebration in earnest.
For the record, Fleury was the first Canadian player to receive his gold medal and New Jersey Devils defenseman Scott Niedermayer was the last in line to have the coveted prize placed around his neck.
Canada's on-ice celebration was reminiscent of any Stanley Cup celebration as the players mobbed Brodeur at one end of the ice. The difference was the losing team held its head up high. For the Americans, like the Canadians, the goal was gold, but being presented with a silver medal for a tremendous tournament was a fitting reward for coach Herb Brooks' crew.
"Overall, we had a great tournament," said Chelios, the American captain. "It was a great accomplishment winning the silver medal. We're all proud of that. It was disappointing that we didn't reach our goal of getting the gold medal, but we had a lot of support.
"It was a great game," Chelios continued. "We can't say anything bad about the tournament There were no negatives as a team. We played together, we did what we thought we had to do to win this game. Canada came up with a great game."
"They have nothing to be ashamed of," Canada's Shanahan said. "We knew coming in that both teams were winners."
