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The Blog's Title today is Russian for the word, " victory" (thanks translation/babylon.com) and beyond the obvious meaning of the word it resonates this morning with profound disappointment, shock and sadness for Canadians coast to coast. We are, if nothing else, a nation galvanized and brought together by our affinity and passion for "our game" and while we are not generally known for our arrogance, when it comes to shinny we can be grossly arrogant, trumped up and boastful. The international records speak for themselves but last night's result should likely serve as a reminder that we should never, ever, ever, ever take anything for granted, our game or not. Full marks to a Russian squad of juniors that recognized the game is 60-minutes. Their modus operandi should have been better recognized by the Canadian coaches, after all, the Russians fought back from deficits throughout the tournament, including their semi- final against Sweden that earned them a spot in last night's final. At 3-0 with 20 minutes to play it should have been over and as TSN analyst Pierre McGuire pointed out, junior hockey is rife with huge momentum and emotion swings, the 3rd period a telltale example of that insight. At 3-1, you could "feel" the wheels coming off in my livingroom, I am sure the players could too. The Russian team was fast, skilled and battle tested and deserved the gold, no help from bad penalty calls, no cheap goals, just steadfast determination to play a full game and not panic. I do think the switch of goaltenders and the over the top injury reaction by the Russian captain as he lay prone on the ice for close to 5 minutes looking like a player dealing with a life threatening injury, when replay clearly showed it wasn't much, got into the headspace of the Canadian players and subconsciously had them take their foot off the gas. That is where the coaches step in, and clearly they did not do a good enough job to change the wave of momentum that was sweeping over the HSBC ice. It will be debated and examined and a nation will diagnose its very self over the next 24 hours and then we will get back to life.....What a tournament, what a show our friends in Buffalo put on- regardless of outcome. Organizers in Edmonton/Calgary must be silently grateful because the clamor for gold will be even more intense next Boxing Day on home ice. The Canadian loss was good for this tournament and good for us.....Rest assured world, we are coming after what we view as ours in Alberta next year and that's only good for everyone involved. But, to the Russian victors, we hoist and shot of Stoli and cheer their efforts and their medals and they celebrate their с. победа