Four Seconds, Six Photos, and One Goal

March 7, 2010 5:08 PM

"If he stickhandles once, I have him. If he shoots, he scores." A second-by-second breakdown of Sidney Crosby's goal in the Canada/US Olympic Men's Hockey Final, as told by the players, coaches, and referee.
posted by Alvy Ampersand (36 comments total)

I don't even like sports, but this is like porn to me.
posted by gman at 5:20 PM on March 7, 2010

Same; I'm pretty ambivalent about hockey and mostly indifferent about the Olympics, but I love hearing people explain the whys and hows of what they do.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 5:22 PM on March 7, 2010 [1 favorite]

"And at 12:21, we see Crosby focus his entire attention on the third bean from the left side of the plate..."
posted by Behemoth at 5:26 PM on March 7, 2010

> "And at 12:21, we see Crosby Canada focus his its entire attention on the third bean from the left side of the plate..."

:D
posted by Decimask at 5:33 PM on March 7, 2010 [3 favorites]

last linked is country blocked for me (US)
posted by edgeways at 5:33 PM on March 7, 2010

edgeways > last linked is country blocked for me (US)

Oh, GOD, the schadenfreude!
posted by Decimask at 5:38 PM on March 7, 2010 [15 favorites]

last linked is country blocked for me (US)

Sorry, I guess it's a Canada-only thing. HA! Now you know what it's like when someone links to Colbert on Comedy Central, and I have to skulk over to the Comedy Network like some sort of shameful leper! How does that feel, America? Not very good, does it?!?









Kidding! This might have it, though I can't really vouched for it, since it's county-blocked for me :D. Regardless, it's just video of the goal.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 5:42 PM on March 7, 2010 [1 favorite]

At the time I was sort of annoyed that it was Crosby who won it for Canada because it seemed almost too perfect, given that the media had been ragging on him for not performing well enough, and that the Crosby/Ovechkin rivalry they had hyped up before the Canada-Russia game hadn't turned into anything exciting. But I really like this article because who even cares about hype; it was a great goal.
posted by bewilderbeast at 5:55 PM on March 7, 2010

hey, thanks.

i'm a canadian living in the states and don't really generally give a shit about hockey. but the way that everyone who knows i'm canadian kept talking to me about this game made me almost feel guilty for not having watched it.

now, somehow, i feel completely clued in and maybe even, in some atrophied patriotic sportsman corner of my heart, proud.
posted by 256 at 6:04 PM on March 7, 2010 [2 favorites]

Mrs. B really liked Crosby's answer when questioned about the goal, because so many players so clearly bullshit about goals they wouldn't have had the perspective to narrate in the fashion they do, but I was surprised by the answer this time, because this didn't look like one of those goals at all. Not pre-planned, but very mindful of the opportunities as they were created.
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 6:04 PM on March 7, 2010

Gah. Speculation about a "DNA edge" and a Gladwell reference?
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 6:18 PM on March 7, 2010

I like this video of False Creek when Crosby scored. And here's a bunch of videos of Canadians in different places going nuts at the same time.
posted by Pseudonumb at 6:23 PM on March 7, 2010 [2 favorites]

Shaun Majumder did the math on this one months ago.
posted by futureisunwritten at 6:25 PM on March 7, 2010 [4 favorites]

"[Crosby's] strength may be complemented by a DNA edge, with extra proteins coursing through neural pathways and giving top athletes a sixth-sense during competition"

Hahaha, yeah, that's pretty funny BS. However, on the Gladwell front, sports are a great place to observe experts doing situation-recognition and rule-based behaviors... Crosby didn't remember what happened, because all the processing to recognize which actions would be effective happened in parallel adn unconsciously. It's a pretty different way of thinking from the conscious deliberation that most introspective people are used to doing every day.
posted by anthill at 6:43 PM on March 7, 2010 [1 favorite]

Goddamn. I really wanted to see this, but the second link says:

This video contains content from CTV, who has blocked it in your country on copyright grounds.

Look, Canada. We're sorry we blocked all those Hulu videos. Please let us see your hockey goal scoring skills.
posted by koeselitz at 6:56 PM on March 7, 2010 [2 favorites]

My favorite link of people celebrating the goal is this one. In it, you can see Jack Layton (the leader of the NDP) making sure that he is seen celebrating the win in an appropriate fashion. And when someone makes the mistake of raising their arm and blocking him from the camera, he ever-so-gently pushes the offending arm down.
posted by flipper at 7:25 PM on March 7, 2010 [6 favorites]

As a Pens fan, I've never been more conflicted about a game than that gold medal game (well, not really -- I'm more of a Malkin fan, anyway).

It was a fucking awesome game, regardless.
posted by dirigibleman at 7:36 PM on March 7, 2010

This is great, thanks for the post. I could relive that moment over and over - not just the goal but the seconds afterwards, seeing Crosby throw off his gloves and stick and the sheer joy in his face, and all of us too.
I watched it in the New Edinburgh Pub in Ottawa, and it was probably the first time I've sung the national anthem since grade school; afterwards we danced in my friend's living room and the next morning - so hung-over - I had to pack up my old apartment and drive 15 hours straight, through all sorts of weather, to my new life in Halifax. What an amazing send-off.
posted by Flashman at 8:01 PM on March 7, 2010

At the time I was sort of annoyed that it was Crosby who won it for Canada because it seemed almost too perfect,

Should have been Nash or Toews, imho. They worked the hardest all tournament.
posted by mannequito at 8:29 PM on March 7, 2010

It was the perfect way to end the Games. Really perfect. So nice to relive it shot-by-shot.

Also, flipper, thanks for that hilarious link. Jack Layton pretty well permanently confirmed his status as a pathetic media whore when the rest of the country was just trying to watch a great hockey game and then party.
posted by Dasein at 8:56 PM on March 7, 2010

So I guess the official hagiography on this one is gonna be all Sid's the hockey superhero of our time! and totally discount Jarome Iginla's snap-judgment no-look spin-around pass, put right on the fat part of Sid's forehand blade - from his knees, as he was being tackled to the ice - to make it an easy tap in.

Huh.

As a Flames fan I might be biased, but that just doesn't seem entirely fair. I'm just happy it went in and all, but this is two gold-medal games in a row that Iggy's been central in winning. Where's the love for Iggy? Won't someone please think of the Iggy?
posted by gompa at 9:31 PM on March 7, 2010 [6 favorites]

"Iggy!"

It's funny, I saw that when it happened, and I was thinking, Crosby just screamed "Give it back!" or something like that, because he knew they had stumbled into a great give-and-go situation, but he needed the puck, like, NOW, RIGHT F'N NOW for it to work.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 9:34 PM on March 7, 2010

Where's the love for Iggy?

Right here, my friend, right here.
posted by No Robots at 9:44 PM on March 7, 2010 [2 favorites]

Hockey always seems pretty random to me; their passes miss a lot, and many of the goals happen so fast that it feels like a mad scramble that got lucky. To hear it dissected like that, to realize how often they must have drilled together to get such good chemistry... wow. I wish I was that good at my job.
posted by Fraxas at 10:21 PM on March 7, 2010 [1 favorite]

Oh Canada you must be so happy. Gold medals in both national sports Hockey AND Curling. That's just great. Good for you!

Hey Spring is almost here!
posted by Bonzai at 10:44 PM on March 7, 2010

So I guess the official hagiography on this one is gonna be all Sid's the hockey superhero of our time! and totally discount Jarome Iginla's snap-judgment no-look spin-around pass, put right on the fat part of Sid's forehand blade - from his knees, as he was being tackled to the ice - to make it an easy tap in.

Yup gompa...that's the way it goes. But I'll remember Iggy. That was the second best assist in Canadian Olympic history, and at least he got credit for it. For me the best forgotten play of all time was Lemieux in 2002 letting the puck go between his legs (the first goal in this compilation) as Bertuzzi set up Kariya for the first Canada goal, from which they never looked back. Lemieux faked to play that puck, drew the goalie out and gave Kariya a barn door to hit.

It's the die hard fans that even saw that move, let alone remember it as one of the greatest things never done on ice.
posted by salishsea at 11:01 PM on March 7, 2010 [1 favorite]

And here's a bunch of videos of Canadians in different places going nuts at the same time.

"Get out the way, ref. Jesus!"

[three seconds later]

"Yeeeeaaaaaahhhhh!"
posted by bwg at 12:36 AM on March 8, 2010

I would love to read a thorough deconstruction on this goal. This is just a run down of events imo.
posted by FidelDonson at 1:46 AM on March 8, 2010

That was awesome, it's neat to see some hockey analysis by those in the game, as opposed to those stooges at TSN.
posted by Vindaloo at 3:44 AM on March 8, 2010

I would love to read a thorough deconstruction on this goal. This is just a run down of events imo.

If you find a thorough deconstruction, you're more than welcome to add it here. imo.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 7:06 AM on March 8, 2010

I am a Red Wings fan. And a graduate of Michigan State, where I held season tickets the year Miller won the Hobey.

At this point I'm pretty sure Sid Crosby exists solely to antagonize me.

But you have to admit Miller was freakin' brilliant in the Olympics. Without him the US would not have been in it at the end. He made up for a lot of little deficiencies and damn did I want to see him win the gold...
posted by caution live frogs at 7:43 AM on March 8, 2010 [2 favorites]

Agreed caution live frogs...if the USA had won that game, Miller would have been the guy for whom I would have been most pleased.
posted by salishsea at 8:03 AM on March 8, 2010

Where's the love for Iggy?

I think all of us Flames fans have to be the ones to hold that. For me, the memory of the goal is seeing Iggy picking himself up off the ice to be the last one (of the Canadian skaters on the ice) to the celebration.

In one of the papers the day after the game, I saw a great shot of the two of them looking at each other after the goal. Iggy has his characteristic grin - Crosby has this intense look on his face and I bet he's trying to tell Iggy how incredible that pass was.
posted by never used baby shoes at 8:20 AM on March 8, 2010

And yes, Miller was incredible throughout the tournament for the US. The whole tournament was a great display of how well developed the game has become internationally on the men's side. I hope that the rest of the world catches up to Canada & the US on the women's side as well.
posted by never used baby shoes at 8:23 AM on March 8, 2010

gompa- here's to Iginla for sure. As of right now the Flames are one point out of the playoffs, but somehow Inginla's performance at the Olympics (he scored FIVE GOALS, people), especially that magical pass to Crosby, will have redeemed the season no matter how it ends.

Go Flames.
posted by ethnomethodologist at 8:54 AM on March 8, 2010

Rafalski had a brilliant tournament too, I must say.
posted by Mister_A at 7:46 PM on March 8, 2010