Column | Joy and pain for the U.S. and Canada, and a hockey game that had all the feels

"MILAN - The contrast after it was over - after your stomach did quadruple axels for three hours, after gold seemed won for Canada and won for the United States and back again - stood as the perfect representation not only for what had just played out, but for what it meant. To two countries. To two teams. To an arena that had long since gnawed its fingernails to the nub."

"The American men's hockey players became a heaving, pulsing, hugging mob, their gloves and sticks strewn on the ice around them. They couldn't stop circling, embracing, grabbing the stars and stripes and either flying it high or draping it over their shoulders. They are professionals, each and every one of them. This was the unbridled, Olympic joy of children. Team Canada sat still as stone, huddled on the bench as if bracing from an unrelenting chill."

"What a thing, the first American men's hockey gold since those "Miracle On Ice" boys beat the Soviet machine. That was 46 years ago - to the day. "It feels like it's been too long," Team USA captain Auston Matthews said. Where were you watching? How many times did you clutch your chest or leap to your feet or pace the carpet?"

The United States secured the men's Olympic hockey gold with a dramatic victory that swung between nations and emotions throughout three tense hours. American players erupted into an exuberant, unrestrained celebration, collapsing into embraces, throwing gloves and draping themselves in the stars and stripes. Canadian players and fans sat in stunned silence, visibly devastated by the narrow loss in a sport that anchors national identity. The victory marked the first U.S. men's hockey Olympic gold since the 1980 "Miracle On Ice," ending a 46-year drought. Players described the game as one of the greatest ever and a moment many will remember vividly.

Read at The Washington Post