When Nancy Drolet's goal 6:10 into overtime lifted Canada to a 3-2 victory Sunday night over the United States for a sixth consecutive world crown, the 5,000 fans jammed into the Hershey Centre were as emotionally exhausted as the players.
"Women's hockey, along with Team Canada, was a big winner," said a gracious loser, U.S. coach Ben Smith.
Sportsmanship, highly-skilled and intensely committed athletes, and traumatic endings are commonplace in women's hockey. Word has spread. More than 57,000 tickets were sold to games in the eight-country tournament.
Canada improved to a phenomenal 30-0 since the event began in 1990 thanks to Jayna Hefford's two third-period goals, Drolet's OT slapshot, Hayley Wickenheiser's heroic decision to play despite partially torn ligaments in a slightly separated right shoulder, Sami Jo Small's outstanding goaltending, and a great all-round team effort.
"This is one of the most proud moments of my hockey career," Wickenheiser said. "This is a really satisfying win, and six in a row is pretty good."
With the Americans leading 2-0 five minutes into the third period, it appeared the streak was gone. But what we didn't know was . . .
"Between the second and the third periods we looked at each other and I stood up and said, 'You know, we've got to see (a hunger to win) in our eyes,' " Drolet said. "In those kind of situations, you have to believe in yourself and in your teammates.
"We really believed we could come back."
Hefford rose to the occasion.
"You could just see it in Jayna Hefford's eyes: She was going to score some goals," said winning goaltender Sami Jo Small.
The U.S. outshot Canada 15-3 in the second period and got goals from Karen Bye and Tricia Dunn.
"There was a time there when I thought we could have put a stake in (their hearts) but they stood tall," Smith said.
Small made a huge save with her left hand to catch a Jenny Schmidgall shot while lying on the ice after Hefford made it 2-1.
"I knew I had to do my part and stop the puck so we could eventually come out the victors," Small said.
Then Hefford smacked in a rebound and it was tied.
Drolet capped the stirring comeback when she took a slapshot that struck U.S. goalie Sara DeCosta on the left arm, bounced over her shoulder and droped over the goal-line. Drolet was quickly at the bottom of a pile of teammates bodies.
"I feel like I should have had it," DeCosta said of the rising slapshot. "I got a piece of it but not a big enough piece."
Drolet hadn't scored in the tournament, but she knew how. She'd scored the overtime winner in the title game in Kitchener, Ont., three years ago.
"All week long, all four of our lines stepped up at one time or another," she said. "That's why we know we're such a strong team. That's why we are so hard to beat."
Finland defeated Sweden 7-1 in the bronze medal game.
Wickenheiser injured herself when she fell awkwardly during a 3-2 semifinal win Saturday over Finland.
"The coaches really didn't want me to play (Sunday) because I'm trying to make the national softball team and it's my throwing arm that is injured," she said. "They didn't want me to jeopardize my chances when we have a pre-Olympic tournament coming up.
"But I just thought that, you know, I could tolerate the pain if I played smart and didn't get hit in that area. I couldn't really shoot or anything. I didn't have much strength in my right arm. But I'm pretty strong physically and I rebound well from these things. I have about five or six days to get ready (for the softball tournament) and, hopefully, I can do it."
Davidson called Wickenheiser "incredibly courageous."
Winning at home for the first time since 1997 was a thrill for the players.
"It's fantastic to be able to share this," said defender Nathalie Rivard. "When you have a world championship abroad you do all your celebrating abroad. By the time you come home you're still excited but the big part of the fizzle is gone.
"It's hard to describe that to the people who have been supporting you the most. Now, they'll have a chance to live this with us, and that's pretty special."
