And the award goes to… 18:33, Third Period, Canada vs. USA, Women’s Olympic Hockey Gold-Medal Match
With time winding down and the gold medal slipping away, Canada can only watch as a U.S. clearing shot heads toward the empty net. . . and hits the post.
HALEY IRWIN, FORWARD I knew I needed to win the draw. It was close. The puck went behind the net and there was a scramble.
KEVIN DINEEN, COACH As the puck was going around the boards, my reaction was to follow Catherine Ward. I saw the linesman get in her way, I saw her give a little look at the linesman, I saw the puck start going down.
IRWIN I looked down the ice and all I could see was that puck. It’s as if everything stopped. A lot of us on the ice did stop.
SHANNON SZABADOS, GOALIE I was on the bench, but I wasn’t really on the bench because there was no room, and I was trying to see. The closer and closer it got, a little bit of panic set in.
IRWIN We’re always taught to believe we have a chance, but when I saw the puck going down the ice, I was wondering, “How did this happen?” All I could think was, “Oh no.”
SZABADOS Time was pretty slow. The closer it got to the post, the slower it got.
DINEEN It was such an intense moment. I noticed it at the top of the circle. It was 50-50, and I thought, “Oh boy, that’s going to be too big of a hole.”
SZABADOS I think I just held my breath.
JESSIE VETTER, USA GOALIE I was hoping it would go in.
SZABADOS I saw it hit the post and I was just praying it was going to go post-and-out and not post-and-in.
BRIANNE JENNER, FORWARD The hockey gods were with us on that one.
SZABADOS We all just kind of blacked out for a minute and took a deep breath. I don’t think there was much said.
IRWIN The moment was kind of a blur. I’ve never had anything like that in my career. Definitely not.
DINEEN As much as it was a tense moment, there wasn’t a sense of relief. We were on to the next play.
IRWIN I thought, “Let’s go.” The game is still going and we could still win.
DINEEN The significance didn’t hit until after the game. It didn’t come together until later that afternoon.
SZABADOS I think it’s one of those iconic moments that will stick in people’s heads. One of those “Where were you when that happened?” kind of moments.