With one sharp-angled goal, Sidney Crosby became an instant folk hero in Canadian history.
Crosby, who struggled in the quarterfinals and semifinals, lifted Canada back to the top of the hockey world with the overtime winner in a 3-2 victory over the rival Americans in Sunday’s gold medal final.
Crosby’s goal will be replayed for years and years to come and joins other notable scores in Canadian hockey past like Paul Henderson’s goal in the 1972 Summit Series and Mario Lemieux’s top-corner snipe in the 1987 Canada Cup.
Crosby’s game winner also helped the 22-year-old Pittsburgh Penguins star avoid a career’s worth of criticism. In the two previous games, Canada’s wunderkind failed to register a point and was the butt of much hostility.
If the shoe had been on the other foot and the U.S. had pulled off the upset, Crosby would be the biggest scapegoat for Canadian hockey fans, much like Alex Rodriguez was blamed for the New York Yankees’ postseason swoons until this past fall.
But, like something out of a fairytale, Crosby was in the right place at the right time and capped Canada’s best Olympic showing ever.
The closing ceremonies are officially Sunday night, but it will be hard to wrap up the 2010 games better than Sid the Kid’s goal.