No country won the gold medal in men's hockey
When the gold medal was handed out for men’s hockey at the Winter Olympics on Saturday, no country’s flag was raised. No country’s national anthem was played.
And officially, no country won the tournament.
The gold medal officially went to the awkwardly named contingent of Olympic Athletes from Russia, but that did nothing to diminish the joy felt by the Russian players after they defeated Germany 4-3 in overtime to capture the first hockey gold medal awarded to players representing Russia since 1992.
The Olympic Athletes from Russia struck #gold with this gorgeous one-timer! #OARvsGER https://t.co/snOfK8WaVF pic.twitter.com/isfp9SlsnR
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) February 25, 2018
By now, most Olympic viewers are aware of why the Russian athletes aren’t competing under the Russian flag — a doping scandal that resulted in the International Olympic Committee suspending the Russian Olympic Committee. Only those athletes who had never failed a drug test were allowed to compete, but not as official representatives of the country.
While the Olympic flag and Olympic anthem played during the medal ceremony, fans and players belted out their own version of the Russian anthem.
“Everyone knows we are not athletes of Russia — we are Russians,” Ilya Kovalchuk told Russian TV, according to USA Today. “(Winning gold) means a lot. This was my dream from when I was 5 years old when I started to play.”
“We sang because we’re Russian people and when you win, the anthem is played,” Russian defenseman Bogdan Kiselevich said. “It was in our souls and hearts.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin made a telephone call to coach Oleg Znarok after the victory to congratulate him and his team.
Kirill Kaprizov scored the game-winning goal on the power play 9:40 into overtime to give the Russians the victory.
Not that Russia’s victory was totally unexpected, however. The team was the favorite coming into the tournament, with five former NHL players and a handful of top NHL prospects on their roster.
But Germany appeared on the brink of pulling off a major upset, taking a 3-2 lead at the 16:44 mark of the third period.
A penalty on the Russians left them a man short, but Znarok pulled his goalie for an extra skater just to get back to a five-on-five matchup.
The move paid off, as Nikita Gusev scored with just :56 remaining to tie the game and set up the overtime drama.
Pavel Datsyuk, who won two Stanley Cup championships with the Detroit Red Wings, was the captain of this Russian squad. He said the gold medal victory was more rewarding the the Stanley Cup victories.
“You play for your country — it is more important,” Datsyuk said. “It feels good to have accomplished my dream. Now I have no dream.
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