Halleluah!
My faith in hockey has been restored!
Don't let anyone tell you that there is no future for offense and skill in the NHL.
Don't let dinosaurs like John Tortorella and Michel Therrien vomit cliche after disgusting cliche that neutral zone trap hockey and hock-n-hold is the wave of the future.
If you watched the 3-on-3 overtime period of the Team North America vs. Team Sweden game on Wednesday afternoon, you got s sneak preview of the future of the that featured a hell bent pace, frenetic action, odd man rushes and scoring chances galore.
In the end, Nathan MacKinnon undressed King Henrik Lundqvist with some of the most grotesque hand skills that you will ever see in your lifetime.
Are you f*^$ing kidding me?
How the hell did MacKinnon create and convert on this solo?
This goal is akin to watching Eddie Van Halen play "Eruption" live in concert. It's truly awe inspiring.
MacKinnon scored the OTGWG for North America and in so doing, he breathed new life into the chances of the Young Guns advancing to the semi-finals at the World Cup of Hockey.
The youthful enthusiasm of the Youngbloods has been infectious.
When MacKinnon dropped King Henrik's silky jockstrap with royal toe drags, curl-and-drags, and pick pocket stick work, he was piled on by his Team North America teammates.
It was the kind of scene you'd see in junior hockey or in Triple A hockey in your town. It was great theater and I could not be happier for the U-23s.
In the media room after his now legendary goal, MacKinnon learned that his team's 4-3 victory over Sweden wasn't quite enough to get Team North America into the semifinals at the World Cup of Hockey.
The humble MacKInnon sheepishly confessed.
"Maybe we shouldn't have celebrated so hard," MacKinnon said.
From the mouths of babes.
Team Sweden dug out of a two-goal deficit and fought back to ace first place in Group B. Sweden will now move on to the semis.
North America is still alive and can still advance to the semis, however, they need help from Group B foes Team Finland (0-2) who play Team Russia (1-1) on Thursday.
Russia hold the tiebreaker over North America which means that the Youngbloods can advance only if the Finns defeat Alex Ovechkin and the Russians.
Auston Matthews, Vincent Trocheck and Johnny Gaudreau also scored for North America (2-1-0). John Gibson made 30 saves.
Filip Forsberg, Nicklas Backstrom and Patrik Berglund scored for Sweden (2-0-1). Henrik Lundqvist stopped 39 shots.
It was a gutsy win for North America who played their second tourney game without their best defenseman Aaron Ekblad, who was sent home to Florida with a suspected concussion on Tuesday.
It doesn't seem fair that Team North America can defeat Sweden and Finland and still miss the semis due to their one goal loss to Russia.
Let's go Finland. Beat Russia.
Join the Discussion:
»