Take a bow Team Canada men and you fans, you're simply too polite to say 'sorry, we sucked'.
A 3-1 win was hardly something to be happy about. Matt Duchene even tweeted that it was a 'great start'. Ooooookay...
In fact it wasn't until the Canada-Norway game was concluded and news that Henrik Zetterberg was out for the tournament that the foolish notion of America being the team to beat came from Dave Trolzo.
Yes Canada everyone hates you and no one wants to see you win so stop being polite and own a soft performance. You Canada have no fans but your own, no one is jumping on the Canada bandwagon when their team is out, and there's no point in trying to pretending you are liked.
As Canucks fans said in 2011...
Embrace the Hate.
Move along and don't be all humble and polite in recognition of other nations, those with 44 indoor ice surfaces (Norway) the same amount as Winnipeg. That was Norway, that was a team who you should have went up by 5 goals on by 10 minutes of the second period. That was a team you should have destroyed...so why didn't you??
Yes they collapsed like a French Army in front of their net and their goalie made things look easy but that's because of you guys.
Stop it! Stop being so nice! We know you were trying to make pretty goals, trying to give the fans their money's worth of hockey entertainment. Cool goals, magical passing, and incredible defensive coverage and hits are all worthy achievements but we have no time for this anymore.
Hockey is a simple game, take the puck up the ice, put it towards the other team's net and then past the goalie. If you do that more often than not you should score more. However, if you try to be cute, or try too hard to do make that unselfish play you'll miss more than you score.
The opposition wants you to be 'CANADA' the reigning champs with all the pressure on them with the best players in the world who have earned so much in hockey. So don't fall into the trap, don't play to the myth or the hype. Just play passionate smart hockey and don't apologize for doing so.
Embrace the hate, that no one wants you to win and don't be sorry. Be smart, be greedy, be aggressive but don't be sorry for playing to win and not to entertain. That's where these guys will get you and they know it, now you know it too.