Sam Donnellon: Crosby's overtime goal gives Canada hockey gold

VANCOUVER - Waiting interminably for the medal ceremony to begin, Ryan Miller played the final goal over and over and over again. His eyes would close. His head would drop. He would shake his head, look to the reddened stands, wipe his reddened eyes and repeat the process all over again.

"The puck got caught in the ref's feet or someone's feet," he would say later, his eyes still wide open, like a man in shock. "Got to Sidney's stick. He had his head down for a second and . . . ''

And, and, and - well, the game every fan in America wanted to see ended with the result that none, not even those in Pittsburgh, wanted. A 3-2 overtime loss to Canada, Sidney Crosby slipping a wide-angle shot between Miller's pads after the United States had rallied from a 2-0 hole and tied the game on Zach Parise's rebound goal with 24.4 seconds left, after Patrick Kane, of the U.S., had put on a dazzling two-period display of speed and skill.

The miracle on ice this time was the game itself, played for 67 minutes, 40 seconds at a breathtaking and break-neck pace. Breathtaking if you were Kane or Crosby or anyone who jumped on and off the ice. Breathtaking if you were one of the lucky 18,000 fans or so who managed to get inside the building or among the 100,000 who assembled outside of it, or among the millions who watched in both countries.

Great speed, big hits, every player laying out. No trapping, stopping or freezing the puck.

The first period took 32 minutes of real time to complete.

The second took 33 minutes of real time to complete.

When the game and ceremony finally ended, the lines at the bathrooms made it seem like something was being given out.

"Being at home here," Flyers defenseman Chris Pronger was saying. "Game-winning goal. Overtime. We're going to see a lot of kids growing up now dreaming that they're Crosby scoring that goal in overtime for an Olympic gold medal.

"To be part of those kids' dreams is pretty special."

Crosby scored only four goals in this tournament. Two won overtime games. And yet this was a tournament that made new stars, that made names recognizable in American households in those places where, as Miller said the other day, "We're not even a cult." Even in hockey-happy places like Philadelphia, Patrick Kane means much more than he did 2 weeks ago, as does Ryan Kesler and, yes, Ryan Miller.