Fans Pack Bars as U.S. Overtime Win Sinks Canada

Bars across Canada opened at dawn and filled with fans for the Olympic men’s hockey final, with more than 300 people packing the Pilot in Toronto from about 7:30 a.m. Liquor laws were relaxed for the game, and by 11 a.m. many felt it had the weight of a national holiday — or, after the result, a national day of mourning.

The United States won 2-1 in overtime at the Milan-Cortina Olympics. At the Pilot the mood swung from raucous to stunned as the game unfolded: cheers for Canada power plays, tense standing-room overtime, then silence and cries of “No, dammit!” when the U.S. scored.

Duane and Angela Green put their heads in their hands afterward, saying the team had had so many opportunities and that it was “hard to watch them lose.” The match was a rematch of the Four Nations final that Canada had won, and the U.S. had not beaten Canada to win a best-on-best competition in 30 years.

Canada, Toronto

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