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Do you believe in miracles? It was 20 years ago today that Team USA stunned the world and captured hockey gold at the Olympics in Salt Lake City. Yesterday's contest against the Canadians wasn't exactly to that magnitude, but American's will jump on their own bandwagon and savor this victory as if they did win the gold again. Canada was the heavy favorite, but in reality, both countries iced a stellar lineup. Canada has shown over the past few years that all the talent in the world doesn't equal success, and last night they came up short once again, and face a tough challenge if they want to even sniff a gold medal.

Why The Canadians Lost

Two words. Ryan Miller. The shots favored Canada 45-23, many of them glorious scoring opportunities, but Miller was equal to the task. A late goal by Sidney Crosby brought the Canadians to within one, but Miller withstood a flurry of shots in the final minutes, and watched teammate Ryan Kesler ice the game with an empty netter. Canada ran into penalty trouble in this contest, something no doubt coach Mike Babcock will address. The defence was sloppy at times, and the speedy Americans capitalized on some crucial mistakes. There seemed to be a lot of confusion between the forwards and defense on the Canadian side, something that absolutely needs to be worked out if Canada wants to go anywhere in this tournament. There just isn't a lot of time to gel as a team in such a short time span, but it looked last night like the Americans clicked just a little bit better.