The United States men’s hockey team lost 4-0 to the Olympic Athletes from Russia on Saturday, but the real storyline came after the game.
The Americans were displeased with what they considered poor sportsmanship on the part of the Russians, including the fact that they sent out their main power play unit late in the third period with a 4-0 lead, which customarily doesn’t happen.
U.S. head coach Tony Granato was so infuriated that he refused to shake hands with his Russian counterpart Oleg Znarok.
Granato confirmed that he was particularly unhappy with how Russia handled the late power play.
“It’s four-nothing,” Granato said, via Eric Adelson of Yahoo Sports.
It’s worth noting that goal difference does make a difference as far as seeding goes in the Olympic tournament. The Russians, however, couldn’t help but point out that they had some Olympic demons to sort out.
“They still play highlights of T.J. Oshie in the shootout in Sochi,” O.A.R.’s Ilya Kovalchuk said of the famous matchup in 2014. “Hopefully we can change that now.”
You may remember that Oshie became something of a national hero on account of his shootout exploits four years ago. Add in the geopolitical ramifications of a U.S.-Russia match and, while you don’t have to like it, there’s at least something behind the aggressive tactics.
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