Senators teammates happy for Tkachuk and Sanderson, but the Canadian players had some obvious reservations.
When Canada and the USA squared off in the Olympic gold medal game on Sunday, the Ottawa Senators were a locker room with divided loyalties.
While the players did their cheering based on citizenship, everyone also has a soft spot for their Senators teammates, including Americans Brady Tkachuk, Jake Sanderson, and Mike King, and Canadians Dom Nicoletta and John Forget, who were part of the bench staff.
Shane Pinto was close to being a part of the American squad. He was chosen to be part of Team USA's Olympic orientation camp last year but ultimately fell short. Pinto said watching his pals in the final was nerve-wracking.
"Yeah, a hell of a game for us," Pinto told the media on Sunday. "And I'm just super happy, obviously, for the country, and obviously for Sandy and Brady. It's so special. Just happy for them. And coming home with gold has to be pretty cool."
Pinto described it as one of the most entertaining games he's ever seen.
"Yeah, I was enjoying it," Pinto said. "Obviously, with the stakes at risk there, that was pretty special. But the emotion involved with that game, anyone who was watching knows how big it was. And I'm just happy we came out on top.
"We got a bit of bragging rights for four years."
Between Ottawa and the University of North Dakota, Pinto has been teammates with Sanderson for a long time, not to mention Tyler Kleven, who was equally pleased with the result.
"Oh, yeah. Came to the rink a little happier today," Kleven said. "I woke up this morning, and I was cheering on the boys, Brady and Jake, out there. It's a tough battle. Obviously, there's the Canadian fan base here. I'm an American, and I'm happy to see the Americans come out on top."
There are only five Sens regulars who were born in America and count themselves as American when it comes to international play.
But the Sens have nine Canadians with some thoughts about the game, including Dylan Cozens and Ridly Greig, who were both leaders and stars for Team Canada back in their World Junior days.
Cozens says as he watched Sunday's final, he had all kinds of emotions.
"I was excited, a little nervous. I don't know," Cozens said. "I haven't really felt like that during a hockey game before. But it's just awesome to kind of take a step back, be a fan, and just watch two great teams go at it.
Cozens says he wants to be playing in those high-level, playoff-type games with the Senators.
"We're not exactly where we want to be, but we think we're in a good spot to get to where we want to be. We've just got to take it one game at a time, and it'll work out."
With epic sports cliches like that, how can it not?
Greig had mixed emotions for obvious reasons and might be in need of a manicure this week.
"I was telling the boys, I think I chewed all my nails off," Greig said with a chuckle. "But yeah, what a game.
"It's pretty neat for Brady and Sandy. I'm a little disappointed as a Canadian, but that's the way she goes sometimes. I thought Canada was pretty dominant throughout the whole game."
We all did, Rids. We all did.
Steve Warne
The Hockey News