Henderson Passes to Crosby, Canada Celebrates

By Sean Mitton, Canadian Expat Network

March 1st, 2010

My heart sank with 24.4 seconds left in the 3rd Period as Zach Parise scored the game tying goal of the Gold Medal game. As I watched still in shock during overtime, Mike "Doc"Emerick spoke about the next goal for Canada being equivalent to Paul Henderson's 72' goal  and for the US, Mike Eurionze's goal, representing "the Miracle on Ice". I got chills.

Earlier in the week, I had spoken with Paul Henderson, to get his perspective on the Canada win over Russia. He thought Canada would win 5-2 and was a little surprised by the ease of the 7-3 victory. Henderson and his wife were just boarding a plane in Vancouver after speaking at a marriage conference." It was 4-1 when we boarded the plane, so I felt pretty confident, Henderson commented. All along, he's picked Canada to win the Gold Medal, but the last thing that he said to me was," it's time for a new hero."

When Sidney Crosby scored at 7:40 of the overtime period, all of Canada erupted and a new Canadian hero and a new Canadian moment were born. An emotional moment to say the least. My thoughts went back to Henderson's comments, I got chills again. A new generation will be able to answer to their kids and grandkids, where were you when Sidney Crosby won the Gold Medal?