On foreign ice, a view to a thrill

Winger Bobby Ryan of the Ducks and the U.S. Olympic team is blogging for The Times during the Games. Here’s his post on the U.S. team’s 5-3 upset of Canada on Sunday:

Hi again, everyone:

That was a great game to be part of. To beat Canada in their own barn in front of their own fans was pretty special. It was a pretty quiet building at the end, it was almost eerie. We enjoyed it in the locker room afterward. It’s a huge confidence boost for us.

As far as the game, I thought we were outplayed for quite a while. But Millsie [Ryan Miller] was great in net and made some huge saves for us. Late in the second period our line got an opportunity. When our line is out there, we really just try to bang some bodies and create chances. I played the puck to [Brian] Rafalski at the point -- he’s been red hot so I figured “why not?” He threw the puck to the net and the three of us tried to converge on it. I got a shot off but I think actually [Chris] Pronger tipped it to [David] Backes and he kept whacking at it, it turned into a cluster in front, and the puck bounced over to [Chris] Drury. I had a great view of the puck going in. I feel fortunate to be on that line and play a part in such a big goal for us, it was pretty awesome.

Now we had the lead again and we head into the locker room up 3-2 after two periods. Not a whole lot was said, but we knew we had weathered the storm. We knew we had to keep our composure and make sure we let Millsie see everything (shots). It not, we were trying to block it for him.

I have family and friends in town, so we decided to go out for dinner and relax after the game. By the time we got done with the media obligations and got back to the village, it was already 9:30. So I just relaxed and went with my family and friends to dinner. It was pretty crazy downtown, though!

We have today off, so we are planning on going over to support the women’s team in the semifinals. Other than that, a day to relax for us. Obviously not knowing who we play next, we will watch the games tomorrow and look at video once we know our opponent. We will practice tomorrow and try our best to focus on ourselves and what we can do to improve. I plan on just hanging out with the guys tonight and tomorrow and having dinner, and really trying to enjoy the moment.