Of all the periods to fall apart in, it happened in the third period of the gold medal final at the 2011 World Junior Hockey Championships.
Up 3-0 heading into the third period, Team Canada was poised to take the gold. But somehow they faltered. They allowed one goal, then another, then another. Canadians watching the game either could not speak, or spoke in unprintable terms.
It was brutal to watch as a Canadian hockey fan.
Having said that, I cannot imagine what the players were feeling, or saying, or thinking. It must have been unbearable for them, as the score was suddenly tied and Russia was just getting started.
The next thing they knew, Russia had scored again, taking the lead, with less than five minutes to go.
And, for those Canadians still grasping at some glimmer of hope that Team Canada could overcome the Russian onslaught, Russia scored once more, bashing that tiny bit of hope into inescapable bits of devastation, killing any chance of a Canadian comeback.
Team Canada was done. And Canadians were left stunned.
But was there ever really a chance at a comeback? To oversimplify it, Russia turned it on just as Canada turned it off. One team was hitting its stride, while the other was just trying to hang on; is it not just a case of bad timing?
In the end, I guess that's hockey for you.
In this case, bad timing meant heartbreak and devastation for one team. For the other: the manifestation of instant exhilaration, expressed through rapturous, camera grabbing, vodka-soaked, kicked-off-airplane type youthful exuberance.
Team Canada played a great tournament. 'Til next year Mother Russia.
