Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports
T.J. Oshie is now an American household name because of the performance he put on as the United States took down Russia. It was just a preliminary game, but the contest felt much weightier than that. Both the Russians and Americans gave this one their all, and shoddy reffing aside, this was far and away the best game of the 2014 Winter Olympics so far.
The weight of Oshie’s six shootout attempts—four of which he scored on—hasn’t been lost on anyone, including a clever Wikipedia editor who added “american hero” to Oshie’s player profile.
If it's on Wikipedia, it must be right. #AmericanHero pic.twitter.com/rMO9oXMusR
— Nicholas W. Goss (@NickGossNBCSB) February 15, 2014
Things like this don’t usually last very long on Wikipedia, but it’s certainly worth capturing with a screenshot. It seems like the entire country was watching that hockey game, and while that might not be realistic, it’s not every day that the sport has this much of the spotlight.
Without Oshie and his poise, we could be talking about something very different. He didn’t seem to feel the pressure of his six shootout attempts, even as players like Patrick Kane and Phil Kessel sat on the bench. Not only did Oshie do the St. Louis Blues proud, but he did the country proud as well.
He’s Captain America, at least for today.
(h/t to NESN’s Nick Goss for the screen cap)