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U.S. players ‘embarrassed’ after blowout loss

Ice Hockey - Winter Olympics Day 15

SOCHI, RUSSIA - FEBRUARY 22: Zach Parise #9 of the United States looks on in the third period against Finland during the Men’s Ice Hockey Bronze Medal Game on Day 15 of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics at Bolshoy Ice Dome on February 22, 2014 in Sochi, Russia.

Streeter Lecka

After losing 1-0 against Canada, the Americans still wanted to bring at least something back home with them. They just simply couldn’t.

Finland handed them a crushing 5-0 loss in the bronze medal game and left the U.S. players in no mood to sugarcoat things after an Olympics that started with such promise and ended so badly.

“I’m not proud at all right now,” American forward Max Pacioretty told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review’s Dejan Kovacevic. “I don’t think anyone is. We were playing for a medal and didn’t show up.”

That’s a sentiment his teammates certainly seem to agree with.

“Disappointed,” Parise said. “A little embarrassing with what was on the line for is the last two days and not play well.”

The game certainly didn’t start terribly for the Americans. They out-shot Finland in the first period, but Parise confessed that they started to get frustrated after Teemu Selanne and Jussi Jokinen opened the contest up with goals just 11 seconds apart. As the game progressed and the United States’ chances of winning a medal diminished, that frustration only built until the team collapsed entirely.

There’s plenty of blame to go around, but obviously you can’t win if you don’t score. America had 20 goals in their first four Olympic games before being shutout of back-to-back contests. Parise’s assessment of why they dried up offensively was blunt.

“We played better teams,” Parise told Puck Daddy’s Greg Wyshynski.

The sting from this end will linger for a while. Perhaps it’s good that the United States has four years before it needs to bounce back.

Related:

Just Finn, baby: Finland medals again, routs U.S. for bronze

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