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Team Canada storms back to claim the World Cup of Hockey title over Team Europe

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TORONTO — The moment called for a hero.

A special moment in what was, at times, a not-so-special tournament.

And so, how fitting, how poetic, that it would come with one unforgettable flick of the wrists from diminutive Brad Marchand, a player nicknamed The Little Ball of Hate.

We know this much: No one in Canada despises him this morning.

In one of the most improbable scenarios you’ll ever see, Team Canada won the World Cup of Hockey on Thursday night on a Marchand goal with 43.1 seconds remaining in regulation.

It was short-handed. It was unexpected. And, in giving Canada its dramatic 2-1 tournament-clinching victory over Europe, it was a goal for the ages.

Maybe not in your household, but certainly in Marchand’s.

“It is something I’ll remember for the rest of my life,” he said, his voice crackling with emotion. “I’m having a hard time finding the words ...

“I’ll never forget this.”

He’s not the only one. According to linemate Sidney Crosby, the author of the famed Golden Goal in the Vancouver Olympics, these are once-in-a-lifetime experiences.

And this one provided an electrifying snapshot as part of an event that, frankly, hadn’t produced all that many to that point.

But despite all the criticism, all the slagging, all the questions surrounding the 2016 World Cup of Hockey, the best was saved for last.

And it was magical.

For more than 56 minutes of drama-less hockey, both Team Canada and the crowd at the Air Canada Centre was devoid of energy.

Here was Team Europe, a roster of players thrown together just for this event, showing the type of discipline and heart that looked to be enough to tie this best-of-three final at one win apiece, thanks to a first-period Zdeno Chara goal that had given coach Ralph Krueger’s team a surprising 1-0 lead.

Playing a suffocating but effective checking style, Krueger’s underdogs appeared well on their way to forcing a Game 3 for all the marbles Saturday night, a contest that would have had hockey fans from Squamish to St. John’s chewing their fingernails down to the nubs.

But the top player in the world wasn’t about to let that happen.

Crosby came into the game as the tournament’s leading scorer with nine points.

And with the game on the line Thursday night, when Canada needed to change the momentum, it was Crosby, who orchestrated it, starting the play that led to Patrice Bergeron’s power-play equalizer with less than three minutes to play.

“It was an amazing deflection by Bergeron,” Team Europe coach Ralph Krueger would say later.

The Air Canada Centre went bonkers. So did hockey fans across the country.

But just when it appeared the rink seemed to be tilting towards the Team Europe net, Canada’s Drew Doughty took a high-sticking penalty. Cheers turned to gasps. Euphoria morphed into frayed nerves.

At one point, Marian Hossa found himself alone in front of Carey Price, who hadn’t played a game prior to this tournament since last November because of a knee injury. Hossa has buried those chances so many times before. This time, Price stopped him.

Then, as the clock ticked down into the final minute, penalty-killer Jonathan Toews lugged the puck into the Team Europe zone. Marchand had just jumped off the bench. He looked to find open ice in the high slot. He did. And then Toews found him.

Seconds later, he found the back of the net behind Jaroslav Halak — and, with that, new-found stardom.

“It’s just crazy the way everything worked out,” said Crosby, the tournament MVP. “When you get a penalty that late in the game, you’re just trying to force overtime.”

Five years earlier, during a visit to the White House as a member of the Stanley Cup champion Boston Bruins, Marchand had been called “The Little Ball of Hate” by President Obama.

Now, here was Marchand, the most beloved player in this country.

“It’s funny,” the Boston Bruins winger said. “Even in training camp in Ottawa, I was hearing some boos. It just shows how this entire country backs you up and gets behind this team.

“It’s the biggest stage in the world right now and it’s an incredible honour.”

In winning the World Cup, Canada has now won 16 consecutive games with Mike Babcock behind the bench. It isn’t always pretty, to be sure. But it definitely is effective.

And you never know who the hero might be.

On this night, it was a man known as The Little Ball of Hate, who today is feeling a whole lotta love.

mzeisberger@postmedia.com

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