A grateful nation offers heartfelt thanks to a hockey goalpost

SPORTS — Nothing revs up tweeters like a good hockey game.

The Twittersphere went viral today when the Canadian women’s team pulled a glorious Olympic Games victory from the jaws of what seemed certain defeat.

Trailing 2-0 late in the third period, the Canadian women miraculously tied it up as the clock ticked down, then won it with a dramatic overtime goal against archrivals U.S.

Some couldn’t resist references to the U.S. defeat while celebrating Canada’s win but Americans weren’t shy about defensive tweeting, mostly in good humour.

“Silver has never looked so sad,” tweeted Kamloops personality Joey Jack.

“I love how both teams have people crying,” he also tweeted. “There’s no crying in hockey.”

Coun. Ken Christian kept it well short of his 140-character maximum: “Best medal yet.”

A sampling of some of the thousands of other tweets:

Kamloops-raised newspaper columnist Jack Knox: “YES! And we have better health care, too.”

Stephanie Carvin: “Congrats Canadian Women’s Hockey. DRINK THE TEARS OF THE AMERICA IMPERIALISTS!!!!… I mean… yay sportsmanship!”

Candice: “That’s okay. Have your medal. I will take pride in being able to say House, Out, About, and Sorry properly.”

B.C .Government News: “WOW. What a game from the Team Canada women’s hockey team!”

Rick Barnes: “Gold.”

CBC radio host Stephen Quinn: “Yeah well, I’m MARRIED to a Canadian woman. Also, my daughter is Canadian.”

Former MLA Bob Simpson: “YEAHHHHH! What a comeback! So proud of our Women’s Hockey Team.”

Westjet: “Is it any wonder that every single TV on our planes was tuned into CBC there? Nice work ladies!!”

Radio host Stephen Quinn: “I think I just peed my pants.”

But the best of all is reserved for “Dale,” who tweeted a photo of an empty net the Americans almost scored into late in the third period.  The puck bounced off a ref, careened down the ice, hit the post and slid harmlessly away. A fraction of an inch to the right and the U.S. would have won gold.

“Dear Goalpost,” the tweet says, “Thank you! Love, Canada.”