SPORTS Visit insidehalton.com for more coverage Silver medal for Jenner, Canada worth celebrating Steve Russell Canada forward Brianne Jenner (19) looks for the puck in front of United States goaltender Madeline Rooney (35) as Canada plays United States in the Olympic women's hockey gold medal game at the Gangneung Hockey Centre in Gangneung in Pyeongchang in South Korea. HERB GARBUTT hgarbutt@burlingtonpost.com Brianne Jenner sat in the stands at the Gang neung Ice Arena with her Canadian teammates. Not just the hockey variety, but also the skaters, the skiers, the curlers. They cheered loudly and celebrated together as figure skater Kaetlyn Os mond won a bronze medal. The Newfoundland native smiled widely and skated around the ice with the Ca nadian flag draped around her shoulders. It was a cel ebration befitting an Olympic medallist. It was also a stark con trast to what had unfolded less than 24 hours earlier less than a block away at the Gangneung Hockey Centre, where Canada won, that's right won, an Olympic silver medal. Jen ner and her teammates slumped against boards, their heads hung in disap pointment, their eyes filled with tears. And not tears of joy. Moments earlier Mad- die Rooney had stopped Megan Agosta in the sixth round of a shootout, set tling what 80 minutes of hockey and five rounds of shooters could not, and giving the United States a 3-2 win over Canada in the Olympic gold-medal hock ey game. "It's a little different than other sports," Jenner said. "When you win silver, it means you lost a game. In that moment, it's hard to celebrate a loss." It is a cruel reality of any head-to-head sport. Even German biathlete Si mon Schempp was thrilled with his silver medal de spite after skiing 15 kilo metres, finished three cen timetres behind France's Martin Fourcade. The margin was just as thin between Canada and the U.S. and Jenner was right there to witness how little can separate silver from gold. Jenner had tak en up position in front of the American net on a Ca nadian power play in over time, screening Rooney when she tipped a shot from Laura Fortino. It was kicked out to the right where Rebecca Johnston grabbed the rebound and fired a shot. The former Cornell University team mates began to raise their arms when the puck hit the post and flew through the crease behind the American goalie. "In a game like that, you overanalyze every single play. I've seen the play on video and over and over in my mind," Jenner said. "There are so many mo ments like that. It's just a centimetre here, a centi metre there, the same way we won the last time." Last time, Jenner was the second youngest play er on the team. This time, she was an alternate cap tain. When it came time for the shootout, she was one of the five players Canadi an coach Laura Schuler chose to determine Cana da's fate. "I think we were as pre pared as we could be (for the shootout). I liked hav ing that opportunity," said Jenner, Canada's fifth shooter. "I'm just disap pointed I wasn't able to get that backhand off the ice. Again, another one of those plays I'll see over and over in my mind." Jenner said the support the team has received has been comforting. "It's un believable how people have reacted," she said. Now she's trying to pay that forward, cheering on Team Canada over the fi nal days of the Olympics. Though they compete in different sports, she said the Canadian contingent are a close-knit group. She'll soak in the Olympic atmosphere because Bei jing in 2022 is a long way away. And that's what makes a medal win feel like a loss. "Because it's the culmi nation of four years, it's tougher to swallow," Jen ner said with the emotion of the moment returning 48 hours later. "It's tough right now. It's not going to feel great for a while. It's a mix of emotions. We're dis appointed in the loss, but not disappointed in the game we played. And we're super proud to bring a medal home for Canada." That's worth celebrat ing. BOYS & GIRLS FU LL DAYS 9am - 4pm (FREE extended care with 8am drop off, & pick up at 4 to 5pm) k O n -ice S kills an d D rills k D ry-land tra in in g w ith Tw ist S port C ondition ing k P o w er Skating k O p tion fo r ha lf-d ay M u lti-Sports C am p a t B u rlo ak Sports C en tre A T H E O N LY F U L L IC E 3 0 1 1 3 IN T O W N ! Y O U T H 3 o n 3 H O C K E Y - S U M M E R 2 0 1 8 O U R 15T H S E A S O N ! 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