Not every RoughRider loved U.S. hockey victory

Poor Nolan Zajac.

Eight Cedar Rapids RoughRiders got together Sunday night at the home of Jeff Costello's local housing parents to watch the United States Olympic hockey team shock Canada. Zajac was the only Canadian.

"Oh, Nolan got some stuff," Costello said. "He got it from us pretty hard."

"See ya, Canada, stuff like that," Zajac said. "But at least we're not done."

There are two kids from Canada on this year's RoughRiders team: Zajac, who is from Winnipeg, and Peter Sakaris, who is from Montreal.  There's a lot of needling in hockey locker rooms anyway, so imagine what it must have been like with ammunition like this.

It was the United States' first Olympic hockey win over Canada since 1960.

"I don't think you can print some of the stuff (said to them) in the newspaper," said Sakaris, who watched the game with teammates Andy Simpson, Sam Warning and Stephen Collins. "Nolan and I got hit pretty hard. But we didn't take it to heart. We know Canada is going to win the gold medal."

Sakaris said he could be quoted on that prediction. Canada and the U.S. go into the knockout stage of the competition now, with Canada playing Germany on Tuesday.

The Americans are the top seed and get a bye to the quarterfinal.

"I thought we played pretty good," said Zajac, whose brother, Travis, plays in the NHL with the New Jersey Devils, where he is a teammate of suddenly beleaguered Canadian goalie Martin Brodeur. "We outshot them by a lot ... (U.S. goalie) Ryan Miller played great."

"Unbelievable," Costello said of the upset victory, coming 30 years after the U.S.'s "Miracle On Ice." "It was kind of like watching the world junior championships."

The United States upset Canada in overtime in early January in Canada to win that title. Former RoughRider Matt Donovan was a part of that gold medal team.

And now this.

"It's not over," Zajac said.

"For Canada, a gold medal would mean a lot to the country," Sakaris said.