If T.J. Oshie of the U.S men's hockey team keeps this up, we may want to block out some space for him on Mount Rushmore.
Oshie scored an astounding four goals in the shootout that concluded a classic USA-Russia hockey match Saturday at the Winter Olympics to clinch an American victory.
Team USA won on a final official score of 3-2 after tying at two goals apiece following the regulation game and overtime. Oshie's absolutely incredible shootout performance vaunted him to American hero status. For proof, all you had to do was look the man up on Wikipedia immediately after the game:
Final sentence of TJ Oshie's @Wikipedia page right now.pic.twitter.com/cmxEu2B9iq— Craig Kanalley (@ckanal) February 15, 2014
The instant classic Olympic hockey match lit up Twitter with American fans -- and, ahem, plenty of bandwagon hockey followers -- setting alarms to get up early and watch two international rivals stacked with NHL stars. There were many, many gems from the twee-nut gallery, but this one's our favorite:
T.J. Oshie and freedom are very different of course. One is a beacon of hope and a foundation for America, and the other is freedom.— Michael Smith (@MSmithCanes) February 15, 2014
After the game, many wondered how it's even possible for someone to score four goals in a shootout. Here's the answer: International rules allow players to shoot as many times as their coach wants in a shootout after three attempts have already been made by each team (a player can only shoot once in the NHL).
Oshie is known as a stone-cold shootout killer, and four of the six times U.S. coach Dan Bylsma called his number Saturday, this happened:
Oshie is 27 years old, and plays professionally for the NHL's St. Louis Blues. He hails from Warroad, Minn., a town of 1,781 people that's better known among hardcore fans as "Hockeytown, USA." The tiny city has sent eight American hockey players to the Olympics -- and the seven before Oshie all won medals, according to The New York Times.
So magisterial was Oshie's performance on Saturday that thousands of fans online could not process his heroics without invoking a higher power. According to Topsy, 4,000 tweets mentioned both the words "Oshie" and "god" in the two hours after his shootout domination. Most of those tweets simply used the two words to register thanks or blessings. But others took a stronger stance:
OSHIE IS GOD #USA— Matt Scanlan (@mtscanlan) February 15, 2014
TJ Oshie is God— Calvin George (@Calvin__George) February 15, 2014
Oshie = God— Conor O'Neil (@theOneandOniee) February 15, 2014
TJ Oshie is god— ♡ Stephanie ♡ (@StephanieAudrey) February 15, 2014
TJ Oshie is god— Marc Meislahn (@Mar_quel_) February 15, 2014
A notion worth considering? Perhaps, but let's slow down for just a minute, folks. Team USA's win was big, no doubt, but they still have to take on Slovenia on Sunday, and finish group play before the Olympics' eight-team tournament for all the medals starts Wednesday. Plus, the myriad meanings "god" can have also forces us to render this final analysis: No, T.J. Oshie is not God; he's simply a great hockey player.
But if Team USA advances to the gold-medal game, and Oshie pulls off something remotely resembling Saturday's masterpiece? Then we may just have to revisit the question.