Clicks and Clippings: I love you, Ryan Miller!

While you're still in the afterglow of that hockey game we witnessed from Vancouver last night, I thought you might like a few stories to read and watch, of media reaction immediately following that emotional display of guts and the will to win. Enjoy this for now, because your top-seeded Americans go back to work in their quarter-final match on Wednesday, at 3:00pm EST - to be broadcast  front-and-center on flagship NBC. Talk about Olympic hockey miracles! 

Here's the link to keep track of the Men's bracket. (And don't forget that this afternoon, our American women play in their semi-final match vs Sweden at 3:00pm EST.)

From no less than the Wall Street Journal: Ryan Miller's 42 Saves Keys Team USA Win Over Canada in Hockey - WSJ.com Led by goaltender Ryan Miller and a group of young players whose average birth year is 1983, Team USA beat Team Canada on its home ice 5-3 Sunday night, bringing the Americans within three wins of a gold medal.

After the jump, post-game video with Ryan Kesler, Brian Rafalski and Eric Staal plus some gloating from this side of the border and indications of concern from the other.

First, let's hear from the Americans

Who better to lead off than the Vancouver Canucks' very own Ryan Kesler who boldly guaranteed back in August that the USA would best Canada, and added fuel to the flames Saturday night with his direct statements about how much he "disliked" the Canadians. Have you ever seen any hockey player fight for an ENG with that much speed and purpose?

Now, the player his NHL coach and now Team Canada's Mike Babcock of the Detroit Red Wings described as "a real solid player that does his job",  USA's veteran Defenseman (yeah, that's defenseman with an "s", hockey fans), Brian Rafalski:

I'll just bullet the rest of these links with their teaser quotes. 

Unassuming defenseman Rafalski scoring big for Team USA - USATODAY.com Brian Rafalski has proved to his U.S. teammates that he is a leader, big-game performer and prognosticator of renown.

Rafalski shines in U.S. win - NHL.com Fact is, Rafalski has been there and done that so often that there is nothing on a sheet of ice that can rattle him.

The AP recap: Kids trump the stars: US hockey upsets Canada Winning the game they supposedly couldn’t against a virtual NHL all-star team that Canadians believed was ordained for gold, the Americans’ unexpected 5-3 victory Sunday advanced them to Wednesday’s quarterfinals as the top-seeded team.

Video of Barry Melrose and his ESPN buddies after the game. He's pretty excited about the Americans and for the game of hockey. And another couple minutes of ESPN video talking with Kesler, Rafalski and Ryan Malone.

What We Learned: Olympic roundup; whose game is it again? - Puck Daddy (for once I'll admit that Ryan Lambert's obnoxiousness is hard to hate after this game) Up until like a week ago, the sign out front said "GM Place." Then at the start of the Olympics it said "Hockey Canada Place." And after the United States pulled out a thrilling 5-3 win over the host nation, the one which boldly (and adorably) considers hockey quote-unquote Our Game, it's probably going to say "Haha in your face hosers Place." Or at least it would if I was in Vancouver.

USA-Canada hockey: No way to treat a neighbor For two hours Sunday, in what the Olympic program listed as just a preliminary-round game, the mercenaries from the NHL forgot about paychecks and played for nothing more tangible than national pride.

Then how are those Canadians feeling now? 

Hurricanes' captain Eric Staal does his best to avoid saying that classic cliche: "just need to put it in the back of the net" in 4 out of 4 responses.

The Hockey News: Ken Campbell: U.S. now favorites for gold?The team that came into this Olympic tournament relishing its role as the underdog has now become the hunted.

Canada Dish: Brodeur Could Be Out As No. 1 Goalie - Craig Custance - Sporting News Martin Brodeur might have played his last game of the Olympics.

Canada stumbles as U.S. shows off its speed Team USA used its speed to get past Canada, and now the Canadians will have to speed it up to get through to a key quarter-final game against Russia, which is full of speedy superstars.

Miller’s time (again) to shine -  Yahoo! Sports You have to give credit to the American defensive corps for the way it dealt with the constant wave of Canadian forwards. Despite the shots on goal, the Canadians’ top skaters were given a rough time around the American goal. This was a case where there wasn’t just one single person that stood out for USA. 

From underdog to favorite, U.S. has raised the bar - Craig Custance- Sporting News The final three minutes were played at a furious pace. "Some of the most intense I've played," USA Goaltender Ryan Miller said.

Bob Mackenzie: A significant loss in more ways than one  Canada's loss is a significant one. Not just for the fact that they will play a qualification game on Tuesday but where the bigger picture is concerned, Canada was outplayed in the net.

The [Toronto] Globe and Mail: What's next at the men's hockey tournament Team Canada faces a tough route to the gold medal game. How does a quarter-final showdown with Russia grab you?

And life goes on behind the scenes on Edwards Mill Road.

Canes Now - Rutherford: the quiet before the storm Canes general manager Jim Rutherford said he has had a quiet week. No calls from other GMs, he said, and no business discussed. "But I do expect some people to be poking around by mid-week," he said today.

The Hockey News: Lyle Richardson's Rumor Roundup: New England claim chatter which re-visits the potential of Aaron Ward returning to the Bruins and Ray Whitney on the short-list for the Penguins.

Hurricanes Top 20 prospects, Spring 2010 - Hockey's Future Cory Lavalette brings us up to date on the Hurricanes of tomorrow: Zach Boychuk remains at the top for Carolina.