Champagne on ice

TORINO, Italy (CNN) -- Becky Kellar and Colleen Sostorics prostrated themselves in the middle of the ice hockey rink. The stadium was all but empty as they lay there in what might have appeared a solemn scene were it not for the giggling. And the champagne. And the gold medals.

Soon, teammates joined the pair, brandishing cameras to immortalize the moment they completed arguably the most awesome title defense in Winter Olympic history.

Later, veteran Danielle Goyette had to be dragged off the ice as she showed no signs of voluntarily bringing a halt to her series of victory laps. Teammates had to grab the flag she was waving above her head in order to lead her to the dressing room, where the celebrations continued.

They had displayed ruthless efficiency and unrivalled dominance in defending their title, but after the gold medal was safely around their necks, they allowed themselves to show the emotion that underpinned the determination.

They won the final 4-1 over Sweden, finishing the tournament was an almost unbelievable aggregate score of 46 goals for and only two against.

As the match ended, the Canadian bench streamed onto the ice and rushed to goaltender Charline Laboite with such force they sent her -- and the goal -- reeling several meters back.

"We were the favorites for a reason, and we showed exactly why," Canada captain Cassie Campbell said.

"We faced much more adversity four years ago, but we were just as determined and just as focused this time. It's really even sweeter when you can come through as the favorite."

From their opening thrashings of Italy (16-0) and Russia (12-0), the Canadians looked unstoppable, scoring equally easily from finesse or power. Only twice did any opposing team manage to breach the Canadian goal; mostly they could do little else but hope to stem the damage from the greatest team in the world.

"It's far and away the best team I've ever played for," defender Cheryl Pounder said. "We saw all the sweat going into it, and that's why all the tears came to the surface at the end."

Goyette, the 40-year-old who carried the Canadian flag at the opening ceremony, agreed the result was a just reward.

"This makes it worth everything we did, all the months we spent working on this day. We didn't end up with the final matchup we expected, but we got the same result."

Upset
That final match-up was supposed to be against the United States, as it has been for the last three Olympics and nine world championships. But the Swedes ran counter to the script when they beat the U.S. on penalties in the semi-final.

In the final, the underdogs could not overhaul the Canadian juggernaut, but in merely making the gold medal match they gave the sport a much-needed shot in the arm.

North American teams have established a stranglehold on women's hockey so tight that it had threatened to extinguish any interest in sport outside the two countries involved.

But in their semi-final upset the Swedes might just have reignited the belief in other teams that it is just possible to compete with the two powerhouses of the sport.

Not that merely competing is the goal of the Swedish players. While they were all smiles receiving their surprise silver medals, many were contemplating how to go one better.

"I've got no tears of disappointment from tonight," said Sweden captain Erika Holst. "But I don't have any tears of happiness either."

The U.S. team, who watched the match all had predicted they would be playing in, found little solace in the bronze, which they won after accounting for Finland.

"You can't look at it as a consolation prize," U.S. defender Angela Ruggiero said.

"At the beginning of the tournament, we said we wanted to bring home one color, and we're bringing home another. But we're still proud."