Players, coaches from Nova Scotia still savouring Olympic hockey gold

As the final seconds of the women's Olympic hockey gold medal game ticked down, there were tears and grins from the Nova Scotians in the Beijing arena — both in person and beaming in from across the ocean.

Forward Jill Saulnier of Halifax said she's still trying to find the words to describe the feeling of reclaiming the top spot on the podium over the United States.

"Just the moment of a lifetime," Saulnier said Thursday.

"To be able to come home with that and, you know, feel that emotion with the girls and the staff, is pretty special."

Saulnier was part of the 2018 Olympic roster that took home silver after a devastating loss to the Americans.

She said their team's hard work to take back gold over the past four years paid off, as difficult as it was navigating through a pandemic.

While any matchup between Canada and the U.S. could go either way, Saulnier said, she thought the Canadians had the upper hand in the final after coming out "with a bang."

"There was just a feeling in my gut that things were going to work out, but I was pretty emotional at the very end of the game," Saulnier said.

"There was like three or four minutes left and I was trying to keep it together, but the tears were flowing. I knew, I just knew."

Head coach Troy Ryan, originally from Spryfield, N.S., said the reality of the win has started to set in as he retells the story to family and friends.

From his view behind the bench, those final moments brought back the same surreal feelings as when he walked into the 2018 Olympic opening ceremonies in Pyeongchang as a team staff member.

The important people in his life started flashing through his mind, Ryan said, like family, friends, and the teachers and coaches that helped get him to that moment. He