http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/sports/olympics-icehockey-women-flag.html
February 22, 2002 U.S. Motivational Ploy Backfires on Women By REUTERS Filed at 7:15 p.m. ET
SALT LAKE CITY (Reuters) - The U.S. women's ice hockey team used a Canadian flag for carpeting ahead of its Olympic gold medal showdown, but the motivational move backfired.
Heading into the tournament Canada and the U.S. were considered overwhelming favorites to meet in a rematch of the 1998 Winter Games final, where the Americans' upset win gave them the first-ever women's gold ice hockey medal.
The week before Thursday's gold medal matchup, the U.S. women put a flag down in the dressing room to walk on as they prepared for the prospect of another showdown.
But veteran Danielle Goyette, said the ploy backfired, firing up the Canadians who felt they were not being shown enough respect.
``They had the flag all week on the floor. This is something we found out. It was a good motivator for us,'' she said.
``We took it the right way. We were not angry with them. It was a good thing for us. It motivated us.''
Canada went on to win the gold medal with a thrilling 3-2 victory after losing eight consecutive games to the U.S. this season.
The win also broke the Americans' 35-game winning streak.
``We wanted to give the U.S. a big upset at home and we did. All the girls in the team believed we could do it and we did not give up,'' Goyette added.
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