- Team USA hockey coach Tony Granato refused to shake hands with Oleg Znarok, the coach of the Russian hockey team, at the end of Saturday’s Olympic game
- Team USA played Team OAR in the group stage of the Olympic hockey tournament at Gangneung Hockey Centre in South Korea, losing the game 4-0
- NBC analyst Pierre McGuire said the Team USA coach was ‘furious’ over the loss and didn’t like that Znarok pulled a power play at the end of the game
- Team USA will now play in the qualification round on Tuesday, while the Russian team will move on directly to the quarterfinals
The coach of the US men’s hockey team Tony Granato was so mad over Saturday’s defeat he refused to shake hands with Oleg Znarok, the coach of the Russian team.
Team USA played Team OAR (Olympic Athletes for Russia) in the group stage of the Olympic hockey tournament at Gangneung Hockey Centre in South Korea, losing 4-0.
NBC analyst Pierre McGuire said during his broadcast that Granato was ‘furious’ when that Team OAR tried to score some last minute goals when they had already won the game, according to the New York Post.
Team USA coach Tony Granato (left) refused to shake hands with Team OAR coach Oleg Znarok (right) at the end of Saturday’s game at the 2018 Winter Olympics
The OAR (pictured in the red) and Team USA (pictured in the white) played each other in the group stage of the Olympic hockey tournament at Gangneung Hockey Centre in South Korea
The Russians (pictured in the red) won Saturday’s game against the US (pictured in the white) 4-0
Granato was said to be ‘furious’ Team USA (pictured in the white) lost the game and decided to skip a post-game tradition of shaking hands
When it came time for the two coaches to meet and shake hands at the end of the bout, Granato refused.
With only seconds left in Saturday’s game, the Russian coach pulled a power play and sent 34-year-old Ilya Kovalchuk on the ice. The left winger scored two backbreaking goals less than 33 seconds apart at the end of the second period and start of the third.
During a post-game interview, Granato was asked if he was upset that Znarok pulled the last-second move. ‘Yes,’ the US coach said sternly, the Washington Post reports.
He later added: ‘I thought we played well enough to deserve better than a 4-0 game. I was really happy with the effort and the confidence that we gained in knowing that we could play with them. We just didn’t get the results.’
Team USA will now play in the qualification round on Tuesday, while Russia will move on directly to the quarterfinals.
Winning Saturday’s game secured Team OAR a spot in the quarterfinals
Because of the loss, Team USA will now play in the qualification round on Tuesday