Switzerland's Florence Schelling: A Clockwork Goalie

Monday was a laundry day. Lots of socks, lots of sheets. Four loads. Big job. A good time to watch the Olympics. After some Biathlon watching, I stumbled upon the semifinal hockey game between the women of Switzerland and Canada and settled in for some serious folding. But I didn’t get much done for about three hours, because I witnessed one of the most amazing goaltending performances I've ever seen.

After she gave up three goals on 16 shots to start the first period (for a less-than-sterling 0.8125 save percentage), Swiss goalie Florence Schelling adjusted a few gears and springs and proceeded to stop an amazing 36 shots in a row. She was facing the Canadians, whose onslaught could only be characterized as fast and furious. I don't know how she got to some of the shots. I remember about seven or eight saves that I thought were sure goals. The Swiss skaters, who had to be marveling at this themselves, could not have been blamed had they appealed to the ref to throw out the first period and let them play another in its place. The Canadians should have won by a score of 12-1. With the exception of the brilliant save shown at the 2:25 mark, NBC's official game video pretty much ignores Schelling's incredible performance.

It's too bad that it will probably be forgotten (in places other than Zurich, Geneva or Bern, anyway)  as soon as Thursday's gold medal game gets underway between USA and Canada, but I'll remember it as one of those sports moments I'm glad I didn’t miss.