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And now the Americans are out, having been given the advantage of the easier draw, and the belief by many that they would be medal winners here.

There was little belief they could duplicate the victory of 1996 that Ron Wilson talks about with such glee.

It’s amazing how much Hockey Canada and the national team program has progressed over these past 20 years. They had the best players then. They may not have had the best way to play the game. Over the years, they have melded the players and the coaches and the systems and ever-important succumbing of egos to turn centres into wingers and stars into role players and individuals into a team.

It is impressive — even in a one-sided way.

Ten different players had points Tuesday night for Team Canada and none of them were named Sidney Crosby or Doughty or Steven Stamkos. The magic, if there was any, came from this: The Canadians made Patrick Kane, leading scorer in the NHL, Hart Trophy winner and Marian Hossa’s choice as best player in the world, disappear. Just like that.

And in a strange way, the Canadian efficiency quieted the pro-Canadian crowd all dressed up in red and white on what was officially a road game for Team Canada at the Air Canada Centre. It was so much a road game that the in-house public address man, from Vancouver, announced the Canadian starting goalie as “Corey Price.”

That was one of the few Canadian mistakes on the night. In a sport that is built on turnovers, misjudgments and errors, the Canadian effort was about as clean as you can get. And when a mistake was made, Price did what Price does: He did his job. Price didn’t have to steal anything. This wasn’t a game to steal.

Just a game to win. A piece of pragmatic hockey business. By a team that inherently understands what it takes to win. A move to the semifinal round now of a tournament that should be theirs.

This was supposed to be the great challenge of the round robin. But it was more obvious than challenging, more a matter of control.

The Americans could have had Brett Hull, Mike Modano and Chris Chelios in the lineup Tuesday night, along with a healthy Phil Kessel and maybe Johnny Gaudreau and Auston Matthews. It wouldn’t have mattered.

They didn’t have enough to challenge Team Canada. They rarely do.