MINNEAPOLIS — Practically the entire population of Minnesota was functioning on about four hours of sleep on Friday. And happy to be doing so.
This is the land where hockey rules, curling is coming up fast on the outside and cross-country skiing claims a prized niche in the state’s Scandinavian heritage.
From Warroad, the little town near the Canadian border with a lengthy Olympic hockey heritage, to the Twin Cities and farther south, lights stayed on well into Friday morning as the United States women’s hockey team, with seven Minnesotans on the roster, beat Canada, 3-2, in a shootout for the gold medal to end 20 years of Olympic frustration.