Jack Johnson appreciates the passion Canadians have for their national pastime.

Before the United States men's Olympic hockey team stunned Team Canada in a 5-3 victory Sunday night, the former Michigan star defenseman said there was no place he'd rather face the gold medal favorites than in their own backyard.

So after the Americans brought an entire country to a standstill with their first Olympic win over the Canadians since 1960, Johnson had no trouble prioritizing what many consider to be one of the biggest upsets in Olympic history.

“It was awesome and total gratification for a team that laid it all on the line,” Johnson told AnnArbor.com in a phone interview Monday night from Vancouver. “It was a great experience and something I will never forget.”

Johnson, who spent two years at Michigan and who plays for the NHL's Los Angeles Kings, was on the ice as the final seconds of Sunday's victory elapsed. In that instant, all the confidence the underdog Americans brought into the game was realized in front of a stunned partisan crowd.

“It's definitely the biggest game I have ever been a part of because in that moment, you're playing in the biggest game on the biggest international stage,” said Johnson, who received several hundred text messages and phone calls between Sunday night's win and Monday evening.

“But we have to keep it in perspective. Like I told people after the game, they didn't award us medals for winning that game, and we still have a lot of work to do.”

The Americans next face either Switzerland or Belarus in a quarterfinal game on Wednesday.

Since arriving in Vancouver 10 days ago, Johnson said members of Team Canada can't venture outside the Olympic Village without being mobbed. In a country where hockey is king, Johnson noticed immediately that Canadians were expecting nothing less than a gold medal.

In an online diary Johnson wrote for ESPN Los Angeles before Sunday's game, Johnson said he sensed a lot of pressure on Team Canada, which if a gold medal wasn't realized, “it's pretty much disaster for them.”

Yet Michigan hockey coach Red Berenson - a native Canadian - said Sunday night's shocking outcome wasn't as stunning as people made it out to be.

Unlike the United States' “Miracle On Ice” win over the Soviet Union in 1980, the Olympics' inclusion of National Hockey League players has made the sport “a completely different world” opposed to 30 years ago when the American gold-medal team was made up of college players.

Johnson said Monday night that Sunday's victory didn't come close to the 1980 team's accomplishment, which, Johnson said, said will never be topped. While many considered Sunday's win a close second to what happened in Lake Placid, N.Y., 30 years ago, Berenson doesn't agree.

“This is not a surprise,” Berenson said Monday. “Maybe it's a surprise to Canadians who think they've got the best hockey players in the world, but I've seen this coming for a while now.”

In his 26 years in college hockey, Berenson has seen the American hockey talent pool get deeper. Three players on the U.S. team have Central Collegiate Hockey Association ties including Johnson, goalie Ryan Miller (Michigan State), who made 42 saves in Sunday's win and Ryan Kesler (Ohio State), who capped the Americans' victory with an empty-net goal Sunday night.

The addition of NHL players, which began in the 1998 Nagano Games, has provided each country its own All-Star team, Berenson said. Although the 17-year NHL veteran believes Canada is the front-runner in overall talent, Berenson insists the United States no longer lags behind.

Johnson agrees, saying Monday that the margin separating not only the U.S. from Canada, but the entire field remains slim. In a tournament when any team can beat anyone else at any time, keeping wins like Sunday's in perspective is critical.

“For us (beating Canada) was always a reality,” said Johnson, who played just under 22 minutes Sunday night. “We never looked at it as another Miracle On Ice. People kept asking us when it hit us that we could beat Canada and I told them as soon as we got off the bus at the arena. We went into that game expecting to win.”

Berenson still considers Canada to be the gold medal favorite because of its home ice advantage and the presence of the NHL superstar Sidney Crosby.

But after suffering Sunday night's upset at the hands of the Americans, Team Canada's road to the medal stand now forces Mike Babcock's team to go through Russia. The Canadians have been taken to overtime by Switzerland, which the U.S. team handled in a 3-1 win.

The Americans, on the other hand, earned an extra day of rest with the victory and have an easier path to reaching their gold-medal aspirations. Johnson - who has used his free time in Vancouver to watch speed skating - said he spent his off-day Monday trying to squeeze in time with family in friends between interviews before the U.S. team returns to work Tuesday.

Without reaching miracle status like in 1980, the United States' victory over Canada made a strong statement, Berenson said. Not only did the win serve as a testament to the talent now being developed in college programs like Berenson's within U.S. borders, but it also demonstrated what the right game plan in a short tournament can do.

Berenson, who became an American citizen in the last 20 years, is quick to warn that one win - even one as meaningful as the United States beating Canada - in the preliminary round does not guarantee the Americans are out the woods.

“They didn't win the gold medal, but It was a great game,” Berenson said. “But if (the United States and Canada) play three times over the next three days, maybe (the United States) doesn't win again and maybe they win all three. It just depends on a lot of things - goaltending, coaching, game plan and special teams - and all of that has to come together.”

After beating Canada, the United States appears to be in good shape to earn at least a semifinal berth.

“(Sunday's win) is the biggest game we've had, but we didn't come this far to get to this point,” Johnson said. “We came here to win a medal and we need to keep working toward that."

Jeff Arnold covers Michigan hockey for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at jeffarnold@annarbor.com or 734-623-2554. Follow him at Twitter @jeffreyparnold.