U.S. claims Olympic gold with throwback jersey

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If they couldn't do it for real in Sochi, at least the U.S. hockey team could earn gold medals in other ways.

A few weeks ago, Icethetics readers decided Jonathan Quick had the best goalie mask at the Olympics. Now, you've selected the Americans' throwback jersey as the best the Games had to offer.

The tournament commenced on March 25 with 30 sweaters — so many that the first round was split into two separate sets of polls. By the end, almost 27,000 votes were cast.

The 18-day tournament wrapped up Saturday night with the white 1960-inspired USA sweater taking top honors. It defeated Sweden's blue jersey with 61% of votes — leaving the Swedes with silver again.

Meanwhile, Canada's red took bronze with 54% against Russia's red uniform. The host country of the 2014 Winter Olympics just can't catch a break, it seems. No medals in hockey. At all.

It's always better to see hockey sweaters in action, so the mini-slideshow below captures the three medal-winning sweaters in all their celebratory glory.

Click bracket to enlarge.

The United States' winning sweater, in fact, was not on the list of jerseys we were expecting to see in Sochi. It made a surprise appearance on the day the Americans faced Slovenia — and went on to win 5-1.

It was worn for just once during the entire tournament but the victory was enough to help it finish fifth overall in the Icethetics Olympic Jersey Standings. Four other jerseys saw action in only a single game — Czech red, Slovenian white, Norwegian red, and Japanse black — but each one lost.

Up next, we're tackling the 2014 NHL Tournament of Logos — the third such tournament since this blog was created in 2007. The Canadiens won then. The Blues won the second tournament in 2011. Who will take it this year?