WEST VALLEY CITY ? Canada is 60 minutes away from ending a half-century of Olympic frustration.
Steve Yzerman started a ferocious Canadian attack with an early goal, and captain Mario Lemieux had two assists in a 7-1 victory over Belarus in the hockey semifinals Friday.
The Canadians' most complete win of the Olympic tournament put them in the gold medal game on Sunday ? 50 years to the day after a club team called the Edmonton Mercurys won Canada's last gold in Oslo.
It has been an intolerable drought in a nation where hockey is the national passion ? but on the heels of the women's team's victory, Canada could end up with two golds in four days. Canada will face the United States or Russia, who met later Friday.
Belarus, a qualifier with one NHL player, made the semifinals with a stunning 4-3 upset of Sweden Wednesday.
But the magic ran out against a determined Canadian team that made the undermanned Belarusians look feeble, outshooting them 51-14 and dominating play for nearly every minute.
Plucky goalie Andrei Mezin, who stopped 44 Swedish shots, was pulled in the second period when Canada took a three-goal lead.
Eric Brewer, Scott Niedermayer, Paul Kariya, Simon Gagne, Eric Lindros and Jarome Iginla also scored for Canada, while 14 players got at least one point. Martin Brodeur improved to 3-0-1 as Canada's starting goalie with 13 saves.
Canada started slowly in Salt Lake City, with just one win in its first three games amid cries of panic back home. But the Canadians felt their team jelled during the hard times ? and a fortuitous draw in the quarterfinals paved their way to the gold medal game.
While heavyweights Russia, the Czech Republic and the United States battled each other, Canada faced only Finland and Belarus.
Team Canada executive director Wayne Gretzky's us-against-the-world tirade, which sounded strange at the time, apparently succeeded in taking some pressure off his players. Gretzky watched calmly from the stands as Canada dismantled Belarus.
Just over six minutes in, Yzerman's rebound shot flew under Mezin's arm for Canada's first goal. Canada dominated the flow of play from the opening faceoff ? but for few minutes, Belarus again struck fear into a mighty opponent.
Belarus didn't even get its first shot until more than 10 minutes had elapsed, but its third shot ? a soft toss at the net by Anaheim defenseman Ruslan Salei ? somehow escaped Brodeur's glove and rolled into the net.
But that goal was the extent of Belarus' otherworldly luck. Brewer scored on a misplay by Mezin during 4-on-4 play late in the first period, and Niedermayer scored a power-play goal on a pass from Lemieux early in the second as Canada rolled away.
As the closing seconds ticked away, dozens of Canadian fans joined arms and sang a swaying version of "O Canada" before erupting in cheers at the final buzzer.