TORONTO -- And just like that, it was over.
It seems like just yesterday the kids were stepping off airplanes in Montreal for their Quebec training camp, arriving for the World Cup of Hockey truly not knowing what to expect.
They came in groups. There was a group that flew in by way of Detroit -- Dylan Larkin, Seth Jones, Ryan Murray and Brandon Saad -- filling up a first-class cabin on a Delta flight that was just a goalie and center short of a strong starting lineup.
There was a group flying in from Toronto, including Morgan Rielly and Auston Matthews, with Matthews hitting the ground in Montreal with a Blue Jays hat that cameras captured and sent back to Toronto.
It was relayed to Matthews that Maple Leafs fans loved seeing the Arizona kid in Jays gear. He smiled and nodded toward Rielly. It was his idea.
They arrived and immediately realized they had something special.
Defenseman Aaron Ekblad took a look around at the raw talent in the dressing room after the first practice and just shook his head.
"Each player is so good," he said that afternoon. "It's actually crazy how good we are."
It was crazy. It was crazy how they arrived in that first pretournament game and blew the doors off Team Europe. It was crazy how they lit up a defensively sound Finland team in their first game of group play. Crazy how they beat Sweden in overtime, on a goal from Nathan MacKinnon on Henrik Lundqvist that everybody in the building will remember as long as hockey highlights are flickering in their heads.
It's crazy that one ugly six-minute stretch against Russia is sending them all home to their NHL teams.
It's crazy that it had to end the way it did, hoping a Finland team with nothing to play for somehow could beat the Russians. The kids, after all, did go 2-1 in the tournament's toughest group.
"I thought we were the second-best team in the tournament," Team North America general manager Peter Chiarelli said. "Having said that, we played by the rules and that's it."
Coach Todd McLellan, who with his staff did a great job guiding these kids, sat in the front row of a suite at the Air Canada Centre on Thursday afternoon with his coaching staff to root for Finland. He leaned in during the first-period action, watching intently.
The most emotion he showed came when Russia scored the second goal on the Finns, giving the table in front of him a restrained tap with his fist. That second goal was the moment he knew it was over.
During the second intermission, he leaned against a hallway wall behind the suite as the Team Europe coaching staff walked by.
"Good luck in the third," Europe assistant coach Paul Maurice offered.
McLellan thanked him, but optimism wasn't high.
This was it, and he knew it. When the Russians scored their third goal early in the final period, he stood up and left. He was in his hotel room before the end of the game.
"I think of World Cups through the years and the memories that are created," McLellan said, reflecting on what he'll take away from this tournament. "We participated in one of those moments."
More than one.
There was MacKinnon's goal on Lundqvist. There was Matthews scoring his first of many goals in Toronto. There was Connor McDavid racing the length of the ice in the blink of the eye. There was a Johnny Gaudreau breakaway. And another Johnny Gaudreau breakaway. And another Johnny Gaudreau breakaway.
People were calling the win over Sweden one of the greatest hockey games they ever witnessed.
This team started as a gimmick and finished with a small place in hockey history, and maybe this is the way it was supposed to end.
The last memory of Team North America was their greatest triumph -- a performance against Sweden for the ages.
McDavid is on the cusp of stardom. This is the tournament that launches it after last season's injury-detoured false start.
"He's going to, at one point, take over the league," predicted Chicago Blackhawks and Team Europe winger Marian Hossa. "It's just fun to watch."
Matthews won't be too far behind, this tournament revealed. So many of the players on North America are just now embarking on special NHL careers. There are Stanley Cups to be won with them as the centerpiece, probably Olympic gold medals too.
But for those moments, they'll be competing against each other, not banded together as an under-24 superpower.
On Thursday afternoon, the players, coaches and management worked their way back to the top floor of the Royal York hotel, where many were already watching the Finland game together, lounging on chairs.
When it was over, they met one last time as a group. McLellan and Chiarelli each addressed the team.
Chiarelli told the guys just how much he enjoyed it all. It was a pleasure to scout such high-caliber players while forming the team. It was fun to watch them practice, each drill competed at such a high level. And the games -- what more needs to be said?
"It's a big-time commitment for everybody," Chiarelli said. "It all really made it worthwhile."
And with that, they made travel arrangements, including some with flights out of Toronto that night. It was done. Just like that.