Olympic Ice Hockey

The 2014 Sochi Olympics were magical and memorable for fans and athletes alike. Canada exerted its world dominance and won gold; Finland gave Teemu Selanne a proper international sendoff with bronze. Americans came home with bupkis, but fans in the States will always have T.J. Oshie's shootout dominance against Russia to recall fondly.

Now that it's all over, it's time for some of the NHL's owners and general managers to begin selling fans on why the Olympics are bad.

The chances of NHL players, who have been participating in the Olympics since 1998, going to South Korea in 2018 seem average at best. Commissioner Gary Bettman and deputy commissioner Bill Daly have both said the NHL will decide on its involvement in Pyeongchang within six months.

Players love it and do not care if the games take place in South Korea or Canada or the planet Thor comes from, but owners and GMs don't see the (financial) benefit of going to South Korea.

That's a fair concern from the powers that be. The NHL is a business, and there's nothing wrong with running a cost-benefit analysis on an endeavor like this. But some of the straw-man arguments appear to be designed to sway fans onto the NHL's side and away from the players' side.

It's like the lockout PR battle on a smaller scale with different tactics.

Jeff Z. Klein and Stu Hackel of the New York Times compiled some of the reasons management types gave for not being all that thrilled about the Olympics, and there are two that stand out as misinformation.

1. John Davidson, president of hockey operations for the Columbus Blue Jackets, on momentum: “We were in a groove. It was our time of year. There’s no Ohio State football. It’s Columbus Blue Jacket time. And we got shut down for two and a half, three weeks. It doesn’t help.”

2. Garth Snow, general manager of the New York Islanders, after John Tavares suffered a season-ending knee injury in Sochi: “Are the IIHF or IOC going to reimburse our season-ticket holders now? It’s a joke. They want all the benefits from NHL players in Olympics and don’t want to pay when our best player gets hurt.”

A third argument presented by Bettman in an interview with NBC during the Olympics was there were no injuries during the Vancouver Olympics, which was played on NHL-sized ice, yet players were dropping like flies on the wider ice in Sochi.

Another dissenting voice was Philadelphia Flyers owner and cartoon villain Ed Snider, who said, "If anything, I can only see negatives.”

Increased exposure, time off for players who stay home to rest and recharge, the Flyers going to the Stanley Cup Final in 2010 after the last Olympics. Sure, nothing but negatives.

Let's take a look at these arguments and decide what merit they have, if any.

1. The Olympic break hurts momentum

First of all, momentum is not a real thing unless we are discussing it in the sense of physics. In baseball, the saying is momentum is only as good as the next day's starting pitcher, which is just a clever way of saying the game you just played means nothing in terms of the outcome of the next one.

So when Davidson starts talking about the Olympic break costing his team because it was in a groove—by the by, the Jackets went 3-4-1 in their final eight games before the break so perhaps he was using "groove" ironically—it causes an eye roll of which Liz Lemon would be proud.

After all, have you ever heard a player, coach or GM talk about a hockey game? It's either one shift, one period or one game at a time.

God forbid you ask about a game a week down the road. You'll be told everyone is only focusing on the next game, the next practice.

Everyone who receives a paycheck from an NHL team speaks ad nauseam about not looking too far ahead. It's one of the more predictable answers in a business filled with predictable answers.

But when the Olympics are involved, well, hang on, guys, it's costing super-hot teams (not the Jackets, it seems) guaranteed wins during the two-plus weeks off. If you won four in a row before the break, that means you'd have won your next four if not for that pesky, meddling Olympic break.

In the previous Olympic year, 15 of the 16 teams to reach the postseason were already in a playoff position at the time of the Olympic break. The only team to fade was the Calgary Flames, who gave way to the Detroit Red Wings.

The Flames held a one-point lead on the Red Wings at the break, although Detroit had one game in hand, so really, the playoffs were just about set when the Olympics were getting started.

Did momentum work against the Flames? Did it work for the Red Wings? Did it cut the legs off a surging team that's outside of the top eight in either conference?

No, of course not. That's silly.

The Flames were an out-and-out train wreck going into the 2010 Olympic break. They went 4-3-1 in their final eight games prior to the break, but before that, they lost nine consecutive games. Nine. One more than eight. One fewer than 10. Nine. They lost nine games in a row.

If there was one team in the league that needed an Olympic break to stifle that magical momentum you read about, it was the Flames. Yet they went 10-9-1 after the break to finish 40-32-10 and outside of the postseason.

It was an average finish by an average team. 

Meanwhile, the Red Wings lost four of five and went 4-5-6 in their final 15 games before the break. They finished the season 16-3-2 and found themselves in a playoff spot. Was it a product of negative momentum being halted, or was it time off that allowed an aging team to rest and Johan Franzen and Valtteri Filppula to completely recover from injuries?

Perhaps it was a terrific finish by a team that had gone to the Stanley Cup Final the previous two seasons and had nothing to do with momentum.

Team	Past 10 Games	Overall Record
Boston	7-2-1	37-16-4
Toronto	7-2-1	32-22-6
St. Louis	7-2-1	39-12-6
New York Rangers	7-3-0	32-24-3

Team	Streak	Overall Record
Vancouver	2-8-0	27-24-9
Los Angeles	2-8-0	31-22-6
Buffalo	2-7-1	15-34-8
New York Islanders	3-6-1	22-30-8

There were six teams (three in each conference) that were within two points of a playoff spot when the NHL took its break for the Olympics in 2010. How did momentum or grooves affect them?

• The Lightning lost three straight going into the break; after the break, they lost four of five and nine of 11.

• The Rangers went 4-8-0 going into the break and lost four of five and seven of 10 after the break.

• The Thrashers won two of seven before the break and two of eight right after the break.

• The Stars were 6-2-1 going into the break and lost six of seven after it ended. If anyone can make a momentum argument, it's the Stars.

• The Ducks lost five straight after the break but were actually slightly better after the break than they were before it. 

The takeaway here is momentum does not matter. Over an 82-game season, whether there is a break in February or not, the best teams will make the playoffs and the bad ones will not. After 60 games, teams pretty much are what they are, and blaming success or failure over the final 20 on interrupted momentum is lazy.

Davidson's comments are a nice built-in excuse if the Jackets, who are one point back of a wild-card spot today, miss the playoffs in April. It could get fans to scream bloody murder about the Olympics, which could sway players.

At least, that seems to be the plan here, despite the fact the Jackets were in no such groove heading into the Olympics.

2. The Olympic break hurts Blue Jackets' attendance

For those who don't know, Ohio State football is sort of a big deal in Columbus. If you're a relatively new sports franchise in that city, you are forever doomed to be the second-class team in relation to college football during the fall. So to hear Davidson say these two weeks off when Ohio State's season is over hurt his team, you feel for him.

But then you look into it, and you stop feeling for him.

Ohio State's first four home dates were before the NHL season began. They played three home games during the NHL season; the Blue Jackets were not home on those days and played just one road game on Oct. 19 in Washington when Ohio State was beating Iowa.

Ohio State played at 3:30; Columbus played at 7.

The Blue Jackets rank 29th in the NHL in attendance this season and haven't been better than 27th dating to the 2010-11 season. In their final six home games before the Olympic break, the Jackets averaged about 16,000 fans per game, about 2,000 more than their season average.

It's difficult to compare the Blue Jackets' current situation with four years ago, especially when the franchise has been as bad as it has been and is somewhat decent this season.

They averaged 15,416 fans per game in 2009-10, a spike that perhaps had something to do with them making the playoffs for the first and only time in 2008-09. But after the 2010 Olympic break, attendance was a bit below that number.

Was it because the Olympic break sapped momentum and fan enthusiasm, or was it because the Jackets had zero shot of making the playoffs at that point of the season?

When your club is nine points out of eighth with 19 games remaining and has reached the postseason once in franchise history, maybe that's why fans stop buying tickets. Perhaps Davidson should look inward to find the answer to attendance problems and not set fire to a straw man that is the Olympic break.

If your market is so weak that two weeks off result in everyone forgetting about your team, maybe your market shouldn't have a team.

3. The Olympics cause injuries, and those are bad for NHL teams

This is the one that bugs me the most. When owners agreed to let players go to the Olympics in 1998, were they not aware that hockey would be played, and when hockey is played, there are sometimes injuries suffered by the players?

Suddenly after a particularly bad Olympics in that regard, owners are all, "Oh man, did you know injuries can happen at the Olympics? We can't have that. I was not aware that bones could break and ligaments can tear under the magical umbrella of the Olympic spirit."

Players suffer injuries during NHL games. Players suffer injuries during Olympic Games. Sometimes the Olympic break allows key players to heal from injuries (Marian Gaborik would have missed six to seven additional games if not for the break this year).

Sometimes an injury happens early enough at the Olympics that they can withdraw, rehab and not miss as many NHL games as they would have otherwise.

Bettman's passive aggressive, "Boy, lots of injuries on big ice," attitude in that interview is either ill-informed or intentionally hilarious. I already discussed this injury excuse here, where you can find a list of current Olympians who suffered injuries in NHL games one year ago on NHL-sized ice.

As for Snow's insinuation that the IOC or IIHF should reimburse Islanders season-ticket holders because of the season-ending injury to Tavares, it's quite an impressive statement. The content of it isn't what makes it impressive—it's that frugal owner Charles Wang has his hand up Snow's backside in such a way that you can't even see him controlling the puppet from afar. That's master showmanship.

When injuries occur in the NHL, season-ticket holders don't get discounts based on the quality of player and time missed.

Try to find a season-ticket holder who has a letter from a team that reads, "Due to Pavel Datsyuk missing four games with a concussion, your season-ticket account will be credited with $48." Or, "John Scott is out for the season. We are requesting you send us an additional $78 for the improved product you will now watch."

Player	NHL team	Injury	Prognosis
Henrik Zetterberg	Red Wings	Back	Out 8 weeks
John Tavares	Islanders	Knee	Out 8 weeks
Mats Zuccarello	Rangers	Hand	Out 3-4 weeks
Paul Martin	Penguins	Hand	Out 6-8 weeks
Tomas Kopecky	Panthers	Concussion	Indefinitely
Alexsander Barkov	Panthers	Knee	Out 4-6 weeks
Fedor Tyutin	Blue Jackets	Knee	Out 2-3 weeks

It's also hard to say this injury would affect walk-up sales in Long Island, considering the Islanders are toast and will be unloading Thomas Vanek during another failure of a season. I'm sure that won't drive away fans, though. I'm sure the real problem with lagging ticket sales isn't nearly seven years worth of ineptitude.

Just like with the attendance/momentum argument in Columbus, if your team has been so historically bad and your fanbase so fragile that an injury to a star player will drive away fans over the final 12 home dates, perhaps an NHL team doesn't belong there.

Money is a fair issue for the NHL in regard to Olympic participation, be it compensation from the IOC or the cost of insuring players. But telling fans that a team's momentum is being hurt by the break or blaming a lack of attendance on the layoff is borderline cowardly, if not entirely foolish.

FIVE LETTERS

(If you’d like to ask a question for the weekly mailbag, you can reach me via email at dave111177@gmail.com, fire your query at me via Twitter at @DaveLozo or leave a question in the comments section for next week.)

Greg Wyshynski wrote an article in which he blamed Dan Bylsma, at least partly, for Team USA's shortcomings against Canada when they played each other in the Olympics (other than the on-paper talent). However, it seem every team that played Canada reverted to more of a shell-type defense, in an attempt to coax them into, and then capitalize on their mistakes.

Had Bylsma tried to play with the Canadians, and go right at them with an aggressive gameplan, as Wyshynski suggested they should have done, isn't it just as likely the Canadians would have dominated?

You made a few comments on Twitter that seemed to suggest you agree with Wyshynski's take on the matter. Can you explain how you think Team USA should have approached the game?

Erik

Bylsma has been catching grief for Team USA's performance at the Olympics, although no one seemed to have a problem with him through the first four games. I only have one problem with how Bylsma ran things against Canada.

Bylsma's refusal to move the Joe Pavelski line away from the Jonathan Toews line despite having the final change is what I can't defend. It was pretty clear through 20 minutes that they were being dominated by Toews and yet Bylsma waited until it was too late to change things up.

In a game against a team as talented as Canada, you can't wait that long. By the time Bylsma did anything in that regard, the game was over.

The one thing Wyshynski mentions in his takedown is the passive 1-2-2 forecheck. He was there, and I was not, so it's a lot easier to see a team's strategy unfold when you can see the entire ice. If he says that strategy hurt Team USA, I have to defer to him on that.

To me, it looked like everyone on Canada was faster and sharper in all three zones. Did that have to do with talent level and execution or a forechecking strategy? I can't say for sure.

I also give Bylsma a pass on the Finland game. Maybe he should've started Ryan Miller over Jonathan Quick, but that's hindsight from me. Bylsma's team played a spirited first 20 minutes then fell apart after Finland scored twice in 11 seconds during the second period. After the second goal, Bylsma called timeout and implored his players to keep pushing, to not give up.

It didn't work. There's not much else you can do if your players don't give a damn.

So outside of the Toews/Kessel debacle, I can't hang too much blame on Bylsma for Team USA's disappointing Sochi. Kessel could've faced Canada's fourth line on every shift, and it may not have mattered.

@DaveLozo What do you think the Markov situation in Montreal and what will the final outcome be in your opinion?

— GameChangingCH (@GameChangingCH) February 25, 2014

I see both sides. Andrei Markov had a litany of knee problems over the past three years, and this year he is healthy and having an outstanding season. He's 35 and about to become a free agent, so while the Canadiens want to give him a one-year deal, it's understandable Markov wants three years because that's what he'll get in a market that wildly overpays for defensemen every summer.

My guess is Markov stays through the rest of the season but is allowed to leave via free agency.

@DaveLozo what would it take for the Bruins to get Weber? #BagSkate Also, what should I name my new puppy?

— Jeremy Avery (@therealjavery) February 25, 2014

For the Bruins to get Shea Weber, they'd need to hire Ben Affleck's crew from The Town and steal him from Nashville. For the Bruins to get Yannick Weber, they'd need, well, a DVD or Blu-Ray copy of the Ben Affleck movie The Town to exchange for him.

You should name your dog The Town.

@DaveLozo if NHLers don't go to Olympics in 2018 what's your proposed alternative?

— Greg Donnelly (@gdon44) February 25, 2014

A World Cup on North American soil that takes place during normal hockey hours would be great. I love Olympic hockey more than anything, but I don't know if I want to stay awake from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. for two weeks with the games in South Korea.

I had to wake up at 6 a.m. a few times during the Sochi Games, and I was starting to see the ghosts of dead relatives. I don't handle mornings well. I don't think I could handle flipping my schedule entirely without having a psychotic episode.

@DaveLozo why don't more players wear a turtleneck under their gear like wayne gretzky used to do? man that was cool.

— Tom Pauly (@ThomPauly) February 25, 2014

That wasn't a turtleneck. Hockey equipment has always been behind the times, and what Gretzky was actually wearing was protective gear. The neck part was a throat guard. Underneath was padding for his chest and arms. The NHL had a partnership with the clothing store Structure, and that's where it received all of its protective turtlenecks.

Dave Lozo covers the NHL for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter @DaveLozo.

One of the crown jewels of any Winter Olympics is the men's ice hockey tournament, and the 2014 Sochi Games were no different. 

While Canada's star-studded lineup took home gold for the second consecutive Olympics, the top performers were scattered across the field. Even with no country playing more than six games, a few players racked up points at impressive levels. These players represent the points leaders at the conclusion of the men's tournament:

Rank	Player	Country	Pts
1	Phil Kessel	USA	8
2	Erik Karlsson	SWE	8
3	Mikael Granlund	FIN	7
4	James van Riemsdyk	USA	7
5	Michael Grabner	AUT	6
T-6	Drew Doughty	CAN	6
T-6	Teemu Selanne	FIN	6
8	Alexander Radulov	RUS	6

Of the top eight, only Radulov does not play for an NHL team, meaning that some of those performances might have ramifications for the post-break NHL stretch. With that in mind, let's dissect a few of those top performers and what their hot streaks might mean going forward.

Phil Kessel, RW, USA

The Maple Leafs forward was the Americans' biggest star for much of the tournament, tallying five goals in the first four games before being held scoreless (along with the rest of his team) against Canada and Finland:

For his effort, the IIHF named Kessel the top forward of the tournament. In reality, the Olympics were just a continuation of his hot pre-break NHL stretch, as he scored eight goals in the last 10 games for Toronto. With the Leafs on the edge of the playoff race, Kessel and fellow American linemate James van Riemsdyk must continue their stellar finishing back in the Western Hemisphere.

Long term, the 26-year-old Kessel represents one of several young forwards in or approaching their prime for the USA. Along with 25-year-old Patrick Kane and 29-year-old captain Zach Parise, the Americans are well-positioned for the future up front.

Erik Karlsson, D, Sweden

It's not often a defensemen is among the point leaders, even in an abbreviated tournament like the Olympics. Nevertheless, the former Norris Trophy winner is the NHL's best scoring defenseman when healthy and demonstrated his skill at Sochi.

With the Swedish team losing Henrik Sedin and Henrik Zetterberg before the tournament, Karlsson's scoring outburst was a necessary tonic. Canada placed a clear emphasis on containing the Senators defenseman, and without the team's star defenseman wreaking havoc in the offensive zone, Sweden and Karlsson were both left scoreless and frustrated: 

Despite the letdown in the gold-medal match, Karlsson returns to an Ottawa team that currently sits one point behind the Detroit Red Wings for the final Eastern Conference playoff berth. If he can carry over his Sochi performance, he may boost a young Senators squad to its second consecutive postseason.

Mikael Granlund, C, Finland

The 21-year-old Finnish forward used the Olympics as his coming-out party, with seven points for the bronze medalists. Granlund's breakout performance earned high praise from his country's greatest forward:

The Wild center has just seven goals in 73 career NHL games, but the former ninth overall pick certainly possesses the potential that should have Minnesota fans salivating. Playing with Selanne and Aleksander Barkov on the first line, Granlund exhibited what he could do when surrounded by top-level talent.

Granlund's tournament is especially encouraging for a Finland squad lacking in young forwards. Stalwarts like the 43-year-old Selanne, 30-year-old Mikko Koivu and 30-year old Jussi Jokinen will not be able to carry the team in 2018. Granlund's performance was not only impressive but also vital to a long-time international hockey power.

Not even Sweden could put up a fight against Canada in the 2014 Sochi Olympics, as the team from north of the border absolutely dominated in their 3-0 win in the gold-medal game.

Canada was relentless right from the start. 

Jonathan Toews scored just over seven minutes into the game, and Canada continued to control the puck from there. Similarly to the United States, Sweden couldn't really get anything going against Canada.

Captain Sidney Crosby scored on a breakaway in the second period, and Chris Kunitz scored in the third period to really put the game away.

Goaltender Carey Price was stellar yet again, saving all 24 shots and earning the shutout. He went 5-0 in Sochi, and Canada went undefeated in the process. They joined elite company in doing so, via ESPN Stats & Info's Twitter feed:

To say they were dominant might be an understatement, however. Just take a look at this note from Brian Stubits of CBSSports.com: 

From start to finish in Sochi, Canada never trailed for one minute of action, dominating opponents from round-robin play on. However Canada took it to an even higher level in the last two games, shutting out the USA 1-0 in the semifinals and then finishing Sweden with the 3-0 win. In six games total in Sochi, Canada gave up three goals.

Yeah, they were more than dominant. Legendary, even.

Canada has been a force in the Olympics over the past several installments of the Winter Games. The team won the gold in 2010 (Vancouver) and 2002 (Salt Lake City). Sweden won in 2006 (Torino). This medal, however, trumps that of their previous ones of the new millennium.

Of course, the 2010 Games might have been more exciting.

Had it not been for Sidney Crosby's heroics in overtime, Team USA may have stolen the gold from them. The goal was one of the most memorable goals in recent Olympic history, and that will make the 2010 Games not easily forgotten.

That being said, not even that goal (or gold) can hold a candle to this one.

What It Means for 2018

The status of NHL players in the Olympics moving forward is up in the air.

Jeff Z. Klein and Stu Hackel of The New York Times provide a brief summary of how it might go down:

[Gary] Bettman said a decision on further Olympic participation could be made within six months. No matter how much the Winter Games raise the sport’s visibility in the United States, the league’s owners will weigh that against their business and competitive interests.

Wayne Gretzky told Hockey Night in Canada radio that, as a player, he would vote to go (via NESN.com):

So if I had a vote, I would vote to go because I love the Olympic Games and I think there’s no bigger honor, there’s no bigger thrill than representing your country and being part of Team Canada. It’s something you can’t even describe how special of a feeling it is to know that you get to put that red and white jersey on.

While it remains to be seen the decision that will be reached, it's obvious that it has major implications of the future of ice hockey in the Olympics. While nearly all countries' teams will lose out on some talent, Canada's potential losses are great.

Crosby, Price, Jeff Carter and others won't be at Canada's disposal. That will seriously alter their dominance.

For now, Canada stands at the top of the international hockey charts. It will be interesting to see if they can retain their dominance if the NHL players are taken away, though.

Follow me on Twitter: @kennydejohn

With a 3-0 blanking of Sweden in Sunday's gold-medal game at the Bolshoy Ice Dome in Sochi, Russia, Canada became the first repeat Olympic men's hockey winner since the Soviet Union/Unified Team reeled off consecutive golds in the sport in 1984, 1988 and 1992.

Canada has now taken home gold in men's Olympic hockey a record nine times overall. Meanwhile, the Canadian women's hockey team is on an impressive run of its own, having won four Olympic titles in a row, thanks to a dramatic 3-2 overtime win over Team USA on Thursday.

Sunday's win also marks the first time since the Olympic games of 1948 and 1952 that the Canadian men's squad has won back-to-back golds.

With Sunday's triumph, Canada became the first team to roll through the men's Olympic hockey tournament unbeaten since the Soviet Union accomplished the feat in Sarajevo in 1984.

In doing so, the 2014 edition of Team Canada outscored its opponents 17-3 over six contests, while never falling behind in a game once during that span.

After over two weeks of thrilling action in Sochi, the 2014 Winter Olympics are officially over. It's hard to believe that the Games have come to a close, but the results were certainly special for the host country of Russia.

The Russians came away with a total of 33 medals (far and away the most), with Team USA coming in second with 28 medals in its collection. After controlling the final days of the Olympics, the hosts made themselves comfortable in the final day with half of the medals handed out being won by Russians.

Team USA came up short in its attempt at winning the medal tally but came away with several historic results in a plethora of events. Many athletes like Shaun White and Shani Davis came away with no medals, but others, like Mikaela Shiffrin and Sage Kotsenburg, took their place with surprising results.

Here is a look at the final medal count following the last day of the Olympics:

In the theoretical bronze-medal finish in the medal tally, Norway—which leads the all-time medal count for the Winter Olympics—came away with 26 total medals, 11 of which were gold.

With the Sochi Games finally coming to a close, here is a look at some of the most memorable events that shaped the final medal tally.

Netherlands' Domination in Speedskating

There was no other country in the Olympics that controlled one sport as much as the Dutch ruled the ice in speedskating.

Of the 24 Olympic medals that the Dutch won, 23 pieces of hardware came in speedskating, with many of them coming in in the long-track speedskating portion.

With a total of eight gold medals, seven silver medals and eight bronze medals, the Netherlands speedskating team single-handedly put the country in the top five of the Olympics medal tally.

Thanks to the likes of Ireen Wust, who won five total medals, and Sven Kramer, who took home three (both winning two gold medals), the Netherlands has a dominance over the sport that could continue on for years following these Winter Olympics.

Team USA Controls Multiple Skiing Disciplines

The U.S. didn't put the clamps down on one single sport quite like the Netherlands did with speedskating—it actually had a very disappointing showing in the sport—but skiing on the slopes, slopestyle and halfpipe resulted in several medals for Team USA's final collection.

In the slopestyle events, the men swept the event with Joss Christensen, Gus Kenworthy and Nick Goepper all standing on the podium. In the women's portion, Devin Logan wasn't able to capture the gold but came away with a fourth medal in the event after taking the silver.

As for the halfpipe, Maddie Bowman made her presence felt with a gold medal, after David Wise topped the podium with his own gold-medal run on the men's side.

Wise's win also set up a special moment shared with his daughter who wasn't able to be at the event, as the Today Show's official Instagram account shared:

In the Alpine skiing events, Ted Ligety and Mikaela Shiffrin both took home their own golds and became heroes in their own respect.

While Ligety won his second gold medal in 2014, Shiffrin got her career started in Sochi, standing in the middle of the stage in just her second event in the Games.

Shiffrin spoke about the win and her plans for 2018 in South Korea, according to Paul Myerberg of USA Today:

I'm still young and I still have a lot of strength to gain over the next few summers of conditioning and the next few winters of skiing. I don't want to push myself too far too fast and definitely don't get greedy, but at the same time, I'm a dreamer.

So right now I'm dreaming of the next Olympics, winning five gold medals. Which sounds really crazy. Sorry I just admitted that to you all.

Shiffrin is young, bold and clearly a confident skier coming out of her first Olympics. But is it absurd to think that she could come away with five gold medals in 2018?

The 18-year-old burst onto the scene long before the Olympics with a win in the 2013 World Championships, taking a gold medal in the slalom event—the same discipline that she won in Sochi. If Shiffrin plans to take home five medals in four years, she'll need to begin dominating other events as well.

It will be interesting to watch the young star master other competitions on her way to working toward her lofty goal in the Pyeongchang Games.

Canadian Men's and Women's Ice Hockey Repeat

While there were several triumphs on the Olympic stage for the U.S., it came up short not once, not twice, but three times to the Canadians.

But it appeared to be a result that was destined to happen, as Team Canada came out atop the podium in both brackets to earn back-to-back golds in men's and women's hockey.

Neither team lost throughout the tournament, with the men making history by accomplishing a feat that hasn't been done in three decades, according to R.J. Bell of Pregame.com:

Retired Canadian hockey player Steve Yzerman gave his thoughts on the run to Olympic gold, per Dan Rosen of NHL.com:

That defensive style led to two straight shutouts over both the U.S. and Sweden by a final count of 4-0 in the semifinal and finals. The defensive effort was rewarded by Jonathan Toews and Sidney Crosby, who both scored goals in the final against the Swedes.

On the women's side, it was business as usual with Team Canada claiming its fourth straight gold medal after defeating the Americans in a crushing final.

The U.S. had a controlling 2-0 lead late in the third period but couldn't stop an onslaught of shots from the Canadians and hit the bar on an empty-netter from the blue line to allow Canada to clinch the gold. Julie Chu of Team USA spoke about the disappointing loss, per Bill Chappell of NPR:

If you know any one of us, it's not that there's not an appreciation of representing our country, being a part of the greatest sporting event in the world, getting a chance to win a silver medal. That's never something that we're not proud of.

But we also wear our hearts on our sleeve, so if it's going to take us five minutes to say that we wanted to win a gold medal, and against our biggest rival. And we didn't do that. It's going to take us maybe a few minutes to regroup, and have time to digest it all.

Despite the fact that both the U.S. men's and women's teams lost in hockey, they still come away as top contenders in the sport and have another chance to medal in 2018.

As for the Canadians, a third-straight win in Pyeongchang could mark a historic run by both teams to repeat. With the Canadians still having many of the top players in the world in both men's and women's hockey, it might be yet another one-sided affair on the ice when both teams take the ice in South Korea.

Follow R. Cory Smith on Twitter: 

The 2014 Winter Olympics have officially come to a close with just eight total medals being handed out on the final day of the Games. The podiums once again had a familiar look as Russians took half of those medals, with the host country wrapping up the top spot in the medal tally with a total of 33.

The Russians dominated the last few days in the Olympics outside of the sport that they wanted to win the most: hockey.

As for Team USA, one more visit to the podium with a bronze medal in the four-man bobsleigh event secured the No. 2 spot in the medal tally.

Here's a look at the final medal count:

With the Sochi Games over and fans looking ahead to 2016 Summer Olympics, here is a full list of the results along with a breakdown of the events from Day 16.

Four-Man Bobsleigh

While every other Russian was dominating the Olympics on the final days, Alexander Zubkov followed suit and did so in historic fashion.

The legendary pilot was only the sixth man to sweep the podium in his two events, as the Associated Press reports:

Following the 39-year-old pilot was the Latvian four-man team, who finished just .09 seconds behind the Russians' final time in the four heats.

Though they weren't able to repeat the same success as 2010, the four-man bobsleigh team from Team USA still finished on the podium with another bronze medal.

With Steven Holcomb and Steven Langton on this team as well, the same two-man team that brought home the bronze earlier in the Olympics will leave with two medals around their necks. They might not have landed at the top of the podium, but Holcomb and Langton also made history, according to Paul Carr of ESPN:

Moving forward, the two-man pairing hasn't announced any plans to retire following the Games. At 33 and 30, respectively, Holcomb and Langton could make history yet again in 2018 with another medal and earn three straight for the Americans.

If Zubkov does ultimately leave the sport after carrying the weight of his country on his shoulders in the event, another door could open for Holcomb and Langton. If all goes well, the duo could find themselves at the top of the podium in four years.

Cross-Country Skiing: Men's 50-Kilometer Mass Start Free

As if the Russians needed to control another sport on their way to the top of the medal tally, they finished with a podium sweep in one of the final events of the Games.

The finish clinched the most medals in the Olympics for Russia, as Scott Russell of CBC reports:

Alexander Legkov took the top spot away from teammates Maxim Vylegzhanin and Ilia Chernousov as each came away with hardware for the host country.

The three all came close to winning the event overall, as they were separated on the finish line by just .8 seconds. In fact, Vylegzhanin and Chernousoy finished just .1 seconds apart from each other.

With the Russians taking all three medals and clinching the medal count, it ended what was a memorable Games for the country.

Ice Hockey: Men's Gold-Medal Game

In the final event of the entire Olympics, Canada once again proved it still has a stranglehold on the ice hockey world as it completed a sweep of both the men's and women's podiums and took two golds home.

After doing the same thing back in 2010, the feat was one that hasn't been done in over six decades for the men's team, as ESPN Stats and Info notes:

The 3-0 win over Sweden not only put the Canadians back on the top of the podium, but earned the team their second straight shutout in the Games after crushing Team USA's hopes in the semifinals with a 1-0 win.

The gold-medal clincher also guaranteed Canada the first-ever sweep in the original team events of men's and women's curling and hockey, according to ESPN Stats and Info:

That team mentality was what Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins, Canada's captain, said propelled them to the gold-medal win, per the Penguins' official Twitter account:

Crosby finished with one goal in the game, Jonathan Toews got the game-winner in the first period and Carey Price clinched the game with 24 total saves as Canada once again rolled over the No. 1 team in the world.

The Canadians went undefeated throughout the entire tournament after coming in with a target on their backs. That type of success should solidify them as favorites to once again repeat in 2018.

And with the likes of Crosby, Ryan Getzlaf, Toews and Price all likely to be returning to the team in South Korea, it should be yet another interesting run to watch as the Canadians will look for a third straight gold in the next Winter Olympics.

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The 2014 Winter Olympics are officially in the rearview mirror, and few sports provided the excitement factor that the men’s hockey did in Sochi.

Canada defended its gold medal from the 2010 Games in Vancouver behind a dominating 3-0 victory over Sweden in the final game. Sidney Crosby seemingly cemented the contest away when he put home the second goal in impressive wrap-around fashion after orchestrating a deke on goalie Henrik Lundqvist on a breakaway.

The NHL superstar discussed the gold-medal game with Associated Press reporters (via ESPN.com):

Not quite as dramatic as the other one. Just real solid all the way through. We knew the way we wanted to play, and the last couple of games, we were solid. With each game, we seemed to build more and more confidence.

Canada became the first team since 1984 to finish unbeaten throughout the Olympic tournament and won its record ninth hockey gold medal.

Outside of the gold-medal dominance, other games that stood out were the United States' shootout win over Russia, Finland’s upset of Russia and the Canadians outlasting the Americans 1-0 in the semifinals.

In terms of pure excitement, it didn’t get better than T.J. Oshie scoring four times in a shootout to break Russia’s heart, although both squads ended their Games in medal-less disappointment. 

Let’s take a look at some of the top performers from the Sochi Olympics.

Phil Kessel, United States

No player scored more goals or tallied more points than Phil Kessel of the United States during the Olympics.

Kessel posted eight points and five goals and carried the American offense for large stretches of almost every game. Yes, the Olympics ended in disappointment for the Red, White and Blue after losing to Canada in the semifinals and then to Finland in the bronze-medal game, but Kessel cannot be blamed for that. 

Sports writer Joe Haggerty pointed out that Kessel made the Olympic All-Star team:

Erik Karlsson, Sweden

Erik Karlsson of Sweden was tied with Kessel atop the Olympic leaderboard with eight points. He also scored four goals, which was good enough to tie for third in the Games.

While his scoring and total points were certainly impressive, the fact that Karlsson was able to lead his Sweden team to the championship game despite the injuries on the front lines is what lands him on this list.

Sweden had to play without its top three centers against Canada, with Henrik Sedin and Henrik Zetterberg already missing the Games and Nicklas Backstrom testing positive before the final in a drug test because of an allergy medicine, according to the AP (via ESPN).

Without Karlsson’s contributions, it is difficult to imagine Sweden taking home the silver medal.

Carey Price, Canada

There wasn’t a player at the 2014 Games who was better than goalie Carey Price of Canada.

He posted a shutout in the gold-medal game, and his squad did not allow a single goal in their final 164-plus minutes at the Games. Canada shut out both the United States and Sweden in the medal-round contests. 

Price took home his first gold medal in the process and only allowed three goals in five games. His goals-against average of 0.59 per game was the best of the Olympics, and he also led the Games in save percentage at 97.2 percent.

Henrik Lundqvist, Sweden

Yes, Sweden lost to Canada in the final game, but it was unbeaten until the gold-medal contest largely because of the efforts of Henrik Lundqvist.

The Swedish goalie stopped 33 shots in the finals, but with so many turnovers and Canada’s formidable attack, it was ultimately in vain. 

Lundqvist’s 1.5 goals-against average was fourth in the Olympics, but allowing three goals in the last game inflated that a bit. Lundqvist was critical in knocking out Finland in the semifinals (who knocked out Russia in the quarterfinals) and deserves much of the credit for the silver medal.

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