Team Canada

In a star-studded final at the 2014 Winter Games, it was unsurprisingly Canada that emerged with the best men's hockey team in the world.

Despite the absences of Henrik Sedin, Henrik Zetterberg and Nicklas Backstrom, Sweden still presented a stiff test for the Canadians, who responded with an impressive defensive performance and enough offense from star players to take the gold via a 3-0 margin on Sunday.

It was a quick team assembly, a faster tournament and an enviable result by Canada, and all that remains is to pick up the pieces as the final left fans around the globe with multiple storylines to appreciate.

Tournament's Best Defense Shines Again

It was clear on paper before the tournament began that the Canadian team would field one of the best defenses the Games in Sochi had to offer.

With a blue line headed by names such as Drew Doughty, Shea Weber and Duncan Keith, it should come as no surprise that the team limited the opposition to just three goals in five games.

The stellar line held Erik Karlsson and the rest of Sweden in check for the duration of the match. Despite the deficit going into the third period, the defense saved its best performance for last as Sweden only attempted four shots on goal in the final 20 minutes.

For his efforts throughout the Games, Doughty was named to the All-Tournament Team, as James Mirtle of The Globe and Mail illustrates:

While one can certainly argue more Canadian names should be on that list—especially after their gold-medal triumph—Doughty was first on the list of deserving names.

Should the same stars return to the Olympics again in 2018, it is hard to imagine offenses finding success against Canada.

Sidney Crosby Wakes Up

It's about time.

By far the biggest name on Canada's hockey team in Sochi, Sidney Crosby simply had not shown up in his team's prior games in the tournament.

After being carried by his teammates throughout, Crosby stepped up against Sweden and scored in the second period. Crosby finding the back of the net made it 2-0, which changed the complexion of the game entirely as Sweden suddenly had to hit the panic button.

NBC captured Crosby's epic moment:

While not as career-defining as past Olympic goals, Crosby desperately needed a score to silence critics. He got it, helped to change the narrative of his 2014 Games and propelled his country to another gold medal.

Not a bad way to go out when it matters most.

Canada Remains World's Most Dominant Hockey Force

With gold medals in Salt Lake City (2002), Vancouver (2010) and now Sochi, there is once again no questioning which country is the world's best.

The demolition of Sweden showed this well enough, which was exactly what the players had set out to do from the onset, as head coach Mike Babcock told reporters before the final, via Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun:

It's not about who scores the goals or who blocks the shots or who plays. It's about winning. It's about Canada. It's about hockey supremacy. We like to brag that it's our game? If you think it's your game, you better show it's your game.

Limited practice time together for a roster hastily constructed would spell doom for most countries.

Not Canada.

Perhaps best of all, the team's style of play is was simply easy on the eye—which any fan regardless of geography can appreciate—as ESPN's Gene Wojciechowski pointed out:

After a brief domination of the globe in Sochi, one team will now split and go 14 different NHL ways once more. It was a fun ride, and one that reinforced Canada as the globe's lone powerhouse, but the stars must now continue to face one another on a lesser scale until the Games come calling again.

Canada has allowed just three goals in five games so far. Can we expect a third shutout in the gold-medal game against Sweden? That depends on to what extent its defensive success was by the team's very design, how much was the offensive weakness of its opponents and how much was just a hot streak.

Analytics are useful to help answer this question. First to determine just how good this team has been defensively, and then to take a closer look at how the team was built and how it is coached. By and large, all of Canada's players are already well-accustomed to lining up against the world's best players, are among the best possession-oriented skaters in the world today and are coached by the best defensive minds in the NHL today.

Finally, I used analytics to take a closer look at the offensive capabilities of Canada's two main opponents thus far, Finland and the USA, and compared that to the tournament's other teams, most notably Sweden.

In the end, all of this work has come to reinforce just how legitimate the Canadian defence truly is, and how much of a challenge it will be for the Swedes to generate any offence Sunday.

How Good Has Canada Been Defensively?

The Canadian team has allowed just 105 shots, or exactly 21 shots a game, according to the data at Extra Skater, the lowest in the tournament. By comparison the New Jersey Devils, the NHL's leader in fewest shots allowed per game, have permitted 25.4 per contest.

Canada has also allowed only 39 scoring chances total, or a measly 7.8 per game, according to data presented by Jamie McLellan of TSN, whereas an average NHL game features about 20 per team.

Finally, only three of those 39 scoring chances have gone in, or one in every 13. That's quite a bit less than its own ratio of around one in every eight, which is far more typical in the NHL. Obviously some fine goaltending from Carey Price has probably saved a couple of goals.

At a high level, Canada's defensive success has been real, measurable and consistent. This isn't a team that has given up a lot of chances and gotten lucky; it is a team that has prevented opponents from getting shots and/or scoring chances in the first place. Was this just a hot streak over a few games, or was it by design?

Canada's Team Was Built for Possession

The Canadian team did not select defensive-minded players like Rob Zamuner in 1998 and Kris Draper in 2006, but possession-oriented players instead. The defence then followed naturally.

Since it is so difficult to measure a hockey player's defensive abilities, given the great many variables that can affect shots and/or goals allowed, it is helpful to look at how the players are used.

In late January, well before the tournament began, Bruce McCurdy of the Edmonton Journal used a player usage chart to demonstrate how the Canadian team was built for sound two-way, possession-based play:

22 out of 22 Canadian skaters face moderately-to-very tough competition on an ongoing basis. All but one guy — a great player with huge responsibilities in difficult circumstances — are accustomed to outshooting the opposition while they’re on the ice. Seems like a pretty decent recipe for success to me.

I've translated all the numbers and charts into a simple checklist-styled table that looks at each component in McCurdy's study, and one additional factor of my own, which is the extent to which they're used to kill penalties, according to Behind the Net. 

Whether or not each of Canada's players is among his NHL team's leaders in starting shifts in the defensive zone, facing the team's top opponents, driving possession and killing penalties is summarized in the table below.

Player	Def Zone	Tough Comp	Possession	Kills Pen
Bergeron	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Marleau	Yes	Yes	-	Yes
Getzlaf	Yes	Yes	-	Yes
Toews	-	Yes	Yes	Yes
Crosby	-	Yes	Yes	-
Perry	Yes	-	Yes	-
Nash	-	Yes	Yes	No
Carter	-	Yes	-	Yes
Sharp	-	Yes	Yes	No
Benn	No	Yes	Yes	-
Kunitz	-	Yes	Yes	No
Duchene	-	-	Yes	No

It's no surprise that Canada has played such mistake-free hockey. All but two of its main 12 forwards take on their team's toughest opponents, and all but three are among their team's leaders in possession.

Interestingly, there are no Zamuners or Drapers here. The closest this team has come to including defence-only forwards are Patrice Bergeron, Patrick Marleau and Ryan Getzlaf, the only three who are among their team's leaders in both defensive zone shift starts and penalty killing. And they have 155 combined NHL points so far this season!

This table clearly demonstrates how the Canadian team is composed of possession-oriented players who were already comfortable facing the world's best players in defensive situations long before they touched down in Sochi.

There's no need to repeat this exercise for Canada's famous blue line. You hardly need analytics to conclude that it is as strong as a blue line can be defensively, while it also includes three of the top six scoring defencemen in the NHL (or four when it includes P.K. Subban).

Canada Has the NHL's Best Defensive Coaches

To understand the emphasis placed on defensive play, take a look at Canada's coaches.

Mike Babcock and the Detroit Red Wings are well-known for possession-based play. His three assistants have well-established reputations for defensive-focused play, Ken Hitchcock, Claude Julien and Lindy Ruff.

Right now, Julien and Hitchcock's teams are both top three in fewest goals against. All three teams coached by Babcock, Julien and Hitchcock were in the top six in both fewest goals against and best possession numbers over the two preceding seasons.

The following table shows where these coaches teams have finished in fewest goals against, with asterisks denoting seasons split with another coach.

Season	Babcock	Hitchcock	Julien	Ruff
1995-96	-	19th*	-	-
1996-97	-	3rd	-	-
1997-98	-	2nd	-	3rd
1998-99	-	1st	-	2nd
1999-00	-	3rd	-	8th
2000-01	-	2nd	-	1st
2001-02	-	18th*	-	10th
2002-03	6th	1st	23rd*	13th
2003-04	19th	6th	10th	23rd
2005-06	2nd	17th	12th*	10th
2006-07	4th	17th*	6th	13th
2007-08	1st	9th	12th	22nd
2008-09	19th	9th	1st	14th
2009-10	8th	26th*	2nd	4th
2010-11	23rd	-	3rd	15th
2011-12	6th	1st*	5th	18th
2012-13	5th	6th	3rd	24th*
2013-14	16th	3rd	1st	18th

Out of these 55 seasons, the average ranking isn't 15th, as one would expect from an average sample of coaches, but ninth. Or when only full seasons are considered, eighth.

Each of these coaches' teams has had tremendous success defensively in the NHL.

• Babcock's teams have finished in the top eight in fewest goals against in seven of his 10 full seasons.
• Julien's teams have been top five for six straight seasons, and top three for all but one of them. 
• Hitchcock's teams were top three for his first six full seasons and have been top six over the past three. He was even top 10 his only two full seasons in Columbus.
• And then there's Ruff. When he started in 1997, for the first four years he and Hitchcock were both top two twice, and second and third once. Their worst was eight and third.

Possession-based statistics are only readily available back to 2007-08, but they closely match the defensive rankings above. Right now, all four coaches are behind the benches of teams in the top 12 in possession with an average ranking of eighth, according to the data at Behind the Net.

Either great defensive teams are selecting them as the coaches who can bring out their talents to fullest extent, or they're making average teams better defensively. Both argument work in favor of Team Canada.

Specifically selecting these coaches is a strong indication that this team was built for possession and defence. The players were likely selected so that they would be most effective in the hands of the NHL's finest defensive minds.

Were Canada's Opponents Weak Offensively?

When a team has been this effective at keeping the puck out of the net, there's always the possibility that its opponents were either weak or cold defensively, but that doesn't appear to be the case here.

• Norway scored one of its three goals against Canada,
• Austria scored no goals against Canada and 3.67 otherwise
• Latvia scored one goal against Canada and averaged 2.00 otherwise, including two against the Czechs and three against the Swedes.
• Finland managed only a single goal against Canada but otherwise averaged 4.60 goals per game, including 3.33 against Russia, Sweden and the USA.
• The Americans were shut out by Canada but otherwise averaged 3.80 goals per game, including 2.33 against Russia, Finland and the Czech Republic.

With the exception of the Norwegians, Canada's opponents were clearly capable of generating offence against the other Olympic nations, just not against Canada.

To establish each team's approximate offensive abilities, the following table shows the total goals, assists and points per game of each team's top 12 forwards in the NHL and/or its respective leagues this season. Scoring totals from leagues like the KHL were translated into their NHL equivalents. Each Olympic nation's shots per game and goals per game are included on the right side of the table.

Team	G/GP	A/GP	PTS/GP	SF/G	GF/G
Canada	0.42	0.52	0.94	41.0	2.80
USA	0.38	0.40	0.78	29.7	3.33
Russia	0.32	0.37	0.69	34.4	2.40
Sweden	0.24	0.41	0.65	29.8	3.40
Czech	0.20	0.38	0.58	29.2	2.60
Finland	0.18	0.33	0.51	30.5	4.00

While this isn't a terribly sophisticated approach, it does lead to the reasonably high-level conclusion that Finland and the USA were offensively representative of the top Olympic nations.

Only Russia and Canada managed significantly more shots per game—they were actually first and third in goals per game—and while Finland's league scoring averages were a little low, the Americans are second only to Canada.

Most alarmingly for Sweden, it appears that they are statistically comparable to both Finland and the USA, who combined for one goal in two games against Canada.

What Can the Swedes Expect?

Canada is a strong defensive team. It has given up only 21 shots, 7.8 scoring chances and 0.6 goals per game, including when the Canadians played two teams that were offensively comparable to the Swedes.

This has been absolutely no illusion. From top to bottom this team was built from NHL players who face the world's best players every single night and dominate the possession game.

They are also solid two-way players who present more of an offensive threat than any other Olympic nation, and they are coached by the NHL's best defensive and possession-oriented minds. To make matters even worse for Sweden, they're also riding some hot goaltending.

Anything can happen in a single game. A lucky bounce, a blown call and/or a mental lapse, and Sweden can break a game open even against a team like this. But all in all, scoring will likely prove as difficult to generate for the Swedes as it was for the Finns and the Americans before them.

All advanced statistics are via writer's own original research unless otherwise noted.

Rob Vollman is author of Rob Vollman's Hockey Abstract, co-author of the annual Hockey Prospectus guides and a featured ESPN Insider writer. @robvollmanNHL.

For the second straight Olympics, Canada halted the United States' quest for a hockey gold medal.

Last time, it was 2010 on the Vancouver coast of the Pacific Ocean when Sydney Crosby scored an overtime winner in the gold-medal game to send Canada to the top of the podium with a 3-2 victory. The Americans settled for silver.

In 2014, it was on the Black Sea shores of Sochi, Russia, that the Canadians shut out the Americans 1-0 in the tournament's second semifinal to advance to the gold-medal round to face Sweden. The Americans will have to take heart and find satisfaction in playing Finland Saturday for the bronze medal.

"I thought Canada controlled the pace of the play, I thought their defense was outstanding and there was never a serious flurry of threats by the USA in the third period," said Mike Milbury, NBC Analyst, after the game.

Despite the close score and the fact that one great shot would have knotted the game for the United States, it was a dominating Canadian performance. A powerful and near-flawless defensive showing—in tandem with a game-long fast-break blitz on offense—allowed the team from "up north" to control the game against their archrivals to the south.

"Team Canada just shut down USA offensively," said NBC television play-by-play analyst Eddie Olczyk. "They never gave them any sustained quality chances, they just stymied the offense."

It was at its core an accurate statement, though the Americans fought for chances until the bitter end and managed to put 31 shots on Canadian goalkeeper Carey Price, who put on a magnificent performance between the pipes. 

The game was largely a high-octane, clean-burning drag race, with both teams blazing up and down the rink performing incredibly intricate and skilled maneuvers with the puck on their blades. Both goaltenders were unbeatable for essentially the entire 60 minutes.   

The Canadians layered their defense in such a way that the United States could not manage more than one shot on many of its possessions. Often that one shot came from the perimeter with several defenders between the puck and Price. The goal-scoring red zone in the slots between the circles was closed off like a no-fly zone by the Canadians.

"It seems like we had a tough time sustaining any pressure in their end. They outnumbered us in their zone, came up with it quick and, as we expected, they are quick in transition," said forward Ryan Callahan to rink-side analyst Pierre McGuire.

"They are a talented group. You see the skill they have and how they play, so it's a tough one to take."

This was in diametric opposition to the Canadian offense, which manufactured chance after golden chance against the United States, battering goalie Jonathan Quick with 37 dangerous, difficult shots. He turned aside 36 of them, many in magnificent fashion. 

Quick, in fact, may have been the player of the game in the losing effort, sprawling over the goal crease, making glove saves, kick saves, blocker saves and even desperation flailing saves that again and again kept Canada from pushing the game beyond America's reach.

Canada's goal was scored at 18:19 of the second period by its monster line of Ryan Getzlaf, Jamie Benn and Corey Perry, who along with a supercharged Chris Kunitz, were too much for the Americans to handle. 

Benn tipped in a pass struck hard enough toward the middle of the ice by defenseman Jay Bouwmeester that it looked like a snap shot. It was perhaps the only play of the game where Quick was fooled, reacting to Bouwmeester's stick as if a scoring attempt was coming at him when it went low and hard toward a cutting Benn instead. Benn just put his stick blade hard onto the ice and re-directed the shot up high over the goalie. 

"I have a lot of fun playing with those guys back in the NHL," said Benn, who had sweat running down his face in streams, to McGuire between periods. "We have great chemistry off the ice, we're always hanging out, and I love playing with those guys."

Crosby, despite not registering any points, played a fantastic, all-out game for his Canadian teammates. In typical fashion, he seemed to be everywhere at once, handling the puck along the back-boards, deftly swiping at a rebound with a defenseman hanging off of him and setting up teammates with precision passes through traffic.

Forward Jeff Carter was another Canadian the Americans could not seem to corral. The big Los Angeles Kings forward entered the offensive zone regularly with a head of steam built up and the moves to blow by defensemen. Carter peppered Quick with shots and greatly assisted Canada in maintaining 60 minutes of fatiguing pressure on the United States.

For the Americans, Zach Parise, Patrick Kane and Phil Kessel just could not find a way to beat Price, though it was not from lack of trying. At one point, Kane streaked into the zone, toe-dragging the puck away from a defender before leaving it to Parise, who fired a wrist shot that was stopped by Price.

Parise had another tip opportunity in front of the net that he could not get up into the air and Price smothered. At another moment, Kessel fired a shot that was tipped wickedly toward the net by forward James van Riemsdyk, but again Price ate it up.

Both teams had the afterburners opened wide all night and put on a tense and memorable show for the sold-out crowd at Bolshoy Ice Dome. 

The Canadians will play Sweden two days from now for their ninth gold medal and second in a row. The Swedes will be chasing their third gold medal and first since 2006 in Torino, Italy.

With Canada coming off the win over the team many thought was the tournament's best in the United States, it will either be worn down and depleted or energized to finish the work. For the efficient Swedes, it is always all business, and they will have everything Canada wants on the final day of hockey from Sochi. 

Follow @MyTimesProse

Team Canada survived a huge scare during the men's hockey quarterfinals game against Latvia with a power-play goal in the third period of a 2-1 win, but it came at a cost.

Now the gold medalists from the 2010 Winter Olympics will have to go into a rematch of the gold-medal final with Team USA without one of their star forwards in John Tavares of the New York Islanders.

Canada's coach Mike Babcock confirmed that Tavares went down with an injury that will keep him out for the rest of the tournament, according to Dave Feschuk of the Toronto Sun:

It was already going to be a tough road for the Canadians to get through the Americans and either Sweden or Finland to claim back-to-back golds. Now the same team that has combined for four goals (one in overtime against the Finns) over the last two games will have to find offense without Tavares in the lineup.

Let's put it this way: The Canadians were already under fire for their lack of scoring out of the forward position, and this doesn't make matters any easier.

Jason Brough of NBC Sports' Pro Hockey Talk touched on the offensive topic after the preliminary round:

Team Canada has now played three games at these Olympics. Two of them have been against tournament minnows Norway and Austria, the other versus injury-ravaged Finland. In total, Canada has scored 10 times in regulation, plus one more in overtime. And of those 11 goals, only five have been scored by forwards.

Stephen Whyno of The Canadian Press also tweeted a quote from Babcock after the preliminary round:

Needless to say, fans in Canada and New York might be a little upset with Babcock at this point.

But not all is lost for the Canadians. Now that we've gotten the negatives out of the way, let's take a look at the bright side.

For one, Tavares is a talented player, but he was far from the most dynamic on this Canada squad.

With several potent scorers in Sidney Crosby, Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry and Patrick Sharp who have combined for a total of 263 points in the NHL this season, Canada appears to still be in good hands. All of that firepower actually put Tavares on the fourth line coming into the game against Latvia.

But without their production thus far, this team has been winning on defense and goaltending. Carey Price, who has been in goal during wins over Norway, Finland and Latvia, spoke about his defensemen, per Chris Stevenson of the Toronto Sun:

For me personally, it’s kind of fun playing behind a real good defensive team like that, where everybody’s sticks are so well-placed, everybody’s always on the right side of the puck.

You’re just trying to do your job and stay alert. You want to stop that next shot, that’s all you think about out there.

While the Tavares situation appears to put the Canadians in dire straits going up against the Americans, the team will simply need to rely on a stout defense and hope the forwards can finally pull through when the pressure is on.

Going up against a U.S. team that has 20 goals through four games, Canada was already faced with an arduous task in the semifinals. In a do or die situation for Canada, it's time for the rest of the team to step up.

Follow R. Cory Smith on Twitter: 

Canada's men's hockey team has won eight Olympic gold medals since 1920, but it's going to take a monumental effort by the 2014 Canadian Olympic hockey team to bring home its ninth. 

Thanks to an amazing two-goal performance by defenseman Drew Doughty, Canada got past Finland 2-1 on Sunday to finish undefeated in qualifiers.

However, because the game went into overtime, the Canadians earned the No. 3 seed heading into the quarterfinals. This makes the team's road to gold much more challenging than if it had finished as a top seed, which it would have earned with a win in regulation.

As pointed out by Eric Duhatschek of the Globe and Mail, though, things could be worse: "...this isn’t bad either, and it’s far better than the alternative if they’d lost – which would have dropped them to the fourth seed and likely meant yet another quarter-final meeting with Russia."

Canada will now await the winner of the qualifying match between No. 6 Switzerland and No. 11 Latvia on Tuesday to see which team it will face in the first quarterfinals match. 

In public, the team doesn't prefer either squad.

"It doesn't matter who we play. Swiss are tough -- they've only allowed one goal, with seven seconds left in the game," Canada defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic said, as noted by Stephen Whyno of The Canadian Press.

"Those are two good teams, and Switzerland's been really stingy this tournament," forward Matt Duchene added. "We got to be ready for whoever we get."

Clearly, the Swiss would offer more of a challenge, on paper, but the reality is that both teams are just appetizers for what's likely going to be a difficult meal to devour.

Should Canada win, the team's semifinals opponent will likely be the United States, which has put up 15 goals (leading the field) in just three games while allowing just four. From there, with a win over the Americans, of course, Canada would potentially face Finland (again), Sweden or Russia in the final.

Here's a look at the entire men's bracket, courtesy of the Globe and Mail's James Mirtle:

Athletes are fond of saying, "You have to beat the best to be the best."

The athletes on the Canadian Olympic hockey team will surely have a chance to be the best going up against the best the world has to offer in the quarterfinals and beyond in Sochi. 

It would have been difficult to win the top prize this year, no matter where the Canadians fell in the seeding process. However, landing the No. 3 seed has made the endeavor more challenging than it might have been. 

It's going to take nothing less than an inspired effort every single game in order to win gold.

Follow me on Twitter @JesseReed78 

As the public debate raged over who should make Team Canada's final roster in the lead-up to the January announcement, Chris Kunitz was one of the most controversial names under consideration.

Kunitz had a trump card though: In addition to being one of a bunch of left-wing candidates on his own merits, he had the advantage of being a regular linemate of star centre Sidney Crosby. The thinking was that in a tournament with minimal time for preparation, Kunitz and Crosby would be able to hit the ground running owing to their familiarity and already existing chemistry.

Two games into the tournament, that theory is looking decidedly underwhelming.    

For the first game, Kunitz and Crosby were joined by Los Angeles Kings right wing Jeff Carter on Canada's top line. The line was able to generate some shots (Carter had three) but no goals as the Canadians only managed to outscore Norway by a 3-1 margin. 

Head coach Mike Babcock shifted his lines for the second game, moving Carter off the top line and replacing him with Martin St. Louis.

Once again, the Crosby trio managed to get shots (St. Louis led the way with four) but didn't score. Carter, moving around the lineup, scored three goals to power Canada to a 6-0 victory over Austria. Crosby managed to get his first point of the tournament (an assist on Carter's first goal of the game) in a rare shift without Kunitz as a penalty expired. 

Two games in, Kunitz is the only Canadian forward who is not a plus player—the only player to participate in both games (which Canada won by a combined score of 9-1) not to hold a "+" next to his number in the plus/minus column.

That isn't really a big deal, except that he's on Canada's most important line, he hasn't looked good during the games and he isn't shooting either. The following chart shows how many minutes each of Canada's wingers takes to fire a shot:

Player	Games	Shots	TOI	Mins./Shot
Jamie Benn	2	7	20.4	2.9
Jeff Carter	2	8	23.6	3.0
Matt Duchene	1	4	14.5	3.6
Rick Nash	2	5	22.0	4.4
Martin St. Louis	2	5	23.8	4.8
Patrick Marleau	2	6	29.9	5.0
Patrice Bergeron	2	4	24.2	6.1
Corey Perry	2	4	28.0	7.0
Chris Kunitz	2	3	28.9	9.6
Patrick Sharp	1	0	14.4	N/A

Patrick Sharp, who played on Canada's designated checking line on opening night and was scratched against the Austrians, is the only player on this list ranked below Kunitz. That's a problem, especially since Kunitz is playing in a starring offensive role next to the best player in the world.

Normally, such a short sample wouldn't mean much; two games is only two games. But with such a thin margin for error, Canada cannot afford to play important games with a top line that just isn't getting the job done.

The problem isn't the other winger (both Carter and St. Louis have been good) and it hasn't been Crosby (who has set up most of those shots from Carter and St. Louis). The problem has been Kunitz, who looks out of his element on the Olympic ice.

It isn't so much that Kunitz has been bad; nobody on Canada has really been "bad" against Norway and Austria. The problem is that, on his own merits, Kunitz isn't a good enough player to be the left wing on Canada's best line, and the one thing that set him apart from the other left wings vying for that spot—chemistry with Crosby—hasn't been visible. 

This should not really be a surprise. The fact is that, while Kunitz has spent a lot of time with Crosby, he really hasn't been a far superior fit to other teammates Crosby has played with.

When Eric Tulsky of SB Nation looked at Crosby's effect on his linemates, he found that Kunitz's scoring rates jumped by 51 percent. That's a remarkable number, but it is also the simple reality of playing with Crosby; Pascal Dupuis' scoring improved by 49 percent, Evgeni Malkin's rose by 51 percent, Bill Guerin spiked by 50 percent and so on.

Playing with Crosby improves a player's scoring numbers, whether that player is Chris Kunitz or someone else.  

As Carter said, via USA Today, "I think for whoever plays with him, you've just got to kind of listen to him. He'll tell you where to go to be in the right spots. He's going to find you and when you get the chance you've got to get it to the net."

Before Kunitz was welded to Crosby's wing, he generally scored at a 50- to 60-point pace—strong totals but hardly overwhelming ones and certainly not sufficient production for a spot on the Canadian Olympic team. That Kunitz broke out as a scorer in his early 30s, when most players are in their decline, suggests rather strongly that the bump in his totals has more to do with the centre he plays with than an evolution in his own game.

It's tempting, then, to wonder what a player who has had a more impressive start to his career than Kunitz—someone like John Tavares, Matt Duchene or Jamie Benn—would look like given the same opportunity to play with a talent like Crosby. Given Kunitz's struggles in the role, it is time for the Canadian coaches to stop wondering and see for themselves. 

In the world of men's ice hockey, Canada is the undisputed super power. The amount of gold in Fort Knox probably doesn't compare to the amount of gold amassed by Canada's hockey players at the Olympics, World Championships and World Junior Championships over the years. So why in the world would you ever root for Canada at the Sochi Olympics if you're not Canadian?

Sure, the nation is flush with kind, warm, wonderful people, but that's something we need to forget now that Olympic hockey has arrived. We need to lend our collective support to the underdogs. So here's one American's passionate, desperate, perhaps somewhat unrealistic guide to hating Team Canada's men's ice hockey team for the next two weeks … or fewer, when they are sent packing early:

Canada. You’ve probably heard a lot about it.

Some say it’s a whimsical country, where the snow and politeness stretch as far as the eye can see. It’s the magical land of Narnia come to life, a fairy tale setting where parents skate with their small children on frozen lakes and ponds and live in harmony with the many caribou that roam the streets of their cities, towns and villages.

Nothing could be farther from the truth.

If Narnia were run by a crack-smoking mayor, he’d have been eaten by a talking lion long ago. Canada is a terrible place, filled with insecure, entitled hockey fans, and you should be rooting against Team Canada with every fiber of your non-Canadian being during the 2014 Sochi Olympics.

If you need directions around town or the address of the nearest canoe dispensary, Canadians are your best friends in the world. “Oh geez and sure, eh? I’d be more than happy to steer you in the right direction if I may be so kind and helpful, eh?”

Mention that it is your opinion that Canada will fall short of a medal at the Olympics, and the true nature of your average Canadian emerges faster than one of their excuses for failure that feature the phrase "per capita."

"What kind of stupid American would pick Canada to not medal? Have you seen our roster? You have to be an idiot to think we won’t win gold! We have (enter name of Canadian forward) on the third line! You’re just looking for attention! You should sign up for a four-month wait at one of our Canadian medical facilities to get your head examined!"

Sure. Whatever you say, Gord. Canada has failed to medal at 50 percent of the Olympics since the NHL started sending players in 1998, but you’re right. The idea that Canada won’t medal—or win gold for that matter—is far-fetched and must be the result of brain trauma or a need for attention that every person in the world covets from mouth-breathing Canadians.

Year	Gold	Silver	Bronze
1998	Czech Republic	Russia	Finland
2002	Canada	United States	Russia
2006	Sweden	Finland	Czech Repubilc
2010	Canada	United States	Slovakia

Therein lies the heart of the problem with Canadian hockey fans—a sense of entitlement when it comes to the sport of hockey that is as strong as it is sad.

Canadians love referring to hockey as “Our Game.”

There’s nothing more nauseating in any sport in the world. Americans invented a lot of things, but you don’t see us constantly bragging about them at international events. Americans are more than happy to share our genius with the world, unlike Canadians, who want to remind you at every turn it’s their game despite hockey truly becoming a global game over the past 30 years.

They invented it, and you should never forget it.

The “Our Game” shtick is so bad that someone used it as the title of a movie about Canadian hockey, which I’m positive was terrible.

Imagine knowing people from Edison, N.J., and every time you were out with them, they’d point to street lights and say, “those are our light bulbs.”

Get over it, Canada.

And really, there are plenty of reasons to root against Canada that have nothing to do with the insufferable people watching the game. The roster is filled with villains who deserve your scorn.

A very underreported story in the days leading to the Olympics was the assassination attempt by Team Canada defenseman Shea Weber on the life of Team USA general manager David Poile.

Weber says he was firing pucks at his bench during a practice and one went over the boards and into the tunnel, where it struck Poile in the face. He had to spend a night in a hospital, and as of Tuesday was not able to join the heroes in red, white and blue at Sochi.

Are we to really believe this was a freak accident, or the precision shooting by a Canadian hitman? I guess it’s his word against mine, a proud and honest American. 

Canadian third-string goaltender Mike Smith embodies his country’s spirit as a faker and diver who will cheat in order to help his team win. It would make a lot of sense for coach Mike Babcock to dress Smith as the backup and have him fall over the bench and on to the ice during play a few times per game so he can flop around while holding his groin in an effort draw a penalty.

How did Chris Kunitz make this team? Probably because his BFF Sidney Crosby fought to get him on the roster in place of someone who is infinitely more talented, like Taylor Hall, or this stickman I just built out of two brooms and a tin bucket. While members of other teams had to earn their way onto rosters, Kunitz benefited from cronyism and that should not be tolerated. 

Team Canada is also the favorite to win gold with every sports book in the universe. Are you going to throw your support behind the allegedly unbeatable bullies of the hockey world? That’s like pulling for Darth Vader in Star Wars or Colonel Hans Landa in Inglorious Basterds, only worse. 

Speaking of Colonel Hans Landa, have you seen Canada’s Olympic uniforms? Hmmmm. That’s sure interesting. I’d be wary of anyone walking the streets of Europe or Russia in one of those. I guess you can say when it comes to talent, Canada is a goose-step ahead of everyone.

Year	Gold	Silver	Bronze
2008	Russia	Canada	Finland
2009	Russia	Canada	Sweden
2010	Czech Republic	Russia	Sweden
2011	Finland	Sweden	Czech Republic
2012	Russia	Slovakia	Czech Republic
2013	Sweden	Switzerland	United States

Team Canada is loaded to be sure. That can't be denied. What we can deny is the narrative every four years that Canada could bring a ‘B’ team to the Olympics and it could win gold.

For a moment, we should ignore the fact that Canada has brought an ‘A’ team to the Olympics four times that failed to medal twice. Let’s look at the World Championships, a tournament where Canada has to bring a ‘B’ team because it takes place during the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Let’s see. How did Canada and its mighty ‘B’ team do against the ‘B’ teams of other countries. No medal last year…no medal in 2012…no medal in 2011…oh look, Canada has won zero medals at the Worlds the past four years. As a matter of fact, Canada hasn’t won gold at the Worlds since 2007.

The same futility has been on display at the World Junior Championships, a tournament Canada once dominated but hasn’t won since 2009. Canada hasn’t even won a medal the past two years, but it never stops the people from squawking about its greatness in the game they invented.

Considering Canada lives in a time bubble where it’s perpetually 1997, it’s no surprise everyone in that country is living in the past.

Have I mentioned that everyone on Team Canada is Canadian? If that’s not enough to sway you to root against them, I don’t know what is.

The 2014 Canadian Olympic hockey team has a star-studded roster that is sure to fight hard in defense of its gold medal at the 2010 games in Vancouver.

This roster is so talented that it's almost unfair. It is packed with NHL stars that are considered some of the best in the world. The fact that Martin St. Louis of the Tampa Bay Lightning was not initially on the roster speaks to its depth.

Many were upset that the 16-year NHL veteran wasn't included for the second straight Olympics. When it was announced that Steven Stamkos would miss the tournament, Team Canada and Tampa Bay general manager Steve Yzerman brought St. Louis into the fold.

With that said, there are plenty of players on this team that will be able to steal the show. Here's predicting which ones will be Canada's top performers.

Sidney Crosby, Forward

The main focus of all of Canada's opponents at Sochi, Sidney Crosby needs to be accounted for at all times. While not the best pure goal scorer in the NHL—that title belongs to Stamkos—Crosby is the best all-around player with the best instincts and fundamentals.

Crosby has an advantage over most of his Canadian teammates in this tournament because he was also on the 2010 Vancouver squad. This gives him the experience necessary to succeed once again on the big stage.

Crosby, of course, scored the "golden goal" in Vancouver that propelled Canada to the top of the podium.

Currently leading the NHL with 78 points, Crosby is having yet another fantastic season. Those 78 points include his NHL-leading 50 assists. The Pittsburgh Penguins superstar will look to both set up his teammates for success as well as look to score when the opportunities present themselves in Sochi.

While how many points he scores will ultimately depend on how far this team goes in the tournament, Crosby will undoubtedly be the team's top point-getter.

Patrick Sharp, Forward

Patrick Sharp is putting up stellar numbers for the Chicago Blackhawks this season. He's sixth in the NHL with 28 goals and ninth overall with 58 points.

Sharp will more than likely play on the second line with Blackhawks teammate Jonathan Toews. Playing with his usual center should help him to get more comfortable on the international stage. Toews also played on the 2010 team and his calming presence will work wonders for Sharp.

This line will be counted on defensively quite a bit, but don't underestimate its scoring potential. If Sharp's standing the NHL isn't enough for you, just check out his exploits on Jan. 3 against the New Jersey Devils. His skills are strong enough to score against any competition.

While Crosby will be busy dishing out assists and racking up points, Sharp will be busy finding the back of the net. He will be Team Canada's top goal scorer come the end of the tournament.

Roberto Luongo, Goaltender

Roberto Luongo led Team Canada to gold in 2010 and will look to do exactly the same in 2014. While the aging goalie will face stiff competition from Carey Price and Mike Smith, he deserves to be the one that starts in net.

He is having another fine season, though his Vancouver Canucks have lost the last five times he was in goal. The 17 goals he has allowed over those five games are not a good indicator of the type of goalie that Luongo is. He is elite and each of Canada's international competitors knows it will not be easy getting the puck past him.

Luongo told David Ebner of The Globe and Mail what he's looking forward to in what could end up being his final Olympics:

It’s always an honour. The Olympics is unique and special, it comes every four years. Who knows if there will be NHL players involved in another Olympics. I’m 34 so I’m not getting any younger. In reality, this is probably my last one, so I just want to go out there and really enjoy it. And not just play hockey, the whole experience, being in the village with other athletes, and sharing in Olympics stuff that is unique.

With this likely being his final Olympic tournament, look for Luongo to be a wall in net for Team Canada.

It took four years and a catastrophic injury to one of the best players in the world, but general manager Steve Yzerman finally made the correct decision with a Team Canada roster.

Marty St. Louis, come on down! You're a member of Team Canada!

(But only because Steven Stamkos couldn't rehab his broken leg in time for the Sochi Olympics, so, hey, come aboard, player who really wasn't wanted!)

St. Louis has to feel like a guy who proposed to the love of his life and was turned down with extreme prejudice. After four years of seeing how happy she has been and the success she had, he decided to ask for her hand again, only to be shot down again. He had picked up the pieces of his life and moved on, when Team Canada comes running back at the last minute, like something out of a movie where a person runs through the airport to stop someone from getting on a plane and says they should be together.

It's sort of romantic, but really, St. Louis has to know he was an absolute last resort here.

After Yzerman snubbed St. Louis four years ago and again in January, St. Louis likely doesn't care how he made the roster.

Stamkos did everything he could to come back as quickly as possible from a broken leg suffered Nov. 11, but he had to withdraw from the Olympics on Wednesday when he learned the bone had not healed enough to allow for full contact.

St. Louis, who will turn 39 after this season, is enjoying another incredible campaign in 2013-14. The right wing has 25 goals and 54 points in 56 games and has been outstanding since the Team Canada roster announcement Jan. 7, delivering seven goals and 15 points in 14 games.

The decision for Yzerman likely came down to St. Louis and Claude Giroux of the Philadelphia Flyers, who has six goals and 17 points in 15 games since he was left off the roster. But the fact that Giroux's natural position is center while St. Louis is a right wing probably made a difference for Yzerman.

The question now becomes how will coach Mike Babcock deploy St. Louis. It was believed that Canada's top line would feature Chris Kunitz, Sidney Crosby and Stamkos, so if St. Louis replaces Stamkos, that would give that line three left-handed shots. Some have said that could cause an issue, although Crosby has centered Kunitz and the lefty shooting Pascal Dupuis at times with the Penguins.

If that's really a problem, Canada doesn't have any problems with this replacement. Canada has problems the way rich people have problems when their Jaguar is out of gas or their housekeeper calls out sick.

St. Louis is an MVP, a Stanley Cup winner and has the speed and smarts to excel in any situation. He proved in his most recent stint on larger European ice that he can still be a dominant force. At the 2009 World Championships in Switzerland, he led the tournament in scoring with four goals and 15 points in nine games.

In a way, this move makes Team Canada a more formidable opponent. If Stamkos had played, he likely would not have been anywhere near 100 percent physically or with his timing and endurance after three months out of the Lightning lineup. Instead, Team Canada adds one of the best players in the world who has been red-hot for a month and has something to prove in Sochi.

It took four years and an unfortunate injury to a superstar, but Yzerman finally got it right with St. Louis.

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

The title question may seem odd. After all, Carey Price is coming off a 36-save shutout victory over the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday.

However, prior to that win, the Montreal Canadiens' starter had surrendered four or more goals in five consecutive contests and has struggled badly since being named to the Canadian team that will compete for gold at the Sochi Olympics.

How bad has it been? This is what his season looks like when divided between games before he was named to the team and after:

• Before January 7: 20-11-4, 0.928 save percentage
• After January 7: 3-5-0, 0.886 save percentage

The first stat line is that of an elite NHL goaltender, one of the very best in the game. The second is the kind that would make a third-stringer blush. Should those numbers be making Canada’s management nervous? Certainly. Should it change the team's goaltending plan? Let’s take a look.

(Digression: Montreal fans on Twitter are awfully skeptical of the numbers, suggesting that the drop-off falls entirely on the defence. While the Canadiens defence has not been good, two factors make that a tough argument. First, there's the depth of the drop-off, and second there are goals like this and this and this and this.) 

The first question to answer is whether or not Price now slots behind Canada’s third-string goalie.

Canada’s management group decided not to name a top young goalie having a great season—someone like Jonathan Bernier—to the team. Instead, it opted for a veteran hand in Mike Smith, even though Smith himself is having an underwhelming campaign.

The upside of that decision is that, if injury hits, the coaches would have a guy who has been around to toss into the rotation, but the downside is that Smith is less capable of challenging Price for playing time than someone like Bernier would have been.

For one, Smith has surpassed the 0.910 save percentage mark exactly once in the last five years and has a career 0.913 save percentage—largely built on a 0.930 save percentage performance in 2011-12 that increasingly looks like an aberration.

Price has topped that 0.910 mark in four of the last five seasons and has a career 0.916 save percentage.

Second, Smith has lagged behind Price all season and has also been subpar since being named to the Olympic team. In 10 games since the January 7 announcement, Smith has a 3-5-1 record with a 0.898 save percentage.

People often disagree on how influential short-term trends should be when judging goaltenders, but given that the pair is slumping, it should be obvious to everyone that the guy with the better long-term record should get the benefit of the doubt. In this case, it seems abundantly clear that Price should get playing time ahead of Smith.

In that case, do Price’s struggles entrench Roberto Luongo as Canada’s starter? After all, Luongo—despite injury—has been good for the Vancouver Canucks since being named to the team.

Should his performances coupled with Price’s poor form of late make him the man between the pipes? Yes and no, but mostly no.

Luongo was already the best choice to get the first shot as Canada’s starting goalie. Price has closed the gap recently, but over the last five years, Luongo has consistently been the better goalie, and that long-term performance should eclipse short-term fluctuations:

Recent work by both goes some distance toward reiterating that Luongo should return as the Canadian starter, but it is only one small piece of that puzzle. The last five years are far more important for evaluative purposes.

The fact is, though, that both goalies need to play, both because it only makes sense to have a backup with an Olympic game under his belt if the starter gets hurt and to reduce the effects of a compressed schedule on the starter.

Courtesy of IIHF.com, here is what that schedule will look like:

• February 13 vs. Norway
• February 14 vs. Austria
• February 16 vs. Finland
• February 18 in qualification round (depending on results)
• February 19 in quarterfinals (depending on results)
• February 21 in semifinals (depending on results)
• February 22 or 23 in bronze or gold medal game, respectively (depending on results)

In a worst-case scenario, that means Canada could be playing as many as seven games in a span of 10 days, including three sets of back-to-back games.

The Canadians doubtless hope to play in the gold-medal game and can reasonably assume that they will be skipping the qualification round, but that still leaves six games in 11 days with one set of back-to-back contests.

What is the best way to manage that schedule? Likely, the starter will play two of three preliminary games, specifically the contest against Finland—Canada’s biggest challenge in the early going—and the one against Norway—the first game of the tournament—with the backup getting Austria.

Assuming all goes well, that would mean Luongo would play on January 13, 16, 19, 21 and 23, which is a pretty reasonable schedule for an NHL starter.

But that was the only realistic way for the goalies to play anyway.

The starter would get all the elimination games and two of the three preliminary contests. No matter how exceptional the backup, he was not going to exceed the starter on the basis of a game against Austria. The starter would need to melt down in an elimination game—at which point the tournament may very well be over for Canada anyway.

On the other end of the scale, no matter how poorly the starter plays going in, the coach would need to be crazy to run the risk of fatiguing his starter and running an untested backup later to take away that game against Austria and give it to the starter.

Price’s run of poor play seems unlikely to result in any changes to Canada’s goalie strategy because he had likely already lost the starting job, the third-stringer is not really a threat to supplant him and, as there is only one workable goaltending strategy, those were the only moving parts.

All statistics courtesy of NHL.com and current through January 29 unless otherwise noted. For more pieces by Jonathan Willis, follow him on Twitter.