Team Canada

Yesterday’s epic gold medal clash between Canada and the USA in men’s hockey had a bigger impact on Canada than most casual fans realize.

This won’t shock you, but Canadians LOVE hockey.  We love it so much that we didn’t exactly celebrate the win yesterday, we let go of our pent up nerves and worries much the same as a father celebrates his first born child, just happy that everyone is healthy. 

When you’re widely considered the favorite, there is everything to lose and very little to gain.  Canadians couldn’t stand the thought of losing.

We want to win at hockey so badly, that we take pride in our “win at all costs” mentality.  What other country would revere someone like Bobby Clarke for his role in purposely breaking Valeri Kharlamov’s ankle in the ’72 Summit Series.

We love that once again Sidney Crosby is the victor over other world talents like Alexander Ovechkin, despite the fact that Ovechkin has more pure talent.  He’s Canadian, so he’s a winner.

More than winning though, we want other countries to realize that hockey is a great game.  We’re proud of the sport, we’re proud of it’s traditions, and of course, we love winning at the game we love.

For the gold medal to be decided in overtime with the whole world watching and against the USA was perfect, but not in the way most of you think. 

Yes, we love beating our neighbor to the south, but we also like showing them what they’re missing. 

In Canada, it hits a collective national nerve that we send our best players to NHL clubs in the United States, lose our franchises to southern cities, and yet hockey appears to be only the 5^th most popular sport behind football, basketball, baseball and NASCAR.

Yesterday’s game was the perfect display to kick-start our beloved sport back into North American consciousness. 

The game featured the same two countries that host the NHL.  Gary Bettman couldn’t have asked for a better target audience.

Two-thirds of all Canadian households and one-third of US households watched the game.  Those are astronomical numbers for hockey.

The viewership for the game was better than every World Series game since 2004 and every NBA Finals since 1998, proving that hockey DOES have the ability to appeal to the masses. 

The NFL and NBA are both heading towards labor disputes which could thrust the NHL back into the North American sports spotlight.  That’s terrible news for football and basketball, but hockey needs it badly.

Today we have a certain swagger, knowing that our cherished sport is back on the map.  And just in case you missed it, we’re still the champs.

 

There won't be any movies about Canada's epic 2010 men's Olympic hockey victory over the United States, at least from Hollywood.

In this match, reality, not fiction prevailed.

The American players knew what they were up against.  They knew they were in for a tough game against Canada.

Then they found out what the USSR found out in 1972 and 1987: what it's like to have a dramatic goal scored by Canada to win a medal or series in the last minute with everything on the line.

More importantly, the American public found out what it's like.

Maybe now there won't be any more corny movies made that fly in the face of reality, in order to maintain the American sports myth.

If Americans don't have a real hero, they'll manufacture one. For baseball, it's the Bad News Bears.  For hockey, it's the Mighty Ducks.

Fortunately, I've never seen a Mighty Duck movie but I've been told about them.

In them, Canada is always conveniently defeated by some villainous European team, leaving the underdog Ducks to save North American hockey.

Canada's defeat is of course discreetly handled, taking place off camera and quickly mentioned and forgotten. Disney doesn't want to harm sales of its products north of the American border.

Every Canadian who has watched these movies is either dumbfounded or laughs with contempt. They still wonder when the Ducks are going to come north of the 49th parallel to play them.

In fact, I don't think there's ever been a game between the Ducks and Canada. Pity.

Sometimes shamefully, Canada tries to emulate this boorish garbage. Usually, they can back it up with their play on the ice.

You won't get any American players who regularly play with and against Canadians endorsing this embarrassing crap. They know what it's like to play against them. In fact, they try to emulate the Canadian style of tough, physical play.

Disney tried carry this myth into the NHL.  When they were awarded an expansion team for Anaheim, they were called, (what else) the Mighty Ducks.

Those Ducks at least have the distinction of really being a Stanley Cup Champion. Last year they played one of the hardest hitting playoff series in NHL history against the Detroit Red Wings.  Besides the finals between Pittsburgh and Detroit, that was probably the best series of the playoffs.

The United States was looking for a Duck—like, Hollywood finish to the 2010 men's hockey competition.

Instead bitter reality intruded, something the Russians and other European opponents of Canada know only too well.

As I sit here sipping my third glass of wine and watching Sidney Crosby skate around the ice surface of GM Place waving an oversized Canadian flag from a pole, I am reminded of how proud I am to be Canadian.

The emotion that surrounded Canada's dramatic overtime win today was palpable over the course of the weekend.

Every person I talked to, every store I went into and everything I read was all pointing towards today's gold medal match and with Crosby's overtime heroics, I can say that I am as happy and relieved as any in this great country!

Tonight's game, unlike some of the other 2010 Olympic hockey games to date, lived up to all of the hype and provided one of the most entertaining spectacles of the last 50 years of hockey.

The game was close right from the start of the game as the crowd's intensity seemed to buoy both teams. Canada's Toews made it 1-0 at 12:50 of this first, when he picked up the rebound off of a Mike Richards shot from in close and roofed it from a tight angle.

The scoring continued in the second period, as Corey Perry made it 2-0 for Canada by rifling a shot from the high slot past Miller at 7:13.

Despite being down by two, the U.S. wasn't ready to quit when Ryan Kesler scored at 12:44 to pull them to within one.

The score stayed at 2-1 for Canada with both teams having their chances through the rest of the second and most of the third.

The status quo disappeared, however, as Canada, leading by one, went into a defensive shell about half way through the third period. As soon as I saw them playing the 1-2-2 trapping style, I could feel the potential for disaster.

Have you ever been watching a hockey game when your team was leading by one and started to sit back too early? And when they did so, did you ever get that ominous foreboding feeling that the opposition would tie the game? Well Canada, unfortunately, fell into that classic trap.

The result of Canada's passive play was that with time winding down, Ryan Miller on the bench and the U.S. pressing for the tie, Parise's second effort tied the game with 25 seconds to play.

Picking up the rebound off of a Langenbrunner deflection in front, Parise whipped the puck past a falling Luongo to silence the rumbling crowd and send the game to overtime.

Now if you didn't know, overtime is a little different in international hockey than it is in the NHL. In international hockey, overtime is one twenty minute, four-on-four, sudden death period before going to a shootout to decide things.

So for tonight's game, this meant a show case of some of the best hockey talent in the world, with a lot of extra skating room. Yummy.

Despite this delicious prospect, both teams were very tentative to start the overtime period. To a man, they looked more interested in avoiding a costly mistake rather than in pressing for the win. Things changed, however, about five minutes in as Canada started to relax and take the play to the U.S.

After a few nervous moments on both sides of the ice, Canada, led by Crosby, streaked down the ice. Crosby, carrying the puck over the offensive blue line, tried to split the U.S. defense and charge the net. Crosby was stopped and Miller deflected the puck into the corner.

Jerome Iginla picked up the puck in the corner and shuttled a soft, back door pass to Crosby, who quickly fired the winner through Miller's five-hole. Miller, who had extended his stick in a poke-check attempt, was caught by surprise by Crosby's quick release.

Crosby threw off his gloves and helmet in celebration, as the Canadian team players swarmed him in the U.S. zone to celebrate their golden win.

With that goal, Crosby said goodbye to the rapidly mounting criticism for his lack of production in this tournament and said hello to joining Paul Henderson and Mario Lemieux in Canadian hockey history.

Final score: Canada 3—USA 2 (OT).

Lost in the shadow of Canada's win is the fact that their gold medal gives Canada, as a nation, 14 gold medals in this Vancouver 2010 Olympics. Those 14 medals break the record for the most gold medals won by a host nation at the Olympics.

So, congratulations Canada on your ice hockey gold, your gold medal record and for hosting one of the most memorable Winter Olympics in Olympic history.

Oh Canada, indeed!

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This piece I am writing here is no joke, or ploy, but honesty. And yes, if it gets your attention, more power to you, the reader.

Believe it or not, 2010 is a down year for USA Hockey. Once again, the year two-thousand-and-ten is a down year for USA Hockey.

Forget about the medal heist the United States has garnered. Forget about the history made on the bobsleigh or in nordic combined. Forget about Canada dominating the gold medal standings or the fact that Germany will have to settle for 30 while we take home 37. Heck, forget about the big air heroics of the Flying Tomato known as Shaun White.

The cruel reality is this: in ice hockey, both the USA men and women play second fiddle to the Canadians, while both men and women Finland take home the bronze.

Canada may have had home-ice advantage from the beginning of both tournaments, but the USA needed to win the gold to earn respect and prove that they were on top of their game.

They failed to do so, in disastrous fashion.

First, the women fell behind early 2-0, and were unable to get a shot past goalie Shannon Szabados and the staunch Canadian defense. Three days later, the men proved that the USA's earlier triumph in preliminary action was nothing more than a pyrrhic victory.

In spite of Zach Parise forcing overtime with 25 seconds to go in the game, who else but the great Sidney Crosby gave the Canadian faithful the greatest jump of their lives towards the heavens.

Crosby scored the game-winner 7:40 into overtime. His clutch goal was augmented by the stopping ability of the Vancouver Canucks' starting keeper, Roberto Luongo, who had 34 saves in the gold medal game.

The victory was pure ecstasy and relief for Canada, but horror, heartbreak and complete ineptitude for the second-best team in the world, the United States of America.

With the win, Crosby became the modern-day Paul Henderson of our time. With the win, Ryan Miller became the modern-day Vladislav Tretiak of our time. And with the defeat by both the men and the women, USA Hockey becomes one of the greatest chokers of our time.

Congratulations to Canada, who are now declaring the end of February as a national holiday. As for their neighbors to the south, this year will go into the dustbins of time as a down year in their ice hockey history.

Sing "O Canada" loud and proud, ye neighbors to the North. In fact, sing that Calixa Lavallee anaethema to your land until ye cannot sing no more.

As for the USA, we have but four years to wonder what could have been, and what should have been, and why 2010 became a year to forget if you follow the USA men's and women's ice hockey teams.

If you should have any pride in earning silver, well then do so at your own detriment. But you might as well consign that you will be forever satisfied with settling for second-best.

One last time, as these 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic Games draw to a close, A.D. 2010 will go down as a down year for USA Hockey. For Team Canada has triumphed once more, and the last thing we to the south can do, is watch the maple leaf raised to the rafters amid the fireworks at Canada Hockey Place.

Here's to you, O Canada.

Canada came into today’s game with a record of 10-3-3 against the United States.

That said, none of that mattered today. Today’s game would not only decide which country would earn a gold medal, but also which country would have bragging rights for the next four years.

Americans and Canadians from coast-to-coast eagerly tuned in to Sunday’s game en masse for what would amount to one of the greatest games ever played on Olympic ice.

Canada got off to a slow start—something that was all too familiar for those that have watched Canada in these games.

Both Canada and the United States traded chances, but neither team really established any real scoring chances until Canada’s Mike Richards dug a puck out from behind the net, pulled it out in front, shot the puck at American goaltender Ryan Miller and then watched as Jonathan Toews pounced on the rebound, depositing the puck past Miller.

And so, just under thirteen minutes into the first period, it was 1-0 Canada.

Canada would continue to dominate form that point on, consistently getting pressure on Miller, but they would not score any goals.

The teams would leave the ice with Canada ahead 1-0, but hardly out of the woods.

Canada came out in the second period and established a great forechecking effort. The Americans were guilty on a number of occasions of trying to force plays, which led to a number of turnovers in the neutral zone.

With Team USA looking overwhelmed, Ryan Getzlaf shot the puck at the net, which resulted in a rebound that Corey Perry deposited into the back of the net.

The Americans would respond a few minutes later when Ryan Kessler got his stick on a point shot from Patrick Kane, making it 2-1 Canada...The United States were back in the game.

Once again the teams left the ice with Canada up by one goal, setting up what would be an exceptional third period.

Canada came out fast and furious to start the third period, then, with about seven minutes to play, uncharacteristically decided to sit back on their one goal lead, a decision that would ultimately come back to haunt Canada.

With just under one minute left in regulation and with the Americans Canadian head coach Mike Babcock made a curious move by calling a timeout.

The move didn’t work as American Zach Parise scored on the ensuing play. The game was tied 2-2 and all of Canada wanted to puke.

The two teams took a 15=minute break and resumed play four on four for 20 minutes of sudden death overtime.

Canada and the US exchanged chances as both teams looked like they were willing to leave everything on the ice.

Then—into overtime, Sidney Crosby broke through the American defense, bumped the puck on goal, which led to the puck going into the corner. Jarome Iginla picked up the puck, slid it in front to Crosby who promptly scored the biggest goal of his Career, 3-2 Canada, Gold Medal Baby!

For Crosby, he now has more ammunition to throw at all of his haters, for Canada, bragging rights for four years and a measure of revenge!

I will have more on Canada’s victory later, please check back with my website at

www.theslapshot.com

As the Canadians and the Americans prepare to once again face off for Olympic Ice Hockey gold, it's interesting to take a look back at how the media approached their coverage the last time these two teams met on the international stage.

As the 2002 Winter Olympics closed, the whole world witnessed the Canadian Men’s Ice Hockey Team defeat the Americans to capture the gold medal. As is expected, there are many different journalistic approaches to reporting the outcome of this game; three articles about it make these different approaches clear.

The first article, titled “After a 50 year wait, Canada has gold medal again,” appeared in the New York Times and seems to reflect the Americans' view of the game. Starting with the title, which makes it a point to mention the 50 years since Canada’s last gold, the whole article is biased towards the Americans.

The title is biased because it directly comments on the long span since Canada’s last gold medal in its national pastime. It is almost a shot at the Canadians, questioning their ability in the game they love. The article excuses the American team multiple times, which is made clear when the author says, “Defenseman Brian Rafalski fell with an apparent skate problem.” The way that the author presents this event shows his biased view of the game. The article also points out the fact that “Canada caught a break by facing Belarus, a weak opponent…” while it makes the excuse for the Americans by stating, “But the Americans had to play a later game against a stronger team from Russia…” It becomes obvious that he was a fan of the American team and was trying to make some excuses for them.

By quoting US Captain Chris Chelios , “Yesterday, Mario’s quote said it was his game, or Canada’s game. We’ve listened to that. It might be the only game that they’re very good at, except for curling and a couple of other things. All kidding aside, they’re a proud group of players,” the author can give the article an American bias without coming out and saying it in his own words. The choice of this quote lets him present his own opinion of the game without saying, “I think…”

On the other side of this story, is the Canadians' view on the outcome of the game. An article in The Globe and Mail , a Canadian newspaper, shows an entirely different view of this game. The headline reads, “Canada will look at ’02 as golden ,” which is a more positive way to look at the Canadian victory than how the N.Y. Times portrayed it.

Following the positive angle, the first paragraph gives Canada credit by saying, “a new date was added to the country’s long and enduring hockey history”. The author then makes it a point to tell the readers “there were as many people cheering for the visiting Canadians as there were for the home side.”

The Canadian bias shows through when the author mentions “U.S. Coach Herb Brooks thought his team looked ‘more tired’ because it had a more difficult path to the final.” The author’s choice of this quote shows his bias, because he could have mentioned how the Americans clearly had a harder route to the finals than his own, but instead, he chose to use Brooks’ words against himself, portraying him to the readers as the coach that makes excuses when his team loses.

Presenting a more unbiased view on this game, I chose an article titled “Young and old lead Canada to gold ” from Espn.com . This article shows a broad view of the whole game and of the back-stories on both teams, not favoring either. The article mentions Canada’s “50 year wait” and the end to the U.S. team’s “70 year unbeaten streak” making it clear that both teams had a significant event occur due to the outcome of this game and not making one sound more important than the other.

The author does mention that “Canada had an easy route to the final, beating only Germany, Finland and Belarus, while the Americans twice played bronze medallist Russia,” but unlike the other articles, this is presented as pure fact without the quote that would have given the article a bias towards either country.

Sunday afternoon will mark the culmination of what has been a very eventful Men’s Olympic Hockey tournament. It is being played by two teams that have a little revenge on their minds – the US wanting to avenge a Gold Medal final loss eight years ago in Salt Lake City and the Canadians wanting to avenge a 5-3 loss to the Americans during the Round Robin portion of the tournament.

Moneyline Odds: Canada: -210 : USA: +160
Sunday 3pm EST on NBC
CLICK HERE TO WAGER ON USA VS. CANADA OLYMPIC HOCKEY

Team Canada had been on quite a rollercoaster ride during the 2010 Olympics. They started somewhat slowly against Norway, had a “hiccup game” against the Swiss and then fell flat against the USA in the Round Robin. Canada was relegated to the Qualification Round to the chagrin of most Canadians. Who could have predicted that an extra game and a little humble pie was what Team Canada needed to find their groove and to reach their potential? Canada dismantled Team Germany and defeated a stubborn Slovakia to earn a spot in Sunday’s Gold Medal final.

For Team Canada, it is not the veterans that have been getting it done in these Olympics. Sidney Crosby, Jarome Iginla, Scott Niedermayer and Chris Pronger have had flashes in this tournament but have also disappeared at times. It is the youngsters that have been leading the way. Shea Webber and Drew Doughty on Defense and Ryan Getzlaf, Correy Perry and Jonathan Toews on offense have really carried Team Canada to this point. The veteran presence of Martin Brodeur in goal for Canada was an experiment that largely failed, handing Canada’s International Hockey reigns to Roberto Luongo who has played good, mistake-free hockey thus far.

The youth movement is on for Canada’s International Hockey program and it is a good thing. Canada is going to need every bit of their youthful energy to slow down the high flying Americans on Sunday.

CLICK HERE TO WAGER ON USA VS. CANADA OLYMPIC HOCKEY

Team USA has been on quite a roll during this Olympic tournament. They are 5-0 and show no signs of letting up. The Americans have fed off of their underdog roll so far but have emerged on everyone’s radar now. General Manager Brian Burke built this team to be difficult to play against. He picked players with speed, grit and a physical element and it has worked wonders. They have developed a tremendous chemistry and they enjoy a surprisingly balanced attack with a different player stepping up seemingly every game.

Team USA is not the collection of established Superstars that Team Canada is, they are a group of young , budding stars that we will be hearing from for a long time. The future of USA Hockey has developed quicker that most imagined – here they are in the Gold Medal Final of the Olympic Games. The youthful Patrick Kane, Zach Parise and Paul Statsny have been excellent for the American squad, they young defense that includes Jack and Erik Johnson and Brian Rafalski have been stellar and goaltender Ryan Miller is demonstrating to the world why he is regarded as the beast goalie on the planet right now.

Sunday’s Gold Medal final is one that not many predicted but is one that is deserved. Like it or not, the Canada-US rivalry has supplanted the Canada-Russia rivalry that dominated the International Hockey world for the past 40 or so years. Canada will battle nerves but I think that they learned enough from their 5-3 loss to the Americans during the Round Robin to improve and defeat Team USA for Gold on Home Ice. “Oh Canada” will be sung by every Canadian with a voice on Sunday afternoon!

USA vs. Canada Pick: Team Canada in a 5-4 thriller! (The Total currently sits at 5 ½ goals – it is something to ponder as well when making your Gold Medal bets) – Courtesy of Dave Bond: Betus.com News Feed: Featured on Handicapperspicks.com

Related posts:

1. Free NHL Hockey Betting Picks: December 23rd 2009

Friday was a big day for Hockey Canada in more ways than one.  The men held off a late-game push by the Slovaks and the women were criticized for an “inappropriate” celebration after their 2-0 win over the USA to secure the gold medal.

Oh yeah, and the IOC once again confirmed that they’re slightly sexist, hypocritical and definitely out of touch.

To begin with, the IOC’s executive director of the Olympics, Gilbert Felli, stated  “I don’t think it’s a good promotion of sports values.”  That’s funny, did he make this statement from Heineken House or Molson Canadian Hockey House?  Both are official Olympic venues.

Did I mention that Molson-Coors is an official sponsor of the Vancouver Olympics.  Does having a beer sponsor promote sports values?

Felli continued his statement with “If they celebrate in the changing room, that’s one thing, but not in public.”

The women drew all this attention, yet Canada’s John Montgomery was fine to drink straight from a jug of beer as he walked down the streets in Whistler, directly after he won the gold in Men’s Skeleton. 

The video was all over national TV in Canada, where the women’s hockey team was only captured by a few photographers that had hung around after the game.  If the public element of the celebration was the concern, then Montgomery should have received some sort of scolding from the IOC as well.  He didn’t. 

 Why should it be different for the women when it was OK for a man?  Maybe the IOC has a different set of standards for how women should behave than men.  We know some members asked for sexual favors from Melbourne brothels, so maybe that’s how they think women should behave. 

Regardless, we have an organization that accepted bribery to award the games to Nagano and Salt Lake City criticizing a group of athletes for celebrating after becoming world champions.

 I don’t think anyone should have made a big deal out of either celebration.  Olympic athletes slave for 4 years for the shot at a moment like this.  If they want to celebrate with beer pong, body-shots, cigars, tattoos or at the frickin Catalina Wine Mixer, I still support them. 

 If they’re not doing something illegal, leave them alone.  The women weren’t being obscene or destructive, they were enjoying the moment.

 ”In terms of the actual celebration, it’s not exactly something uncommon in Canada,” COC spokesman Steve Keough told the AP. “I think Canadians understand it’s quite an emotional moment for our team. It was not our intention to go against any IOC protocols.”

 Most of us Canadians enjoy a beer after the game, so let’s support the women’s hockey team when they clearly deserved a few cold ones of their own.

Olympic hockey has certainly had its ups and downs, much like Rick Nash of Canada in the photo above. There's the lows of Ovechkin's Russia losing its Gold chance to Canada, and Finland being slaughtered by the United States, but the low vs. high scenario more notable is the previous meeting of titans U.S. and Canada.

As memory serves, Ryan Miller single-handedly beat Canada. No offense to the rest of the team, but facts are facts. Hell, coming in the United States wasn't even picked to win a medal by many, but after being top-dog Canada everything changed.

Brian Burke can make all the grimacing quotes to the media to keep his group level-headed all he wants, but the truth is he was proud, and the entire hockey community in the United States was too.

Blood is blood, lets face it. When it comes to hockey, its always Canada's game. When it boils down, Canadians will respect Americans, if it means talking stuff on European hockey, since "the North American style is best", but when it comes to the Olympics, most Canadians are willing to spit in the face of their southern cousins.

On the ice, Canadians and Americans are far from friends.

While everyone else is making analysis chit-chat, I'll do something a bit more riveting. Rather than question if the United States can beat Canada, I'll one up it, and even go as far as saying the United States SHOULD beat Canada, and only if they get lazy will they lose.

Am I just some nutty yank? Far from it. Again, facts are facts, and the facts here are that the United States is in the head of an apparently weaker Canada team. Yes, weak because they had to go to OT against the Swiss, while the American's handled their business twice against Jonas Hiller and his crew.

Then after a near-loss to the Swiss, Canada gets knocked off its pretty little perch by underdog America.

The Americans beat Canada before by focusing on what Burke built them to be. Not the usual shoot, shoot, and shoot some more until you score type of Olympic team, but instead a feisty, hard hitting team that looks more NHL than Olympic like.

As long as the American's make the Canadians play the Brian Burke style, then Vancouver gold is coming to the land of George Washington.

While my counterparts are breaking down both sides, talking about goalie, defense, and shooting matchups, I don't have to waste my time. Games aren't decided by matchups envisioned by moronic writers, but instead it's marginalized by mistakes, penalties, and lack of willingness to do the dirty work.

In Canada's previous games, they appeal to their quick, strong shooting talents, avoiding costly mistakes to less talented opponents, but still making some, which rarely cost them much. Penalties happen, but more so if they lose composure, and Canada in many degrees doesn't seem to be willing to get down and dirty.

On the other hand, the U.S. is a group of semi-misfits. No usual American vets leading the pack, but alas, they rarely make mistakes, force penalties, or take them on their own terms...and are more comfortable digging in front of the net or in the corners than playing quick breakout & shoot hockey.

Bottom line: the Americans are built for a battle, a battle Canada doesn't seem to be prepared for. While it seems one side is more likely to be the victor, nothing will truly be decided until the battle is waged. I leave you, my American readers, with words of wisdom for such battles...and for my Canadian readers, words of caution.

"Americans love to fight. All real Americans love the sting of battle."

"Americans play to win at all times. I wouldn't give a hoot and hell for a man who lost and laughed. That's why Americans have never lost, nor ever lose a war."

—both quotes by Gen. George S. Patton

The speed and tenacity of the USA, backstopped by the unwavering Ryan Miller will face the big bruising Canadians and emergence of goalie Roberto Luongo between the pipes for the almighty Olympic Men’s Hockey Gold medal.

This battle between the North American rivals that share the largest unprotected boarder in the world is nothing short of world war III.

Laura Secord will rise from her grave for the Canadian side and George Washington will do the same for the States in hopes of helping vault their teams to Gold.   

The USA won the first battle between these two teams in a preliminary game though were outshot and out played, but have since looked to be the team to beat.

The way the USA came out against the Finn’s in the first period was some of the most dominant hockey in the tourney as pucks were going in from everywhere.

Some of the players that were expected to be the cornerstones of the US team finally broke out.

Canada has come together as a team and is now living up to the title of pre-tournament favorite, though they have to play a complete game as they did against Russia.

The Canadians can’t fall asleep for periods of time as they seemed to do against the Slovaks in the third period, barring a huge save by Luongo that game may have gone to overtime.

Who will be the hero in this game?

Which goalie will make the bigger save?

Which forward line will shine?

Who will be the stronger defensive side?

For all the answers click the link bellow!

Check out http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/5064269 for the Saturdays recorded show and full Olympic Gold Medal breakdown!

For an answer to these questions tune into “Get the Puck Out” live to air hockey show at 6 PM EST while Mark Ritter and I breakdown the Gold medal matchup on www.morencysports.com or go to http://www.ustream.tv/channel/morency-sports-tv

Call in and give us your opinion 1-866-964-5710!

We’ll have all the angles and predictions don’t miss it!