Team Canada

On a day when Slovakia upset the defending Olympic champions and Switzerland pushed the Americans to the brink of defeat, there was almost no bigger surprise than Canada's lopsided 7-3 win over Russia in the quarterfinals.

In the most anticipated game of the tournament—a clash of the titans that was expected either in the semifinals or the Gold medal game—the home country unexpectedly ran its arch-rivals out of the rink, most notably Russian goaltender Evgeni Nabokov who was burned for six goals on 24 shots.

Beginning with Ryan Getzlaf's goal 2:21 into the pivotal contest, Canada played like the dominant, physical team everyone expected coming into Vancouver. The country was not going to end its golden journey on home ice and played like a determined group unwilling to accept defeat.

Following Getzlaf's beautiful first goal to set the tone, the home side scored 46 seconds apart midway through the first period, on snipes by Dan Boyle and Rick Nash, and before Russia could wake up the game was out of reach at 3-0.

Even for the home crowd, which was immersed in a state of complete euphoria, there was a sense of shock at what was unfolding on the biggest international stage.

Coming into the tournament, a Canada-Russia meeting was touted as the great rivalry, the matchup every hockey fan wanted and anticipated—with the added bonus of watching NHL rivals Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin battle it out after last year's epic playoff bout.

Yet, while the rivalry could be seen and heard at Canada Hockey Place amidst the seige, the margin of victory was a complete shock to the hockey world, which expected another classic between the two countries.

Dmitri Kalinin pulled the Russians within a pair of goals on the power play, but Brenden Morrow restored the three-goal advantage on another suspect goal on Nabokov, who was shaky after Canada got out to the quick start. And like any Russian team, once they fell behind and were being pushed around by a superior Canadian squad, the defending world champions simply quit, the art of which they can perfect quite often, as fans witnessed.

Alexander Ovechkin was completely shut down by the defense pairing of Shea Weber and Scott Niedermayer, as were his linemates Evgeni Malkin and Pavel Datsyuk.

Offensively, all the lines were clicking, especially the line of Getzlaf, Morrow, and Corey Perry, who combined for four goals and two assists in the win.

Crosby, Jarome Iginla, and Eric Staal were not the most productive line amidst the scoring barrage on Nabokov and Ilya Bryzgalov, but that line was also terrific in the offensive end, creating scoring chances and keeping the puck away from Russia's stars.

Moreover, it finally seems that Mike Babcock and his Canadian team, after working out the kinks in the preliminary round, have found the right line combinations and chemistry, which was evident in the rout against Russia.

As the host country prepares for the semifinals after its first Olympic win over Russia since the 1960 Winter Games, it's increasingly becoming the dominant team that every country feared would show up. That perception of Canada's stacked lineup was only reinforced after Russia's unexpected wake-up call that nobody saw coming.

Now it's Slovakia's turn to answer the bell and face the seemingly unstoppable Red and White machine.

Earlier this week, a case was made that Blackhawks' captain Jonathan Toews was the most valuable player on Canada's Olympic team. However, after watching Canada destroy Russia to advance to the medal rounds, it is becoming clear that Toews should be on a very, very short list of names being considered for the overall tournament Most Valuable Player.

Toews received subtle praise from Canadian coach Mike Babcock before Wednesday night's game when the lines were rearranged for the game against Russia. Toews stayed with Mike Richards, but Rick Nash was moved off the line with Sidney Crosby who had been so successful to be next to the Hawks' center.

The Toews-Nash-Richards line was specifically put together to play against the Russian line featuring Alexander Ovechkin; somehow, Crosby dodged the assignment.

The defensive job done by this line, along with the stellar play of Canadian defensemen Scott Niedermayer, Chris Pronger, Duncan Keith, Shea Weber, and Drew Doughty, held Ovechkin to three shots on goal.

Yes, Russia didn't show up at all, and everyone on their roster played a terrible game.  But after the effort Ovechkin brought to beat the Czech Republic in the round-robin, and considering that the game was getting out of hand for Russia quickly, even the thought that one of the more trigger-happy players in the NHL would be limited to three shots on goal is incredible.

Toews played a major role in that effort. (Please do not read this as me giving Toews personally all the credit for Ovechkin having a bad night.)

Beyond just the job Toews and his teammates did defensively on Wednesday night, Toews has been exceptional the entire tournament. Through Wednesday night's game, Toews is the overall tournament leader in plus-minus with an astounding +9 rating, leads the entire tournament field with seven assists, and is tied with teammate Dany Heatley for the overall tournament points lead at seven.

In each of Canada's last three games, Toews has been one of the best players on the ice for either team. His unselfish play on a team full of superstars is something any collection of individuals needs to be successful. In five games, Toews has only taken six shots.

Toews is averaging almost three shots per game in the regular season for the Blackhawks and is tied for second on the team with 19 goals; we're not talking about assist-only Joe Thornton here. Toews is a very good scorer. But he has taken a secondary scoring role because it's what Canada needs from him, and he's rewarded his countrymen with an exceptional tournament.

The three remaining players that have had the greatest impact on the Olympic tournament are Toews, Heatley, and United States goalie Ryan Miller. Toews' statistics are more impressive than Heatley's in every category other than goals scored, though. While a wonderful case can be made for Miller, the most valuable skater in the tournament has been Toews.

For more great hockey coverage, check out Tab's blog: CommittedIndians.com!

After a heartbreaking loss to Team USA, Team Canada rebounded with a 7-3 victory against Team Russia in the quarterfinal round in men's hockey.

While the focus seemed to be on Sidney Crosby of Canada and Alexander Ovechkin of Russia, it was strong play by Ryan Getzlef, Rick Nash, and Dan Boyle which carried Canada.

Many predicted a tough game with the winner being a toss up, but Canada applied pressure early on and were rewarded with a quick goal by Getzlef at the 2:21 mark.  Other scorers for Canada included Brent Seabrook, Boyle, Nash, Brenden Morrow, and Corey Perry, who netted two.

Russia seemed sluggish and flat-footed throughout the game. At times, the Russians seemed out-hustled, outplayed, and resorted to disconnected long ice passes. It was a complete lackluster effort in general by Russia. 

Russian goalie Evgeni Nabovkov was pulled four minutes into the second period. Ovechkin said that "they were outplayed for ten minutes" but in reality, it was for much longer. Goal scorers for Russia included Dmitri Kalinin, Maxim Afinogenov, and Sergei Gonchar.

One key statistic that reflected the pace of the game was the shots on goal tally. 

Roberto Luongo faced only 28 shots compared to 48 faced by Evgeni Nabovkov and Ilya Bryzgalov. Canada goes on to face the winners of the Slovakia-Sweden game which takes place later on tonight.

If Canada wants to get to the gold medal game, they will have to play another high tempo game and rely on a balanced team effort as shown tonight.

The Americans won their quarterfinal game earlier this afternoon with a 2-0 victory over the Swiss team and a shutout for American goalie Ryan Miller.  

The Americans will go on to face the winners of the Finland-Czech Republic game which is currently tied 0-0 with one minute left in the game.

On a final note, the Canadian women's team will take on the American team for the gold medal tomorrow at 6:30 PM EST.

Many people are comparing the USA's 5-3 win over Canada in Olympic Men's Hockey last Sunday to the original "Miracle on Ice" 1980 USA Olympic victory over the USSR. And although last Sunday's game was an exciting upset, it hardly holds up to one of the greatest sports moments in the history of the United States.

Sure, there are several similarities between the two games. The United States pulled off a big upset in both, the Canadians, like the 1980 Russian team, were/are considered favorites to win it all, and the US won by outskating/outworking their opponents, as well as fantastic goaltending.

That is where the similarities end, however.

Here are the reasons that the "Miracle on Ice 2" labels are completely inappropriate, presented in list form:

1) The USA team is made up of professional hockey players, unlike the 1980's team, which was comprised of a bunch of unknown college kids

2) Although Canada is a veritable All-Star team of the NHL's best talent, they haven't played together for as long as the USSR team had, and weren't considered unbeatable

3) The U.S. isn't on the brink of war with Canada (yet).

Tensions had just reached a boiling point between the United States and the USSR when the Lake Placid Olympics took place, as the Soviets were invading Afghanistan at the time—giving the upset a much larger significance.

4) And, most importantly, the United States-Canada game was NOT in a medal round. Unlike the 1980 game, which was in the semifinals (the US would go on to beat Finland for the gold), the "Miracle on Ice 2" was in the preliminary round. That means that Canada can still win a gold medal, and the U.S. might come away empty handed!

So, the comparisons to the Miracle on Ice are a little unfounded, but that is no reason to stop watching these Olympic Hockey games.

The United States looked fantastic against Canada, which goes to show that teamwork is more valuable than talent in the long run.

The U.S. will next face Switzerland, who they beat 3-1 in the prelims, this afternoon at 12:00 in a quarterfinal game.

Canada won their last game against Germany 8-2, so the stage is set for a rematch.

Another win over Canada would be huge, as they consider hockey to be "their game". Imagine a team from Canada coming over and beating our Super Bowl champions at football. That is the type of humiliation that Canadians feel when the U.S. beats their hockey team.

Although the last outing may not have been a Miracle on Ice moment, these Olympic Hockey game are some of the most exciting in recent memory, and if the U.S. can continue winning, we can finally shut up the haters who don't respect American hockey.

Like a cat sharpening its claws before the hunt, Canada warmed up on the Germans yesterday in preparation for today's monstrously huge quarterfinal game versus Russia.

In handily defeating the German team 8-2, Canada qualified for the medal round. In doing so, they generated a little more cohesion on the ice.

While Monday morning saw Team Canada as a nation in the throes of depression after the surprising defeat at the hands of the U.S., yesterday, during the third period, Team Canada had its faithful chanting "We want Russia!"

Despite a tentative first period against the Germans, Canada went into the intermission with a 1-0 lead on a Joe Thornton goal. His line continues to roll for Canada.

In the first, Canada looked like a team that was feeling the weight of expectations and  being crushed by the pressure.

However, things changed in the second. A Shea Weber blast from the point went past Germany's Greiss and through the netting.

Yes, you read that right. The puck went through the netting.

Play continued but was eventually whistled to review the goal, which ended up standing and making it 2-0 for Canada. Weber's goal was more than a little significant because it was the first goal by a Canadian defenseman since the start of the tournament.

After Weber's goal, you could see Team Canada relax, and the floodgates opened up as a result. 

A minute and nine seconds later, Jerome Iginla, who was skating on a line with Crosby and Stall, scored to make it 3-0 on the powerplay. That line continued to do great things for Canada. Iginla scored another goal five minutes later on a beautiful cross-ice pass from Staal, to make it 4-0 for Canada.

There was a questionable moment for Team Canada's coaching staff as Rick Nash was hauled down on a breakaway, resulting in a penalty shot at 8:37 of the second frame.

In international competition, teams can pick any player to take the penalty shot and Mike Babcock chose to send out Crosby rather than Nash. Crosby's attempt was stopped by the German goaltender, which wasn't the end of the world considering Canada's 4-0 lead.

The bigger problem was the missed opportunity to get Nash going—he has yet to score a goal in ten Olympic games lifetime.

While you can't really go wrong by choosing Crosby as a shooter, I can't help but wonder why Babcock didn't just stick with Nash. At 4-0 for Canada, the penalty shot was the perfect opportunity to give the guy who is struggling to score a chance to get that monkey off his back.

Why not give him that chance? If Nash scores on that play, maybe he comes alive.

If Nash comes alive, Canada benefits. He is one of the players that they need to have firing on all cylinders if they want any chance of winning the gold medal.

After the penalty shot, it seemed like both teams fell into a bit of a lull. The result was that Germany scored a surprise goal with less than four minutes to play in the second.

With Marco Strum standing just outside the blue paint, he and Luongo got tied up, allowing Germany's Goc enough time to go behind the net and sneak the puck past the far post with a wraparound. 4-1 Canada.

Another point of interest on the night is that Babcock shortened his bench more than at any point during the first three games.

For example, Patrice Bergeron only had 13 seconds of ice-time in the first period, while Pronger rode the pine for most of the second. It is clear that Babcock is starting to ride his best horses since winning is all that matters now.

Canada continued to roll as Crosby scored 1:10 into the third by tipping in a Staal cross-ice pass to make it 5-1.

A refreshing change for Canada in this game was the contribution from all lines. Canada's fourth-line grinders got on the board in the third. Brendan Morrow ground it out behind the net, getting the puck out in front to Richards in the slot, who whipped it past Greiss to make it 6-1.

Scott Neidermayer was next for Canada, scoring on a breakaway at 11:22 of the third to make it 7-1. But, like Weber being the first defenseman to score for Canada, the big news was that Nash broke his bad luck streak in the third period.

Nash, playing on a line with Getzlaf and Perry, streaked down the right wing and roofed one past Greiss to score his first Olympic goal, if you can believe that.

I can't overstate how important that goal was for Canada. Nash has been one of—if not the—best player for Canada since the tournament began. His goal, scored on the eve of a monumental game versus Russia, should give the Canadian team a little extra offensive punch going forward.

Germany finished off the game by scoring on a 2-on-1 to make it an 8-2 with just over a minute to play. But, as the hometown crowd chanted "We want Russia! We want Russia!," we are reminded of how special the match that we will behold tonight is going to be.

Despite the game versus the German's being a gimmie, Canada did what they had to do and got some key players going in the process.

While Sunday's game versus the U.S. was the biggest game of the tournament so far, tonight's game is likely to be the biggest of the entire tournament going forward.

Heading into this tournament, it was widely believed that we would be witnessing a Russia versus Canada final.

Now, however, one of those two teams will lose tonight and finish outside of the medals.

This was a thought that seemed almost inconceivable two weeks ago. But now, with Canada's weak finish in the preliminary rounds, we are about to see the clash of the titans a few games earlier than most had hoped.

Crosby versus Ovechkin. Canada versus Russia. The winner moves on and the loser goes home with no conciliation prize.

There really isn't much more to say than that. Tune in tonight to watch what is sure to be one of the best games in Olympic, and maybe even hockey, history.

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Everyone likes to believe (or at least all Canadians) that the most important national team in the country’s psyche rests in the hands of competent, knowledgeable hockey management, honed through years of experience playing  or at least coaching at the highest professional level.  For the most part they are right. 

However, in any industry, event, or endeavor, those in charge must inevitably resort to all kinds of rules of thumb, shortcuts etc to pared down the overwhelming plethora of choices that they face to a few manageable variables. In marketing they call this brand awareness. 

Choices are not based on a thorough review of all options but quickly narrowed down to a few choice options based on those brands that are best known.  Brodeur is a brand as is Loungo.  You might consider them the Mercedes and BMW of Canadian goaltending. Conversely, Marc Andre Fleury is more closely the Buick of goaltending. 

A brand redefining its image and trying to overcome deep seat prejudices that consign him to the back-up in case the back-up gets injured role.

The new Buick may be every bit as good a value as its German cousins ( a conclusion that the mainland Chinese seem to support in the thousands) but try to convince a North American of that and you are fighting an uphill battle against preconceived notions, and deficit in social status that actually underlies most luxury car purchases.

 As the current NHL seasons stands the three Goaltenders win-loss stats are as follows:

	Wins	Losses	OT	Win %
Brodeur	34	20	3	60.7%
Luongo	31	17	2	62.0%
Fleury	26	17	2	57.0%

I know most of the Brodeur/Luongo buyers are pointing out that the win percentage for Fleury is the lowest of the three, true. But the difference is really not much.  One extra win for Fleury and the tables reverse putting him on top.  In other words they are almost equal, the difference is what statisticians called acceptable deviance. 

If you really want the closest test lab to the Olympics available I would suggest last year’s NHL playoffs. After all next to the Olympics it’s the greatest concentration of hockey talent and the pressure is every bit as great.  Based on last year’s NHL playoffs here is the case for turning the net over to Marc-Andre.

As the Olympics stand a total of 18 games have been played (and for some strange reason no one is eliminated).  Assuming Canada manages to beat Germany, Slovakia rolls over Norway and then loses to Sweden (which is a big if) then Canada’s two games leading up to the gold medal game will be against Russia and Sweden respectively.

Flash back to the 2008 playoffs and who did the Pens face in the semi-finals and finals? Washington and Detroit, with Marc Andre Fleury backstopping both series.

The semi-final showdown against Washington ended with a 4-1 series victory for Pittsburgh.  If any team in the NHL resembles Team Russia it is the Capitals.

Apart from the obvious that Ovechkin and Semin play for the team, it is very much like the Russian team, an offensive juggernaut firing on all 12 cylinders, with a defense that hopes the offense keeps firing.  No one can argue that Fleury faced this opposition in the pressure cooker of the NHL playoffs and won.

Fast forward to the 2008 Stanley Cup Finals versus Detroit. Detroit could be characterized as the Swedish national team’s home away from home. It is the team of Lidstrom, Franzen, Kronwall, Zetterberg, Samuelsson, Ericsson, and Holmstrom, not to mention at the time Jiri Hudler who may not be Swedish but plays like he learned hockey on one of Stockholm’s 13 Islands.

They play a puck possession game similar to Team Sweden (which is hardly surprising considering the number of top ranked Swedes on the team). The result, a 4-2 series win for Pittsburgh.

I know there will be those who will claim that Fleury’s success was due in large part to the excellent team in front him during the 2008-2009 playoffs. That may be true, but the team in front of him in Vancouver will be no less than Team Canada, which outshot the US 45-23.

I would argue that Fleury’s success is the result of an ability to perform well under pressure something that Brodeur has not demonstrated and that Luongo has never been able to do consistently. It time to put the Canadian goaltending icons aside and look at the cold hard facts of who performs best.

Bold decision making is required as the time tested brand awareness strategy has resulted in Canada sitting in sixth place with arguably one of the most talented teams in history.  Unfortunately at the time of completion of this opinion piece Mike Babcock has still not returned my calls.

Peter Pemmelaar can be reached at Pemmelaar@gmail.com

The obvious choices for an MVP for Team Canada so far are Sidney Crosby and Dany Heatley.

The Pittsburgh superstar is one of the two most hyped players in the NHL right now (with Alexander Ovechkin), and both have done a good job of coming up big when asked, both throughout the NHL regular season and again in the Olympic Games. Crosby (two goals, three assists) is tied for the scoring lead for Canada with Heatley (four goals, one assist).

There have been so many outstanding performers on Canada's roster, and yet the most valuable might be Chicago Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews .

Toews is just one point behind Heatley and Crosby with four points (all assists), but here is where the differences are between the two top scorers and Toews:

First, Crosby and Heatley are playing heavier minutes than Toews. Crosby leads all Canadian forwards in ice time (averaging 17:34 per night), while Heatley is averaging 14:44 per game after three contests.

Toews, on the other hand, is not only playing fewer minutes (13:42 ATOI), but he's doing it while flipping between his natural center position and wing, depending on what Babcock wants to do.

Another difference between Toews and Heatley and Crosby is that Toews hasn't been whistled for a penalty yet in the tournament.

Crosby took a penalty at a terrible time in the game against the United States on Sunday, and is tied with Eric Staal for the team high, with four penalty minutes in the tournament. Heatley has served two penalty minutes to date.

However, the third (and biggest) difference between these three candidates for the team's most valuable player is the team's scoring margin while they're on the ice.

Crosby is minus-1 for the tournament so far, after finishing the US game minus-3 despite scoring a goal himself. Heatley, meanwhile, is just plus-1 for the tournament.

Toews has the best plus/minus not only on team Canada, but his plus-4 is the best among all forwards in the entire Olympic games. Only USA defensemen Bryan Rafalski and Ryan Suter, both plus-5, have a better rating in the entire tournament.

Toews has not been selfish, putting only five shots on net through three games.

But when he's been on the ice, he's been productive and, more importantly, has kept Canada's opposition off the board. He's been a strong penalty killer for Babcock and has played a couple of positions without complaining.

If you look at the numbers, the most valuable player on Canada's roster so far is Jonathan Toews.

For more great hockey coverage, check out Tab's blog: CommittedIndians.com!

Never before was there as much pre-tournament hype as the enormous expectations heaped onto the Canadian men's hockey team prior to the Vancouver 2010 Games.

From the time Vancouver was awarded the Winter Olympics in 2003, the anticipation from hockey-crazed fans has been an Olympic gold on home ice. 

Yet, while players and coaches try to shed the pressure coming from the fans across the country and focus on the task at hand, it's been clearly easier said than done.

Head coach Mike Babcock has admitted as much.

Canada looked nervous in the tournament opener against Norway, failing to score in the first period with a slow start before putting its skill on display in an 8-0 rout.

Increasingly, especially in the second preliminary game against Switzerland—who shut out the country 2-0 at the Torino 2006 Olympics—the pressure was starting to become a big factor.

After racing out to a 2-0 lead in the second period, the home team let its guard down and started squeezing the sticks after the Swiss scored a big goal to pull within one. They managed to win 3-2 in a shootout, as Sidney Crosby saved the day, but it was a game that caused concern for outside observers.

Then, of course, losing to the rival U.S. in a first-place battle only adds to the anxiety around this heavily-favored team that's at least expected to win a medal—if not the gold.

From a pressure standpoint, it looks like the Canadians are just trying too hard to make it happen. Martin Brodeur was a wreck in net, overly eager to leave his crease to play the puck and directly caused two big U.S. goals as a result of his wandering.

Babcock, who was the first to admit his team played tight in the opening two games, didn't think his guys were feeling the pressure in the all-important meeting with the Americans.

But it already seems that the bigger picture—that is, winning gold in front of home fans—has clouded Canada's focus game by game as the tournament progresses.

Amazingly, the players, even after both the Switzerland and U.S. scares, haven't expressed any concern about their chances as a team moving forward. They have it in mind that they're a great team as it is and have taken a casual and nonchalant approach, which has ultimately cost them an automatic berth into the quarter-finals.

Offensively, they're certainly creating plenty of scoring chances, especially on Sunday with a 45-23 advantage in the shot department over the U.S.

There's no question Canada has adequately tested opposing goaltenders, who've responded brilliantly with great Olympic performances between the pipes—namely Switzerland's Jonas Hiller and American Ryan Miller who both stopped 40-plus shots.

However, the team's been caught pushing the puck up ice, playing more of a run-and-gun style, while at the same time leaving itself exposed at times defensively.

It's quite surprising, because Babcock has established himself as a defensive-minded coach who likes to shut it down. And while the best offense is considered the best defense, Canada has to get back to a Babcock-type defensive game that has propelled the Detroit Red Wings to two straight Stanley Cup Finals.

If the hosts hopes to advance past the quarter-final, especially against an offensive powerhouse like Russia, they'll need to play a lot tighter defensively—albeit less tight overall amidst the ever-growing pressure in Vancouver.

No team—whether it's in the NHL or the Olympics—can skate up and down the ice and not get burned with the likes of Alexander Ovechkin, Evgeny Malkin, and Pavel Datsyuk, who make up Russia's make-shift top line. The Russian have the best top-six forward group out of any country and are ridiculously dangerous offensively when they're on their game, as they showed in their 4-2 win over Czech Republic to clinch Group B.

For the home country, after the 5-3 defeat to the U.S. on Sunday, the road to the gold medal just got tougher. Canada dropped to the sixth seed with the upset loss and will have to face Germany in the qualification playoffs.

A second straight quarter-final meeting with Russia is more than likely with a win over the Germans, but a lot more was expected from Canada to this point in its home Olympics and the players haven't delivered.

The pressure mounds.

It was reported over the weekend that Toronto Maple Leafs forward Mikhail Grabovski had been arrested and latter released in connection to a bar fight in Vancouver.

While Grabovski in not known for shying away from a fight, this is this first I've heard of an altercation outside of an arena.

Although Brian Burke will likely publicly admonish the actions of the injured member of the Olympic Belarussian team and Toronto Maple Leaf, privately he has most likely given him a pat on the back. 

Grabovski is widely regarded as a bit of a hot head and has been involved in several altercations with teammates over the years, most recently with fellow Maple Leaf, Francois Beauchemin.

Said coach Ron Wilson after the minor tussle during which the only punch thrown was a quick jab by Grabo:

"It happens. It's hockey. People get physical and upset with themselves or other people and it leads to a minor, little skirmish. It's nothing more than that," he said. "You have more crap like that going on at home when you were 10 years old, fighting with you brothers. It's the same situation here."

                                                                 ***********************

Team USA Defeats Team Canada in Hockey, 5-3

Team Canada's Men Hockey Team was shocked last night as Team USA and more specifically USA goaltender Ryan Miller, beat them in what can only be called an upset on home soil.

The build up of this highly anticipated match up was almost unprecedented and for the most part (excluding the loss by Team Canada), it did not disappoint.

Team Canada outshot USA by a 43-22 margin. Ryan Miller was outstanding in the victory, while Martin Brodeur looked out of place early in the first period. Brodeur did make a few incredible saves, however, in a game that he has to stand on his head for, he simply couldn't get the job done.

Forty-one seconds into the first period should have been enough of a warning to Canada's coaching staff that Brodeur simply wasn't at his best. The normally deft puck handler had two glaring give aways in the first period alone, one which resulted in the first goal less than a minute in.

Another bad turn of events happened directly, because Broduer was trying out his baseball swing rather than simply allowing the puck to hit him in the chest and hold onto it.

It is not entirely fair to put this all on his shoulders, however. Team Canada's defensive zone play was sloppy for much of the night as well, as the defenders simply weren't quick enough or physical enough in their end to be of much help to Brodeur.

All in all, it was an entertaining game though. There was a stretch later in the second period where there were three breakaways in succession end to end. There was overall some really good checking as well, though none that could compare with Ovechkin's hit on Jagr earlier in the day!

With the victory, the Americans win Group A and earn the automatic berth to the quarterfinal round. Canada finishes second in the group and must now play Germany on Tuesday in a qualification game.

If Canada beats Germany, it may set up a monster quarterfinal match up. Since Russia has already earned a berth and is the third seed, it is likely that Canada will meet Russia on Wednesday.

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Potential Leafs and Canucks Deal Brewing?

In yet another trade rumor surrounding the Toronto Maple Leafs, Ken Campbell , (THN.com Blog ) is reporting that the Leafs and Canucks may be looking at a deal involving Toronto's Tomas Kaberle and the Canucks Cody Hodgson.

Hodgson returned recently from back surgery and is currently play for the OHL Brampton Battalion .

On the eve of the Miracle on Ice and wearing throwback 1960 jerseys, Team USA made history again.

This time it was against Canada at its own game. It was the first time the US beat their neighbors to the north in Olympic play in the last 50 years.

No one gave the US squad much of a chance again.

It wasn’t the Soviets this time but a Canada team littered with NHL All-Stars.

Just like Jim Craig did 30 years ago, Ryan Miller kept his team in the game with save after miraculous save.

Miller stopped 42 shots and none of the cheap variety. He gave his team a chance to play with the high powered Canadians.

And compete they did!

The Americans took the mostly Canadian crowd right out of the game. Defenseman Brian Rafalski scored just 41 seconds into the contest.

And the Americans knew they were poised for a spirited performance.

The game would go back and forth going into the second period with the score tied at two.

However, just as Mike Eruzione did in 1980 versus the Soviets, Chris Drury scored the pivotal goal that gave the Americans the confidence the rest of the way.

Team USA knew they could compete and win against the more talented and experienced Canadian Team.

A few members of the old American guard, Brian Rafalski and Jamie Langenbrunner combined for the score that put Team USA up 4-2. It was the goal that broke Goliath’s back. The whole country of Canada knew their backs were against the wall.

Even a Sid the Kid power play goal with less than three minutes was not enough. Team Canada didn’t convert on scoring chances and Ryan Miller robbed them at every turn.

The play that completely encapsulated the upstart and gritty Americans was the open net clinching goal by Ryan Kesler.

Getting mugged by a Team Canada defenseman, Kesler outmuscled his opponent to bat the puck into the empty net.

Game.

Set.

Match.

Seeing Team USA celebrating in their old school uniforms, could only make you think of Jim Craig, Jack O’Callahan, and Mike Eruzione embracing one another after beating the powerful Soviets.

Call it what you will.

It looks like karma was on the Americans side on this night in the birthplace of hockey.

In 1960, 1980, and now 2010, it wasn’t a matter of talent. It was a matter of passion, the will to win, and team work.

I bet Herb Brooks was smiling down from heaven.

And he will be smiling ear to ear when they bring home gold.

U-S-A.