Team Canada

I woke up today on what has been deemed the "Super Sunday" of hockey, with rematches of the last three gold medal games all slated on the same day.

But when I switched to NBC at 12 noon to get my Czech Republic vs Russia fix, I found that there was no hockey to be shown.

As a matter of fact, even though the Tivo description listed "Men's hockey, Czech Republic vs Russia," all they showed was various types of skiing and none of it featured Lindsey Vonn, so why would I want to watch?

Listen, my whole family skies and it is a fun sport to both partake in and watch, for the most part. However, seeing guys go over a bunch of tiny jumps without doing any tricks during a "race" is not entertaining.

Most of us Olympic fans would rather watch skiers Tanner Hall or Simon Dumont go big in the half pipe. But oh wait, there is no skiing half pipe in the Olympics, only snowboarding!

But that is an argument for another day.

My complaint today is that when I want to be enjoying two of the most talented hockey countries in the world go up against one another, I'm regulated to watching cross-country skiing.

Now if there is one sport that doesn't need to be televised, it has got to be cross- country skiing.

How does that take precedence over hockey? These games are in Vancouver, British Columbia. They are being played in Canada, the birthplace of hockey.

And my appetizer to the main course of USA-Canada isn't being shown for what reason? Because random skiing events are more popular?

It cannot be true that more people would prefer to watch the less exciting skiing events than a great hockey game.

So, what is NBC doing?

They know hockey is the biggest draw and they should know about the great anticipation of the three huge matchups taking place today.

But why didn't they plan to show all of them live on at least one of their three (bleeping) channels?

It simply doesn't make sense.

I had to hear from a friend over Facebook that it was an awesome finish until the Russians put the game away with an empty netter.

The game sounded like it totally lived up to the hype and I missed it?

You have got to be kidding me, NBC.

I'm glad Jay Leno's back with the Tonight Show, but other than that, I hate your station and don't watch a single show from your network.

Good day.

There will be a series of games today that have some history to them heading in, but Sunday’s main event will be when the United States of America takes the ice with their rivals from up north, Team Canada.

Both teams are undefeated thus far in the tournament, and both teams have looked sharp at sometimes and bad at others. Both teams are comprised entirely of a National Hockey League lineup. So even though they are rivals, they have many similarities, which makes the battle even tighter.

The differences? Well, the most obvious one is that from top to bottom, front to back, the Canadians have a much deeper lineup than the USA. Head-to-head, Team Canada’s first line is superior to that of the U.S.’s, their second is better than the Americans’ second unit and so on and so on.

Right on through Canada is a better team, offense, defense, goaltending; it is all deeper, it is all stronger.

With that said, the better team does not always win, because quite frankly, they may or may not be the better team on the ice, regardless of what they look like on paper. This holds true for Thursday night, when it took overtime and later a shootout to decide the final between Canada and Switzerland.

Canada ended up winning that game, but the Swiss gave them a run for their money and almost put Canada Hockey Place, hell, the whole country of Canada into a state of shock.

They may not admit it, but both the team and fans right now are nervous going into this game against the United States. I was fortunate enough to hear the reactions of Team Canada’s faithful after that game during my stay in Vancouver.

Based on what has been said, they will no longer underestimate an opponent in this tournament, which I see as disrespectful in any sport and in any scenario, especially the Olympic Games.

I do not know what the state of the locker room is right now, but the fans in Canada have lost a little of their confidence in their team. Canada was outplayed in that game at times, which they believed would not be the case for the entire tournament. That team over there felt indestructible, but that no longer is the case.

The reason I am stating all of this is because it could work to Team USA’s advantage.

There is absolutely zero pressure on the United States. In fact, more than half of the country couldn’t care less about the sport of hockey. Across the border, though, almost every household will have that game on the television set.

And if they are not home watching it, they are at the arena sporting their country’s colors live. That leaves all of the pressure on Team Canada.

Continue Reading: http://www.rangerstribune.com/2010/02/2010-vancouver-olympics-team-usa-and.html

Let’s not push the panic button yet just because Team Canada needed to go to the shoot-out to secure the win over the trap-e-zoid Swiss team. Sure, Canada was not at the top of their game, but the Grade “A” scoring opportunities alone were so lopsided it was ridiculous.

Never mind the shots on goal (18-3), how many times in the third period did Jonas Hiller come up with spectacular saves to preserve the tie? Make no mistake about it either, the Swiss were playing for the tie.

When the opposition plays the trap, and clogs up the neutral zone, it does not make for a very free-flowing game, and Canada at times had problems being patient with that.

Marty Brodeur was good in goal, and the shots that beat him...well I don’t know any goaltender that can stop a shot that goes in off the goal post—and the other was a fortunate goal for the Swiss, going in off a Canadian player.

Not to sound like sour grapes, but Drew Doughty was interfered with on the first goal, and I was surprised at how many of the interference-type penalties went uncalled.

Team Canada players have yet to gel, and that’s not uncommon for a short series of this nature. They have only had a few practices and two games to find that chemistry. In saying that, I was disappointed in some of the performances. 

Rick Nash, all 6’4”, 218 lbs. of him, needs to compete for the puck a lot better than he did last night. Way too many times he lost the battle for the puck, and that shouldn’t happen to a guy with his size, especially against players much smaller than him.

Take a look at how Sidney Crosby competes and come out of scrums with it. If Nash had the same intensity, he would be downright scary. Someone needs to light a fire under Nash for him to be effective or else Babcock should shift him down to the fourth line.

Brendan Morrow, with the little ice time that he had, was way more effective on the fore-check, banging bodies and creating energy. Did anyone even notice Jonathan Toews or Jerome Iginla last night? Neither of them had a shot on goal. What’s with that?

Chris Pronger is looking a little slow out there, and this could be a version of “Fright Night” when he meets up with the flying U.S. Team on Sunday. 

Team Canada players also need to get a little more selfish with the puck and start shooting when the opportunities are there and quit trying to set each other up.

Best line to date, which makes sense since they play together, is the San Jose Sharks trio of Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau, and Dany Heatley. Crosby’s line will be just fine when Coach Mike Babcock figures out who’s going to play with him.

Personally, I like Patrice Bergeron or Brendan Morrow and Eric Staal with Crosby. When Ryan Getzlaf’s line starts clicking than the three lines will be hard to match up against.

Not sure what has happened with Brent Seabrook, as he only played 8:28 last night when he was expected to be Keith Duncan’s partner. I have not heard any reports about him being hurt. Looks like Babcock thinks Drew Doughty is the better player, but not with what I saw last night.

Right now, I do not see why Brodeur would not be the starting goalie for the game against the U.S. If Canada had lost, then we may have seen Roberto Luongo, but don’t expect Luongo to play any more unless Brodueur goes in the tank or gets hurt.

In closing, I am hoping that Team Canada’s defense plays a whole lot better this Sunday, or Brodeur will have to be at his very best, especially against the Ryan Kesler line.

We got some dramatics in men's ice hockey, with Switzerland taking Canada the distance, but faltering in the shootout, while Slovakia did the same to Russia, but the Slovaks were able to take the win from the Russians.

But we are all in for a treat this coming Sunday (02/21/10) as we get a day (almost similar to NCAA's rivalry week) that has three rivalry match-ups. This is the day where we will most likely see each of the group winners and runner ups determined.

While it may not seem that important, it is. The three group winners and the best second placed team get a first round bye. Also, the top seeded team has the potential to face the lowest seeded team (barring any upsets between teams five-twelve).

Russia V Czech Republic 3:00pm EST

The Czechs will be coming off a game against Latvia, and the Russians will still have a bitter taste in their mouth after that shootout loss to Slovakia. Barring any surprises, the Czechs will come into this game with a two point lead on the Russians for the group lead—a two point lead the Russians will look to erase.

The Russians boast the better team on paper, but we all know games aren't played on paper.

Thomas Vokoun will guard the net for the Czechs, and he is quietly making a case for a Vezina trophy this season, playing for his Florida Panthers. Russia has two great goaltenders in Nabokov and Bryzgalov, but both have played just OK in these Olympics (Bryzgalov was in net for the loss to Slovakia).

I'm not sure who will start, but I don't think it will matter—both should be able to get the job done, but both could have a not so stellar game.

This should be a game with a ton of skill—Ovechkin and Jagr, Kovalchuk and Elias, Datsyuk and Havlat. It will definitely be a treat for the eyes.

I think this one will go the distance. It's hard to pick against the Russians but I think Vokoun can outplay his Russian counterpart and the Czechs take it four to three in a shootout.

Canada V USA 7:45pm EST

Simple for both teams, win and you take the group. Canada's two points instead of three against the Swiss will only affect them when every team is seeded after the group stages. If the Canadians fail to win this game they will most likely be facing what seemed impossible—losing out on that first bye.

The Canadian team has more talent and more depth than the Americans, but the Americans do have speed. The Americans bring the youth factor, but the Canadian team has it's fair share with Crosby, Toews, and the twenty-year-old defenseman Drew Doughty.

In the nets it's Brodeur V Miller (Miller has been confirmed as the starter for the tournament, and Canada Head Coach Mike Babcock has confirmed Brodeur will get the start in this game).

Miller was playing out of his mind, posting Vezina numbers, but has recently slipped in form along with his Buffalo Sabres. Brodeur hasn't posted career numbers (something hard to do with the career hes had), but he's been solid for the high-flying Devils, who are sitting second in the Eastern Conference.

Heading into this game, both teams have seen scores that haven't reflected their play. The Americans beat the Swiss three to one, and the Norwegians six to one, but they weren't spectacular against Norway until a three goal third period led them to the win.

The same could be said for Canada. The big thing in Canada's camp right now is execution—in the scoreless first period against Norway, and in the whole game versus Switzerland, Canada had all the chances in the world, but couldn't put the puck in the net.

Though, for the most part, Canada's misfortunes against the Swiss could be attributed to the play of Anaheim Ducks 'tender Jonas Hiller.

So we have two teams who aren't really playing to potential, although Canada's potential is greater than the Americans.

I think this game will be really close. I see the Americans up to the challenge of facing Canada on Canadian soil, but I doubt they can get all three points. I say Miller and Brodeur both have great games, but Crosby and co. will be too much for the Americans to handle, and Canada gets it done three to one.

Sweden V Finland 11:55pm EST

A repeat of the final at the 2006 Torino Olympics will see the winner of this one take the group.

Neither of the teams have slipped up (Sweden is currently leading Belarus, and Finland will take on Germany later today) so the loser of this game has a good chance of being the best second placed team and getting a bye—but by all means both teams will be looking to capture all three points.

The Swedes seemed to struggle a little bit against the Germans, and probably should have scored more than the two goals they scored. Backup goaltender for the Sharks Thomas Greiss had an excellent game, and was a big factor in the scoreline not getting inflated above two.

Finland looked solid against a weak Belarus team, only allowing one goal on twelve shots.

Both of these teams have solid defense and solid goaltenders.

Miikka Kiprusoff of the Flames and Henrik Lundqvist of the Rangers will be in net for Finland and Sweden, respectively.

Of the two, Kipper is playing better, and night in and night out gives his Flames a chance to win...but the same can be said of Lundqvist. Who knows where the Flames or Rangers would be in the standings without their star goaltenders.

Both these teams play some great defense, but I would not totally expect a complete defensive battle...but I'm not sure the puck will be in the back of the net a whole lot. Like with Russia, it is hard picking against Sweden, but I am picking Kipper to marginally outplay Lundqvist and Finland to squeak by Sweden two to one.

*After a little scare, Sweden defeated Belarus by a score of four to two

As you have seen in my article, I am a firm believer any team can beat any team—as long as their goaltender is hot. In a knock-out tournament your best player should be your 'tender if you want to take it all.

Four years ago, the Canadians made their most embarrassing hockey performance in history. They finished in seventh place, despite having some great NHL talent on their team.

They suffered in 2006 for two reasons. Their coaching was not up to par, and their chemistry was questionable.

As we have learned since then, Wayne Gretzky is not nearly as good of a coach as he was a player. And, as we have been shown over and over again throughout Olympic history, chemistry is one of the biggest factors in whether or not a team wins or loses.

Fortunately for Canada, both issues have been addressed for the 2010 Olympic campaign. Mike Babcock has now taken control of the bench, and Steve Yzerman made sure that chemistry was a fundamental factor when picking the team. This led to a few players that were on the team in 2006 to miss the cut.

Now, they have to make sure they don't get complacent, like they did against Switzerland.

To me, there are four things that every Gold Medal team needs. They need to have depth, chemistry, solid goaltending, and veteran leadership. Every team that finishes in the top half of the standings will have at least two of these. To win the Gold Medal, you need to be solid in all four areas.

Right now, the two teams that are being favored to win the Gold Medal are the Canadians and the Russians. Really, a game between these two teams would be a toss-up. But, there is a slight advantage to the Canadians.

On the top line, the Canadians and Russians are equal, but the lower lines are where the Canadians look better. Depth is the biggest advantage Canada has over Russia. The KHL players that Russia is putting on the ice do not have the talent of the NHL players that they will be facing.

After losing to the Russians in the World Championships, the Canadians will not want to lose again. They're definitely not going to want it to happen on their home soil. The Russians will have to deal with a determined Canadian team that will come after them with a lot of pressure.

Again, both teams are extremely good and both are capable of winning the Gold Medal. But Canada simply looks better. Their depth is better, their chemistry better, their coaching is much improved since 2006, and their determination to win the Gold Medal is unmatched. These factors are going to be difficult for the Russians to overcome.

See my Olympic Medal Predictions

Another thrilling contest in the books here in Vancouver, British Columbia as Slovakia defeated Team Russia 2-1 in a shootout earlier tonight.

You would think this game would have been a battle of offenses when heading into it, but it turned out to be a tight tilt that kept fans on the edge of their seats with defense throughout. Other than the United States' blowout in the afternoon, all the games that took place Thursday were tightly played and exciting. That is how Olympic hockey should be afterall.

Marian Gaborik and Pavol Demitra, former teammates in Minnesota, were the best players on the ice for Slovakia tonight. They were very dynamic with the puck and created some great scoring chances. Russian goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov had answers to most of them, except for Marian Hossa’s tying one-timer late in the second period. Demitra had the winning goal in the shootout.

Gaborik, for a player with a thigh laceration, has looked sharp out there for the most part. He is not skating at 100 percent but has been good enough to contribute for the Slovaks.

My fear, now, is when Gaborik returns to New York after the Olympics. I am not too sure his physical status will be all that great, but hopefully he can prove me wrong. The Rangers are going to need him more than ever down the stretch and in the hunt for a playoff spot, and they cannot afford to have him watching from the sideline due to an injury.

So with the conclusion of today’s games, below are the current tournament standings based on points:

1. Team USA - 6 points
2. Team Canada – 5 points
3. Russia – 4 points
4. Sweden – 3 points
5. Finland – 3 points
6. Slovakia - 3 points
7. Czech Republic – 3 points
8. Switzerland – 1 point
9. Norway – 0 points
10. Belarus – 0 points
11. Latvia – 0 points
12. Germany – 0 points

I will be heading to Czech Republic against Latvia on Friday, so check in for pregame and postgame analysis of that game, including in-game updates of all games on twitter .
(Photo courtesy of Reuters Pictures)

It was expected to be a blowout, and it was, in fact, a blowout when Team Canada obliterated the Norwegians earlier today in Vancouver. Lead by Jarome Iginla, who registered a hat-trick in the game, the Canadians easily captured a victory in their first matchup of the tournament. They were a bit sloppy in the first to kick things off, but once they got settled in, the domination began, and Team Norway, who was skating hard to begin the tilt, slowly but surely began to sink.

I think Canada’s biggest strength in the offensive zone will be their forecheck. The Russians are great puck movers, and the United States correctly executes the transition from defense to offense, so that leaves a question mark in the category of Canada’s strengths. While there may be many, the one that stood out to me was puck possession and work along the boards. That is how a majority of the Canadian goals and chances were generated; work off the boards and moving it towards the net.

Canada’s forecheck this afternoon was phenomenal and is a major reason for the 8-0 output. All but two players recorded at least a point for Team Canada in the win, which is still being celebrated in the streets of Vancouver as I write this. Jarome Iginla was the obvious standout, as he recorded a hat-trick in the game, but I also thought Joe Thornton, Sidney Crosby, and Corey Perry were also stellar up front.

The defense in front of Roberto Luongo was solid enough to get the win, but they definitely will be looking over tape in order to clean things up in their own zone. As for Luongo, well, he did not exactly have all that much pressure on him, but when Norway did manage to get a shot on goal, “Luuuuuuu” had an answer.

The atmosphere inside Canada Hockey Place for that tilt was incredible. The fans gave the team a standing ovation before and after each period. After each goal there were fans circling the arena with giant Canadian Flags held high above their heads. Every scoring chance on either side brought about a roar from the crowd. I mean, you just cannot beat a Canadian hockey crowd. They are the best hands down.

I was also fortunate enough to attend the Russia-Latvia game in which Russia took by the score of 8-2. In that game, Alex Ovechkin scored twice, Evgeni Malkin and Ilya Kovalchuk each had one, and the other four goals were buried by members of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL).

I was very impressed with Team Russia’s movement of the puck. They zip it around in the offensive zone and make setting up one-timers seem like a simplistic task. Yes, they played a low-level team in the Latvians, but I still was very impressed from what I saw from the Russians. And to think they are not fully there as a team yet is just frightening.

If any team in this tournament will compete with Canada, it will be Russia. They looked like a determined squad out there, not one that is in it for individual goals and themselves. They actually played as a team and know they are overdue for a Gold Medal.

On Wednesday I will be off to Canada Place to watch our boy Henrik Lundqvist and the Swedes take on Team Germany. I will have more on that game and other topics later. In the meantime, check out my Daily Blog over at BlueshirtBanter.com .

With the first game of Olympic men's hockey minutes away, it is time to do a preview of the tournament.

It is important to note that the tournament will have a couple changes this year.

For one, it is being played on an NHL-sized rink, with NHL rules for penalties...you know, a different set of rules for stars, based on the score, how much time is left in the game, and the whims of each individual referee. (What, that's not a standard, just a practice? Well, we can hope it won't apply to the Olympics, then, but to me, the judging there has always been subjective for all competitions.)

For another, there will be three groups instead of two, and thus only three preliminary games, not five. Instead of taking the top four teams in each group to the medal round, the top four teams overall will receive a bye into the quarterfinals of the medal round, while the other eight teams will have a play-in game.

To me this favours teams at the bottom and the top: The four teams that earn a bye can rest up, and even bad teams can get a medal by simply being hot for two games.

Being a Sharks writer, I will focus this preview on the teams that feature Sharks players, which happens to be all but one of the medal-contending teams plus Germany. Since I have already given away that I do not believe the nation of my maternal grandmother has a chance, I will start there.

Germany

This team has a distinctly Shark-flavour: Of eight players with NHL experience, five started their careers with the San Jose Sharks, including current netminder and Sharks backup Thomas Greiss.

Greiss has shown promise in limited action in net for the Sharks, and will go into this tournament auditioning for more playing time down the stretch. He will have to play exceptionally for this team to even make the medal round. The team's best forward, Marco Sturm, and best defenceman, Christian Ehrhoff will need to play exceptionally as well.

However, none of those players is a bonafide first line/pair/starting goalie in the NHL, and no one else on this team is better than fourth line/third pair.

There are seven other teams that are quite superior to Germany (Canada, Russia, Sweden, Finland, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic and United States), as well as a comparable team in Switzerland.

Germany's only real chance at a medal is to get a favourable matchup in the play-in round (they could legitimately earn a final-eight spot). If they can get hot for two of three games—the quarterfinal and either the semifinal they could earn silver or bronze medal.

If they earn a medal at all, it will be a remarkable achievement.

United States

This team has a lot of speed, but is very young. The defense is diverse enough and offers scoring ability from the point, but the forwards feature few true scorers and the team overall has too few marquee players.

The Sharks Joe Pavelski should play a major role as a scoring line center and penalty killer, and his faceoff prowess will help Team USA keep better teams' scoring chances down.

However, the team's success relies on its one major strength, goaltending. With 2009 Vezina Trophy winner Tim Thomas as a backup (2010 Vezina front-runner Ryan Miller will start), Team USA is second to Canada in net.

If Team USA's speed can keep Miller from being overwhelmed, he can keep them in games. They will need to play as much as possible at even strength, as they cannot match the scoring ability of Canada, Russia, Sweden, and the Czech Republic.

This plays to the strengths of coach Ron Wilson's disciplined style. A key play by one of the few stars or a gritty goal by one of the many role-players will give Team USA victories.

Contrary to some hyperbole being bantied about, this team is nowhere near the underdog the Miracle on Ice team was—Team USA should make the quarterfinals and maybe even the semifinals—but any medal here is an accomplishment.

Team Sweden

With all the talk of Canada and Russia in this Olympics, people are overlooking a very good Swedish team that, by the way, is the defending gold medal team. They have all the pieces: world-class goaltending in Henrik Lundqvist, a fantastic blueline headed by perrenial Norris Trophy winner Niklas Lidstrom, and a stable of forwards led by the home ice Sedin brothers and Henrik Zetterberg.

At the beginning of the season, one would have supposed that goaltending would be this team's biggest asset. However, with Lundqvist not having one of his better seasons in New York, they have only the third or fourth best netminding in the tournament—not a weakness, but this is not what will carry them to a medal.

Instead, they will turn to the blueline, the only one better than Team Canada's. The Detroit Nicks (Kronwall and Lidstrom) combine with underrated Mattias Ohlund and up-and-coming Tobias Enstrom to give Sweden three fantastic two-way defensemen and make them absolutely deadly on the power play.

Add in great defenders such as the Sharks Douglas Murray, the most physical player in the league (if you get a chance to see him play, you can note that the majority of times someone tried to check him it is they who go to the ice), Johnny Oduya, and Henrik Tallinder and teams will struggle to score on Sweden.

Only Sweden and Canada have enough forwards, including the greatest Swedish player ever, Peter Forsberg, to put three lines out that can score. This unit can really take advantage of the blueline's offensive skills with the man-advantage.

Clearly better than any NHL team, the Swede failure to win a medal would be a horrible disappointment. They are serious gold medal contenders.

Russia

This team is getting a lot of hype, and with good reason. A lot of people are looking for someone else to pick besides host Canada, and Russia is the most logical alternative, having great goaltending and some of the best scorers in the world.

So let's start with their "Achilles' Heel," the blueline.

With Andrei Markov apparently able to go, the team has two great power play quarterbacks (Sergei Gonchar being the other), plus Fedor Tyutin, Denis Grebeshkov, Anton Volchenkov, and Dmitry Kalinin. These players aren't much of a weakness, but  teams know they do not excel in their own end.

So, how does Russia combat the scoring chances they will yield?

The first way is through incredible goaltending. Team Russia is right up there with the United States and Canada in net: Ilya Bryzgalov would start for any of these three teams right now with the season he is having, but Sharks netminder Evgeni Nabokov is the chief rival of Ryan Miller for the Vezina right now.

Russia will need to cash in on games of their own in order to combat the scoring chances they give up. The blueline is exceptional offensively, and that is nothing compared to having the likes of Alexander Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin, Ilya Kovalchuk, and Pavel Datsyuk shooting from the slot.

This unit may lack the depth of Canada and Sweden, but is better at the top and will be deadly with a man-advantage.

With this kind of talent, anything less than a medal is a major disappointment, and the goal of this team is clearly the gold.

In the international game, skill outweighs defense, so their troubles in their own end will be minimized.

Canada

The gold medal favourites for a reason, you will note above that every time a team had a strength they were listed as comparable or even with Canada. Canada, Russia, and the United States have the best goaltending; Sweden has a narrow edge over Canada on the blueline; Russia and Sweden were compared to Canada among the forward lines.

In net, they can turn to, Martin Broduer, arguably the greatest goaltender of all-time, or his perennial Vezina runner-up Roberto Luongo.

On the blueline, they have former Norris Trophy winners in Scott Niedermayer and Chris Pronger and arguably the best pair in the league right now in Chicago teammates Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook. Not to mention All-Star Sharks blueliner Dan Boyle.

This depth of marquee players is why people are saying that, "Canada needs the gold medal, everyone else wants it." With the game on home ice and the talent so deep that the "Burger line" (as in Jumbo-Heated-Patty) from San Jose is actually currently the third line, anything less than a gold medal is a failure for this team.

(Mark my words: Thornton-Marleau-Heatley will get the most playing time as one line because it is the best line in the world. I know the shining star of the game Sydney Crosby has to go first, but Getzlaf-Perry-Staal second? C'mon!)

The only Achilles heel for this team is that Canada has been known to fold under pressure in the past. In the Turin Olympics four years ago, the team did not even play for the bronze, finishing seventh. In Nagano (1998), they lost the gold medal game. In fact, Canada has won only one gold medal in my lifetime, in Salt Lake City in 2002.

However, the game being played on an NHL rink aids them greatly—the biggest problem once NHL players were allowed in was adjusting to the international game. Thus, for even Russia or Sweden to beat them would take a major upset.

My final standings:

1. Canada has too many weapons not to win gold, even if I really wanted to pick someone else
   
2. I see Sweden as being more well-rounded than Russia and taking silver
3. Russia will bring home the bronze
4. The United States, in a mild upset, will advance to the bronze medal game but not be able to win it
5. Finland is a serious contender for a medal, with the necessary goaltending and deep forwards to compete with anyone
6. Watch out for the Czech Republic, who many people are overlooking despite great skaters and a good goalie in Tomas Vokoun
7. There is a significant drop-off from the Czech Republic to their rival Slovakia, but this is still an NHL-playoff level team
8. Team Germany will sneak into the quarterfinals as Greiss shows himself to be a legitimate NHL starting goalie
9. Switzerland needs too much from Jonas Hiller to make it into the quarterfinals
10. The Kostitsyn brothers give Belarus one legitimate scoring line, and that is more than the teams below them can say
11. Latvia has two NHL defenders they can put on the ice to slow down opposition scoring
12. Norway has no true NHL-level talent to work with and will have high scoring deficits from both the United States and Canada in the preliminary round

Written By: Mark “The Hard Hitter” Ritter

The suspense is over—TSN is reporting that Ryan Getzlaf will be on Canada’s Men’s Hockey roster.

Getzlaf, who had injured his ankle when he become tangled up with Los Angeles Kings forward Dustin Brown in Monday night’s NHL tilt, underwent an MRI on Tuesday. The results of the MRI were inconclusive at the time, leading Team Canada Executive Director Steve Yzerman to ask Philadelphia Flyers forward Jeff Carter to be on standby as a possible replacement.

Carter flew to Vancouver soon after the Flyers last game before the Olympic break and has since sat patiently awaiting Yzerman’s final decision.

Sunday evening Getzlaf suited up for the Anaheim Ducks. It was the first game action he had seen since his injury and, by all accounts, was to be the measuring stick for which Yzerman would determine his readiness to play for Canada.

Getzlaf left everything on the ice Sunday night, leading the Ducks to a convincing 7-3 victory over the lowly Edmonton Oilers, scoring two goals and adding two assists, for a tremendous four point night.

After the game Getzlaf lamented that he was ready to go and would like to be a part of Team Canada.

All Olympic Hockey Team had to submit their 23-man rosters by noon today and, by all accounts, Getzlaf is on the list, which means Carter will miss out on his dream of representing Canada in Vancouver.

No question about it, Getzlaf’s absence would have been a huge loss for Canada, one that could have been the difference between a gold medal and a silver or bronze.

Getzlaf is known as a gritty player who is tough to move in front of the net. He is a highly-skilled, physical player who has tremendous chemistry with Ducks teammate Corey Perry—who is likely to line up alongside Getzlaf on Canada’s second line.

Through 56 games with the Ducks this season, Getzlaf has registered 17 goals, adding 44 assists for 61 points, good enough for 18th overall in NHL scoring. He will be relied upon to bring the all-important secondary scoring to Canada’s Hockey Team and be a big part of Canada’s special teams as well.

While Carter would have been a decent replacement player, he is very different from Getzlaf in that he is more of a sniper and not nearly the defensive player that Getzlaf is.

Getzlaf’s inclusion is a huge boast for the Canadian squad—who also had a scare when first line forward Sidney Crosby took a puck off his ankle in a game against the Nashville Predators last night. Crosby’s loss would have been catastrophic. Thankfully it appears as if Crosby is alright, as are Canada’s hopes for a gold medal.

Until next time,

Peace!

Remember that line in Disney's the Mighty Ducks, it's not worth winning if you can't win big? Well, the Canadian and United States women's hockey teams clearly took that mantra to heart.

The two clear-cut favorites for the gold medal outscored their opponents this weekend by a margin of 40-1.

Saturday evening, the Canadian team broke their own record for biggest lopsided victory, which they set in Torino defeating Italy 16-0, by blanking Slovakia 18-0.

Early today, Team USA also thumped their opponent, blasting China 12-1.

This brings up the question: How much is too much?

I might have felt bad for the Slovakian team had I not read that they were on the opposite side of the coin during the Vancouver qualifying games not too long ago.

Forget the opposite side of the coin, but they might as well have been in the opposite pocket, in a bank, on the opposite side of the globe with what they did to Bulgaria.

Canada's 18-goal thrashing of Slovakia, where they outshot their opponent 67-9, was nothing in comparison to the Slovakia-Bulgaria matchup.

As a matter of fact, Saturday's game would have been considered close and down to the wire.

Slovakia woman-handled the Bulgarian team 82-0 in 2008.

82-0!

Like Slovakia, who made their Olympic debut against Canada last night, Bulgaria was also a newcomer to the sport.

I know that the Olympics are the grandest stage in the world of sports, and everything should be left out on the line while competing, but should there be a mercy rule implemented in future Games?

I mean, at least until more nations can prove they are on pace with Team Canada and USA?

The only other team that poses much of a threat to the two North American powerhouses is Team Sweden. The Swedes captured the silver medal in 2006 after they gave the U.S. their only loss of the tournament, during a breathtaking 3-2 game in the semi-finals.

Outside of Team USA and Canada, the competition is pretty tight. Sweden backed up their silver-medal performance in Torino, opening up the preliminary rounds with a 3-0 victory over Switzerland on Saturday morning.

Earlier today, Finland defeated the Russian Federation by a score of 5-1.

Despite the North American dominance—USA won the first gold medal, Canada has won the last two—women's hockey has never had a problem drawing interest at the Olympics since it's inclusion in the 1998 Games.

Canada faces off against Switzerland tomorrow, while USA will skate with the Russian Federation on Tuesday.