Battle Of Hudson

There will be a new Olympic champion in Vancouver. For the fourth consecutive Winter Games, the defending men’s gold medalists were ousted in the quarterfinals. This time, Sweden was victimized by a hungry bunch of Slovaks, who never trailed in a 4-3 win, advancing to the medal round for the first time ever. They’ll meet Canada, who should be a heavy favorite after dismantling Russia 7-3.

Nobody solved Henrik Lundqvist for seven-plus periods setting an Olympic record. But once Ranger teammate Marian Gaborik did via a nifty Marian Hossa power play set up, Slovakia had little trouble beating him on three consecutive shots, including a sweet Andrej Sekera finish off a two-on-one 37 seconds later for a quick 2-zip lead at Hockey Canada Place. Before Pavol Demitra’s left point power play bomb steered them back in front during a wild second that featured five goals, Sweden struck for a pair also eerily 37 ticks apart.

First, a fluky bounce allowed Peter Forsberg to get the puck behind the net and center for Patric Hornqvist, who snuck a backhand one-timer past Jaroslav Halak. The same trio combined for a Henrik Zetterberg tally when the Red Wing star centered for a cutting Forsberg with the puck deflecting off a Slovak defender. Just like that, it was knotted with Sweden pressing for more. However, Halak kept them afloat with timely stops in an odd played game that didn’t have many shots. In fact, after the Slovaks beat Lundqvist, they went a long stretch without taking No.12 which saw Demitra blast one thru traffic high glove late in the period, regaining the lead.

The Swedes blew a power play opportunity that carried over into the third. Having already made one glaring mistake earlier on the second goal, this time Nick Lidstrom got caught leading directly to a three-on-one the other way. A streaking Demitra dished across for Hossa whose bid was denied by Lundqvist but he couldn’t stop Tomas Kopecky who put home the rebound for 4-2. But before they could get too comfortable, the defending champs came right back when Halak misplayed a puck leading to Nicklas Backstrom setting up Daniel Alfredsson in the slot slicing it to 4-3.

From there, it became a battle to run off the clock. Opting to play smart defensive hockey which burned them earlier in the match, this time the Slovaks did a better job forcing Sweden into turnovers and attacking when they could with diligent checking from Hossa, Gaborik, Demitra and Jozef Stumpel. They nearly iced it with a point blank chance that Lundqvist denied with a quick blocker. The Swedes came close a couple of times with the Sedins nearly working their magic but Halak was strong against the post. Slovakia even made it difficult for them to pull Lundqvist with him finally on the bench with 45 ticks left. One final shot from Lidstrom almost deflected right to a teammate in front but the buzzer sounded giving Slovakia its biggest victory.

In the other late quarter, Finland prevailed over Czech Republic 2-0 backstopped by Miikka Kiprusoff’s 31 saves at a much quieter UBC Thunderbird Arena. Early on, the Finns struggled on special teams, failing to capitalize on three consecutive power plays. In total, they misfired on five man-advantages instead allowing an undisciplined Czech team to stay tied after 20 minutes.

The Czechs were sharper in the second testing Kiprusoff, who made a few strong stops including a sprawling one with his legs extended. The classic unorthodox style that’s seen him win a Vezina for Calgary. Each country warmed to the task at the halfway point with physicality picking up along with a mixed bag in the stands that makes European games such a fun atmosphere. The teams took turns testing both netminders with Tomas Vokoun also looking sharp as the contest remained scoreless after two.

A turning point came when Jaromir Jagr had two pointblank chances to break the tie but was blocked once and then with Kiprusoff dead to rights, fanned on the shot. No.68, who was competing in his final Winter Games, got stronger as the game went on- being moved up by former ’98 Nagano captain Vladimir Ruzicka to the top line with captain Patrik Elias and Tomas Plekanec. They nearly hooked up for the game’s first goal when Jagr drew defenders on a three-on-two, passing to Plekanec who dished across for an isolated Elias, who from eight feet hit the side of the net. Afterwards, the Devil looked skyward in disbelief. Unfortunately, those missed opportunitied cameback to bite them.

In a game where the refs were content to let the players decide it, a bizarre Martin Erat clear into no-man’s land wound up costing Czech Republic. Finland cashed in in even more bizarre fashion when a diving Pavel Kubina prevented a scoring chance in front. However, the Atlanta defenseman lost his helmet. A no no in IIHF competition. Instead of going to take Niklas Hagman, he had to go pick up his helmet behind the net.

“A player on the ice whose helmet comes off and continues to play without a helmet without going directly to the bench will get a minor penalty,” the media guide states.

It allowed Suomi to push ahead with Hagman the beneficiary, neatly deflecting home defenseman Janne Niskala’s left point shot. Teemu Selanne, who also is competing in his fifth and final Olympics, discussed at length the bizarre rule which helped his country advance to the medal round for a second straight Winter Games. In Torino, they took silver.

“We play in the NHL, so you don’t remember [the IIHF rule] and the team is so focused and so into the game that it’s almost impossible to remember that. On the safety issue, I think it’s a good rule. Hockey-wise, it’s a bad rule, especially in the NHL.“

 “It was obvious, in the third period, that who scored first will win the game,” added a disappointed Ruzicka who supported Kubina for conforming to the odd rule.

 Trailing by a goal with under seven minutes remaining, the Czechs searched for the equalizer but it never came with Kiprusoff making another awkward stop off a crazy redirect. Ruzicka pulled Vokoun early with still 100 seconds left. It backfired. Due to his team not having clear possession which was needed to get it deep, Mikko Koivu came the other way patiently going around a Czech defender before dishing to an open Valtteri Filppula, who clinched it.

“I got a little chill,” Selanne noted of Jagr’s glorious chance. Not surprisingly, an emotional beared Jagr buried his head on the bench after Filppula’s gimme. “You give him five chances like that; he’s going to bury four. You can see that he is hurt.”

“It was good for us that he lost his helmet, but it’s a stupid rule,” Hagman explained of his eerie decider which frustrated Kubina. “I know they want to keep it safe. [But] you lose a helmet; you should let the guy play.”

Instead, the Finns march on and will meet Team USA for another possible shot at Olympic gold.

Everyone’s talking about it over on Twitter. Apparently, Mike Milbury took idiocy to a whole new level. Even Sean Avery was stunned.

seanaverydotcom

  

Did Mike Milbury just say EuroTra$h on CNBC, not good!

Okay. Everyone knows how brutal Russia was in getting owned by Canada in the Olympic quarter 7-3 at Hockey Canada Place. But hell-o McFly! Is anybody home?!?!?!?! What a classless dumbass. I never cared for him when he ran the Islanders and well he did a bang up job hooking up the rest of the league. But wow. This guy is a joke. He’s supposed to be 57 years old yet acts worse than a toddler. Grow up already.

If NBC doesn’t fire him, they’re really going to look bad. Case closed.

Uh. Apparently, the guys wearing those Russian jerseys forgot that there was a game tonight. So did their coach who thought it was a novel idea to keep a shaky Evgeni Nabokov in after he allowed a crushing fourth goal on a simple Brenden Morrow backhand wraparound. Brutal.

Let’s see. A team consisting of Alex Ovechkin, Pavel Datsyuk, Evgeni Malkin, Alexander Semin and Ilya Kovalchuk essentially quit. Malkin’s turnover at the blueline that led directly to Rick Nash’s breakaway goal following Dan Boyle’s unscreened power play tally made it 3-zip before the sloppy Russians knew what hit them. Dmitry Kalinin (really) got one back. Kovalchuk had a quality chance in the slot blocked by Drew Doughty, who also leveled Ovechkin during the Canadian onslaught. Outside of that one shot, Kovalchuk was scary turning over the puck along with many teammates, who just couldn’t deal with Canada’s size and speed. Still, that Morrow goal was a momentum killer.

The Russian coach might want to beef up security because there’s a good chance he’ll need it. Poor Nabby just didn’t have it. How sad is this performance if you can call it that? Russia’s goalscorers are Kalinin, Maxim Afinogenov and Sergei Gonchar. On former captain Alexei Kovalev’s 37th birthday, it looks like his country could use him. Oh well.

Goalscorers for Canada: Ryan Getzlaf, Boyle, Nash, Morrow, Corey Perry (2), Shea Weber.

The third is on. I gave up when it was 6-2.

The Zach Attack finally struck. All tournament, Devil sniper Zach Parise had come close. But when it mattered most, he delivered scoring twice in the third period to break a scoreless tie- leading Team USA past Swiss in the first Olympic quarter into the medal round. His nifty power play deflection of a Brian Rafalski shot held up in a wacky third that had some close calls before the Minnesota kid sealed it with an empty netter late.

Despite a 33-8 shot edge that included Ryan Kesler’s turnaround which Jonas Hiller bobbled into his own net with the buzzer just beating the puck in, the No.1 seeded Americans were still knotted with pesky Switzerland, who played as expected. Solid skating, tenacious checking and relying on the Anaheim No.1 goalie to give them a chance at the upset. Not surprisingly, Hiller was sharper than yesterday’s 3-2 shootout squeaker that ousted Belarus. Facing a US barrage, he stopped almost everything including an early Parise opportunity to keep it scoreless. The hot goalie also got some help from the crossbar on a wicked curl and drag by Phil Kessel that drew iron. He finished with 42 saves including 18 in a busy first.

Hiller’s superb goaltending and his teammates’ fine attention to detail, blanketing early American power plays that overpassed, allowed a pro-Swiss Hockey Canada Place crowd to think upset. But over on the other end probably bored to death, Ryan Miller was unflappable en route to the 19 save shutout, becoming the first Team USA netminder to record one since the Rangers’ Mike Richter in the Olympics eight years ago in Salt Lake. That team went all the way to the gold medal game before falling to Canada. They’ll get the winner between tonight’s third game between Czech and Finland at 10 ET. Meanwhile, the main event gets going in a little while when gold medal favorites Russia and Canada battle at the bottom of the hour just to qualify for the medal stage. Incredible.

Ron Wilson’s new top line of Parise, Paul Stastny and captain Jamie Langenbrunner generated plenty of chances but couldn’t get one past Hiller. Bobby Ryan– who also was brilliant- had a couple of tremendous rushes but was stoned. Pesky play from Chris Drury, Dustin Brown and David Backes during one strong shift was snuffed out. Drury along with Ranger ‘mate Ryan Callahan again were superb in a checking role, doing their usual diligent work on important penalty kills with the duo registering at least eight of the 23 or 24 blocked shots. Blueliners Tim Gleason and Erik Johnson also were instrumental with the Cane getting in the path of a one-timer while the younger Blue made a saving stickcheck breaking up a three-on-one late in the second which may have prevented the first goal.

Hometown Canuck Kesler was also effective in all facets, nearly tallying at the second’s dramatic conclusion. But his turnaround prayer that Hiller bobbled into his own net didn’t cross the line in time, which the review confirmed. The Swiss were literally Saved By The Bell. Go figure that a guy named Zach would then do them in in a hectic third that saw another American goal wiped out. After Parise somehow got his stick out to redirect Rafalski’s shot for a PPG early in period three, a wild sequence took place with Switzerland coming oh so close to tying it. Off a nice set up, Sandy Jeanin went around a sprawling Miller and hit the right post. Team USA came the other way and appeared to score when Ryan Suter’s left point blast beat Hiller. However, an involved Kesler high sticked a Swiss’ helmet off negating it.

Despite the bad break, the focused Americans dug in killing off the power play. They would get tested all period but the defense was stellar and the last line of defense wasn’t about to allow anything. When he was needed, he did the job stifling Julien Sprunger.

Desperate to tie it, the Swiss pulled Hiller for an extra attacker. A pass for an open Roman Wick missed connection in the slot. Eventually, Team USA worked the puck around to Parise, who then used his guile to sneak past a Swiss defender and deposit the insurance marker with 12 ticks left. He got congrats from who else but Langenbrunner. Switzerland had nothing to be ashamed of putting out another yeoman effort in an attempt at a monumental upset. They just fell a little short.

Canada-Russia faces off at 7:30 on CNBC followed by Czech Republic-Finland at 10 with Henrik Lundqvist and defending gold medalists Sweden taking on Zdeno Chara and Slovakia at midnight.

Team USA and Swiss are about to drop the puck in the quarterfinals. Can the Americans continue their stellar play against a pesky opponent in a trap game? They must be real physical utilizing their size and skill to their advantage. Make it tough on Jonas Hiller, who’s fully capable of stealing this game. Continue to get dirty in the trenches and forecheck with the same vigor they did in their upset of Canada.

It would also help if scoreless duo Zach Parise and Patrick Kane found the back of the net. If Ron Wilson’s group wants to medal, both must get untracked. The Americans would be wise to stay out of the box. Don’t hand Switzerland power plays. Mark Streit anchors it and forwards Roman Wick, Julien Sprunger, Martin Pluss and Hnat Dominchelli are capable of finishing.

The other quarters feature Canada-Russia, Slovakia-Sweden and Czech-Finland. Kudos to heavy underdogs Belarus, Latvia and Norway for making last night’s qualifiers edge of your seat thrillers. Both Czech and Slovakia were fortunate to get through. David Krejci saved his country and Zdeno Chara did just enough to keep his country from being forced to sudden death.

Sit back and enjoy today’s puck.

It wasn’t pretty but the Swiss still pulled through. They needed a 10-minute four-on-four and a shootout before sneaking past pesky Belarus 3-2 in the first qualifier at Hockey Canada Place this afternoon. Thomas Deruns and Romano Lemm helped Switzerland set up a quarter versus Team USA tomorrow at 3 on NBC.

Favorite to advance, the Swiss got scored on in the opening minute when Aleksei Kalyuzhny snuck a trickler off defenders past a surprised Jonas Hiller. But Julien Sprunger responded with a power play goal, knotting the contest. For the day, the higher seed notched both their goals via the man-advantage. It would be a Hnat Dominichelli rebound past a sprawled Andrei Mezin which steered the Swiss ahead during a second they largely controlled. Islander defenseman Mark Streit got an assist on the tally. However, Belarus earned a power play and quickly tied it in the late stages of the second thanks to Konstantin Zakharov backhanding home a loose puck into a vacant net with Hiller off to the right.

Sensing an upset, many in the crowd began to root for the underdog who eight years earlier strung a much bigger one over Sweden, Belarus played more confidently, using their skating to generate chances. But most were misdirections which sailed wide. Hiller sharpened up in a seesaw third making a pair of tough stops to keep it tied. One instance saw Konstantin Koltsov with a great chance to shoot from the slot 15 feet away but instead, his pass down low missed connection. Each goalie was strong during sudden death pushing it to the skill competition.

In it, both Deruns and Lemm deked before picking high glove on Mezin sandwiched around a Hiller stop for a commanding 2-zip lead. But Dmitri Meleshenko extended it with a nice forehand deke finish off the bar and in with the Anaheim goalie on all fours. The Belarussian bench was given even more hope when Mezin stopped Swiss’ third shooter giving Hab Sergei Kostitsyn a chance to force extras. However, the third-year NHLer made one too many moves allowing a sliding Hiller to get a pad on his forehand deke in tight, sealing it for the Swiss.

Switzerland must play better tomorrow against USA, whose size, speed and strength will test the feisty European nation. However, the Americans can’t take it lightly as they only beat them 3-1 in prelims and know just how much of a trap game this is. Keep an eye on Roman Wick and Hiller along with Streit, who all must have strong games for a chance at the upset.

There are three more qualifiers taking place tonight. Canada and Germany are underway with a whole nation holding its collective breath. Also on tap later are Czech and Latvia (10 PM) and Slovakia-Norway at midnight. All three can be seen on CNBC.

Nearly thirty years to the day of the greatest hockey game ever played in our country, another batch of determined, gritty Americans gave a memorable performance of their own. With Miracle On Ice heroes Mike Eruzione, Jim Craig and Mark Johnson looking on in a hostile yet chaotic environment over in Vancouver, Team USA outworked tournament favorite Canada- pulling off a 5-3 upset in the final tuneup before the medal round. The stunning win allowed Ron Wilson’s club to finish a perfect 3-0 winning Group A to advance automatically to the quarterfinals.

Though it was a preliminary match that pales in comparison to the remarkable American upset of world power Russia en route to winning Olympic gold over Finland, this was a huge victory for USA Hockey. Especially in a tournament few gave them a chance to medal. Maybe one thing overlooked was the kind of character architect Brian Burke opted for on a North American rink. Unlike wider rinks, the more traditional NHL sized ice is better suited to physical play. Thus far, it’s been grinders Ryan Callahan, Chris Drury, Ryan Kesler, Dustin Brown, David Backes and skilled yet imposing Cherry Hill native Bobby Ryan who’ve made significant contributions. Facing one of the most talented rosters, they were instrumental last night. Especially down the stretch when a desperate Canada pressed for the equalizer, even holding the puck in for seemingly ever as our boys were out on their feet.

Thanks to heroic netminding from Ryan Miller, who was absolutely amazing- along with tremendous will from Callahan who atoned for a giveaway by reaching out with his right glove extended to block a shot before the puck was finally cleared after roughly 100 seconds, the hungrier Americans prevailed. Enough cannot be said about the Buffalo goalie who didn’t wear trademark No.30 instead donning No.39 in special tribute to Dominik Hasek??? Something Sabres contributor Brian noted. Whatever the reason, in his third Olympic start, he emulated the Dominator with some def defying saves on his way to 42 saves, including a two-save sequence in the frantic final two minutes that featured a Hasek-esque twisting stick save followed by a glove committing highway robbery which shocked Canadian Hockey Place.

One of the front runners for the Vezina left little doubt that he was the better goalie, outplaying Martin Brodeur who was culpable on at least half the output- permitting four goals on 22 shots. His more talented team which featured the all-Shark line of Patrick Marleau, Joe Thornton and goalscorer Dany Heatley plus finisher Sid The Kid, Rick Nash, Jarome Iginla, Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry and goalscorer Eric Staal helped outshoot Team USA 45-23. Canada’s blueline also boasted vet tandem Chris Pronger and Scott Niedermayer, who jumped up in the rush generating chances as did younger tandem Duncan Keith and Drew Doughty late. Despite an edge that included Dan Boyle and Shea Weber, the Canadian D struggled defensively against the Americans’ feisty forwards who pounced on their opportunities.

One of the keys to the great win was Brian Rafalski, who had a tremendous night tallying twice and assisting on team captain Jamie Langenbrunner’s third period power play decider with less than 13 minutes left. The former Devil defenseman was brilliant scoring 41 seconds into the contest, setting the tone. It was vital for Team USA to get out quickly against such a lethal opponent who still had the majority of the support even if there were plenty of Americans cheering on their heroes. Rafalski one-timed a Ryan Suter pass off Sidney Crosby past Brodeur. It would be a hint of things to come with Crosby finishing minus-three in spite of his late power play goal that made the ending more dramatic. That both Zach Parise and Langenbrunner, who was a beast, would be out celebrating a goal from their ex-teammate was pretty cool.

Canada responded when Staal neatly deflected home a Brent Seabrook point shot tying it 8:12 later. But before the pumped up crowd could get back in their seats, Rafalski did it again scoring his fourth consecutive goal for Team USA. This from a guy who had the same amount in 57 games with Detroit this season. He got a little help from Brodeur, who apparently must’ve thought Raf was still on his side. MB30 made a careless blunder aggressively paddling a loose puck right to the former Wisconsin standout whose fanned shot snuck through only 22 seconds later.

Afterwards, the Americans couldn’t muster much else as the ice tilted with the hosts pushing the pedal to the mettle, outshooting the red, white and blue 19-6. Trouble was they couldn’t squeeze another by Miller, who by this point was demonstrating the 2009-10 form that carried Buffalo near the top of the conference before a late slump had them a point behind Ottawa. Nothing seemed to distract him. Still, Canada came back to tie a second time early in the second when Heatley banged home a Jonathan Toews rebound off a mad scramble. Toews- who faced Blackhawk teammate Patrick Kane– was easily one of their best players. His great skating and playmaking was on display.

Every time you waited for Canada to surge ahead, Miller stood in the path as did gritty ‘mates who sacrificed by finishing checks, diving to block shots and winning battles in the trenches. The intensity of Team USA was apparent. They desperately wanted this game. In the words of hometown Canuck Ryan Kesler who wisecracked that he hated Canada even guaranteeing victory, their willingness to get dirty was a noticeable difference along with Miller’s clutch play in net. With the game still knotted and the crowd enjoying the physical firewagon hockey that always is associated when these rivals play, the hitting picked up. Nash had a ferocious hit. Even if it didn’t compare to Alex Ovechkin’s highlight reel clean shoulder that took Jaromir Jagr off the puck, leading to the Russian winner in a 4-2 triumph over Czech Republic to win their group. To quote pal John who we were over in Old Bridge:

“He sent him back to the 80’s.“

That game was an enjoyable appetizer that included Evgeni Malkin’s sweet finish on that huge turning point. Even if Jagr came back playing an inspired third, drawing three bodies to him on Petr Cajanek’s goal that made it interesting before Pavel Datsyuk sealed it. Ironically, hated one-time Blueshirt Dmitri Kalinin saved Russia’s bacon with a great defensive play might’ve resulted in the tying goal. But hey. It was a good day for Rangers with Henrik Lundqvist pitching another shutout (3-zip) this time over nemesis Finland to win Group C. Plus Drury, who scored a money go-ahead off a wild sequence that saw Brodeur flopping around with Backes and Ryan each getting whacks before the revived Ranger captain finished off his second at 16:46. Did we mention how good the controversial Burke selection was in his usual checking role alongside PK partner Callahan? Both were standouts, making key blocks late to preserve victory.

Remarkably, it was Team USA that took over late in the second and continued to push the action initially in the final stanza. Using a relentless forecheck to finally challenge Canada’s D, they drew three consecutive penalties. After Canada killed off the first two including an undisciplined Crosby hi-stick in the offensive zone, they couldn’t make it three-for-three. With Perry in the box for a slash, the former Devil combo went to work again with Rafalski sending another one-timer from the left wing towards the net which went off Langenbrunner’s skate past Brodeur. While Parise celebrated by jumping up and down, the insurance that Suter also netted his second helper on gave the U.S. just enough margin.

From there, it was Miller Time. On a day where the team in front of him were very disciplined, they handed the Canadians two straight power plays. After killing off the first thanks to timely stops from their meal ticket along with splendid PK work, Erik Johnson was nabbed for a questionable trip. They nearly had it back to even strength when Crosby went to the net and nicely deflected home a Nash feed, sneaking it just through Miller’s waffle, slicing to 4-3 with 3:09 left. Keith added a helper.

That’s when it got hectic. Chaos ensued on the next shift as Canada threw the kitchen sink at Miller, trying to get it tied. For what felt like an eternity, they had Team USA pinned deep. Eventually, they got tired and Canada moved the puck quickly for pointblank chances. Somehow, Miller made the saves which ranged from a tough glove save with traffic that he turned routine to a one-timer in the slot that he got a toe on. Eventually, the puck came to a wide open Weber, who fired but Miller said no.With his dead team unable to get the puck out following a Callahan clear which was gloved down, the hardest working Ranger made up for it by making a sprawling block of a one-timer. Eventually, they cleared the zone finally getting a change.

The play-by-play from Doc Emrick was as good as it got, describing the furious action as only he can. It still wasn’t over with Team Canada pulling Brodeur for an extra attacker with over a minute left. However, the American’s fire won out, eventually with Parise wisely pushing the puck out off the boards to avoid icing. Then, the amazing happened as Kesler outraced Perry somehow getting his stick on it for the empty netter that sealed it with 45 ticks remaining. But down two, the Canadians still came forcing Miller to make one more save before it ended.

It’s amazing to think that this was a preliminary round game. The way it was so highly contested spoke volumes about how much the players cared. It was exactly the kind of hockey which is why they must commit to 2014 in Moscow. Regardless what Gary Bettman says, this game was a homerun. Even if it wasn’t on NBC. MSNBC still did a phenomenal job not screwing anything up and making it a must watch. These games matter. I don’t care who you are. That was truly special.

3rd Star-Chris Drury, USA (2nd of Olympics for go-ahead tally)
2nd Star-Brian Rafalski, USA (2 goals and assist-leads all Americans with 5 Pts)
1st Star-Ryan Miller, USA (42 saves incl.13/14 in 3rd)

If you’ve been waiting for some big games, then today’s terrific trio over in Vancouver should do the trick. Plenty is on the line in each.

First up at 3, Russia and the Czechs do battle with Group B hanging in the balance. A Czech Republic OT win clinches first as they’d be a perfect 3-for-3 in preliminary action. Russia needs it badly due to their shootout loss to Slovakia, who finished with wins in regulation and OT plus a loss to the Czechs for five points. If Russia loses, they finish third in the group and would be in a difficult position. They’ll have Malkin reunited with Ovechkin in an attempt to boost offense against sizzling duo Jaromir Jagr and Cze captain Patrik Elias. We’ll see if they can slow them down.

At 7:40 tonight, the main event takes place when Team USA takes on host Canada. It’s the Americans and not Canada who’s in the driver’s seat. Ron Wilson’s squad looks to make it a perfect 3-for-3 when they step up in competition against Crosby, Iginla, Shark trio Marleau, Jumbo Joe and Heatley, Niedermayer/Pronger and MB30 in net. Thus far, the favorites haven’t looked sharp struggling mightily on the power play. Their overpassing almost cost them again against the pesky Swiss, who edged Norway yesterday 5-4 to finish third. If reunited Devil duo Parise and Langenbrunner can spark the offense, USA can win the group outright. However, if they earn only a point, it could come down to goal differential. It should be a thriller with Ryan Miller going face to face against Marty. We’ll see if shifting Kane to Ryan Kesler’s line gets him going in what will be an unreal atmosphere.

In the finale tonight at 9, a rivalry is renewed when Finland faces nemesis Sweden with Group C up for grabs. Both enter 2-0. So, something has to give. The Finns have been sharper with Teemu Selanne recording an assist for a new Olympic record 37 points (20-17-37). The Finnish Flash has participated in five Winter Games. Congrats to one of the classiest and best finishers the sport’s had. Hope you keep playing. It should be great to see him and Saku Koivu team up against The Sedins, Lidstrom, Zetterberg, The Mule and Backstrom. Plus Foppa even if we feel he took Mikael Samuelsson’s spot. The Finns will need good performances out of Olli Jokinen, both Ruutus, Joni Pitkanen and Jere Lehtinen. Plus there’s the great match-up in net between Miikka Kiprusoff and Henrik Lundqvist.

Is Henrik playing hurt this year? If you go by this article back home, he might still be nursing a bad groin. How does one play 54 games and only miss a couple of starts? Plus play in the Olympics. He did rest for a shaky second game in which they held off Belarus. One thing we’ve noticed all year is his tendency to flop to the ice whenever the action is near his crease. Imagine if it’s true? Yikes.

Anyway, the games should be great. Just one more thing. NBC. Don’t screw this up!

Some random thoughts from my cocoon after almost five days of the men’s Winter Olympic tournament:

-Who would have thought the US would be ranked #1 after two games (barring a four-goal Finnish win tonight against Germany)? They’ve certainly had a couple of workmanlike victories so far, beating Switzerland 3-1 doesn’t look so ho-hum after the Swiss almost stunned Canada in two straight Olympics though, this time on home ice! Team USA wasn’t quite as good as the 6-1 score against Norway and if anything was trying too hard to roll up the score, giving the Norwegians too many opportunities in the second, but put up a few goals late to pull away from a Norwegian team that’s pretty much looked hapless so far.

And I’ll admit I was wrong for questioning why Chris Drury and Ryan Callahan were both selected to the team, Drury despite his rep was just having such a terrible year and I thought someone like Brian Gionta, for example, deserved the nod over Callahan but taking both gives Team USA one of the best penalty-killing units in the tournament, something Brian Burke no doubt took into consideration. Especially since chemistry is an issue for teams that have just come together this week.

-O Canada, they certainly are good for melodrama aren’t they? Jarome Iginla being benched provides instant controversy…and you just know the critics who want the hometown boy to start were sharpening the knives there after Roberto Luongo got a yawner of a shutout while Martin Brodeur gave up two goals (oh, the horror!) against the Swiss. Of course, Brodeur did what he usually does when the game goes to a shootout, by stonewalling four straight Swiss shooters and giving Sidney Crosby time to convert on a second penalty shot attempt, which would be just enough for the winner in the most dramatic game of the Olympics so far.

-Nothing against Jamie Langenbrunner, who is doing a fine job for Team America as well as with the Devils…but it is nice to see Patrik Elias run with the C again for the Czech Republic. He’s played inspired, with three goals thus far. Despite Team USA’s start, it’s the Czechs who look the best of all the teams to this point. After a 3-1 win over a tough Slovakia team, the Czechs jumped out on Latvia early 4-0 but had to withstand a late surge by the underdogs after giving up a couple of goals late in the second period and wound up winning 5-2, with Elias sealing the deal on an empty-netter from his own end of the ice.

-For years I’ve been hearing about how Slovakia was going to be a darkhorse and really they should be with players like Zdeno Chara, Marian Gaborik, etc. However it never seemed to materialize in past Olympics. This year it might be, after a tough loss to the Czechs where two goals in the final couple minutes of the second period was the difference they stunned Russia, who was riding high after an 8-2 win over Latvia. After a 1-1 tie through overtime, Pavol Demitra got the best of Alexander Ovechkin in the sudden-death shootout and showed the Slovaks might have some teeth this year after all, especially with Jaroslav Halak continuing his good play this year.

-The other Scandinavian countries seem headed for the inevitable showdown with the group (and an automatic bye) at stake after Finland’s convincing win against Belarus in their opener. For their part Belarus continued to give the Swedes headaches, especially with Henrik Lundqvist taking a seat after his opening shutout against Germany in favor of the shaky Jonas Gustavsson. Sweden nearly blew a 3-0 lead before Daniel Alfredsson finally sealed up a 4-2 win with seconds to go.

As far as the coverage goes, I have a couple of bones to pick with NBC. First of all I get wanting to show team USA in any sport (even if it is curling) over two foreign teams playing, at least in a vacuum but MSNBC, CNBC and USA Network delaying hockey coverage for curling time and again has become a running joke. However, why is curling cutting into the start of a Team USA game?! Maybe I’m wrong, but I think people would rather see some of the world’s best hockey players over a sport nobody’s ever heard of, prelim games or not. The curling matches seem to take five hours and there’s little going on there. And it would be nice if you are going to delay the start of every game in favor of curling to put the start of the game on another of your 9324 networks and flash something at the bottom of the screen of the curling to go to this channel for coverage of the game. God forbid Dick Ebersol misses an opportunity to shoehorn a commercial in though, routinely missing faceoffs in the process.

Speaking of the coverage can we just get Jeremy Roenick and Mike Milbury in a steel-cage match and get it over with? And I love Doc Emrick, if you don’t you’re not a hockey fan. That said, there is such a thing as too much…when I heard he was going to be doing in the neighborhood of 28 games in 16 days I rolled my eyes. With that kind of schedule the poor guy’s going to be seeing double by the end of the tournament. It’s already started as he called #10 in the Czech uniform Gaborik twice (problem being Gaborik plays for the Slovakians). I mean it’s bad enough he has to call two men’s games per day, did they really have to have him doing a few of the women’s prelim games as well before the men got there?

There are some things about the Olympic format itself I like…for instance the point system is kind of what it should be in a post-shootout world. Three for a regulation win, two for an OT/SO win, one for an OT/SO loss and zero for a regulation loss. The only reason the NHL isn’t changing to that is (ha!) the sanctity of points records. So the sanctity of goalies’ won-loss records or team winning streaks affected by the new rules don’t count? Or having some games worth two points and others three?

Of course it’s nice to see no trapezoid of doom, but the shootout format is kind of warped. After picking three shooters apiece like they do in the NHL you can basically hit reset and send Zach Parise out ten times in a row. If the game’s going to come down to a skills competition at least make it a team activity. Maybe in the prelim rounds I can understand it since you don’t want Canada throwing out ten All-Stars against the Swiss’ ninth and tenth shooters (not that their first four were anything to write home about) but still, when you use the whole team in a shootout you get moments like Marek Malik nearly embarrassing Olaf Kolzig into retirement.

And speaking of the shootout…can someone send a memo to the Russian coach that Viktor Kozlov‘s actually better than his stars at the skills competition?

 It’s 5-1 Finland over Belarus which is no surprise. Olli Jokinen has scored. Niklas Hagman has two, including a highlight reel backhand deke Brent “Benedict” Sutter will never get to see even if Hags is a solid player. Even hated Jarkko Ruutu had one go in off his back just now. If I temporarily can’t recall the other Suomi goal, forgive me. It’s just not that interesting. Even if Sergei Kostitsyn scored 21 seconds into period two making it 2-1, allowing Belarus to hang around a while until Hagman finished. Now, I remember. Valtteri Filppula got the other. Ain’t that one of the coolest hockey names?!?!?!?!?! I just love the spelling of the two t’s and p’s along with the pronunciation.

Val—-terrrr-yyyy  Fil—-pppoooo–llllaaaahhh

As this uncompetitive preliminary round Olympic game comes to a close, I can’t help but think why these countries are even allowed to compete. I’m all for giving them a chance and seeing huge upsets like Swiss over Canada four years ago and didn’t Belarus beat Sweden (Tommy Salo) in ’02 or is my mind playing tricks on me? So, the shots in today’s mismatch errr game were like 45 to 7. Well, at least this cool Russian stream is showing the traditional anthem played after with both teams lined up for handshakes. God forbid NBC/CNBC/MSNBC/USA/PBC/UBC stays on for hockey’s best tradition. You get the point. Hell. They can’t even keep a promise on where to find Russia/Latvia with angry fans scrambling with CNBC airing curling’s conclusion. Nothing like watching the cool analysis of intense curlers measuring before rolling that human wrecking ball! Winter Games at its best!

In case you didn’t know or didn’t want to, Lindsey Vonn won gold today in downhill skiing. Let the butt kissing commence! Granted. She is fine and all (have you ever seen a better athlete in SI). But now we’ll hear how heroic it is that she overcame a “bad shin” to beat the field. Can I just ask why NBC couldn’t show it live this afternoon instead of waiting for their beloved “Primetime?” I know. They’ll get the ratings. But what about college kids or HS kids off who might’ve wanted to see it live instead of finding our the spoiler? Guess they don’t count in Dick Eber$ol’s world! Hey. What would ya expect? During women’s luge last night, they actually had the audacity to say the main reason for the start being moved way up was only due to “excessive speeds” making the track dangerous. Couldn’t have anything to do with the young Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili, who tragically died during a practice run before the Opening Ceremony. He was only 21 and had dreamed of competing in this high risk event which I’ll admit is interesting to watch. But whenever you see these lugers going at such crazy 85-90 MPH speeds, you wonder how much guts are required just to put yourself in that position. I mean it’s amazing something so sad never happened before. We’ve seen crashes/mishaps. But wow. RIP Nodar. 😦 God bless his family.

The Games are fun and should be enjoyed by all. Even if NBC makes it as hard as possible to sit back and relax. They are a disgrace. Still, if you love great competition for something much bigger than just a paycheck even if plenty come in the mail for the beautiful Vonn, they’re still laying it on the line to compete for their countries for gold. That will always be the Olympics’ greatest appeal. It’s why we watch.