Canada Wins Gold!

Canada defeats the United States 3-2 in overtime. Sidney Crosby with the winning goal! Unbelievable!


Some random shots on the 'Net:

• I have watched A LOT of hockey. I have never seen a better game than that. I'm sure if I thought about it there'd be a few in the running, namely the final game of 1972 and 1987. But this was their equal.
• That was one hell of an American team. And this is just the beginning of the new generation of American players. The rise of American hockey dominance is here.
• Full credit to Canada for getting the job done, though. Winning Olympic gold is such a hard thing to do. And on home ice! The pressure, the tension were just unreal. But Canada pulled through, against long odds.
  
• Sad thing - these players will celebrate for a couple of hours, then fly back to their day jobs and may never be back together again.
• What a chilling moment when they played the national anthem. I had many American friends tell me how amazing that was.
• I personally had a tear in my eye when the Canadian flag went up. Two other great feelings: 1) my heart raced so much for three hours that I won't have to go hiking for exercise for a week! 2) it sure is nice get out my lucky socks. I haven't changed them in a week. But since they are 4-0, I will not wash them but put them away until the next big game.
• When you are young the thought of losing never enters your mind. When you are old you brace yourself for disappointment. It is one of the tragedies of age. Before the Olympics I prepared a piece in case Canada stumbled. It was really, really good. I am happy to say I will never publish it!!
  

A final word on the Olympics on the whole:

• The Olympics got off to a rough start, but what an amazing display of nation building. Canadians everywhere have been brought together. We learned a lot about ourselves. We experienced heartbreak and elation, but more than anything else we learned, or at least were reminded, just how great it is to be Canadian. It is a feeling I hope we can all hold on to.
  

More to come....check me out on Twitter @HockeyLegends in the meantime.

Player Of Destiny

Paul Henderson. Darryl Sittler. Wayne Gretzky. Mario Lemieux. Joe Sakic. Jonathan Toews. Jordan Eberle.

We can now add Sidney Crosby's name to the list. His gold medal winning goal in overtime on home ice will live on forever.

It's funny. Crosby did not have a great game or even a great tournament. But in the end, there he was, chosen by the hockey gods to score the goal of a life time. We've been calling him the Golden Boy for a while. Now he literally is.

Certain players seem to be destined for greatness. Crosby be clearly is one of those. World Junior champion. NHL scoring champion. NHL most valuable player. Stanley Cup champion. Now we add Olympic gold medalist and Canadian hockey legend.

All before his 23rd birthday.

Stephen Brunt's Essay on Vancouver Olympics

While today's gold medal hockey game may be the most watched event in Canadian history, there is something else I think every Canadian should watch today. It is Stephen Brunt's 4 minute video essay on the Vancouver Olympics and amazing impact they have had on Canadians. Regardless of the results, these Games have taught us so much about ourselves and how proud we all are to be Canadian. It has been an amazing experience.

Check out Stephen Brunt's video essay here.

Gold Medal Game: Canada vs. USA

Canada faces the United States in the gold medal game of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Puck drop is just after noon PST.

I don't know that there is a whole lot left to say. The men's hockey tournament has been great, with most games proving to exciting and very competitive. A couple have even been classic showdowns.

As for today's game, may the best team win. Anyone reading my blog knows that I am a proud Canadian. My allegiances are obvious, and there are no apologies for that.

Team USA is an amazing collection of young hockey players, and they have me greatly worried about the outcome of this game. And this is just the first wave of amazing young American players. Kids right across the country are taking to the game, and they will be a dominant force in hockey for years to come. American hockey fans, and there are millions of great American hockey fans, are in for a real treat.

I think there is sense of tension between Canadian and American hockey fans, which only heightens the rivalry. Americans think we are self-righteous about the game. Maybe we are just a touch. Forgive us.

You see, hockey in Canada is a collective experience. More than half of the country will watch the game, and probably over 90% of the country will experience the gold medal game in some way. It is impossible to escape. It is that important to Canada, to all Canadians. We live and breathe this game. Like Michael J. Fox says in the commercial below, you can't describe it, you just feel it.



So I hope I'm not being too self-righteous when I say this is why it is so important that Canada wins. Go Canada Go!

Finland Wins Bronze

Finland came from behind to knock off the impressive Slovakians 4-3 and win the bronze medal.
The game itself was a rollercoaster ride full of momentum changes. And the Finnish players really were able to share a real nice final moment together, and the crowd stayed to applaud.

It was likely the last Olympic game for many players on both sides, including Teemu Selanne, Saku Koivu, Pavol Dimetra and Ziggy Palffy and others. To all of them, we say thank you for all of the great moments over the years. We will not forget you, for you are truly some of the greatest hockey legends.

Golden Rematch

At the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City, Canada defeated the United States to win their first Olympic gold medal in hockey in 50 years. It ranks in this country as one of the three greatest hockey moments - along with the 1972 Summit Series and the 1987 Canada Cup.

I've been trying to rack my brain to remember my feelings heading into the 2002 gold medal game. Of course much of the tournament we were all up in arms as Canada struggled through the first four games, only to rally behind Wayne Gretzky's rant and catch a break that Tommy Salo could not.

After the coasting through the semi-final against the surprising Belorussians, I recall being quietly confident against the United States, who escaped the Russians in their semi matchup. With Mario Lemieux, Steve Yzerman, Martin Brodeur and most importantly as it turned out Joe Sakic, how could we lose? It was our time.

I recall being most concerned about the American goaltender. I had seen all too well what he was capable of, especially in the 1994 Stanley Cup playoffs and in the 1996 World Cup of Hockey. He was my biggest concern no doubt.


Fast forward 8 years late and we are eagerly anticipating the rematch. Most of the players have changed, but it does not matter. There are a lot of interesting shades of 2002 - Canada's struggles early in the tournament; Sweden's loss in the quarter-finals; the red hot American goalie, this time named Ryan Miller; and of course the all North American showdown.

Only this time around it was the US who had the easy semi-final, while Canada had the nail-biter. And this time, I'm not confident of Canadian victory at all - even though at the same time I wonder of the 2010 team is actually better than the 2002 team.

There is just something about this American team, with their rediculously hot goaltender, their plucky forwards and their over-achieving defensemen. They are very well coached and have all the confidence in the world. They match up very well with the Canadians.

Perhaps being frustrated and then downright scared by the Slovakians will be the best thing for the Canadians. They looked too relaxed at times against Slovakia, and perhaps now they will return to the urgency that they displayed in a near perfect game against Russia. If they play that way they should be fine.

But these American kids are something else, especially the goalie Miller. They won't just roll over like the Russians did. I get this bad feeling that this might be their time, just like 2002 was our time. Canada probably should win a best of seven series, but anything can happen in a one day showdown.

If Canada is going to win, they will have to play with the same determination and discipline they showed against the Russians. But if Canada is going to win on Sunday they will need to have their best games from Sidney Crosby and Roberto Luongo. It is these two that will take us to the next level. I don't think we've see the best of either yet. Sunday would be a good day to do so.

That's The Ticket

Courtesy of Erle at CanadiensMemorabilia.com, here's what the actual ticket for the gold medal game looked like:

Another Miracle?

Do you believe in karma? USA fans certainly will when they hear this. 50 years ago on February 28th Team USA won gold at the 1960 Squaw Valley Winter Games.


The Americans, backed by the awesome goaltending display of Jack McCartan and timely scoring of brother combinations Bill and Roger Christian (pictured above) and Bob and Bill Cleary, picture below, defeated Canada, USSR and Czechoslovakia in consecutive games to win the gold medal on home ice.

There was some friction between the two sets of brothers, who, along with McCartan and John Mayasich, were the stars of the team. While most of the team had competed all season for the right to play at the Olympics, Bill Cleary, decided he wanted to play late in the season. Because he was so good the American managers allowed it to happen, and to allow brother Bob to join the team too. Bob's inclusion created some friction on the tight American team, but ultimately Bill lead the Americans in scoring and was a major reason for the gold medal victory.

Make no mistake, the biggest reason for gold was goaltender Jack McCartan, who made 39 saves in a 2-1 win against the Canadians to all but give the Americans the championship. McCartan would be named as the tournament's top goaltender.

By the way, Bill Christian's son Dave would go on to his own notable career. In addition to becoming a NHL standout, Dave would be a major contributor to the 1980 Olympic gold medal winning American team.



There is an amazing documentary out on the 1960 "Forgotten Miracle" team:

The Noon Start

A week ago Brian Burke was telling everyone who would listen that "playing at noon sucks."

He couldn't be happier to be starting at noon today.

Of course that means he's playing in the gold medal game, which has been scheduled for noon forever. But it also may be their big advantage to getting the early jump on Canada.

USA has had to play 4 of their 5 previous Olympic games at noon. Canadian players have not played any earlier than 4:30 in the afternoon. Hockey players are creatures of habit, and as a rule they don't like afternoon games - they are night workers. Adjusting to an early start is often a wild card for many players. Just ask the Finns who came out inexplicably flat in their semi-final game and were trounced by a very prepared US team.

We've seen how crucial a fast start is in this tournament. The US has the noon start routine down pat. Canada has quite an adjustment to deal with.

Fatigue Issues?

Canada let up on the Slovakians with about 8 minutes left to play in the third period, and by doing so allowed the Slovaks to get back into the game.

Why? Were they guilty of being too confident, disrespecting their opponent by thinking the win was in the bag? Absolutely.

But I also wonder how much fatigue played a factor. That factor will be increased on Sunday, as for Canada it will be their 4th must win game in 5 and 1/2 days. With the disruption of the early start, they will have to be very disciplined on Saturday evening to get their rest. In the Olympic village how easy will that be?

The Americans meanwhile have coasted through to this game, had the benefit of the bye and have young legs. This is another case of advantage USA.

Big Ice, Small Ice

Okay I want to get this off my chest while the Olympics are still on and international hockey is still at the forefront: North American ice is not small. International ice is big ice, but North American is actually the standard sized ice surface.

You see, way back in the 1800s when the game was being created and the rules drawn, it was decided the ice surface would be 200 feet long by 85 feet wide. Why? Pretty simple really. When McGill students who wrote up the original rules of hockey they were using Montreal's Victoria Skating Rink. Built in 1862, the ice surface measured 204 feet by 80 feet. They tinkered with the number a bit over time, but with a standardized ice surface for the nation's most popular game set, every indoor rink subsequently built in Canada and the United States used it.

So why do the Europeans use bigger ice? Again, fairly simple. Europeans did not begin playing Canadian style hockey until the early 20th century. And a governing body, the Ligue Internationale de Hockey sur Glace - forerunner to the International Ice Hockey Federation - was not established until 1908. They adopted most of the Canadian rules when estalishing their own set of rules, but they more or less had to change the ice surace measurements because there were so many indoor rinks already in existence by this time. These rinks were built with other sports in mind, such as figure skating and their own hockey-like ice games. So they were built bigger and wider.

The LIHG-turned-IIHF settled on the 200 feet by 100 feet rink dimensions, providing 3000 more square feet of playing surface. Subsequently, as the game caught on throughout Europe, their indoor rinks were built for these hockey measurements.

I woud like to see a standardized ice surface in place nowadays. It seems ridiculous to have two different surface sizes. Of course, that would mean every rink on one of the two continents would have to altered, so it's just not going to happen.

Canada Hangs On Against Slovakia

Canada defeated Slovakia 3-2 to advance the gold medal game, but barely.

After handling Slovakia much of the game, jumping out to a 2-0 lead early and upping that to a more comfortable 3-0 lead in the 2nd. They seemed to be in full control half way through the third period, and that's when it all fell apart.

Roberto Luongo let in a softy on the short side to allow Slovakia back in the game. From that moment they stormed the Canadians, taking apart the defense, eventually making it 3-2.

The final minute of play felt like an hour of mayhem, as Canada scrambled and hung on. And then with the clock almost expiring Pavol Dimetra had an amazing chance to tie it all up and force overtime. But somehow a defeated Roberto Luongo got just enough of his glove on the puck and deflected the puck out of trouble for the final few seconds of the game.

Was Canada guilty of looking past Slovakia before the game was over? With the fans chanting "We Want USA" with well over 10 minutes left, you bet they were. Were the Canadians lucky to hang on? You bet they were. They disrespected an incredible Slovakian team and almost paid for it.

Somewhere the Americans were watching all this, smiling no doubt. Their scouts and coaches watched the Canadian defensive game plan in action for half a game. Then they watched Slovakia pick it apart, making their game plan notes fairly easy.

I'm sure I'll have lots on the gold medal game in time. But I want to talk just a bit about Slovakia. They have been amazing in this tournament, knocking of Russia, Sweden and almost Canada. They played a perfect game plan against Canada, frustrating them and the crowd. Had Canada not gotten the two early deflection goals against Halak, well who knows.

They put a heck of a scare in the hearts of all Canadians. I know I will be cheering them on for the bronze. I hope they are not too let down and blow the chance to win a medal, much like Canada did in 1998. It would be a shame to see Slovakia to go home empty-handed now. At age 28 Marian Gaborik - who didn't finish the game with an apparent injury - is the youngest Slovakian forward. This generation of Slovakian players will not be back in 2014, and, despite their passion for hockey, the country is not developing a new generation of players to take over. I'd like to see them get a bronze medal.

Slovak meets Finland Saturday night for the bronze. The Finns, too, will be going through a generational change after this tournament. At least they have players up and coming. I wish them well too. We've had an amazing hockey tournament, let's have an amazing bronze medal game, too.

Canada vs. Slovakia

Believe it or not, Pavol Dimetra may be the best player in the Olympics right now. I know I've said that several times this week. I still can't believe it.

Join me on Twitter @HockeyLegends for the game. There seems to be a very confident air here in Canada that Team Canada will win this game, although I'm not so certain.

The Canadian tension has been greatly relieved, which kind of scares me tonight. Perhaps they will be too loose, too confident, looking too far ahead. The opening 10 minutes will be so important. That is Slovakia's best chance to win. If Slovakia can catch Canada in a natural letdown coming off of the big Russia game and score a couple of goals early, and then ride Halak to win.

Personally I'm hoping Roberto Luongo is ready to hold up fort until Canada can regain its urgency. I just know they will have a bit of a letdown after such a big win. It is human nature. Perhaps the Canadian fans can urge them on tonight.

Wow

Wow is about the only word need to describe USA's destruction of Finland in the first semi-final today.

They could not have gotten off to a better start. It was all over after the 3-0 goal, and then the floodgates opened. Before the 13 minute mark of the first period it was game over. The opening 10 minutes are so vitally important in games right now.

Thankfully they let up after that, because IOC president Jacques Rogge may have threatened to remove men's hockey from the Olympics due to the blowout.

Finland did score a goal late in the game, giving the Finnish fans, some of whom probably paid four digits for their ticket, something to cheer about.

For a team that complained early in the tournament that "noon starts suck," they sure have done well with them. They've played 4 noon games now, and have established a routine. Hockey players are creatures of routine. Finland was not used to the noon start, and I really believe that is a big reason as to why they came out so flat.

Oh, by the way: USA now awaits the winner of the Canada/Slovakia semi-final for Sunday. The gold medal game starts at noon.

USA vs Finland

Join me on Twitter @HockeyLegends for the USA vs. Finland semi-final game starting at noon PST.

Classic Olympic Hockey Photo

Here's an old photo of German legend Gustav Jaenecke mingling with another Olympic legend - the great figure skater Sonja Hennie.

A Message From Slovakia

My friend Valerian Lukacko has a message for Canadian hockey fans tonight: Slovakia is going to win tonight because Slovakia has to win tonight.

From his English-language Slovakian hockey blog Sportovy blog:

I'm sorry to say this – but we deserve to play in the final more and we are going to put up a tremendous fight, trying to get the last glory (and also the biggest one) for proud country in the centre of Europe. So don´t expect us to give up that easily. We´re planning to win.

His note his actually more somber than you would expect. He, like most of his country, foresees tough years ahead as lack of funding has put the coming generation of Slovakian hockey in peril. This is their last chance, he fears, to celebrate great hockey in his country for many years.

Slovakia is a great hockey country, and hopefully their success on the world's biggest stage can help them to more success in the future. The IIHF and the NHL should be asking what they can do to help out.

Today Slovakia our enemy, a very dangerous enemy that Team Canada can not afford to take lightly. I have a return message to all the Slovakian fans watching in the wee hours of the morning: It's a great day for hockey!

Don't Overlook Slovakia

There is an air of confidence in Canada right now when it comes to the men's hockey team. That scares me.

Sure, we have looked invincible the last couple of games, and everything seems to be going well. But today is a different day. And just because the favored Swedes did not make it to the semi-final does not mean Canada has an easier game by any means. This is not like the Belarus team from 2002.

Canada can not afford to over to overlook Slovakia. If they do, I suspect they will get off to a rude awakening.

I suspect Slovakia will be the team off to the fast start tonight, meaning Roberto Luongo needs to earn his keep early. Canada will need to deal with the unavoidable let down from the high of the Russian game. If they get a couple of goals early, much like Canada did against Russia, that is dangerous. The Slovaks have the hottest goalie in the world and the best defenseman in the world. Coming from behind is not a great idea. Canada needs to get to Halak early.

True, the Slovaks don't have as much depth and perhaps have played above their heads, but these guys beat the Russians and the Swedes. Before the tournament began I picked Slovakia to be the surprise team of the tournament, albeit only mildy. The Russians and Swedes were upset by them.

Could they upset Canada, too? You bet they can.

Three keys to the game:

• The opening 10 minutes - Watch for the Slovaks to be dangerous and Canada to be slow. Luongo needs to come up big and hopefully the Canadians find their urgency level quickly.
• Jaroslav Halak. This guy has been playing unbelievably for weeks and even months. In a winner takes all knock out tournament like the Olympics, the team with the hottest goalie goes far. Can Slovakia go farther than they already have?
• Depth - The Canadians have tons of it. The Slovaks don't. Zdeno Chara can't play every minute. Canada has to use their speed and physicality to wear down the thinner ranks of the Slovak team.

USA vs Finland

• Everyone is anticipating a Canada-USA gold medal rematch right now. But Finland might have something to say about that. Miikka Kiprusoff is Ryan Miller's equal and the defending silver medalists are hungry. They have some good young players, but for the Selanne-Koivu generation, this is their last shot and they intend on making it happen.
• The Canada-USA matchup may very well happen but in the bronze medal game.

As always, for more thoughts, links and conversation join me on Twitter @HockeyLegends.

Olympic Slap Shots: Golden Girls

Time to put the puck on the 'Net:

• The Canadian and American women put on a great game in the women's gold medal game. And hats off to the great Canadian crowd. It was great to see such a crowd so excited about the female game. And kudos to them for their classy salute to the American ladies. We made be rivals, but that is the proper way to salute great hockey. Yeah, I'm talking to you Ryan Lambert.
• Shannon Szabados was amazing in net. Can we borrow her for the men's game?
• Marie Philip Poulin is the future of women's hockey. Her shot is something else.
• Before the game CTV aired footage of Team USA's Angela Ruggeiro, who might be the greatest female player ever, talking about her favorite sound - the silence of the Canadian crowd when USA scores a goal. Team Canada's response - don't let them score.
  
• I only saw the last half of the third period and the OT but the victorious Finns and Swedes put on a good show in the bronze medal game.
• Jacques Rogge was greatly irresponsible in the timing of his comments about the future of women's hockey. Prior to the gold medal game he found it necessary to put the future of the sport in doubt. You know these comments would not have sat well with the Canadian or American women's team, who embrace their roles as ambassadors of the sport.

Congratulations also goes out Joannie Rochette. Her bronze medal in women's figure skating just days after her mother died is golden in eyes and hearts of all Canadians.

As always, for more thoughts, links and conversation join me on Twitter @HockeyLegends.

Women's Hockey Gold - Canada vs. USA

Note: Join me on Twitter @HockeyLegends for the game at 3:30 PST.

Canada looks to defend their gold medal title from 2002 and 2006 today against the Americans, in a gold medal showdown that everyone expected.

Before the tournament began I predicted USA would win gold in 2010, giving them the edge due to some intangibles. But I did so with no great confidence. Canada has steamrolled the competition, although I thought they looked a little disinterested or disjointed for periods of time against Norway. In beating the competition so badly do bad habits creep into your game? Will that show against the US? The same can be said about the American team.

If there is anything we should now know about Olympic hockey it is that anything can happen on any given day. That, and the hockey will be great!

Women's Hockey Come Along Way - Women's hockey has a history nearly as long as men's, and while it has a ways to go still, it sure has improved by leaps and bounds in recent years.

Today's game will be watched by millions. There was a time when nobody would watch. Especially famed hockey writer Scott Young, father of rock star Neil Young. Here's an excerpt of an incredibly sexist article by Scott Young in the early 1960s that shows just how far women's hockey has come:

If anyone would care to see me in a wide variety of attitudes of sheer horror, trick me into attending a girl's ice hockey game. I wouldn't go willingly, any more than I would go willingly to watch lions eat Christians. In fact, wild horses couldn't drag me. The last time wild horses tried to drag me to a girls' hockey game I dragged them in the opposite direction with such violence that their braced forelegs became badly worn down, and they had to give up wild-horsing and take jobs as kangaroos.

Here's the full article.

Time To Put The Puck On The Nyet, Errr . . . Sorry, I Mean 'Net

Canada vs. Russia

• Two immediate thoughts come to mind - "Phew, what a relief," and "Wow, who saw that coming!" Somewhere tonight Mike Liut is smiling.
  
• I've often said the first 10 minutes of the game are the most important. That certainly was the case tonight. Canada exploded out of the gate, not surprising since they played last night and should have gained their legs quicker than the Russians, who had 2 days off. Canada needed to top off a furious opening attack with a goal or two. Mission accomplished and then some.
• One of Alex Ovechkin's few quotes after the game: "Everybody saw what happened...there's nothing to say...we can't play like that in first 10 minutes of game."
• Slava Bykov's coaching was down right bizarre. Not pulling a struggling Nabokov earlier was unbelievable, but so was his failure to change strategy until it was far too late. Canada was coming in waves with speed through the neutral zone and unmolested into the zone. That left he average Russian blue liners exposed as Canadian wingers zipped wide by them. The other two forwards crashed the net and found the puck. Bykov did nothing to fix that up. He had last change too, and did not do a good job selecting line matches. Russian coaches don't usually match lines, but he should have at least tried to avoid certain Canadian matching attempts.
• After the game Bykov did not seem too interested in accepting any blame, saying "Let's put up guillotines & gallows in Red Sq & kill all players and staff. Why look for someone 2 blame?" Thanks to @dchesnokov
• Russia's biggest problem tonight though - Canada was just that good. Full credit to the coachs, especially Ken Hitchcock who apparently devised the game plan.
  
• The mood in Russia must be very low today. There was so much hype, and equal pressure to win. This is the first time since 1956 that Russia has finished lower than 4th. That's amazing.
• Even though it was obviously not the Russians night, it probably wasn't until after Luongo's breakaway save on Malkin with about 5 minutes left that I felt comfortable in declaring victory, even with a 7-3 lead. If there was ever a team that could erase that lead it would have been this collection of superstars. Coaching, goaltending, and exposed defense held them back tonight.
• Kudos to Sergei Zinoviev, who I consider to be a very elegant and intelligent center in the classic Russian style. He obviously played in terrible pain tonight, hobbled by that knee injury. If only his teammates could have matched that heart.
• By the way, this was the first time in 50 years Canada defeated Russia in Olympic play. In 1960 Canada beat the Soviet Union by a similar high score, 8-5.
• At the end of the game the Canadian fans chanted "We want Sweden!" I'd rather have Slovakia, thank you very much, even with the great play of Halak, Chara and, believe it or not, Pavol Dimetra.
• The way Canada played on Wednesday they looked unbeatable. They will come down from this high and will be vulnerable in the opening 10 minutes on Friday. And at some point the extra game will exact some toll on them.
• Line of the Night - CTV's Nick Kypreos who said, and I paraphrase, "This might not have been for a gold medal, but this was for the heavyweight championship."
• Line of the Night II - Bruce Arthur - "It's a shame that Alexander Ovechkin couldn't be here tonight."
  
• In fairness to Ovechkin, he had lots of company as Semin, Malkin and especially Kovalchuk were unnoticeable, too. Ovechkin is not to blame for this loss.
  
• So much for the big Crosby vs. Ovechkin showdown. I thought Crosby played well enough, but he was a non-factor, too.
• The only bad thing about Canada winning is now I can't change my socks again. Superstitions are crazy, aren't they!
  

USA vs Switzerland

• I didn't see the whole game, but Switzerland played their hearts out. These guys can play. They need a game breaker, but many of their players impressed me.
• Zach Parise was nothing short of great on this day.
• American boss Brian Burke complained earlier in the tournament that "noon starts suck." I bet he wants to play on noon on Sunday. That's when the gold medal game begins.

Finland vs Czech Republic

• Finland outlast the Czech Republic in a defensive chess match.
  
• The turning point was the opening goal, late in the third period, when Pavel Kubina lost his helmet. In international hockey you can't play without a helmet. You must put it back on or leave the ice. He retrieved his helmet, opening up the chance to score.
• Make that a lesson to all NHLers at these Olympics - tighten your chin straps!
• Finland, the defending silver medallists, now plays USA on Friday. The winner plays for gold.

Slovakia vs. Sweden

• Slovakia over Sweden is not a huge upset. A surprise sure, but no upset.
• Canada must be somewhat pleased. Sweden was a real power, but make no mistake Slovakia will not be easy. They have Jaroslav Halak in net, arguably the hottest goalie on the planet. And they have big Zdeno Chara on defense, the best defenseman in the world. Marian Gaborik and Marian Hossa are game breakers and Pavol Dimetra, much to the shock of Canucks fans, is playing out of this world!
• Still, you have to have memories of 2002 with this development. The mighty Swedes don't make it to the semi-final against Canada, thanks to an upset.
• Henrik Lundqvist, the Swede's fearsome "King" of the net, allowed 4 goals on 14 shots.
  

More to come. As always, for more thoughts and conversation, as well as some great links and retweets, join me on Twitter @HockeyLegends.

Randy Gregg's Daughter Wins Silver Medal

Former NHLer Randy Gregg embraced the Olympic ideal at an early age. He played in two Olympics but never won a medal.

He instilled the Olympic dream in his kids, with two of them competing at the Vancouver 2010 games. On Wednesday Jessica Gregg won a silver medal as part of the women's 3000m short track speed skating relay team.

Here's more on Jessica Gregg. Her brother, Jamie Gregg, is also competing at the 2010 Games in the 1000m and 500m speed skating events. Sarah Gregg, the youngest of the siblings, is expected to challenge for a spot on the speed skating team in 2014.

By the way, Randy Gregg, a 5 time Stanley Cup champion, married an Olympic speedskater, Kathy Vojt. The two met at the 1980 games in Lake Placid.

Olympic Hockey Legends: Dominik Hasek, Czech Republic

In the post-Mario Lemieux era, the NHL had desperately waited for one of its collection of stars to rise to the level above everyone else. In the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano Japan, goaltender Dominik Hasek established himself as the best player in hockey.

The tournament was considered to be a 4 horse race with Canada and the USA as co-favorites and Sweden and Russia as definite threats. Even a strong Finnish team was expected to finish ahead of the Czech Republic.

But no one counted out the Czech Republic for two reasons: Jaromir Jagr and Dominik Hasek. Jagr, who many expected to establish himself as the best player in hockey this year, scored just one goal in the tournament but was his usual incredible self. But make no mistake - Dominik Hasek almost single-handedly won his country the gold medal, and he did it in legendary fashion.

After going 2-1 in the round robin, the Czechs were forced to take on the defending World Cup champions USA in the first game of the lose-and-you're-out medal round. With a great defensive system in front of him, Hasek stole a victory away from the heavily favored yet disgruntled US team.

However things certainly didn't get any easier for Hasek as the Czechs were then even bigger underdogs in the next game. Canada was the opponent, and the rules were simple - winner plays for gold, loser plays for bronze.

In what easily classifies as one of the greatest international hockey games of all time, Dominik Hasek emerged victorious, not only over Canada but over his arch rival of goaltending supremacy, Patrick Roy.

In the classic goaltending battle, the two teams entered the third period deadlocked at zero. Nearing the half-way mark of the third period Jiri Slegr's point shot managed to elude Patrick Roy, and the Czech's fell into their defensive shell, thinking one goal would be enough - thinking there's no way anyone could score on Hasek that night.

However, in typical Canadian dramatic style, Trevor Linden managed to roof a shot above Dominik Hasek's shoulder with just a minute left to play. It would have been a goal that would rival Paul Henderson's 1972 goal for Canada's greatest international moment if they had gone on to win. Except that goal only tied the game, and Hasek had no intention of letting in another.

The game went into overtime, and the Czechs basically played the trap, trying to force the dreaded Olympic shootout. Unlike in the NHL playoffs, international hockey would have games decided by a breakaway competition instead of endless overtime.

Hasek, considered perhaps to be the greatest breakaway goalie in history, stopped all 5 shooters. Patrick Roy stopped 4 of 5 shots. The unthinkable had happened - Hasek had done it again. Dominik Hasek was playing the role of giant killer in Nagano.

The gold medal game showcased a young Russian squad against the Czech Republic. The Russians had handed the Czechs their only loss, a 2-1 win during the round robin. Again, the Czechs were underdogs, and this time Hasek had to face the hottest shooter in the Olympics - 9 goal scorer Pavel Bure.

The Czechs checked and Hasek was perfect. He posted another shutout, as the Czechs won their first Olympic hockey gold medal, 1-0.

Hasek was simply unbeatable. His performance on the world's biggest stage, and established himself as hockey's new best player.

Click here for the full Dominik Hasek biography

Hockey's Eternal Rivalry

The politics may have changed, but the cold war is back in full force.

As enjoyable as the Canada vs USA rivalry has become, for old fogies like me Russia vs Canada will always be the great rivalry.

It goes back to 1954, when the Soviet Union entered a hockey team at the World Championships and shocked the world by defeating Canada. Almost from that moment on, international hockey was their great domain, changing hockey for the greater in the process.

We wanted to get our best players, our NHL stars, to play them, so we'd show them how Canadians play hockey. Not very well, at least so it seemed after game one of the 1972 Summit Series. We'd storm back, winning the series with 34 seconds left in the final game thanks to the "shot heard around the world." Somehow what should have been an embarrassing period of Canadian hockey became its greatest moment. A moment that will live forever.

The Russians would gain revenge in the 1981 Canada Cup, handing us our worst loss ever. Mike Liut still has nightmares of Sergei Shepelev.

We get revenge at the 1984 Canada Cup. But it was the 1987 Canada Cup where the rivalry peaked. The two greatest teams each nation ever iced, battling it out to the dying moments . . . Gretzky . . . to Lemieux . . .

Political change would see the rivalry subside for much of the 1990s, with it returning to epic proportions at the junior level. But in recent years we have seen the national team rivalry heat up, with Russia eliminating Canada at the 2006 Olympics, and in the gold medal games of both the 2008 and 2009 World Hockey Championships.

Shades of '72? Maybe, but I was thinking more of 1984. That Canada Cup featured a Canada team that stumbled early in the tournament, just like now. Meanwhile Russia had dominated everything in international hockey, just like now. Canada unexpectedly ran into Russia in a playoff game rather than the final, just like now. The game was another dramatic classic, just like today's game promises to be.

In 1984 Canada pulled out a dramatic victory. Will that happen tonight? I have no idea, but I will predict another classic clash of the hockey titans.

Crosby vs. Ovechkin

"Crosby is the Ivy League, scholarly center, while Ovechkin is the big-school, big-campus, fraternity-boy left wing. Crosby is a movie star; Ovechkin is a rock star."

- Dan Rosen, NHL.com

Tell me your thoughts on Crosby vs. Ovechkin, but remember to keep it clean!

My thoughts on Crosby vs. Ovechkin - don't make the same mistake I made when the debate was Gretzky vs. Lemieux.

Olympic Slap Shots - Canada vs. Russia

Time to put the puck on the 'Net:

• Canada destroyed Germany, finding some chemistry and confidence along the way, setting up the Wednesday game everyone wanted to see: Canada vs. Russia!
• At the end of the Germany game the Canadian fans chanted "We want Russia!" Be careful what you wish for.
• Normally playing the extra game rather than having a bye is a negative, and it still might prove to be one for Canada. But it actually was very much a positive for Canada, allowing them to lessen the tension on the bench, creating a positive environment, and, perhaps most importantly of all, finding linemates for Sidney Crosby.
• Predictions for the game? I really don't know. I will never bet against Canada, but that being said I am very nervous of Russia. I will predict this much though - the game will be another classic, and for the only time during these Olympics there will be no one on Robson Street from 4:30 until the end of the game! Everyone will be watching this game, in Canada and in all 11 Russian time zones.

For more thoughts and conversation, as well as some great links and retweets, join me on Twitter @HockeyLegends.

Olympic Hockey Legends: Peter Forsberg, Sweden

It is pretty safe to say Peter Forsberg left his stamp on the game of hockey.

Before "Foppa" came to North America and dominated the National Hockey League, he was the dominant player in his native Sweden. He was already well known to NHL fans, as he was a high draft choice, a standout at the World Junior Championships and the enticing centerpiece of the big Eric Lindros trade.

But Forsberg did not come to North America right away, preferring to play for Modo and the Swedish national team for 3 years. He was particularly interested in playing in the 1994 Winter Olympic games in Lillehammer, Norway, as at that time the NHL did not release their players to participate in the Olympics. Forsberg did not want to miss what at the time looked like his only chance at Olympic competition.

And what an Olympic competition it was. Sweden defeated Canada in a classic gold medal game that ended in a thrilling sudden death shootout. Peter Forsberg scored one of the most magnificent goals in the history of the sport for a thrilling ending, giving Sweden its first ever Olympic gold medal in hockey.

Posten AB, the Swedish postal service, decided to use the overhead image of Forsberg's goal to create a stamp to help launch the 1995 IIHF World Championships being held in Sweden. The stamp, pictured above, remains popular amongst hockey collectors all around the world.

With Olympic gold, World Championship gold and silver, and two Golden Puck awards (top player in Sweden's Elite League), the man regarded as the best player outside of the NHL decided it was time to begin his career in North America. The Quebec Nordiques, who patiently waited on their star prize, welcomed him with open arms.

Full Peter Forsberg biography

A Task Of Olympic Proportion

Note: Join me on Twitter @HockeyLegends for the Canada/Germany game

Canada starts the Olympic hockey tournament again today, complete with a new goalie, new lines and more pressure than ever.

Canada's task now is to win 4 must-win games in six days. That's a tall order for any team. Given slow progress shown in the preliminary round, this will truly be a task of Olympic proportion.

The good news is Canada has a fresh start and supposedly has an easy game to work some things out. That being said, the players better not be looking past Germany. They played a spunky game against Sweden. At times they have impressed with a surprising forecheck and aggressive attack. And in Thomas Greiss Germany has an NHL goalie who will be looking to rebound from a weak game against Belarus in what must amount to the biggest game of his life.

Oh, and assuming Canada gets by Germany, a fresh Russian team will be waiting less than 24 hours later.

Steve Yzerman had a press conference late Monday night, understating the obvious in saying "Obviously, we hope to do better," but that he still believes in his players. Honestly, so do I. They may have an impossible task ahead of them, but I really do believe in the coaching staff and players and their strategies and ability. They haven't gotten the necessary breaks needed to win a tournament like this, but it is better to get those this week than last week.

Yzerman also said "I'm not worried about my legacy," and I'm sure every player and coach on the team would say the same. But they all know winning is the only option here, and what is at stake is history's golden embrace or its unforgiving stare.

Other line changes: According to Bob McKenzie, Canada's lines for the Germany game will be Crosby with Staal and Iginla, Getzlaf with Nash and Perry, Toews with Morrow and Richards and the Sharks Line of Thornton with Heatley and Marleau. Bergeron will once again serve as a 13th forward.

There has been no word on defensive pairing breakdowns. And, yes, Martin Brodeur will be on the bench dressed as the back up. Third goalie Marc-Andre Fleury returns to the press box.

10 Interesting Facts About The Miracle On Ice

SI.com's Joe Ponanski has an interesting top ten list of things you may not have known about the 1980 Miracle On Ice. Here's a quick snippet:

8. You may know that Michaels called the game with former Montreal Canadiens goalie Ken Dryden. You may not know that the day before the game -- the day before -- Dryden has a car service drive him up to Toronto where he took the Canadian bar exam. And he passed. Yeah that's right. Ken Dryden passed the bar one day before the Miracle on Ice.

7. Michaels got the job as broadcaster of Olympic hockey because he was the only announcer in the ABC rotation who had ever called a hockey game. The interesting thing: He had called exactly one game. And that one game was the 1972 hockey game between the USSR and Czechoslovakia in Sapporo, Japan. He actually was working for NBC at the time. The Soviets won 5-2 and won gold. And the only reason Michaels called THAT game is because he grew up a hockey fan, and nobody else wanted to do it.

You can read the full list here.

The New York Times also has a great article.

Canada's Other Goaltending Option

Well, Martin Brodeur is out. Roberto Luongo is in. Marc Andre Fleury remains in the press box.

Canada does have one other goaltending option - Marc Denis. Author Chris Mizzoni was surprised to meet Denis at Canada Hockey Place, serving as the in-house scoreboard host.

Mizzoni has more on his blog Nitzy's Hockey Den, including a photo.

Olympic Slap Shots - The Long Road

I woke up Super Sunday morning fully believing the gold medal winner would be one of the teams who earned a bye into Wednesday's action. As an admitted Canada fan, I now hope I'm wrong.

It's time to put the puck on the 'Net:

• First off, as disappointed as Canadian hockey fans are today, that was a fantastic hockey game. Full credit to the US coaching staff for coming up with a great game plan, to the players for following through with that game plan, and to Ryan Miller for an amazing game. He was the difference maker.
• I actually liked a lot of Canada's game on Sunday night. They absolutely dominated for long stretches. They put great pressure on the US defense, mobilized their own defensemen, dominated the wall, and controlled the play. They were unfortunate not to have been better rewarded.
• The US blue line, considered to be thin and a weakness heading in, were fantastic at keeping the front of the net clean. The American forwards collapsed perfectly and took away the passing lanes. Amazing defensive job.
• We are definitely seeing a passing of the torch from the veterans to the youngsters on Team Canada. Chris Pronger was exposed by the Americans and his ice time went down while Drew Doughty's went up. Duncan Keith finally was upgraded to proper minutes, too.
• Speaking of changing of the guard, I suspect we will see Roberto Luongo take over for Martin Brodeur for the rest of the Olympics. Brodeur's stickhandling went from being exposed to being a liability to being downright bizarre. On top of that, Brodeur's unique hybrid style let in goals that Luongo's traditional butterfly style likely would have blocked.
• Canada now has to play Germany on Tuesday to qualify for the quarter-finals. If they win that game, they move on to play Russia. Every Canadian wanted to see that matchup, but on the weekend, not on Wednesday.
  
• Considering all the pre-tournament talk, it is amazing that either Canada or Russia will go home without a medal.
  
• If I have my brackets figured out right, USA has a comparatively easy route to the gold medal game. They would play the winner of Switzerland-Belarus and then a likely semi-final opponent of either Finland or Czech Republic.
  

Russia vs. Czech Republic

• What a hit by Alexander Ovechkin on Jaromir Jagr. Ovechkin has been uncharacteristically quiet in this tournament (bad news for Canada), but he created the turning point in that game.
• The Russians still didn't wow me in that game, though changing up Datsyuk and Malkin on the top two lines was a smart move.
• It will be interesting moving forward for Russia though. They only have 12 forwards, and should Sergei Zinoviev's injury be as serious as they look, they can't keep double shifting Datsyuk and Malkin with the 40 year old Fedorov on the third line. Will Viktor Kozlov have to take up 4th line center duty? That breaks up a good looking all KHL line, too
• The Czechs did control the game nicely until the Ovechkin hit, clogging up the neutral zone. With Vokoun in net and their unshakable belief in their chosen structure, we have not heard the last from the Czech Republic yet.

Sweden vs. Finland

• The late Sunday start plus a sour, almost exhausted mood here in Canada gave me the impression that there was not a whole lot of buzz left for the Sweden vs. Finland rivalry game.
• The pace of this game seemingly didn't keep up compared to the USA-Canada game. Finland had some penalty problems, most notably a nasty elbow to the head of Patric Hornqvist by Joni Pitkanen, and never got untracked
• Sweden has had some ailments shorten their bench. Both Peter Forsberg and Samuel Pahlsson were troubled with some sort of stomach ailment. Goalie Henrik Lundqvist is said to be having groin issues.
• Sometimes I wonder if a shortened bench isn't the way to go in this tournament. Players are used to be playing big minutes, but the 20 skater bench cuts everyone's ice time quite a bit. When games reach crunch time I'm surprised we don't see more coaches shortening their bench.

For more Olympic thoughts and conversation, join me on Twitter @HockeyLegends. And yes, there is hockey action on Monday. Women's playoffs, with USA vs SWE at 12 PST and CAN vs FIN at 5 PST. 4 other teams in action, too

Where's Phil Esposito When You Need Him?

The last time Team Canada was in this much trouble in Vancouver, Phil Esposito led the rallying cry.



Now, to be fair, Team Canada is in a far more enviable position today than they were in 1972. And the fans have been far more hospitable. That being said, the second guessing will be full force on Monday.

Bottom line - Canada is not done yet. They have played very well for long stretches times, but have not been rewarded. They need to find their groove, harness their energy at times, but their game plan is solid. They're running into hot goalies, although that's entering their psyche by now. If they can just do what they're doing and have a confidence building game against Germany, they will be ready to bring their best game against the Russians.

One area of improvement I believe is in the hands of the crowd. We need to make home ice as much of an advantage as possible. Too often against USA and at times against Switzerland the crowd became nervous, and the players responded to that. But if the crowd is as rambunctious as they can be, the team really feeds off of that positive energy.

The Canadian motto for these Olympics is "Believe." I still believe. We need to make sure Team Canada still knows we believe in them, too.

Just like the fans who travelled to Moscow in 1972.

Triple Gold Club to be honoured

Check these stats out:

• More than 15,000 players have tried to win Worlds gold since 1930.
• More than 9,000 players have tried to win the Stanley Cup since 1893.
• More than 4,000 players have tried to win Olympic gold since 1920.
• Only 22 players have won all three.

This very exclusive group has been dubbed the Triple Gold Club. On February 22nd, 2010 the IIHF will officially commemorate their achievement with a special induction ceremony in Vancouver.

The 22 players to be honoured come from 4 different countries: Sweden (9), Russia (6), Canada (5) and the Czech Republic (2). Here are the Triple Gold Club members, by country:

Sweden

• Tomas Jonsson
• Mats Naslund
• Hakan Loob
• Peter Forsberg
• Nicklas Lidstrom
• Fredrik Modin
• Niklas Kronwall
• Henrik Zetterberg
• Mikael Samuelsson

Russia

• Valeri Kamensky
• Alexei Gusarov
• Vyacheslav Fetisov
• Igor Larionov
• Alexander Mogilny
• Vladimir Malakhov

Canada

• Rob Blake
• Joe Sakic
• Scott Niedermayer
• Brendan Shanahan
• Chris Pronger
  

Czech Republic

• Jaromir Jagr
• Jiri Slegr
  

Who Wants To Be A Hero?

Henderson. Sittler. Gretzky. Lemieux. Slaney. Sakic. Hefford. Toews. Eberle. Who wants to be Canada's hero in 2010?

This isn't just a game. It's our game.

By the way, if you haven't watched Michael J. Fox's Canadian hockey promo, do yourself a favor and watch it right now.

Super Sunday!

Super Sunday is here! Join me on Twitter @HockeyLegends for all three games. I'll share my tweets and retweets and get a few conversations started. And of course I will have special coverage ready for Monday morning here at GreatestHockeyLegends.com!

It has already been an amazing tournament, with the level of play unbelievably high right out of the gate. Now things get interesting. The key word for today is urgency. Urgency equals wins, although goaltending is the great equalizer.

Enjoy the games everybody!

Hockey's Greatest Rivalry?

Have we ever seen a single day of hockey as great as what the 2010 Olympics offer us today - Super Sunday!

Today's triple feature not only sees rematches of the previous three gold medal games, but also highlights three of the greatest rivalries in hockey history.

Finland and Sweden, the latter of which won their gold medal showdown in 2006, have had a natural rivalry going back forever, and that of course spilled over to the hockey rinks in the 20th century. This rivalry is down right personal. Sweden's hockey team has handled Finland kind of like a big brother, usually winning but often just barely.

Canada and the United States, who battled for gold in 2002, have been rivals since Europeans settled North America, but on the ice this most physical rivalry is relatively new. But it has replaced Canada-Russia as hockey's top rivalry, at least for the past 15 to 20 years or so.

Many would argue that hockey's top historical rivalry is not actually between Canada and Russia, but rather the Czechs and Russia. They faced off for gold in 1998, with the Czechs winning. But these two long time European hockey powers have been facing off forever, both on the ice and in the political arena. It has been at times very much a blood feud, never so much than in 1968 in the streets of Prague. That led to the most intense hockey match in the history of hockey, as recounted by my article written back in 2004. It is a story you will not believe.

It is the history behind these rivalries - both on and off the ice - that make this Sunday truly Super.

Enjoy Super Sunday everyone. You can find me on Twitter @HockeyLegends throughout the day.

Olympic Hockey Legends: Mike Eruzione, USA

To say that Mike Eruzione is the United States greatest hockey legend sounds a little funny. He was not exactly a great player. In fact he never made it to the NHL. Of all the great names in American hockey history, Eruzione would probably rank near the bottom in terms of hockey talent.

Yet Eruzione's lone significant accomplishment ranks highest of all American hockey achievements.

Mike Eruzione scored the game winning goal in the legendary "Miracle on Ice" game against the Soviets in the 1980 Olympics. Like Paul Henderson for Canada in 1972, Eruzione will forever be remember for scoring that goal and little else.

The 1980 Olympic Games were of course held in Lake Placid New York. The American squad was led by head coach Herb Brooks and were heavy underdogs. In an exhibition game just prior to the Olympics, the Soviets dismantled a U.S. squad with an average age of 20, 11 goals to 3.

After an opening game tie against Sweden, the Americans would go on to win their next 4 games, only to find themselves against the Goliath known as the Soviet Union. Coach Brooks told his team "You were born to be hockey players. You were meant to be here. This moment is yours."

In a classic confrontation the teams remained tied with ten minutes to go. Enter Eruzione the American team captain.



The confident youngster from Boston University snapped a shot to give the U.S. a stunning 4-3 lead which they managed to hang on to despite immense pressure. With a win over Finland a couple of days later, the USA clinched the gold medal. The Soviets were forced to settle for silver.

Mike Eruzione was at the right place at the right time. Now he is forever etched into hockey history, and will forever go down as one the greatest hockey legends.

Despite his instant notoriety, Eruzione chose not to pursue the many NHL contract offers that were coming in, most notably from the New York Rangers. Instead the 25 year old chose to retire soon after the Olympics saying nothing he could do in hockey could ever equal his Olympic experience and that he wanted to go out on top.

Eruzione went on to become a popular and well paid public speaker as well as covering Olympic hockey games for major American television networks as well as some NHL games. He also returned to Boston University where he coached and was director of development for BU Athletics.

Espo Knew How To Celebrate His Birthday

This is Phil Esposito, the NHL's goal scoring king in the days between Bobby Hull and Wayne Gretzky.

He was not the prettiest of goal scorers, usually just banging away from the slot and swatting at rebounds. They used to say "Jesus saves, but Espo scores on the rebound."

Between the years of 1971 and 1976, Espo scored 50 goals in five consecutive seasons. In fact, he scored 76, 66, 55, 68 and 61 goals, some pretty fantastic numbers by any era's standards. But did you know it was Esposito who first cracked the 60 goal plateau.

Here's something else I bet you did not know. In three of the five seasons he scored 50 goals, 1970-71, 1971-72 and 1973-74, Espo reached the magical 50 goal mark on February 20th, his birthday!

Happy Birthday Phil Esposito!

Super Sunday

Friday and Saturday's Olympic action almost seems like a let down following Thursday's great games. But I already can not wait for Sunday!

Perhaps Belarus can shock Sweden again, but don't bet on it. The Czechs should handle Latvia while Germany vs. Finland promises to be the best of Friday action.

On Saturday Norway plays Switzerland, Latvia plays Slovakia and Belarus plays Germany. There's two women's games too, none involving Canada or USA.

Come Sunday we finally get to see the preliminary matches we've all been waiting for. At 12 noon (PST) Russia plays the Czech Republic, renewing hockey hostilities of days gone by. At 4:30 PM Canada plays USA in what should amount to a battle of physical attrition. And finally at 9:00 PM Sweden and Finland renew their rivalry for Scandinavian supremacy.

Any predictions for the weekend games?

Biggest Surprises Of 2010 Olympics So Far

Here's the top three surprises of the 2010 Olympics so far:

• It is not often that I actually LOL, but I could not help it when French skier Marion Rolland crashed. I felt terrible for her, but too funny!
  
  
  
  
  

• Pavol Dimetra can play hockey in Vancouver and the Slovaks upsetting the Russians 2-1 in the shootout. Although, people forget Slovakia defeated Russia in the preliminary round of 2006 Olympics in Turin, too. But the biggest hockey surprise - what channel NBC moves the game to! Seriously, moving it from NBC to CNBC to MSNBC or god knows where during the actual game has all American hockey fans in an uproar.
  
  
• k.d. lang rocked!
  
  
  

Olympic Slap Shots: Day Three - Surprise, Surprise!

There was a weather warning in Vancouver Thursday night, as there was strong, unexpected gust of wind on Georgia Street as Canadian fans exhale.

Wow! What an amazing game between Canada and Switzerland, followed up by an equally exciting and surprising game between Russia and Slovakia. If there is one thing that was hammered home Thursday night was that anything can happen on any given day - that is the nature, almost unfortunately, of this tournament. Better now than next week, and the scare may be the best thing for both Canada and Russia.

Before we move on, full credit to the Swiss for a hard fought battle. And full credit to Patrick Houda and Boris Vanya who called Switzerland to be the surprise team of the tournament in our Olympic Round Table earlier this week. And just for the record I, along with Valerian Lukacko, did call for Slovakia to be the surprise team in that same discussion.

I just had hoped Slovakia would take out Russia next week, not this week

Time to put the puck on the 'Net:

• There always seemed to be some great over-confidence among the fans and even in the media that Canada would dust off Switzerland pretty easily. Well, 4 years to the day after Switzerland shutout Canada in the last Olympics, they very nearly upset Canada again, taking Canada to the dreaded shootout. Some media were celebrating this game as Canada's revenge party. I don't think the players were guilty of this, but still. It just goes to show: Never underestimate your opponent.
• There will be a lot of talk about the lost point. In the Olympics you get 3 points for a win, but only 2 points for a OT or shootout win. They can still top their pool with a win over the Americans and get the valuable bye to open the medal round, but this will effect their seeding as the tournament progresses.
  
• I thought Canada played well enough in the first period, but once they got the 2-0 lead they seemed to lighten up and were definitely guilty of playing too cute. Ryan Getzlaf was particularly guilty of that Had they played like they did in the third period the whole game, this game would have been over earlier.
• Bottom line: Now Canada will be fully dedicated to the Babcock game plan which is how they played in the third period. They are pretty hard to stop when they play that way.
  
• Was that Jonas Hiller or Martin Gerber in net? It sure looked like a Swiss repeat of 2006 goaltending robbery. Amazing display, especially in the third period when Canada really beared down. He was the star of the game, no doubt.
  
• Speaking of goaltending, who does Canada play in net against the Americans? I tell you this much, I was a lot more confident in the shootout with Brodeur in net than Luongo.
• Lots of people are talking about players who are not on Team Canada after this game, with the names Steven Stamkos and Mike Green coming up a lot, especially with Canada going 1 for 7 on the PP. I'm not going to go there, as this is about the players who are there. Patrice Bergeron was spectacular in the faceoff circle in his role and Jarome Iginla came out driven in the third period before an apparent injury (that could be a big story). Mike Richards and Brendan Morrow need to find a way to make contributions in their roles. And the scorers need to KISS - Keep It Simple, Stupid!
• I'm still trying to decide if Canada playing on home ice is an advantage or disadvantage. The broadcasters mentioned you could sense the nervousness in the crowd and bench was affected by that.

Russia vs. Slovakia

• Slovakia is not a true underdog team in my estimation, but against Russia they certainly were, especially given that this was their 2nd game in 24 hours. Regardless, the gave the Russian powerhouse everything they could handle, and then won it in a long shootout. Two words: Jaroslav Halak.
  
• Did you know that was only the 5th shootout in Olympic hockey history, and the first not involving Canada?
• What is up with Pavol Dimetra? He's playing awesome, but somehow he can't even come close to that level with the Canucks. Ziggy Palffy was strong, too. He could probably still play in the NHL judging by the way he's playing tonight. And Chara was a tower of power as always, especially on the special teams. He was the best non-goalie on the ice.
  
• The Russians put together a dream PP unit of Malkin, Kovalchuk, Semin with Ovechkin and Gonchar on the points. I bet Ovechkin wishes Mike Knuble was from Russia, because no one was getting their hands dirty in front of the net.
• Ilya Bryzgalov was awesome in net, and should be the number one goalie going forward. Evgeni Malkin also looked strong.
  
• Gotta question Russian coach Slava Bykov's insistence on rolling all 4 lines and 8 defensemen. Rather than double shifting his big gunners up front or Markov on D, he kept rolling his lines. And then in the shootout he left some top shootout specialists on the bench.
• Note to anyone playing in the late game- the ice appears to be awful by the end of the third game of the day. Shoot the puck, no passing because it'll skip on the receiver.
  
• Kudos to Jaroslav Halak for the Vladimir Dzurilla tribute goalie mask paint job.
  

USA - Norway

• I didn't see too much of the game, but Pal Grontes stood on his head again, keeping the game tighter than the 6-1 score suggested. Norway tired out late and USA made the score look worse than it was.
• Smart move of the day - Ron Wilson reunited Zach Parise and Jamie Langenbrunner.
• I don't think USA has played their best game yet. But I bet they will against Canada on Sunday.

As always, I have more thoughts and I want to hear yours on Twitter @HockeyLegends

Paul Henderson Battling Cancer

Terrible news to pass along today. Canada's ultimate hockey hero Paul Henderson has announced he's battling cancer.

Henderson was diagnosed with lymphocytic lymphoma chronic leukemia in November 2009, he told CBC's Connect With Mark Kelley. Apparently this form of leukemia is the most commonly found leukemia in adults in the western world.

Henderson, 67, said early treatments have had no effect. He is vowing to fight on, and is aided greatly by his faith in God.

Henderson of course is best known for scoring the dramatic last second goal against the Russians in the 1972 Summit Series.

IIHF Begs NHL To Return To Future Olympics

A very interesting exchange between IIHF President Rene Fasal and NHL commissioner Gary Bettman today. Here's a quote from Helene Elliot of the LA Times:

"Fasel stopped short of dropping to his knees and pleading with Bettman to make sure NHL players are in Sochi, Russia, in 2014, but he didn't stop short by a lot. He suggested the NHL can lose its All-Star break to create more time to send players to Sochi and said continuing to send players would enhance the game's growth.

"The effort to shut down for two weeks and play here is worth it," Fasel told reporters at a news conference while Bettman, sitting to his right, grew increasingly red-faced. "For our game, our fans, Gary, we need you."

It sounds to me like Gary Bettman has Fasel right where he wants him.

Bettman's stance that the NHL may not return to future Olympics is all about positioning. He knows the players want to return, so he can use this as a bargaining chip to get different concessions in the next round of collective bargaining.

But Bettman also wants a piece of the Olympic financial pie, and I don't blame him. The NHL provides the best players. NHL participation creates dream tournaments, at least in theory. The NHL knows the IOC can count on higher interest and therefore higher revenues with NHL participation. The NHL gets zero direct benefit from interrupting it's business, while the IOC cashes in.

The problem is that while the IIHF seems desperate to see the NHL return, they really are an insignificant player here. This is between the NHL and IOC. Bettman may hope that Fasal can convince his friends at the IOC to see it his way, but really Bettman's battle is going to be with the IOC itself.

It's probably a long shot that the IOC will cave to the NHL. As far a I understand it neither the NBA (basketball) or FIFA (soccer) get any piece of the pie either. Perhaps Bettman will be looking to make some friends there.

NHL Olympics are a boon to international hockey in general. They are directly beneficial for the IOC. They are indirectly beneficial to the NHL, although to what degree is murky. As for Fasel and the IIHF, one thing is clear: If the NHL does not return to the Olympics, it is the IIHF who loses the most.

Ask The Hockey History Blogger: National Hockey Traits

Joe - One thing I love about international hockey is comparing the contrasting styles each country seems to have. Why does each country have their own distinct style of hockey? Canada and USA are stereotyped for their aggression and toughness. The Russians for their grace and speed. The Swedes for their craftiness, etc, etc. Why are there different types of hockey in each country?

- Tom

Thanks for the question Tom. It is actually a fairly straight-forward answer, and it has everything to do with politics and pride.

As countries began competing against each other in hockey, soccer, basketball, and other sports early in the 20th century, sports quickly became as much about national identity as it was about athletic achievement.

Here's what John Soares wrote in an essay submitted for the spectacular book Now Is The Winter:

"...on both sides of the Iron Curtain sport often appeared as a venue for Cold War rivalry. The Soviets explicitly considered their hockey players "at the leading edge of ideological struggle . . . in the role of ideological warriors." Even Canada's Lester B. Pearson . . . noted that "international sport is the means of attaining triumphs over another nation."

Canadian and Russian/European hockey used to be very different, but as the teams clashed more and more and as the political world changed, we have seen a convergence of hockey ideologies make for a greater game everywhere. Call it the globalization of hockey, and parity results. But there will always be regional differences a long as there is regional pride.

It was very similar to regional differences throughout Canada in the sport's earliest years. In the 19th century there were vast differences in style of play and rules in the hockey played in Nova Scotia, Montreal and the rough and tumble Ontario mining towns, with the Montreal game winning out. As the west was settled the game followed, hockey transformed into the modern game we now know. Our game never really further evolved until the European influence came along.

You see similar differences in soccer throughout Europe and even more noticeably compared to South American countries. Basketball also has distinct continental differences.