Gold Medal Game: Canada vs. USA
Well it all comes down to this… is this a rematch of 2002? How about February 21, 2010? However you want to look at it, this is the Gold Medal Game of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics and it is shaping up to be a beauty!
I know this is going to be a lot to ask, but what I do want is for everyone to be civilized today and cut down on the ‘cocky’ comments until after the game… if that’s possible? I doubt it though as ever since Sunday when Team USA beat Team Canada in the round robin, insults have been flying back and forth in all shapes and sizes. Why would they stop now?
Ok, in all seriousness, this game has the potential to be legendary. The only Canadian loss of the tournament was at the hands of the unbeaten Americans. The Canadians had a tougher route to the gold medal game by far. There is no debate that the Americans road to the final was paved nicer by going unbeaten in the round robin, and the Canadians had the tougher games. Ask anyone in the tournament who they’d rather play, Russia and Slovakia, or Switzerland and Finland, and it would be a resounding vote for option two. Sorry Switzerland, you put up some good fights, but you’re no Russia.
Now, onto today’s game. What do I predict? Last Sunday I predicted Canada would beat the Americans 66 billion – 0… this week I’ll throw in a more modest prediction of 6-3 Canada. Fair? Too low? Too far apart? Knee jerk? Yeah kinda as I’m rushed writing this before I head out to the bar to get my drink, hoot and holler on. What better way to spend a Sunday afternoon than watching the best pro hockey we’re going to see for a while? No matter the result this afternoon, both teams deserve to be in this game, and I look forward to the trash talking afterward… yeah, even from you yanks if you win 
Hockey Hall of Fame Trophy Room
I was lucky enough to get shipped to Toronto last week, and managed to sneak out to the hockey hall of fame while I was there. I’d like to say that the HHOF visit was the whole point of going there, but it unfortunately wasn’t so I didn’t have all day to spend in there.
Anyway, I took a whole whack of pictures, and also a short video of the trophy room. It’s pretty cool seeing those things up close instead of just on TV… even if some/all of them are replicas. Here is the video first, with pictures to come later.
Canada vs. Slovakia Live Photos
What’s this? Why not post photos from the Team Canada vs. Slovakia game as they come in? Enjoy!
Canada vs. Russia
If someone would have told me that the final score in this game was going to be 7-3 and wanted to make a million dollar bet on it, I would have taken it. I did not expect that result, but holy smokes does it ever feel good! The boys played their hearts out, fed it to Russia all game, and got the bounces they needed.
This game was slated to be an Ovechkin vs. Crosby duel, but those two hardly had a sniff of anything as the rest of Team Canada dominated. What to blame it on Nabokov? Maybe you can, but why not throw some of it around at Ovi, Semin, Malkin, etc who were supposed to be the most lethal offense in the tournament?
Well, I don’t really have much to say about this game right now because a) I’m hungover and b) I can sum it up with only three words:
THAT WAS AWESOME!
Is Steve Nash Our Savior?
Maybe Steve Nash is the answer for Team Canada? Gotta love the closing line… “You can’t be this ugly and and not be at least considered for the Olympic hockey team.”
Ovechkin Crushes Jagr
Maybe this is what it’ll look like next year if Jagr decides to return to the NHL? Regardless, that was one hell of a hit! Ovechkin is a beauty!
Canada vs. USA
Ok yes, I admit it, I was wrong when I said that Canada was going to demolish the Americans on Sunday, even going as far as predicting 44 billion – 0. Oh how wrong I was…
After that less than stellar performance against Switzerland on Thursday I tried to be as optimistic as I could in hopes of passing some good luck on to the boys, but the nation’s greatest fears came to life when we were beaten by Team USA in our own back yard.
Twitter was a blaze with hockey chatter during this game, and there was criticism flying in all directions. Hottest topic? Brodeur over Luongo. Before the game started people were crying out that Luongo should have gotten the start, and then those cries turned into screams when Brodeur started playing like Tim Cheveldae. (sorry Timmy, had to pick someone!) Every time Fatso went out to play the puck I had flashbacks of Arturs Irbe and his less than stellar puck control. Basically if he ventured from the crease and tried to do anything with the puck other than stop it for the D, things went wrong. And that baseball swing that led to the second goal? That was just disgusting.
Yes Canada sustained some great pressure and had some quality scoring opportunities, but they didn’t capitalize on them like the Americans did. Ryan Miller was wicked awesome between the pipes, but I’m not going to jump on the familiar Canadian excuse of “we just came up against a hot goaltender.” That’s not an excuse. The problem is that this high powered offense failed to score. Crosby, Iginla, Nash, Heatley, Thornton, Marleau, on and on and on, that’s what you guys are there to do. Don’t hunt for assists, SHOOT and see what happens!
Ok, that’s enough venting for now. Next up we have the qualifier games on Tuesday, and then the quarter finals on Wednesday. If I left you in a bad mood, here is a picture of a Swedish hockey girl that you may enjoy.
2010 THHC Winner
Remember I said there was a prize for winning the 2010 Twitter Hockey Hottie Competition? Well here you go, pictures of the 2010 winner, @4LeafCloverGirl sporting her brand new 2010 Olympic Hockey Jersey (her choice of team of course). Looking good!
2010 Olympic Hockey Jerseys
Just came across a post on The Hockey News where they rank the 2010 Olympic hockey jerseys. Interestingly enough Canada gets trashed, but as I’ll reveal later, you’ll see that it was likely a last minute decision to knock them back that far. Anyway, here is how they ranked them:
1. Sweden
Canada vs. Switzerland
Well I almost went into traction last night watching the Canada / Switzerland game. I predicted a blowout and the only thing that was going to resemble that was a few fans at the bar that got so twisted at the end of the 3rd period that I thought they might blowtheirbrainsout. Regardless, it was a good game and there were some unreal saves at both end.
I wondered what it would be like if Canada fell behind, or was even close to doing so, and last night we got a glimpse. They kept on pressing, but just couldn’t get the job done without a shootout. Luckily we had Fatso there to stone all 4 SUI shooters, and then Cindy to bury the winner.
Too close boys. WAY too close!
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