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Olympic Hockey: Better Than You Think

Here we sit, a week into Olympic competition and I hear next to nothing about ho big this tournament really is. This could be it. The best tournament left to play. The last one before money and pride come in front of the game itself. That is all it will be, but for now, it is the best tournament in this Olympics, and everyone needs to pay attention.

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I am going to try to focus on the top few teams in the tournament fist, then go from there.

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USA

This Olympics, the US team is not packed with the superstars like the NBA and the Summer Olympics. They aren't even close. When Brian Burke was given the assignment to build a winner, he the the late Herb Brooks approach. Build a winner, not necessarily with a group of superstars. Get players that have talent, but also fill the roles to win a tournament. Well, Mr. Burke, so far so good. We are 2-0 and in a tie for first before Sunday's big match-up with Canada. Going into the tournament, the US was ranked #6 overall, behind Canada, Russia, Sweden, Finland, and the Czech Republic. We are quickly proving to be above that ranking.

Our team this year has a couple familiar faces on it. We have ex Penguins Ryan Whitney and Ryan Malone, and current Penguin Brooks Orpik. Malone is not just an ex Penguin, but a Pittsburgh native. I would venture to guess that Malone is the first Pittsburgher to make the US Olympic hockey team. He may be the first to bring back the gold as well.

If our boys indeed bring home the gold next week, we need to realize how big that really is. Maybe, just maybe we can give them the reception they deserve.

Canada

The Canadians were the clear cut favorite to win the gold, only to be contested by the Russians. This all changed against Switzerland. Though Canada still won on the stick of our own Sidney Crosby's shootout goal, it made everyone in Canada gasp. The talent that this team possesses is staggering. They seem to have it all, but like Ryan Malone says, it all comes down to one game, not best of seven. Anything can happen. I will tell you what, If the US can't win, I wouldn't mind seeing the Canadians get it. Believe it or not, they don't win it all that often, at least as much as they should. I almost forgot to mention that this team is so deep that the Stanley Cup winning goaltender more than likely will not see much icetime, despite his resume. Yes, our own Marc-Andre Fleury. I hope they give him some time though, just in case.

Russia

The Russians are a close second to the Canadians in overall talent. The only reason I believe they won't win it all is because they selected their first few players from the KHL, a sub-NHL league. I understand that they are trying to prove a point, but is it smart if it is at the risk of losing the gold? We all know how Russia is with losing. They don't take it well. They are expecting nothing less that that. I will be honest here, it is a difficult team to root for because of some of our rivals that skate for them. You know who they are, the Alex's...Ovechkin and Semin. What makes this difficult is the fact that a couple of our favorites in Sergei Gonchar and Evgeni Malkin also play for them. Definitely a tough choice. They did, however, hurt their chances for gold by blowing a game against Slovakia. It is deemed the greatest win in Slovakian history. It was a classic, going 7 rounds in the shootout.

Sweden

The Swedes are very underestimated in my eyes. They won gold last time around and have a lot of the same names as then. I do enjoy seeing, in these competitions, the past heroes from the ice like Peter Forsberg. It shows how much of an elite league the NHL really is when guys like that aren't playing here. They have a lot of experience on its side, unlike most of its competition. They are currently 2-0 like Canada and the US, but didn't win convincingly in either game. I see them continuing to play their game and turn some heads in the medal rounds.

Finland

The Finns are quietly making a splash as well with a convincing 5-0 win against Germany today to go to 2-0. Just like Sweden, they have an all-star NHL cast to include Teemu Salanne and Saku Koivu of the Ducks. We will see though, they don't have quite the same resume as the other top teams in this tournament. That might not matter.

Czech Republic

Led by our own Jaromir Jagr, a hero if you ask any Czech citizen, the Czech Republic have also quietly amassed a 2-0 record. Their next big task will be to take Russia out of the gold medal race on Sunday. Because of the shootout loss by the Russians yesterday, they put one more loss on the board and all could be lost. I am willing to be that Jagr and company would love to be the team that upset the Russians.

Oh, on a side note: Jagr is floating on the idea for an NHL comeback. Hmm.. I am not sure. Do we want him? I say if we can include him under the cap, then absolutely. We wouldn't have to give up anyone for him and he would work well with Malkin.

I am just going to throw in that anyone of these teams could surprise us with an upset. We can't underestimate anyone. I like our odds though, considering that some of these teams already played themselves out of medal range unless something drastic happened.

Let me finish off with complaining aspect to the games. NBC isn't even showing US versus Canada on Sunday, it will be on MSNBC or CNBC or something like that. How are fans supposed to fall in love with their team? How is a nation supposed to come together watching their homegrown boys win the gold for only the third time since the 60's? I will tell you this, it won't happen. How could NBC single handily, historically damage the reputation of a sport? What reason would Gary Bettman have to convince the owners in letting the players from the NHL come to participate next Olympics? He doesn't have one. We might be forced back to the amateurs playing in the Olympics, like Baseball in the Summer Olympics. Is it fair that we would have to put our second best out there? Would this move also encourage foreign players to play in the KHL because they will allow their players to participate? That would be a definite yes.

U-S-A!

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Posted Under Other, toad on 02.20.2010

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