AN EARLY FINAL FOUR

Team USA is hoping to have two more of these celebrations


By Adam Bernard


Four teams left, but only three medals to go around. Lets face it though, there's only one type of medal that these teams have their eyes on and it's not the one that's the color of the Stanley Cup or the one of a penny. For USA, Finland, Canada, and Slovakia, they're on the precipice of a type of hockey greatness that only comes along once every four years. You can debate all day long whether the Stanley Cup or winning a gold medal for your country is better, but for the next three days, no one on these four teams is thinking about the annual trophy awarded in June. Here's a brief preview of the games:

USA-FINLAND - 3PM Eastern
-This is a match-up of two teams that play very similar styles of hockey. Both teams like to muck and grind it up on the ice, both teams like to forecheck aggressively and get the puck deep, and both teams have goalies that are capable of stealing the game. While the US was prone to mistakes and odd-man rushes early in the tournament, coach Ron Wilson has gotten the Red, White and Blue playing more responsible hockey in their own end. It also helps that Ryan Miller is seeing the puck as if it were a beach ball because he's stopping just about everything thrown his way. For Team Finland, other than a pathetic display against rival Sweden, they have looked strong through the tournament and they played the Czechs strong on Wednesday night. There may not be a better match-up of teams in the tournament.

PREDICTION - I predicted gold for the United States and I would absolutely love for that to happen. While they play similar styles of hockey, Finland plays it just a little bit better than the Americans. BUT, Ryan Miller has been the key for the United States and as long as he can continue to play the way he has, there's no reason to think Team USA will lose this game. Because both teams are physical and aggressive, the team that passes the puck more responsibly wins. Look for a one goal victory by the United States and for this game to be very similar to the Finland-Czech Republic & USA-Switzerland games where it was tight throughout the entire contest. If Finland can get an early jump on Ryan Miller and get two in the net, that changes my prediction because I don't see the US playing well from behind. USA wins 3-2 over the Finns.

CANADA-SLOVAKIA - 9:30PM EASTERN
-Picking Slovakia as my dark horse before these Olympics began was probably the smartest thing I've done in 2010. After a rough start against the Czechs, Slovakia has done everything their capable of and really impressed me in the victory over the defending gold medalists. The Slovakian team isn't very deep, but they are top heavy with guys like Rangers winger Marian Gaborik and Blackhawks winger Marian Hossa. They've gotten steady play on the blueline and goaltender Jaroslav Halak has continued to be consistently good between the pipes. Canada got exactly what the doctor ordered after a tough loss to Team USA. While Germany is a scrappy team, they were no match for Team Canada and the Canadians were able to get back on track against a team they could get back to basics with and get comfortable again. Then they went on to beat the other top team in the world in embarrassing fashion (btw, after the way Russia exited the 2010 Olympics, I'm already predicting gold for them on home soil in 2014 in Sochi because they are PISSED), Canada's got that swagger back in their games.

PREDICTION - As much as I would LOVE to see Slovakia continue their March Madness Cinderella-esque run, it ends today. Canada dodged what could have been a very embarrassing Olympics for them and now they're one game away from playing for gold in their backyard. Slovakia will play Canada tough, but I see Canada pulling away in the 2nd period and stacking the blueline in the 3rd period. 5-2 Canada wins (with an empty netter).


Also, a congratulations to Team Canada's woman's team for winning their third straight gold medal. They outplayed the United States and got excellent goaltending.