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.

OH CANADA!!

Canada salutes their fans after a 7-3 drubbing of the Russian Federation.

(Bruce Bennett, Getty Images)

By Chris Carrano

CANADA TROUNCES RUSSIA, ADVANCES TO SEMIS

It was one of the most widely anticipated matchups of these Olympic Games so far. A contest that many (myself included) predicted would decide the gold medal, not determine who would advance to the semis. Canada squared off against their hockey nemesis Russia, in front of 19,100 of their own fans, on their own soil. Throw into the mix, another Sidney Crosby vs. Alexander Ovechkin battle, and you have a game for the ages. However, much like last years game seven showdown between the two NHL superstars, this game wasn’t all it was hyped up to be, unless, that is, you were one of the fans rocking the red at Canada Hockey Place last night.

The mighty Russians, who have owned the Canadians in international play, came in to the game with all the swagger and confidence one would expect from a team that has proficient scorers such as Alexander Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin, and Ilya Kovalchuk. The only thing mighty about the Russians tonight, was their fall from grace. Ryan Getzlaf put the Canadians on the board just 2:21 into the game and Rick Nash and Dan Boyle scored 46 seconds apart to put Canada ahead 3-0 by the time the first period was a little more than half over.

"You wouldn't expect a start like that, but that's the way we wanted to come out, just flying," Nash said. "We finally started to bury our good chances. That was the difference."

Roberto Luongo, the Vancouver Canucks goalie who plays his home games at Canada Hockey Place (the name was changed from GM Place for the Olympics), made 25 saves and allowed 3 goals, after staring in place of Canada’s hero, Martin Brodeur. Meanwhile, Canada out shot the Russians 42-28 for the game and 21-12 in the first period. Russian goalie Evgeni Nabokov, who plays with the San Jose Sharks, cemented his role as a big game choke artist as he was pulled in favor of Ilya Brzygalov after allowing four goals in the first period.

"I think how we start the game it's like small kids and big kids play against each other and big kids dominate," Ovechkin said. "They got the puck deep, used their power and they scored goals."

As amazing as it is that Canada unleashed their fury with such ease on the world’s number one ranking team, neither Ovechkin nor Crosby made it to the box score in a game that featured ten goals. Even more demoralizing for Ovechkin, along with Malkin and teammate Alexander Semin, is that all three were on the ice when Rick Nash and Shea Weber scored goals. Canadian coach Mike Babcock tinkered with his lines and used Jonathan Toews to center Mike Richards and Rick Nash while adding Scott Niedermayer and Weber to round out his defensive pair. The quintet shut down the Russian superstars, who each finished with a –2 rating, making them look as inconsistent as the New York Rangers have at times.

"That's the stuff you dream about as a kid, playing in those big situations against the best players in the world," added Weber. "It's not an easy task by any means, but I thought we did a good job as a team."

Canada’s next game is on Friday night against Slovakia, a team that upset the defending champion Swedes.

US EDGES SWISS, BARELY

If Brian Burke wasn’t happy with the way his United States team performed in a 5-3 win over Canada, then he must have been seething after watching his team barely beat the Swiss. Team USA squeaked out a 2-0 win over Switzerland yesterday afternoon, thanks to Zach Parise and another big empty-net goal.

Jonas Hiller played so well, it’s a shame he had to lose. He stopped 42 shots and never wilted under the pressure of the US attack. Zach Parise was finally able to slip one past the near perfect Hiller. He managed to get the tip of his stick on a slap shot from defenseman Brian Rafalski and sent it scrambling over the Hiller’s glove before nestling just inside the goal at 2:08 of the final period, giving the United States a 1-0 lead. That lead would’ve been 2-0 had Ryan Kesler’s goal counted at the end of the second period. After a video review, it was determined that the puck crossed the goal line a split second after the clock hit zero.

"Hillsy did an amazing job," said Swiss defenseman Luca Sbisa. "Without him, we wouldn't be this far in the tournament. He made unbelievable saves. We are so proud of him."

The Swiss came right back however with a fierce attack of their own. Sandy Jeanin shook off his defender and then forced US goalie Ryan Miller to commit before sliding a shot past the goalie that appeared to have crossed the goal line before bouncing back out, as described by NHL.com.

“I thought it was in on the bench," said Wilson, "because there was no sound.” Shortly thereafter, it looked as if the United State scored again on a shot by Ryan Suter, but the goal was disallowed when Ryan Kesler committed a high-sticking penalty in front of the net.

Parise then added his empty net goal at 18:48 of the third period to ice the game and give the Americans a sigh of relief. "A great performance from Zach Parise today," said Coach Wilson. "I thought he was our best player and in games like this your best players rise to the occasion and you saw that today."

Swiss coach Ralph Krueger added, "We would have needed a miracle to win today. The Americans, in the end, were the better team."

Next up for the Americans in the semifinals is Finland, the silver medalists from the 2006 Winter Games in Torino.

HATS OFF TO FINLAND! (LITERALLY)

After a scoreless game for 53 and a half minutes, Team Finland capitalized on a golden opportunity, with a little help from lady luck. Niklas Hagman scored the game winner in Finland’s 2-0 defeat of the Czech Republic.

It was the hockey equivalent of a pitcher’s duel which saw Finnish goalie Miikka Kiprusoff make 31 saves for the victory over his Czech counterpart Tomas Vokoun, who made 29. Finland’s lucky break came when Czech defenseman Pavel Kubina lost his helmet and had to go behind the net to retrieve it. That gave Hagman some room to work with and he redirected Janne Niskala's slap shot through a tiny space under Vokoun's legs, for the game’s first goal with 6:26 left to play in regulation, as described by NHL.com.

"It was an unfortunate break, but that's hockey," Vokoun said. "Not many pretty goals are scored here any more. It's always going to be something like that."

International rules state that any player who loses his helmet must track it down or get off the ice immediately.

“It was good for us he lost his helmet, but it's a stupid rule," Hagman said. "I know they want to keep it safe, (but) if you lose a helmet, you should let the guy play. I don't know what they're thinking, but that's the rules and you have to play with them."

Valtteri Filppula scored an empty-net goal to put the game away with 1:35 left to play to seal the win and move Finland into the semi-finals against the United States.

SWEDE SURRENDER: SLOVAKIA UPSETS SWEDEN FOR SEMIFINAL BERTH

There will be no repeat of their gold medal performance of 2006 for Team Sweden this year. The Slovaks pulled out the upset, defeating Sweden 4-3 last night, for what could be considered their biggest win in their short history.

"It's the biggest achievement so far in the short history of Slovak Republic," Slovak forward Miroslav Satan said. "We definitely going to enjoy it for a while and then focus on the next game."

Sweden goaltender Henrik Lundqvist had not allowed a goal in Vancouver thus far, but he let three straight get by him in the second period. His New York Rangers teammate, Marian Gaborik, and Slovak Andrej Sekera broke open the scoring with goals just 37 seconds apart. Sweden answered that by scoring two goals of their own, also 37 seconds apart, from Patric Hornqvist and Henrik Zetterberg.

Nicklas Lidstrom, who scored the winning goal for Sweden in the gold medal game at the Torino Olympics, had his last shot stopped by Jaroslav Halak as time expired.

Halak made 26 saves for Slovakia, who advance to the semi-finals to take on a surging Canadian team. "It's tough the way we lost," said Swedish veteran Peter Forsberg, who is playing in his final Olympics. "This is not the way we wanted it to end."

Information and quotes from NHL.com and NBCOlympics.com were used in this story.

TONIGHT

WOMENS MEDAL GAMES

Finland vs. Sweden, 2 p.m. EST Bronze Medal Game
Canada vs. USA, 6:30 p.m. EST Gold Medal Game

FRIDAY NIGHT

USA vs. Finland, 3 p.m. EST, Semifinal #1
Canada vs. Slovakia, 9:30 p.m. EST, Semifinal #2

FINAL STANDINGS (as of 2/25/10)

1 TBD
2 TBD
3 TBD
4 TBD
5 Sweden
6 Russian Federation
7 Czech Republic
8 Switzerland
9 Belarus
10 Norway
11 Germany
12 Latvia

All Good in Canada...For Now

photo credit: Jeff Vinnick, Hockey Canada

The nation to our north could rest easy last night because their puck boys, as expected, rolled over Germany, 8-2, to advance to today’s quarterfinals. Just don’t relax too much or too long with Russia up next.

Jarome Iginla scored his fourth and fifth goals of the tournament, Eric Staal added three assists playing with Iginla and Sidney Crosby, and Roberto Luongo made 21 saves against the anemic German attack. The postgame conversation, though, quickly shifted to Ovechkin & Co.

“That’s a big rivalry. We all now it,” said Crosby. “It’s something everyone’s been talking about. It’s something we thought that sooner or later would happen.” Just not in the quarters.

But this is the road Canada must travel after Sunday night’s upset at the hands of the Americans. Head coach Mike Babcock responded to that by replacing Martin Brodeur with Canuck Roberto Luongo. And by reshuffling his lines in hopes of energizing some of his scuffling snipers.

It’s impossible to grade the goalie flip-flop because Sven Butenschon has lost a step for Germany. But you did see Joe Thornton score his first goal of this tournament. Staal-Crosby-Iginla dominated the puck whenever they were on the ice. And while he still has not scored in these Games, Rick Nash was sharp on the left wing of Anaheim duo Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry.

The only drama on this night for Canada were whispers of mild discontent among the players over Babcock chosing Crosby over Nash for a penalty shot. The Columbus winger drew the penalty by driving to the net, and could have used the opportunity to build some confidence, but Babcock went with Crosby because his shootout numbers are better.

That minor issue will be long forgotten by 7:30pm ET when Russia and Canada take the ice in Vancouver. “We don’t have the kind of pressure that [they] have right now because they’re the home team,” said Alex Ovechkin. And while that’s true, no one back in the Mother Country will accept a quarterfinal loss, so there’s plenty of pressure on Alex and his buddies, too.

The Russians must also deal with a Canadian Hockey Place crowd that chanted “We Want Russia!” in the final minutes last night. When Ovechkin runs over Crosby a la Jaromir Jagr this weekend, those fans will regret opening their mouths.

SWITZERLAND 3 – BELARUS 2 in a shootout

Despite what our Tuesday preview told you, Swiss goalie Jonas Hiller was not the best player on the ice yesterday afternoon. But he made two saves in the skills competition to avoid the upset.

CZECH REPUBLIC 3 – LATVIA 2 OT

The Czech Republic avoided a larger upset thanks to David Krejci’s tally 5:10 into overtime. More important, though, is the upper-body injury Jaromir Jagr suffered in the first period. He only played seven shifts.

SLOVAKIA 4 – NORWAY 3

Thore Vikingstad and his fellow Norwegians could not pull off the upset we predicted in this spot yesterday…but they almost did. Miroslav Satan notched the game-winner at 8:41 of the final period. This game marred, though, by a gruesome injury to Slovakia forward Lubos Bartecko. He was felled by Ole-Kristian Tollefsen’s illegal elbow. Bartecko slammed the back of his head on the ice because his helmet had been knocked off. As he lay unconscious on the ice, blood pooled underneath him. After a 10-minute delay, Bartecko was taken off the ice on a stretcher.

Wednesday Schedule (all times are Eastern)

Switzerland – USA 3:00 pm

Canada-Russia 7:30 pm

Czech Republic-Finland 10:00 pm

Slovakia-Sweden 11:55 pm

- Andrew Bogusch boguschhockey@gmail.com

Medal Round Begins in Vancouver

photo credit: Jeff Vinnick, Hockey Canada

The eight teams that were not good enough during group play to earn a bye into the quarterfinals take the Vancouver ice Tuesday for spots along the US, Sweden, Russia and Finland.

(6) Canada vs. (11) Germany 7:30pm ET (winner plays Russia)

Marco Sturm, Christian Ehrhoff and company have the unenviable task of facing the Canadians 48 hours after being upended by the Americans. Steve Yzerman and Mike Babcock are switching to Roberto Luongo in net after Martin Brodeur’s shaky outing Sunday night. The Canuck will look sharp against an offensively-challenged German squad, but feel bad for goalie Thomas Greiss. The Canadian snipers won’t be too kind to him. The host country could win this one by five goals.

(5) Czech Repubic vs. (12) Latvia 10:00pm ET (winner plays Finland)

This is as close to a bye as you can get without actually staying in bed for the day. The Czechs need to take advantage of this matchup with Finland waiting in the quarterfinals, especially on offense. Jaromir Jagr, David Krejci, Martin Havlat and Tomas Fleischmann must find their strokes if this team is to make a gold medal run.

(7) Slovakia vs. (10) Norway 12:00am ET (winner plays Sweden)

Slovakia owns one of the more impressive wins of the preliminary round (2-1 over Russia), but is our pick to be upset Tuesday – if for no other reason than Norway has a player named Vikingstad (Tore, who scored a hat trick over the weekend against Switzerland).

(8) Switzerland vs. (8) Belarus 3:00pm ET (winner plays USA)

Goaltender Jonas Hiller is the best player on either side, which gives Switzerland the advantage in this one. He nearly stole one from Canada last week, so keeping a Kostitsyn or two in check should be no problem.

MONDAY’S SCORES – Women’s Semifinals

USA 9 – Sweden 1

Canada 5 – Finland 0

final is Thursday at 6:30pm ET

America Was Watching Sunday Night

Hockey fans know where MSNBC is on their TVs. The USA-Canada clash averaged 8.22 million viewers, the 2^nd-highest rated program in the network’s history. Only 2008 Election Night coverage was better, and only by roughly 10,000 viewers. And in Buffalo, where they love Ryan Miller, more people watched this game than the regular Olympic coverage on NBC.

- Andrew Bogusch (boguschhockey@gmail.com)

U-S-Eh!!!

Louis Acosta (Getty Images)- Ryan Kesler celebrates empty net goal to seal the win for the United States.

American's Upset Canada

On paper, it was just the final game of play in Pool A in the preliminary round of this Olympic tournament. But for the United States and Canada it was more than just a game. This was Canada’s version of the Super Bowl and the young stars of the United States were primed to repeat the performance of Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints as they shocked the Canadians, winning 5-3 in front of 19,100 of their hometown fans at the Canada Hockey Place.

Jamie Langenbrunner was credited with the game-winning goal, but it was Ryan Kesler’s dash up the ice for an empty netter that turned out to be the biggest goal of the game. Sure, Brian Rafalski had two goals and an assist and Ryan Miller had a spectacular game between the pipes, but Kesler’s tally halted all of Canada’s momentum after they cut the deficit to one with Sidney Crosby’s power play goal.

With just over three minutes to play in regulation, Rick Nash found Crosby skating hard towards the net and he dished the puck onto his stick and it deflected into the goal under a sprawling Ryan Miller to cut the American’s lead to 4-3. Soon thereafter, with the hometown Canadian fans going crazy, Canada started teeing off on Ryan Miller as Team USA looked helpless, unable to get the puck out their own defensive end. As the shots ricocheted all around him, Miller maintained his composure and Canadian goal tender Martin Brodeur raced to the bench to get an extra attacker on the ice.

"It seemed like they had eight or nine guys out there to our five,” said Chris Drury, Team USA’s veteran winger. “We hung tight and, obviously, 'Millsie' made some huge saves. I'm glad we were able to get it out of the zone and be able to change."

Despite the man advantage, Canada still couldn’t get a shot past Miller when Ryan Kesler finally got the puck out to Zach Parise over the blue line. Parise dumped it down the ice and Canadian forward Corey Perry gave chase but Kesler was hot on his tail. The Vancouver Canuck then dove around Perry and took a backhanded shot into the empty net to ice the game and restore Team USA’s two-goal lead at 19:16.

Martin Brodeur, who clearly did not play his best game, made 18 saves for Canada and his four goals against were all scored by familiar faces. His former teammate with the New Jersey Devils Brian Rafalski, scored twice, his first one just forty-one seconds into the game while his current Devils teammate and Team USA captain Jamie Langenbrunner, put one past him in the third period. Chris Drury, his nemesis from the New York Rangers, also scored in the second to break a 2-2 tie.

“It definitely wasn’t a great game for communication with our ‘D’ and myself,” Brodeur acknowledged.

Brodeur’s counterpart, however, was outstanding tonight. Ryan Miller played one of the best games of his career, standing on his head to make impressive saves against the awesome firepower that the Canadians possessed. Miller was a fine example of how a hot goalie can steal a game in such a short tournament. In the third period, he made a sprawling save on Crosby and stopped a Rick Nash slap shot from the left face-off circle which was rebounded onto the stick of Jerome Iginla. Iginla launched a shot from the slot, which Miller held on to.

“My job was to stay consistent and keep it simple,” said Miller. “We’re happy to get an extra day to rest up.”

The first of the 36 year old Rafalski’s two goals came forty-one seconds into the game when he winded up a slap shot and was able to get a deflection into the net off of Sidney Crosby’s skate. His second goal came at 9:15 of the first period when Brodeur took a baseball swing in an attempt to clear the puck out of his zone. Rafalski skated up and launched the puck and rifled the puck at Brodeur while Jamie Langenbrunner provided an effective screen in front. Rafalski also factored in Langenbrunner’s goal at 8:09 of the third period when his slap shot from the left circle was off of Langenbrunner’s skate for what looked like his hat trick goal.

“Obviously, that’s a good start for us,” said Rafalski. “It put a lot more pressure on them and they had to expend a lot of energy. They outshot us for the period. But when they tied it up we responded and were able to get ahead again.”

Eric Staal and Dany Heatley scored the other goals for the Canadians. Both goals tied the game but a tie score was the closest the Canadians got to the young Americans. Said Sidney Crosby, “It's a tough loss. We played hard, got some bad breaks early on there and that was maybe the difference. I thought we played pretty desperate and made a lot of things happen, but unfortunately we didn't get the breaks.”

With the hard nosed veterans leading the young American team to victory, the United States takes the top seed in the playoff round, which earns them a bye into Wednesday’s quarterfinal match up against the winner of the Switzerland-Belarus game. Canada’s next opponent is Germany in a winner take all game on Tuesday evening in which the prize is a date with the explosive Russian team.

Said Crosby, “Its probably not where we wanted to come in, but that’s where we are now.”

“We’re going to have to (put this game behind us),” said Brodeur. “We’re going to have an extra game now to get to know each other better and start playing. (Ryan) Miller was the big difference.”

Slap Shots…The time has come for Canada to go back to Luongo in net. Although he is one of the greatest net minders to ever play the game of hockey, Marty hasn’t really cut the mustard these last two games. His ill-advised baseball swing not withstanding, Marty almost lost to a Switzerland team that Canada should have easily beaten. Although he made great saves tonight, he looked a little shaky in the net and didn’t seem to have enough confidence in his D-men. Time to go back to Luongo against Germany…..Celebrity sightings: Michael Phelps, Bonnie Blair, Brendan Shanahan, Seth Rogen and Donald Sutherland were on hand to witness the upset…..Gary Bettman, the NHL commissioner was even in attendance. I hope he saw first hand how important it is to have the NHL participate in the Olympics. Not only is this ten times better than any all-star weekend, but casual sports fans, even the people who don’t watch hockey during the regular season, are tuning into this Olympic tournament…..Which brings me to another point: Why was this game not shown in primetime on NBC? I understand NBC showed the Russia-Czech game at noon but this game was certain to be a huge ratings draw and I’m surprised they didn’t air this in primetime. And if the suits at the Peacock didn’t think there would be enough interest, just log on to Facebook and read everyone’s status…..My three stars of the game: 1- Brian Rafalski, 2- Ryan Miller, 3- Jamie Langenbrunner. Honorable mention: Chris Drury.

Russia cashes Czechs, Earns First Round Bye

First Alexander Ovechkin obliterated Jaromir Jagr. Then the Russians finished off their Czech rivals 4-2 yesterday afternoon, winning their pool and earning an automatic bye to the quarterfinal round. After the crushing hit on Jagr, which jarred the puck loose, Russian defenseman and ex-teammate of Jagr’s, Fedor Tyutin, fed the puck to Alexander Semin who dished it over to Evgeni Malkin who took a shot from his knees to give the Russians a 3-1 edge for his second goal of the game.

According to NHL.com, nobody is a greater admirer of Ovechkin's than Jagr, who dubbed the young superstar the game's best player soon after the NHL returned from its work stoppage in 2005-06 with rookies Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby playing starring roles.

"Of course I saw him," Jagr said afterward. "I wanted to make a play. It was just a bad turnover – a bad mistake. The hit doesn't hurt. The mistake hurts because they scored a goal on that play. It's a bad feeling. But I have to come back."

Said Ovechkin of the hit, "I respect everybody, but on the ice you don't have friends, you don't have nobody, only your teammates. You play right now for your country and it doesn't matter who you play against."

Milan Michalek scored with 5:09 left in the game to bring the Czech’s within one goal at 3-2. Pavel Datsyuk scored an empty netter at 19:48 to clinch the game for the Russians. Besides the hit on Jagr, Ovechkin also notched two assists and made SportsCenter type moves with the puck all afternoon. Russia will get an extra day to rest while the Czech Republic faces Latvia on Tuesday.

Swedes Down Finland in Rematch, Take Second Seed

Henrik Lundqvist continued his goaltending brilliance last night as he kept Finland off the score sheet with a 3-0 victory in a rematch of the 2006 gold medal game in Turin. Lundqvist stopped all of Finland’s 20 shots. Loui Eriksson scored twice on the power play and Nicklas Backstorm added a goal to power the defending gold medalists to victory.

"Yeah, we're happy with the first three games, but on Wednesday (in the quarterfinals) it doesn't really matter. You have to start over," Lundqvist told NHL.com. "Your mindset has to be: 'The first five minutes.' And you just have to be so solid, you can't really afford to take too many penalties or make many mistakes."We feel good. We should feel good. At the same time, on Wednesday, it's just down to one game. It doesn't matter what you've done in the past."

Quotes taken from NHL.com, NBCOlympics.com, and the New York Daily News.

Tuesday’s Games

#8 Switzerland vs. #9 Belarus 3 p.m. EST (Winner takes on #1 USA)
#6 Canada vs. #11 Germany 7:30 p.m. EST (Winner takes on #3 Russia)
#5 Czech Republic vs #12 Latvia 10 p.m. EST (Winner takes on #4 Finland)
#7 Slovakia vs #10 Norway Midnight EST (Winner takes on #2 Sweden)

HAT TRICK HAPPINESS

The Last Day of Pool play gives us the Gold Medal match-ups of the last 3 Olympics

Sweden over Finland - 2006 (Torino)

Canada over USA - 2002 (Salt Lake City)

Czech Republic over Russia - 1998 (Nagano)

If you're a hockey fan, I don't need to tell you this. If you're not a hockey fan, but a sports fan, an Olympics fan, or just someone who loves a good drama, then get your Sunday stuff done after reading this. Church, grocery shopping, any repairs that need to be done around the house, whatever it may be, get it done before 3PM. The hockey gods have graced us with the gold medal opponents of the last three Olympics, and they all just happen to be bitter rivals. Here's a preview of each game and what's on the line for each team:

Czech Republic vs. Russia
-For the Czechs, these Olympics couldn't be going any better. They disposed of Slovakia and Latvia with relative ease and they're playing with house money at this point. If they lose today, it's to a team many considered to win Pool B and the gold medal. A win, and the Czech's win Pool B and clinch a Top 4 seed and a bye to the medal round. I'll admit, I thought this was a Czech team that wouldn't be as good as prior Olympics, but they're doing everything they're supposed to be doing. For the Russians, all of the pressure in the world is on them. The Russians came in to the tournament as one of the two heavy favorites (along with Canada) and now they're looking at finishing as low as 7th after Pool play with a loss today. Losing to Slovakia (who has played very good hockey since the Czech Republic game) is nothing to be ashamed about, but Russia is behind the 8-Ball. I think Evgeni Nabokov helps to right the ship and the motivation of slight desperation gives Russia the edge today. It will be interesting to see what type of chemistry Alexander Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin develop now that they'll be on the same line. Not only is this a gold-medal rematch from 1998, this also a Bronze Medal game rematch from 2006.

THE DIFFERENCE IN TODAY'S GAME - While this is a juicy goaltending match-up (expect Nabokov for Russia and Tomas Vokoun for the Czech Republic), it's the play of the rearguards that will be key today. Both teams love to push the puck up the ice as quick as possible, so whichever blueline can play more responsible will give their team the edge. I like the the Czech Republic's defensemen better, but I still lean towards Russia in this game.

Finland vs. Sweden
-Team Finland has looked fantastic so far in these games. They haven't played any elite teams so far (although Germany and Belarus play tough and make their opponents work hard), but they seem to be clicking on all cylinders and getting steady play between the pipes. Finland is one of those teams that gets overlooked as a favorite but can play with any team in the world. Sweden is arguably the 3rd best team in the Olympics on paper and is looking to defend their gold medal in 2006. While all of the hype is surrounding Canada-USA, this is the best match-up of pool play. Sweden has been dominant in their first two games (read again what I said about Germany and Belarus a few lines up) and have been playing a very smooth game on the ice. It's a shame this game is at midnight, but look for Finland to surprise and get revenge for 2006 tonight.

THE DIFFERENCE IN TODAY'S GAME - This one boils down to goaltending. Sweden has arguably the best goalie in the world in Henrik Lundqvist and Finland has a man that was considered the best goalie in the world a few years ago in Miika Kiprusoff. To beat either of these guys, quick puck movement in the attack zone is the only chance either of these teams have in lighting the lamp.

USA vs. Canada
-The game everyone has been talking about in this hemisphere is finally here. With team Canada, you have the perennial favorite who has the chance to win the gold in their home country. They looked like the team everyone expected against Norway, but got a scare from a tough Switzerland team. I think too much has been made of the Martin Brodeur vs. Roberto Luongo and who should be the starting goalie for Team Canada. Brodeur brought home gold in 2002 and is still playing at a top-notch level, he has to be your guy. I'm glad Luongo got to play in front of his home fans, but Brodeur is the guy. On the other side, all of the experts are all over Team USA for not playing well so far in the Olympics. Now that I've seen the Swiss play 3 games, it's clear that they are a pest to play against, so nothing against the US in that game. As for the USA-Norway game, while the Americans pulled away late, Norway is a bottom 1/4 team in these Olympics and needed to really dominate them. Ryan Miller has been the linchpin for the US and there's no reason he can't keep stealing games, but I think Team Canada wins tonight. I don't think this is the last time these two teams meet in Vancouver...

THE DIFFERENCE IN TODAY'S GAME - Just like guard play wins NCAAB championships, it's a strong special teams that gets you a medal in Olympic hockey. The US is 2 of 8 on the power play, but it looked god-awful against Norway. Canada's power play is 3 of 13 thus far. Both teams have excellent Penalty Kill units as well. The team that wins the special teams battle wins the game, it's as simple as that. This could also be the loudest and harshest environment any Team USA player has ever played in, so factor in home-ice advantage for Canada tonight.


ACTION FROM THE LAST 2 DAYS

SATURDAY ACTION:
Switzerland 5 (0-1-1-1) - Norway 4 (0-2-0-1)
Slovakia 6 (1-1-1-0) - Latvia 0 (0-3-0-0)
Belarus 5 (1-2-0-0) - German 3 (0-3-0-0)

FRIDAY ACTION:
Sweden 4 - Belarus 2
Czech Republic 5 (2-0-0-0) - Latvia 2
Finland 5 - Germany 0

SEEDS GUARANTEED SO FAR:
12) Germany
11) Latvia
10) Norway
9) Belarus
8) Switzerland

*The rest of the field will be determined on today's results. The only Playoff Round match-up set is Belarus vs. Switzerland

TODAY'S ACTION (All times Eastern)
Czech Republic (2-0-0-0) vs. Russia (1-0-0-1) - 3PM
United States (2-0-0-0) vs. Canada (1-0-1-0) - 7:40PM
Finland (2-0-0-0) vs. Sweden (2-0-0-0) - Midnight