Ah, elimination games. Desperation. Hockey that matters. Welcome to the quarterfinals. All times local (add subtract 6 hours for U.S. EST, my picks in bold):
4:30 p.m. Switzerland (A2) vs. Sweden (B3) (, SWE)
5:30 p.m. Finland (A1) vs. United States (B4) (, FIN)
8:30 p.m. Russia (B2) vs. Canada (A3) (2-0, RUS)
9:30 p.m. Slovakia (B1) vs. Czech Republic (A4) (3-1, CZE)
After Sweden head coach Bengt Gustafsson's crack about wanting to lose so Sweden could draw the Swiss, I'm pulling for the Swiss to make him eat his words (Hop Suisse!). Too bad it won't happen.
If Team USA were to beat Finland today, I'd be surprised, but not shocked. Still, that won't happen either. And I owe Rick DiPietro an apology, as his goaltending hasn't been a problem. In fact, it's been more than good enough to win.
The last two matchups have the potential of leaving some blood on the ice. When it comes to international hockey, there are a couple of different axes of rivalry. There's Sweden-Finland; there's the Czechs and Slovaks; Russia vs. any former Soviet satellite; and then there's Canada-Russia-USA. I like Canada to wake up in time to make the semifinals. And the Slovaks get to dump their next door neighbors. It'll be a hot time in Bratislava tonight.
UPDATE: Some fun stuff from North of the Border. Click here for a special message from the clergy (via Battle of Alberta). And Colby Cosh reader Craig Burley had this to say about those who are being critical of the play of Team Canada's Rick Nash:
"Rick Nash can rush down the wrong wing and rip a shot four feet past the top corner, leading to a three-on-two the other way, better than any other winger in hockey. He adds more breathless excitement to a hockey game than any other player I can think of."
Looks like nerves are getting rubbed a little raw...
For the lowdown on the OT/Shootout format for the elimination games, click here.
Sisu Hockey thinks the current Olympic format stinks:
Clearly, the round robin followed by single elimination is not the best way to evaluate hockey teams when there is such parity among the contenders. So, what is the alternative? The Olympics can't go with Stanley Cup style best-of-seven series, for obvious reasons. I think the WJHC's had it right 10+ years ago with a full round robin format, where each team plays each other team once, and the final standings determine the medallists. All games are "worth" same amount. This would remove the incentive to throw a game (unless a number of teams formed a conspiracy). With eight teams invited, the Olympics could present 28 games (7 per team) over 14 days - a schedule much more sensible than the present one.
For those of you who agree, worry not. I'm sure the brainiacs who run the IIHF will come up with yet another different format in time for Vancouver in 2010. Thanks to Paul Kukla for this link to real time scoring.
UPDATE: Some other interesting links:
Dom Hasek won't be ready to return to action with Ottawa following the Olympic break.
While it's clear the league and the players want to return to the Olympics, a number of owners are lukewarm about the whole idea.
And from the Penguins Web site, comes an interview with one of the team's trainers, and how his job has changed since the NHL returned to action in October:
Since the NHL has evolved into a game of quickness instead of toughness, Penguins head athletic trainer Mark Mortland is seeing more muscular injuries in the players
I don’t know nothin’, but I’m picking the Slovs. Last week Eric assured us they were for real. Then I looked at their roster: Chara, Visnovsky, Bondra, P. Demitra, Gaborik, Handzus, Hossa, Nagy, Satan, Svatos and Zednik.
I wish my fantasy line-up was as good.
Umm, that would be subtract 6 hours for U.S. EST…
Funny, that’s a lot like how it used to be… two preliminary round-robins, and the top teams from each advanced to a final round-robin (carrying over their scores from the preliminaries against the others who also advanced from their pool).
But it does have the drawback, from a spectator’s point of view, that the medals can be decided before the final games…
I saw a quote from Jagr in the paper today. He wants to use the NFL playoff format, with 6 teams advancing and the top 2 getting byes. Seems pretty straightforward to me.
I never expected the US to medal because, besides the goaltending issues, the roster seemed overly stacked with older (+30) players for a tournament that is played in such a short period of time. Who can explain why the US lacked depth among the current “twenty something” generation of US players?
Does the increase in “skating-induced” injuries mean that the longevity of players in the NHL may be decreased? I mean, it may mean that we see less 35-year-olds on the ice than we have in the past in exchange for more speed (not that it’s a bad thing, but…).