USA will play Canada on Sunday

Just for some quick notes, the United States will look to win their first gold medal in 30 years against Canada on Sunday at 3pm EST.

Canada played tonight against Slovakia and seemed to be in control of the game, leading 3-0 after 2 periods. Canada kept getting power plays, and if Slovakia was lucky enough to even get a shot off on Luongo, Luongo was impossible to break through.

About halfway through the game, Slovakia finally was able to get one shot past Luongo to make the game 3-1. But after this, Slovakia suddenly obtained more opportunities down in the Canadian zone, and with 5 minutes to go, Michal Handzus scored for Slovakia, and they were only down by 1 goal.

The rest of the game was spent in the Canadian defensive zone, and had Pavol Demitra not BARELY missed a wide open net, the game would have gone into overtime. Who knows what would have happened then?!

Nonetheless, Canada held on and won 3-2.

People get your drinks up, it's "Hockey Day in North America" - via @stlblueschica on Twitter.

USA wins 4-2 against Canada.

A very shaky Canadian team that hasn't quite gelled yet, a confident and determined Team USA with Ryan Miller in net should aid in a gold medal for the Unites States of America.

I haven't really thought about it, but I woul dhave no clue as to how I will react if Team USA was to win it all. It would probably be extremely surreal, so it probably won't hit me for a bit. Regardless, expect me to be super happy and doing something silly.

Unfortunately, the silly thing would not be having the privilege to miss my psychology midterm on Monday; my professor is Canadian. No way I'm gonna get out of that one.

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On a side note, in regards to the Canadian women's celebration, I have mixed feelings.

I'm okay with OPENING the bottle of CHAMPAGNE on the ice, to be honest. I mean, after all, it is their home ice, and it must be pretty special.

But, on the other hand, BEER? Really ladies? Beer on the ice? And trust me, being a lady who is used to hanging out with the boys, I'm not mad at them because they are women and drinking. But that's just not classy. If the men won the gold medal there, I would oppose them drinking on the ice as well, especially beer. I mean, rappers don't pop beer anyway.
Either way, I'm not a fan of the move by the Canadian ladies.

They were wrong, and I hate that they even apologized, because a.) they weren't sorry; therefore, b.) the apology was half-assed. Their "apology" is not accepted by me.

We're exposing a lot of impolite and hostile things about our "peaceful" neighbors. LOL... of course I love all my Canadian folks though. You all are fantastic and DIE-HARD fans. *whisper voice* but we're beating you Sunday ;).

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Finally, I looked on ESPN, and they had Zach Parise talking, but had labeled it was Jamie Langenbrunner speaking. Sigh... Even at this point, they still give hockey the poop-end of the stick.

From here on out, GO USA! (And props to Slovakia! I have them winning bronze)

USA for the Gold

The Americans are kicking global ass in the Winter Olympics, leading the world with 32 medals and 8 gold medals. Next in line, the Germans, are 12 back with 20 medals. So it's pretty clear that the United States is awesome in sports.

Team USA can do no worse than silver after they throttled the Finnish 6-1 in today's semifinal match. The United States will be aiming for the gold, however, to add to the country's totals on Sunday. We are currently waiting on their opponent, who will come out of the Canada/Slovakia match later on tonight.

I've emphasized it all week, but now that it has been confirmed that Team USA is in the gold medal game, Americans can really get their hopes up.

I hesitated to get amped for the Americans playing in the final because of how inconsistent almost every team in the Olympic tournament looked. Teams like Canada, Sweden, the Czech Republic, and especially the Russians should have blown teams like Norway, Latvia, Switzerland, and even Slovakia out of the water. However, that was not the case.

The Russians got a whipping from Canada, losing 7-3; Sweden lost to the elderly... er, aged Slovakian team; Canada struggled heavily offensively until the Russian game; and just to throw it out there, Switzerland lost expectantly, but gave a LOT of teams trouble, thanks to goalie Jonas Hiller.

The United States was supposed to be growing and building toward the next Olympics - well, in the eyes of the public. Even I fell for that trick. But Brian Burke, forever unsatisfied with the team's performance despite the USA being the top seeded team in the tournament, had other plans. Burke stated from the start that they would be competing for the gold medal. I laughed it off, but look where Team USA is!

In regards to the final game, Team USA will play either Slovakia or Canada. I would say I'm pulling for Canada because I'm loving the hatred from my normally loving Canadian friends. However, think about it: would you WANT to play Slovakia if they beat Canada? I wouldn't want to.

So for all purposes, let's say Luongo and Team Canada play the United States. Luongo has indubitably been the best goalie for Canada. He is seemingly impenetrable, but if the United States were to start the game similarly to the one they played today, that would be ideal.

Of course, I hardly see the Americans getting six goals in ten minutes likely against Luongo. But if Team USA could score as quickly and early as they did against Finland, maintain the same pressure and momentum on the Canadians, the United States would be set for a victory.

I would advise Team USA to keep a level head, and to prepare for the toughest match yet in this tournament.

I'm ready, and so are my hockey watching buddies...

In fact, you could be just as ready as I will be by following this fun little set of "Games".
Just check it out. It's hilarious.

Gotta say though, I LOVE hockey. These are reasons why. GO TEAM USA!

USA defeats Canada - A chance for USA hockey

For the first time since 1960, the United States of America defeated Canada in the men's Olympic ice hockey competition 5-3.

On the eve of the 30th anniversary of the 1980 "Miracle on Ice" against the Soviet Union, the United States held a lead throughout the whole game to achieve the win.

Ryan Miller had 42 saves in protection of the game, as Canada dominated in offensive onslaught through shots and opportunities to score. His performance exceeded the Canadian attack and kept the Americans in the lead to the victory.

This win not only marked the end of a 40-year drought, but brought hope for the underdog Americans to win the gold medal.

I'll admit. In an earlier post, I didn't have much faith in Team USA regarding hockey. I dismissed the team and thought they had a better chance the next Winter Olympics for silver or gold. Later on, I researched more information on the team and developed more faith in the idea that the USA was good enough to secure a spot to win the bronze medal, at most.

However, with the United States being the only undefeated team in the tournament besides Sweden, they definitely look like the best team to compete for the gold medal. For all of those people who would like to doubt the capabilities of the USA, just check out the record. THEY ARE UNDEFEATED against the SAME teams that Canada lost to. Yes. I am referring to Switzerland.

Of course, I can't guarantee a win for the Americans. That would be just as bad as the elitists saying that a certain team who is playing at home deserves the gold. But I will say that I have faith that they can do it. Thirty years celebration - I certainly hope so.

*Tidbit for the Day*All of Team USA's goals were scored by current or former New Jersey Devils players. :O

Part two coming up later today on the coverage of the win

Happy New Year with the NHL Winter Classic!

Welcome to 2010! The NHL welcomed back its fans and viewers today, January 1st, with the annual NHL Winter Classic. The 2010 game was played in Fenway Park and featured the Boston Bruins against the Philadelphia Flyers in a snowy and cold atmosphere of over 38,000 fans.

This year's Classic was one of the more lower scoring games, although with the number of chances by both teams throughout the entire 60 minutes, it could have been higher. Regardless, it was a very energetic and well-defended game.

In defense (no pun intended), the goalies did what they were supposed to do, which was stop the puck, and that they did.

The Flyers began the game well, with Flyer Dan Carcillo winning the fight against Bruin Shawn Thornton scoring the first goal early into the second period past Tim Thomas. They continued the momentum through the rest of the game, keeping up chances and taking shots.

Then, after a few power plays in Boston's favor to create opportunities for their own offense, with about 2 minutes left in the game, down 1-0, the Bruins, old man Mark Recchi put one in to tie the game.

It wouldn't take that much longer for the Bruins to complete the comeback, as Marco Sturm scored the game-winner in overtime. Bruins ended up winning 2-1.

As a die-hard hockey fan, I LOVE the NHL's Winter Classic. It's such a great national showcase that exposes the game in a unique fashion to casual fans, long-time fans, and the person passing through channels. It's always fun to see more than twice the number of fans that would be at a regular game outdoors in the snow.

And the games themselves always feature intense match-ups with long-time rivalries between franchises. The game has remained competitive as well, as the highest goal differential has only been 2 goals in the 6-4 win by the Detroit Red Wings over the the Chicago Blackhawks last year.

Seeing that this year was in Boston in Fenway Park, I would have no complaints of a Winter Classic game in Yankee Stadium, even though there was already one in NY. There is much speculation of a game there next year featuring the Washington Capitals and the New York Rangers. Again, no complaints here.

There are a few more match-ups though that I would love to see.

• Whenever the St. Louis Blues become good again, I would like to see them play against the Colorado Avalanche in Colorado.
  
• After sometime when enough time has passed since the last Red Wings game, it would be fun to watch them play the Avs in Detroit as well, bringing back the old playoff series (Patrick Roy and Chris Osgood fight ring a bell?).
  
• If people in Hartford wouldn't be so opposed to it, the Carolina Hurricanes could play in Hartford, Connecticut against the Caps.
• Of course, there can't be anything wrong with the Toronto Maple Loafs... Leafs playing their intra-province rivals, the Ottawa Senators. They used to meet in the playoffs every year in some serious and bloody 6 and 7 game series.
  
• Likewise, the other intra-province series, Edmonton Oilers and the Calgary Flames should also be fun.
  
• Minnesota would be a great host city. It's always snowing up there! Minnesota in the North Stars jersey facing off against the Columbus Blue Jackets or some relocated team could be entertaining.

I wonder if you could have a Winter Classic in the DMV, like having one at Camden Yards or something...

USA Olympic Team

After the Bruins/Flyers game, the 2010 USA Olympic hockey team was announced. As a player would be announced, some adorable little kids turned around with the name of the player on the back of their jersey.

Goaltenders:
Tim Thomas, 35 (Boston Bruins)
Ryan Miller, 29 (Buffalo Sabres)
Jonathan Quick, 24 (Los Angeles Kings)

Alternate Candidate:
Craig Anderson (Colorado)

Defense:
Brian Rafalski, 36 (Detroit Red Wings)
Ryan Suter, 25 (Nashville Predators)
Paul Martin 28 (New Jersey Devils)
Mike Komisarek, 28 (Toronto Maple Leafs)
Erik Johnson, 21 (St. Louis Blues)
Brooks Orpik, 29 (Pittsburgh Pittsburgh)
Jack Johnson, 23 (Los Angeles Kings)

Alternate Candidates:
Matt Niskanen (Dallas)
Ron Hainsey (Atlanta)
Alex Goligoski (Pittsburgh)
Matt Carle (Philadelphia)
Rob Scuderi (Los Angeles)

Forwards:
Zach Parise, 25 (New Jersey Devils)
Chris Drury, 32 (New York Rangers)
Dustin Brown, 25 (Los Angeles Kings)
Jamie Langenbrunner, 34 (New Jersey Devils)
Paul Stastny, 24 (Colorado Avalanche)
David Backes, 25 (St. Louis Blues)
Patrick Kane, 21 (Chicago Blackhawks)
Phil Kessel, 22 (Toronto Maple Leafs)
Ryan Kesler, 25 (Vancouver Canucks)
Bobby Ryan, 22 (Anaheim Ducks)
Joe Pavelski, 25 (San Jose Sharks)
Ryan Malone, 31 (Tampa Bay Lightning)
Ryan Callahan, 24 (New York Rangers)


Alternate Candidates:
Jason Pominville (Sabres)
David Booth (Panthers)
Scott Gomez (Rangers)
T.J. Oshie (Blues)
Brian Gionta (Canadiens)

Make of the team what you will. There were a number of American players left off the roster; Dustin Byfuglien is one of them. The team, in my mind, lacks size and variation in skill (they all play a similar style). But the USA has a speed advantage and they are very strong in goaltending, with the best goalie this season, Ryan Miller as the starter. The backups should give the team confidence as well.

So what the team could be forced into is a situation to use their speed to find a way through the opposing defense to score a goal or two, and rely on their goaltending to give them a chance throughout the game. A bunch of 2-1, 1-0 games are probably the types of games they can win. Brian Burke says that they're "playing to win" so all we can do is hope this team can perform well enough to do so. *shrug*...

It didn't work out 20 years since the 1980 USA Olympic Gold Medal team - so maybe 30 years? We'll see...