Great hockey game; my cousin was there, had a blast.

What an exciting Team USA upset over Canada. That was one of the most exciting hockey games I've watched in a long time! USA! USA!

Looking forward to the Sweden-Finland game as well. Two rivals with loads to talent each.

If Finland wins they are the #1 seed, If Sweeden wins US is #1. The loser of this game is the #4 seed.

No reseeding after each round.

There is no re-seeding. #1 plays winner of #8 and #9 even if say, #5 loses to #12.

If goal difference is the tiebreaker Finland will be seeded #1 and USA #2 if Finland wins in regulation. Any other result would have USA seeded #1 unless Sweden won by five or more goals.

Thanks for the info.

So: 1 vs. 8/9
4 vs. 5/12

2 vs. 7/10
3 vs. 6/11

The bracket will break out in that order?

Some funny wiki edits.

Miller is now Ryan "The Canada Killer" Miller.

And in another section


Broduer's was also listed having him dying today in Vancouver.

Whoever the hell MSNBC/NBC had doing the post-game highlights for the US/Canada game and handling the whole post-game analysis was absolutely awful. Abysmal. "Boom goes the dynamite" bad. Not only did have no idea what he was talking about, but he came across like a complete ass.

Eruzione and the Sports Illustrated guy were fine, but the "host" guy was... I wanted to stab him in the face.

Not funny about Brodeur

Anger issues?

He was out of his depth for sure. And he wasn't helped by the on-screen highlights being in a different order than he thought they would be in. They probably should have just had Roenick and the other two guys from the pre-game go through the highlights.

NBC's coverage is just so poor so I'm going to vent over just three things I saw just in the post-game coverage:

1) They said that Brian Rafalski won 3 Stanley Cups with the Red Wings. He won just won but 2 others with the Devils right? I know these guys may not be NHL officionados but if you don't know, don't say it.

2) They had a lower-third graphic up saying that Rafalski had scored 2 goals for USA just after they mentioned, and CLEARLY showed, that he scored a hat trick (3 goals!).

3) That damn crowd shot with the reporter trying to talk over the screaming fans. Why, from a broadcast perspective, did someone not either notify that dude no one could hear him or why didn't the anchors and/or producers in studio jump in and divert?

Not to mention, half of the score-keeping graphics for some of the more obscure competitions keep leaving me saying, "huh? What the hell does that even say?!?!" I mean, it's like you have to sit and decipher some sort of code to figure out what a person's score is...and I'm not talking being unfamiliar with the sport, just the way in which they show some of the stat output.

Rafalski's shot was deflected in by Langenbrunner, he didn't have a hat trick.

He also kept trying to compare this game to The Miracle On Ice. It's not even close. It's a good win, sure, but it's the preliminary round and everyone on the ice was an NHL player.

Miller was great, Brodeur wasn't even good. That's the difference. Canada dominated the game.

The NHL Network was showing the final series of the 1996 World Cup between US and Canada today. I watched the final game of that series between the Czech/Russia and US/Canada game. It's amazing what a different game it is today. Astounding.

It was also weird to see Lyle Odelein playing for Canada. I mean, really? In 1996 Lyle Odelein was one of the six best Canadian defensemen?

not sure what game you were watching - Canada didn't dominate at all. They might have dominated brief stretches, but they far from dominated.

Agreed for the most part. The US got lucky getting those first two goals and putting some pressure on Canada. That second goal was particularly bad given Brodeurs ood baseball swing at the puck that led to it and then having the puck bank in off his pad. Brodeur was a bit unlucky with some of the deflections (Rafalski's first goal and the Langenbruner goal).

Other than Miller and Rafalski, there really wasn't any player who stood out for the US. Oprik played pretty well defensively and they got a solid defensive performance out of Callahan, but none of their forwards really generated much offensively. Kane had some nice moves that led to nothing and Ryan showed some flashed, but overall the US forwards were non-existent offensively. Really great effort by Kesler on that last goal.

Ok, not sure how this is even being compared to the Miracle on Ice or how this is even a crazy upset. I didn't have confidence in Canada winning today, I thought it was a toss-up. No way would I call Canada a big favourite.

Also, yes, Canada dominated (45 to 23 in shots, come on) but the U.S. took advantage of mistakes, whereas Miller was amazing for the U.S. and they took advantage of Canada's mistakes (and Brodeur played like crap).

Congrats to the U.S., I hope we meet again for a medal.

Agreed. I liked that way Canada finished, but overall I was impressed with the speed of the US forwards and felt they gave the Canadian defence some real problems at times. Canada needs to move to Luongo and really start to reduce Niedermayer's ice time. He was always the weakest inclusion on the team, I felt, and I think it's showing. This is a young man's game now.

All that said, Canada was fantastic at times (especially in the last 7 minutes or so) and if they can bring that intensity for longer stretches they will give a lot of teams fits. Miller really did save that game for the US, and if Babcock can have the balls to tell Marty and Nieds to hit the pine we may not be playing from behind all the time.

To steal a line from Bernie Parent...

"Only the Lord Saves more than Ryan Miller"

Marty Brodeur was drunk.

Way to go USA!

Canada may have the better superstars but USA had the better TEAM.

Their defensive collapsing played really well too. With the Juniors and now Olympics, the U.S. defense/goaltending has impressed me with the last two matchups.

Sabres head coach and Canada assistant coach Lindy Ruff had to be thinking of ways to beat Miller going into this game.

I thought both teams had their stretches (Canada maybe a few more).

It's interesting to think that Canada would be playing Russia in the quarterfinals. And if Sweden can win tonight, the U.S. will avoid those three teams until the medal games.

Havent caught up on the thread because I have some stuff DVRed.

Watched the game tonight at a bar in Seattle, there were a ton of Canadian fans and a ton of USA fans. Was such a great atmosphere. We gave them all shit after the first goal and there was a lot of chanting and good natured ribbing going on. The whole experience was awesome, just a great time.

Hopefully the Fins can keep Sweden from that result. :)

From what the announcers have said USA has the tiebreaker on Sweden if points and GD are equal so Sweden would need to win by six, not five like I previously posted.

Sweden are up 3-0 after two periods, it could be close.

Assuming Finland doesn't get beat that badly:

USA plays Switzerland - Beralus winner in QFs followed the winner of Finland - Czech Republic/Latvia.

So there's a good chance USA wouldn't have to play Canada/Russia/Sweden until the gold medal game. The three pre-Olympic medal favorites would all be on the same half of the draw.

Is Slovenia the 7th seed?

Is there a reason why every team makes the medal round? Why not just knock off the last 4 so that the preliminaries mean a little more.

Slovakia (close on the spelling and the geography, Slovenia did not send a team) is. They will play Norway for a chance to play Sweden (unless there's a big change in the Sweden-Finland game).


Good question. Maybe the organizers don't think there are enough games to fairly eliminate some teams so they say "fuck it, let's just put everyone in the playoffs." Maybe the hockey games are a big draw and the IOC likes money.

As opposed to a less strenuous sport like curling where it's a ten team round robin with the best four teams making the semifinals and 5-10 being out of it. The US teams would benefit from a hockey style tournament in curling :(

Doh.

Very nice that you'll have Slovakia in that bracket as well. I think they're a very underrated team. (those will be some great games to watch as well).

*-Provided the end of the Sweden-Finland game doesn't change:

(9) Belarus vs. (8) Switzerland vs. (1) USA
(12) Latvia vs. (5) Czech Republic vs. (4) Finland

(10) Norway vs. (7) Slovakia vs. (2) Sweden
(11) Germany vs. (6) Canada vs. (3) Russia


The higher seeds are the home team (including Canada, regardless of the home country advantage), correct? Advantage to the getting the right to send out their lines after the other team on play-stoppage line changes.

I take the opposite view. 8 ends is too short. The World Curling Tour has cut back to 8 ends to soothe television and it has ruined big events in my opinion. I remember when Canadian Championships were 12 end games. In fact, curling in its infancy was usually 22 ends with a meal at halfway. Mind you the ice was so slow that ends took about half the time they do now.

I'd be a lot more excited about the US win over Canada if that had been a medal round game.

Tell all the Canucks in that arena last night that it was a meaningless preliminary round game.

I didn't chime in at all last night, but watched the whole game. Miller was incredible.

Beating Canada (in their country) for the first time in 50 years in Olympic hockey is something to get excited about.

It also makes the road to the medal round much easier. The US will likely play the Swiss in the quarters and then either the Czechs or Fins in the semis. Canada, on the other hand, will have to play Russia in the quarters and then likely Sweden.

Going into the tournament, Canada, Russia, and Sweden were pretty much ranked 1, 2, and 3, so that's a much tougher road.

Given the nature of the short tournament - the one and done elimination round - almost any of, say, the top 7 teams has a chance. One bad bounce, a hot goalie...

Wrong, they had the better goaltender.

Most of the game was in the US end. They peppered Miller with shot after shot and if he doesn't stand on his end it's a blowout the other way. Yeah, Canada thoroughly outplayed the US.

TWC in RDU has it in HD on MSNBC-HD.

I agree with the posts earlier: hockey is even more fun to watch without all the TV timeouts breaking up the flow of the game.

Last time I checked the goalie was on the team, unless in Canada they have a different set of rules. Goalies are a big part of the game especially in a short tournament. We also had the better defense man since Rafalski had two goals, none of your defense men had 2. Watching as much hockey as I am sure you do, shots don't always tell the story. Yeah Canada had their extended time in the US zone but they didn't have the sense of desperation to score the goals that the US seemed to have. That's why I stand by my statement the the US is a better Team. They are built like a hockey team with 3rd line gritty guys and players who know their roles. Where the Canadians are a bunch of superstars expected to mesh. If they play in the gold medal game the game could go completely different, but until then the final score read USA 5 Canada 3.

Unfortunately, my Comcast doesn't have MSNBC in HD. Disappointing.


Same could be said for pretty much any sport. But having no timeouts during the period for the US games has been excellent. A much swifter pace and a little more time for analysis.

It wasn't an elimination game for last night, but it eliminates either Canada or Russia before the semifinals, which is a huge bonus.

I bet you're a Vikings fan also.

No offense, Dr. Sak, but I think you are a little off-base here. Watch that game again and tell me the Canadians didn't have them on the ropes for probably 75% of the game. Miller and the "collapse to the net and block as many shots as possible" gameplan won that game for you...not being the better team. I'm sure the US led in shot blocks as well and I'm guessing that number would've been pretty close to the number of saves Miller made, if not more.

I'm not trying to take anything away from the Americans, again, they played to their strengths by huddling around Miller...but that is a risky sort of gameplan because they need to get ALL the bounces...and they did...to win.

Canadian refuses to credit hockey talent of another nation. Stunning Development.

Did a search for a few keywords in this thread but could not find anything about it.

Slovenian cross country skier Petra Majdic fell into a ditch, more like a 10 foot high ravine, while warming up for her cross country sprint qualifying race last Wednesday. She was helped up and was in pain, what nobody knew is how much pain she was into. Turns out it was later learned that at the time, she had broken four ribs and had suffered a collapsed lung. She still went on to compete in not one, two, nor three races, but in all it was two qualifying races, a semi-final and the final, so four races, ending with her winning a bronze medal. Simply mindboggling stuff. Here's one report on her fall:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/htm...ite_broke.html

They did a piece on CTV with a physiologist they often have about what happened to her and how she dealt with it and he said he could not understand how she did it. We all know that cross country skiing is really taxing on the lungs, but he went on to show a video of her skiing all the while naming all the muscles who interact and put pressure on her ribs. He said her coach's words to her before that final were that the pain was nothing compared to the 22 years she's been training to get where she was that day. No shit....

I'm sure some of us have had injured ribs, me first after diving hard to stop a ball as a soccer keeper, and we all know how much of a bitch an injury to your ribs is, to see her race four times and never give up and ending with a bronze medal is simply amazing.

They showed a video of how they had to help her up the podium when they gave her the medal, had me choking up some tears. Great, great stuff...

As for that physiologist on CTV, they has some clips on ctvolympics.ca of a series of little pieces he does called SuperBodies. Some really neat stuff in there. Here's a link, I hope it's viewable to people outside of Canada:
http://www.ctvolympics.ca/video/coll...845/index.html

FM

So, in the men's hockey all of the teams from the preliminary round make the medal play-offs?

Story totally checks out.

+1

Obviously gameplan, goaltending and shotblocking aren't part of hockey. If you have more shots on goal then you are the better team.

They did have a lot of the play in the American's end for long periods of time but you are a being bit contradictory in your statements. The American's played to their strengths, they know they can't match line for line with the talent the Canadians have so they did what they had to do and yes they were the better team, the scoreboard showed it at the end.

Up two goals late in the third, really what did you expect the Americans to do but hunker down and try and block everything? They weren't going to take any chances.

We (Americans) all knew that we would have to ride Ryan Miller to the gold. How is that any different than what New Jersey did with Brodeur for their cup runs? They didn't have my offense, so were they not the better teams all those years they won the cups just because they had the better goalie?

Pronger and Nidermeyer looked their age last night, and Brodeur did not have a good game at all. The US has done a better job than Canada (as of this moment) putting the right line combos together. They have two above average scoring lines and two checking lines. Guys have defined roles on the team, unlike Canada who IMO believe that they are just going to roll over teams with their superstars. Russia found that not to be true against Slovkia.

At the beginning of the Olympics most thought that the Shark line combo and having two Blackhawks that play together were going to be a huge plus for the Canadians, but Joe Thornton is treating the Olympics like he does the playoffs every year and has become MIA out there.

I'm sorry but I'm sick of hearing on sports shows etc about Canada being the better team, no they weren't. I heard after their close call against the Swiss that America better watch out because that game woke up Team Canada.

With all due respect Canada didn't win the game therefore they weren't the better team, in that game. That doesn't mean that if these two teams meet again in the Gold Medal game that Canada won't win, but I am just getting tired of it seeming as if the American's lucked their way into that victory last night.

I'd rather be lucky and win than be good and lose.

I give credit to the U.S. for playing their game last night, they had a better plan and working better together. I think Canadians are just upset that we played aggressive, were attacking a lot, and yet still lost 5-3. It just feels like we shouldn't have lost.

I'll bring up the Juniors finals again, in that the U.S. played a great defensive game.

Martin is just good for Canada

SI

Winning a medal in CC with a collapsed lung is a top 5 all time play through pain moment, PERIOD. Hats off to her. I heard about it as well and am just amazed.

I agree completely. Canada was weak in a couple key areas last night: in net and on defence (specifically the old guys). The US were young and hungry, and played to their strengths. The US earned that victory, and Canada (and many Canadians) need to get their heads out of their asses that skill = victory.

It's kind of funny, it's almost like we are the soviets of the 70's and 80's now. What happened to just getting shit done and the end result being all that mattered?

yay for classy canadians

You stay classy Canada.

This hit is probably the game for the US.

SI

Dang- just couldn't get them both :(

SI

I forgot to mention this. While watching the game last night, I jumped up after a U.S.A. goal in excitement. My 3 year old daughter started clapping along with me. She heard the chant of "U.S.A!" on the TV and started chanting "U.S.A! U.S.A.!"

I admit it. I was a very proud papa. You don't forget moments like that.

I'm not only talking about the last 10 minutes of the game...the US was hemmed in their own end for much of the game...again, watch the game again if you like...I'm not being a "homer"...that's just stating the obvious.


Comparing Team USA to the turn of the century Devils is rather silly. The Devils had barely any offense and a bunch of muckers who knew how to clog the neutral zone...Team USA is definitely a better team than that. Where the Devils excelled was in minimizing chances in their own end and while Brodeur was asked to do a lot...making 45 saves every night was not one of them.

If Team USA was emulating the Devils last night...they failed miserably. They didn't limit the scoring chances whatsoever played the majority of the game in their own end. Ask any Devil's fan if that game last night looked eerily familiar and I think they would say no.

On the other hand, ask any Oiler fan, and I think you would see a lot of nodding heads. :(


I agree that the old guys on defense have looked out of place and Brodeur didn't play well at all but the Sharks line has been one of the best lines in the tournament...including Big Joe. While he isn't flashy, he's the catalyst for that line and both Heatley and Marleau have looked good because of him.


Ask any player/coach/hockey guy, the objective heading out onto the ice is to out-chance the opposition...if you do that then you have a very good chance to win. The Canadians did that in spades last night...and against the Swiss...call it luck...call it whatever you want...Canada out-chanced and out-played both of their opponents in their last two games.

And if you keep hearing that it was a "lucky" win, then don't you think there just might be a little hint of truth in there?

I hear defensiveness and denial on the part of Canadians who will (justifiably) think there is no reason for them to exist unless they are univerally regarded as Earth's best hockey nation.

But if you want to call that truth, and it makes you happy, feel free.

In the end you didn't win the game therefore you weren't the better team. You can explain how Canada controlled the play until you are blue in the face but they still lost. That is the only score that matters. Swallow your pride for a second and give credit where it is due, heck Fidatelo and MikeVic don't have a problem with it.

We can just agree to disagree on this matter and maybe this Sunday there will be a rematch.

I dunno.

I'm an American and I thought Canada was the better team overall last night. They out shot and out chanced the US 2-to-1. Over all, I thought the US played pretty sound defensively. They had trouble getting the puck out of their zone on multiple occassions, but, save for a few breakdowns, managed to keep most shots on the outside. Other than some defensive efforts, no US forward really stood out.

Going into the tournament, I thought Canada's strength would be its defense, but they have looked a bit disoganized at times and Brodeur didn't seem to trust them.

I have watched enough hockey to know that the team that wins the game wasn't always the best team on the ice. There is no single player in any sport really that can change the entire outcome of a game like a hot goaltender. Miller was very good last night and was the difference. I don't think he's the only player on the US squad that deserves credit, but he was the key factor.

If Canada was outplayed last night, then I'd gladly tip my hat to the better team...but IMO, that wasn't the case.

Sweet mercy guys, it wasn't even an elimination game. How about we save the accolades for the team that actually finishes the highest at the tournament? Declaring either the "better team" based on one game is premature at best, especially when, while important, it was still in the seeding portion of the tourney.

And I'm not saying that to defend Canada or anything of that nature. I didn't even get to see the game (had one of my own to be at). But trying to use one game as a be all end all in judging the quality of a team, well, that's a pretty damn small sample size to base that claim on.

That said, the US certainly have a head start in that race due to their win and the subsequent seeding they achieved. Would be very interesting to see a rematch though if Canada works their way into one.

This article is hilarious: No first-place finish, COC admits

My favorite is this part:


Really COC? You didn't think China and the US would have a strong showing? Really? Holy shit...

I'm Canadian, I checked my pride at the door with my shoes and hat...now can I get you a beer? :)

The bar I was at had $0.86 Molson drafts all night!

Did Canada outplay the US last night for long stretches? Absolutely. That said, we all know shots do not mean much in hockey, it all comes down to scoring chances and the US had as many scoring chances in Canada.

Canada's D is just not good and being exposed. I thought they'd be good coming in but Neidermayer cannot compete on the National level, especially logging as much time as he did. Pronger looked out of place last night, and even the Chicago duo was very meh.

Outside of Crosby and Nash Canada just doesn't look that good right now.

Now you can say the US was lucky, but having the best goalie in the world is not luck.

No one will dispute that if Miller was in net for Canada right now Canada would likely be 3-0 and steamrolling to the Gold. It isn't like I am putting down any of the Canadian goalies, but Miller this season is on a different planet and that is what it all boils down to.

US beats Canada again, this time in the ski jump team competition ! Well, finishing 11th and 12th (out of 12th) propably takes the importance down a bit :D
Austria dominating, Germany on course for a silver medal with 3 jumpers to go :)

In the singles Ammann won both competitions, did the same 8 years ago in Salt Lake, first to win 4 gold in singles competitions and doing it 8 years apart is pretty amazing.
One of my all time favourites in Janne Ahonen was jumping injured and didn´t get the medal he so badly wanted :(

Canada´s coach kinda told the story of how important/developed the sport is, sporting not a team jacket but a hockey jersey :D

Kindof reminding me of the year when Hasek pretty much stole the Olympics show for the Czech Republic. Let's see if Miller can keep this up.

On the other sheet of ice, Canada just finished pummeling the US in curling. That Canadian team is just something else.

SI

Dola, I should add I think Canada can still win and are obviously the better team talent wise. That said their D is going to be an anchor for them unless the younger guys see a ton more time and Neidermayer and Pronger start seeing more bench.

I do think as far as overall team play goes, the Swedes are the best. Henrik is playing well, their D is stellar and they have three lines that can do significant damage.

I still don't know if the US is a Gold medal team based on the fact it'll take Miller continuing to play at an insanely high level, compounded even more by the fact the team D still gives up way too many odd many rushes from being overly aggressive. They can lose to the Fins and Czech if they don't clean things up because their margin for error is razor thin if Miller isn't disguising himself as Superman even one period from here on out.

By this logic, the Tampa Bay Bucs are a better football team than the New Orleans Saints, seeing as how the Bucs beat the Saints in the last meeting between the two teams.

So we should just stop keeping score and vote on which team was the better team. Would that make you feel better?

Oh wait we already have that and people complain :)

Canada sucks.

You're so fucking original, kudos you awesome champion you.

Ha. I was waiting for the first reaction. :)

And to think, yesterday someone said they didn't care because it was just a prelim game and doesn't really have any meaning ;)

SI

I agree with you on the Swedes. I think they have a great balance of scoring, grit, and role players. I think that maybe one of the problems with Canada and Russia is they don't quite have the balance. Too many scoring egos.

I think the U.S. play a lot better last night in terms of not making mistakes and physical play.

Just announced it on the womens game, Luongo gets the start tomorrow

Nice to see everyone is seeing what CR and I have been suffering through this season. Niedermayer just isn't the same player as he has been in the past and I'm willing to bet he's made more mistakes with the puck in 2/3 of a season than he has his entire career. He's clearly cost the Ducks a couple of games this year with horrendous turnovers or just allowing his man to skate right past him. He's going to get really badly exposed against Russia if they keep throwing him out there against the top line.

I don't think Canada has many better options though TBH. Other than maybe Weber I've been very underwhelmed with the play of the entire Canadian blue line. I don't think Doughty, Keith or Seabrook have been great to this point. Canada is in a bad spot on D where the vets are getting past it a bit and the young guys are in their first big tournament and it shows.

As a side note I've always wondered just how great Brodeur would have been if he could eliminate the need to try and make plays with any puck that comes remotely close to the net. I know it's his "thing" and it's probably a part of his game that is largely positive and cuts down somewhat on the chances the other team gets, but damn whenever I see him struggle it's usually because he's given up a couple of soft ones trying to make plays with the puck. I can't help thinking if he was just content to be a goalie he'd have even more eye popping stats.

Heck, the Hurricanes made it to a couple of Stanley Cups on that strategy. What is not legitimate about it? I agree that much of the ice time was in the US end and Canada's offense controlled the flow, but the gameplan worked well for denying them goals, did it not?

I don't think so. He is essentially a 3rd defenseman at times and has probably saved more goals than cost himself.

Am I the only one that doesn't think the Swiss are a complete pushover in the quarterfinal? It's defenitely better than getting the Russians/Canadiens/Swedes, but Jonas Hiller is fantastic in international competition, they stayed with the US and took Canada to a shootout (despite Canada outshooting their opponent 2-1 in that game too). Beating Canada in a prelim game was great, but let's not let it go to our heads.

Swiss are scary no doubt. That said if the US cleans up their defensive game at all, they will win at least 2-0. I say this because the Swiss had a ton of odd man breaks vs us the first time around from over aggressive D. Hopefully this extra time tightens it all up.

The Swiss are probably the 8th best team in the tournament and with Hiller in net they are capable of stealing one game from almost anyone. Definitely not a "pushover" or a "gimme", but I'd rather face Switzerland and Hiller than Russian and Ovechkin/Datsyuk/Malkin/Kovalchuk/Nabokov.

Hiller ain't too bad in the NHL neither. ;)

He's made Niedermayer and company look better at times than they have really deserved this season.

Would you tell a pitcher to throw nothing but fastballs straight down the middle against the best home run hitting team in the league and reassure him that he's got the best defense in the league behind him?

Sounds like a risky strategy to me.

Wow, really. There are 7 amazingly talented hockey teams playing in an tournament to decide olympic gold. Sweden, Russia, Czech, Slovakia, Finland, USA and Canada can all win this thing.

Nothing anyone said, Canadian or otherwise, disputes this.

Classy

Sums up Canada last night pretty well.

I still say... Why the whistle?

Injury.

The ref could determine that in the half second before he blew the whistle?

How in the world did Canada dominate the game aside from shots? They never led. The US went up very quickly every time the Canadians tied the game up, and they did not give Canada a lot of good shots.

Some excepts from an article about the game: (yes, it's a ctv article, but I just read it and it was fresh in my mind)

"In the glass-half-full version of events, Canada did many things well. They swarmed the net around U.S. goaltender Ryan Miller, who held a decisive edge over his Canadian counterpart, Martin Brodeur. They held their own in the speed department against an American team that had been trumpeting its edge there."

I think everyone would agree with that. The US has a very fast team. I thought the older Canadian defensemen had a bit of a problem dealing with it.

"Physically, they punished the U.S. team, with Rick Nash leading the way in dishing out major open-ice hits. "

I would say that Canada was much more physical.

"That 19-6 edge in first-period shots for Canada was indicative of the play, but as all the players know, engineering a scoring chance is one thing, finishing them off is something else again."

Yes, the US did give up alot of good shots. Ryan Miller was the difference.

"In fairness, Canada out-chanced us two-to-one for most of the game and our goalie played excellent," said Wilson. "We've still got a long ways to go here. There are some great teams out there. Personally, I think Canada is the best team - and Russia is right behind them with all the skill they have up front."

Is it possible to dominate a hockey game and lose? Yes. It happens enough that isn't shocking. Kudos to the Americans for scoring 4 times against Brodeur. That usually doesn't happen. Kudos to Ryan Miller for having a fantastic game. He was the best player on the ice and when your goalie is the best player, it often doesn't matter how the rest of the team looks.

I was pretty happy with the effort, and the game within the game. I like our chances if there is a rematch, but regardless of what happens, I still feel there are 7 teams that can win this thing.

Poor John Schuster. After a bad shot in the current China-USA game, he is overheard saying "I'm sick of this stupid game". I feel for the guy after this bad week and all the crap people are giving a guy who is a bartender for his "day job".

SI

Caught that too. I don't envy him, that's for sure. On the bright side, I bet that barely anyone remembers him in a couple months (or maybe even a couple weeks).

The feeling is mutual for most fans. I'm sick of seeing him miss routine shots. It's been painful to watch.