Olympic Games Closed

Thanks to all that joined me for this Olympic adventure.

Personally, I thought it was a great games and am proud to be a Canadian.

My thanks go out to the city of Vancouver, the volunteers and of course the athletes of the world.

This will likely be by last post, and I will likely delete the blog altogether at some point.

A brand new hockey footprint for a generation of Canadians was born Sunday when Team Canada ended our greatest Winter Olympics with a record-setting 14th gold medal, earning a frantic, frenetic, emotionally charged 3-2 overtime win over an impressive, resilient Team USA.

There is a new hockey game, a new hockey moment, a new national memory to cherish forever.

The party that erupted last night in my town, as well as all Canadian towns I’m sure, was something that I will never forget. It was amazing.

I’m going to close the book on this chapter of our nation’s history with these words:

“This is unbelievable,” shouted Ryan Getzlaf. “It’s nothing like I’ve ever felt before. I’ve won two world juniors. I’ve won the Stanley Cup.”

And then he paused for a second to find the right words.

“This is for Canada,” he said. “This is amazing.”

Women Win Gold! Men Take a Game at a Time!

Head coach Mike Babcock warned the Canadian players prior to the Olympic hockey tournament that it wasn't going to be easy.

And Babcock, who knows a thing or two about elite hockey having coached the Detroit Red Wings to a Stanley Cup title in 2008, said the level of play at these Winter Games has been like nothing he has seen before.

"This isn't the National Hockey League," he said on Thursday. "I coached in the Stanley Cup finals quite a few times now.

"The pace there is very high but it is not like this. And so there is no way my players can play the same amount of minutes they do in the NHL. It is impossible."

Mighty Canada is hoping there are no more surprises in store at the Olympic tournament as they face upstart Slovakia in the semi-finals on Friday.

The heavily-favoured Canadians square off in the round of four after blowing out top-seeded Russia in the quarter-finals to record their first Olympic hockey win over The Big Red Machine in 50 years.

"We have to use our speed and our size and get a good start," Canada's superstar forward Sidney Crosby said after practice on Thursday.

"Everyone's playing as hard as they can and leaving it all out there."

The semi-finals follow a drama-filled quarter-final round where Slovakia upset reigning gold medallist Sweden 4-3 and Canada routed the Russians 7-3.

Babcock has stopped tinkering with his lines and thinks he has four combinations that can be successful.

"We need everybody," he said. "We try to use our bench as much as we can. We think that's a weapon for us."

The Slovaks have a shot at a medal for the first time in the Olympics. Their best previous finish was fifth four years ago in Turin.

They are the lowest seeded team in the semis and have become the sentimental favourites after their forward Lubos Bartecko was knocked out of the tournament.

Bartecko suffered a severe concussion from an illegal hit against Norway and is recovering in the athlete's village.

"As a team they play so well," Crosby said of the Slovaks. "They've got guys that don't need a lot of space, a lot of time to make plays. So we're aware of that."

Canada's offence sputtered through the preliminary round but they kicked it into high gear with four first-period goals against Russia. They never let up, handing the Russians their worst defeat in 16 years since losing 5-0 to Finland.

If Canada beats the Slovaks, as expected, they could face either their second biggest rival, USA or the pesky Finnish national team who don't have as much depth as others but always seem to overachieve at marquee tournaments.

Canadian fans can take solace from the fact that Canada also struggled in the preliminary round of the 2002 Salt Lake Games and went on to win gold.

Canada and Slovakia have met just once in Olympic hockey when the Slovaks won 3-1 in an opening round match at the 1994 Lillehammer Games. NHL players weren't allowed to compete until four years later in Nagano.

Forward Eric Staal said Canada needs to put pressure on the Slovak defence and create turnovers if they are to reach Sunday's final.

"We need to focus on our game and be initiating. We want to be on the attack and be worried about our game rather than worried about theirs," Staal said.

"If we are on the forecheck and attack we are going to get our opportunities to score and limit them."

 

SOURCE: http://www.ctvolympics.ca/

 

Lone Canuck Picks Russia

Just about every red-blooded Canadian believes Team Canada can take down Russia in sudden-death Wednesday.

But there’s one Canuck who’s picking Alexander Ovechkin and his buddies.

German defenceman Christian Ehrhoff, who plays for the NHL’s Vancouver Canucks, is picking the Russians to beat Canada Wednesday in the Olympic quarterfinal.

Minutes after Canada blasted the Germans 8-2 to punch their ticket to that game, Ehrhoff didn’t hesitate when asked who would win.

“Russia,” he said. “They bring skill, but they also play very hard and physical. They have a great goalie and I think they have the complete package to pull it off here.”

Ehrhoff agreed Canada isn’t yet at the level of team play the Russians and Americans have shown so far.

“I was a little surprised. But it can happen in a tournament,” he said. “You’ve got to get together quick as a team and so far the Russians have done that.”

Canada and Russia will renew their storied rivalry with Canada looking for their first win over the Russians in Olympic play since hockey gold at the Games was spelled CCCP.

Canada hasn’t beaten the Russians at the Olympics since 1960 — 50 years to the month — in a medal-round game on Canada’s way to winning silver.

“That’s a big rivalry, we all know it,” said Canada’s Sidney Crosby, who looked to finally find some chemistry with Eric Staal — his fifth winger of the tournament — and Jarome Iginla. “It’s something that everyone was talking about before the Olympics and whether they thought it would happen in the quarterfinals or whenever.

“The fact is we’ve got a big quarterfinal game and the fact that it’s them just adds more to it. I expect it to be a pretty incredible atmosphere.”

The reality Wednesday is either Crosby or Ovechkin — the two leading faces of the NHL — is going home far short of a gold medal.

The Canadians dominated the Germans, but the question remains: is their game good enough to beat the Russians?

Ehrhoff obviously doesn’t think so. But don’t tell that to the GM Place crowd that chanted “We want Russia” after Rick Nash, with the first goal of his 10-game Olympic career, made it 8-1.

Be careful what you wish for, perhaps?

There were some encouraging signs for Canada in the game. Staal, with three assists, seemed to find some chemistry with Iginla and Crosby.

The fourth line of Brenden Morrow, Mike Richards and Jonathan Toews seemed to find its legs and scored a goal. Young defenceman Drew Doughty just continues to get better with each game.

Defenceman Shea Weber was a force with a goal that literally ripped through the net, making it 2-0.

“They’re a great team,” Weber said of the Russians, “but so are we.”

Roberto Luongo will be back in goal for Canada.

“Everybody says he hasn’t won this, hasn’t won that. His bank account shows he’s a pretty good goalie,” said Team Canada coach Mike Babcock, who replaced Martin Brodeur with Luongo for Tuesday’s game. “Every time we play him, he’s this big wall.”

Canada looked better against the Germans.

But a big question looms: was this a genuine uptick in the quality of the Canadians’ game or just a function of the quality of the opponent?

 

SOURCE: http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Olympics/2010Vancouver/