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/