Quarterfinals
United States 2, Switzerland 0
The Anaheim Ducks must feel good about Jonas Hiller’s performance against Team USA and through most of the tournament – other than the Norway game. Switzerland played the US closer than I expected, though they were a second period buzzer beater and a goalie interference non-call away from being up 3-0 midway through the third period. News flash: Zach Parise’s good.
Canada 7, Russia 3
A dismantling? Give Canada credit for beating up on Russia, but this was just as much a Russian no-show as a great Canadian effort. To the horror of San Jose Sharks’ fans and management, the NHL’s “best goaltender” melted under the bright lights, yet again; if Evgeni Nabokov fails in the playoffs yet again this season, can we finally agree that it’s not a fluke? In the offseason, I argued for a change in goal–not Marleau or Thornton, as some wanted–and I’ve looked wrong on that account…until now. As I tweeted, Russian coach Bykov should be sent to Siberia–or whatever they do nowadays–for not bringing in Bryzgalov earlier; after the extremely soft Morrow goal, there was utterly no doubt how the day would end for Nabokov. By the way, to get the ball (puck?) rolling, Viktor Kozlov played laughably lazy defense on Getzlaf’s opening salvo. Dude, it’s the Olympics! Defense (albeit the forwards’ defense) and goaltending letting down a Russian team? Go figure. Anyway, it’s two terrible Olympic exits in a row for the Russians–being shut out 4-0 by Finland last time around was pretty embarassing as well. Eric Staal’s come alive in the last few games–the veritable heart and soul of Team Canada–and seems key to their hopes. The defensive corps has played well, with a couple of notable veteran exceptions. And yes, there’s no point to having Patrice Bergeron on the team.
Finland 2, Czech Republic 0
Bad and worse. Finland needed to meet a team playing even less inspired hockey than they have been–over the past two games–to advance to the semifinals. I’m not convinced that they could have beaten any other team in the quarterfinals, including Switzerland. I guess you could hang your hat and hopes on goaltending and defense, but this has turned into a rough team to root for, after a sparkling start to the tournament against Germany and Belarus. Look for the Czech Republic to go downhill for the next Olympics, with Jagr and perhaps Elias disappearing into the sunset. Who’s going to be left of any worth, aside from Tomas Plekanec and Tomas Vokoun? Martin Erat, the Invisible Man? Come on.
Slovakia 4, Sweden 3
True, the Triple Crowns were my pre-tournament favorites to win gold, but if you’ve been reading me here and at Puck Prospectus, you’ll know that I called for a potential upset in this game. A puzzling Olympics for Sweden, with a little something missing. The Swedes have tons of young talent, though, so they’ll be contenders for many Olympics to come. But Slovakia? They’ve beat two giants, Russia and Sweden already. A fine all around effort has carried them, enough “no name” defense backing the goaltending of Jaroslav Halak, and talented scorers in Marian Gaborik, Marian Hossa and Pavel Demitra, who ensure that they are not going to get shut out by even the best goaltenders.
Semifinals
USA vs. Finland
Other than what was a 2-0 quarterfinal squeaker against Switzerland, the United States has gone about their business, with a comfortable 3-1 preliminary round win against the Swiss (who took Canada to overtime), a 6-1 beatdown of Norway and the 5-3 signature win over Canada. Understandably, they haven’t shown quite the firepower of Canada, but they should be good enough to beat the slumping Finns. Finland’s power play clicked so well against Germany and Belarus and so poorly against Sweden and the Czech Republic. The Finns need to find that power play to have a chance against the United States, along with hoping that the Ryan Suters out there take some stupid penalties. Frankly, Finland’s looked inept on offense, so don’t hold your breath. The return of Joni Pitkanen from suspension should help their offense; hopefully they serious curb the minutes of defensive liability Lasse Kukkonen as well. Team USA needs to jump out to a lead here and let Ryan Miller ice the Finns.
Canada vs. Slovakia
Don’t get lazy, Canada, these guys are for real. Slovakia’s shootout victory over Russia set Russia on a collision course with Canada in the quarterfinals, while Slovakia’s impressive offensive display–against shutout machine Henrik Lundqvist–dispatched another top three team. Any team that wants to beat Canada in front of their home crowd better do it from in front, as Slovakia did against Sweden. For Slovakia, the key is superior defense and outstanding goaltending. For Canada, it’s playing from in front and avoiding stupid penalties that could put the lethal Slovakian power play on the ice. Note to Mike Babcock: think carefully about ice time, regarding players known to take stupid penalties.
Tournament outlook
I’ll admit that I normally root for Finland, but I’ve grown pretty detached about them after the last two games. I’ll be wearing my Selanne jersey–like when they lost the gold medal game to Sweden in 2006–but Canada vs. USA is a gold medal rematch that we all really should want to see.
USA and Slovakia don’t get enough credit for their gold medal chances. Finland’s only chance is by meeting Slovakia in the finals. While anyone would acknowledge that Canada continues to be the favorite, a) I would not discount the chance of a Slovakian upset and b) Team USA has a really good shot at gold.