Cindy Spoils Party

The gold medal game between the USA and Canada was everything that it was hyped up to be. There was a fast pace, strong goaltending, and exciting game that kept us on the edge of our seats from opening puck drop to overtime winner. Unfortunately, one team had to lose, and that team was the USA.

Canada struck first on a rebound goal from Jonathan Toews in the first. Corey Perry made it 2-0 in the second. With Canada playing solid defense, and stifling every USA rush at the blue line, the game looked well in hand. Then luck struck the Americans. Ryan Kesler deflected a Patrick Kane shot through Roberto Luongo, who got most, but not all, of the shot as it trickled across the goal line. At the end of two, USA was down just one goal, and it made for a third period for the ages.

With every American and Canadian having multiple heart attacks with each shot on goal, it was a defensive play by Kane that gave the Americans a chance to tie the game. With Cindy Crosby, the eventual game winner, on a breakaway, Kane rushed back and dove to knock the puck off Crosby’s stick, preserving a one goal, and giving Team USA a shot.

With Ryan Miller pulled for an extra attacker, coach Ron Wilson put Kane out as that attacker, and his shot from the top of the circle with under 30 seconds started it all. The shot deflected off captain Jaime Langenbrunner, off Canada goalie Roberto Luongo, and right on Zach Parise’s stick. Parise wasted no time, and buried the rebound, tying the game with just 24 seconds left.

The celebration was short lived. Jarome Iginla tied up his defender in the corner, and Crosby beat Brian Rafalski and took a pass from Iginla, and fired a quick shot through the legs of tournament MVP Ryan Miller. This would not have been a USA miracle like 1980, it just would have been one of the greatest USA hockey moments of all time. Instead, Team USA settles for silver, and the youngest team in the 2010 Olympics will set their sights at gold in 2014.

Kudos to Chris Drury, Ryan Callahan, and John Tortorella. No one thought Team USA would win a medal, let alone push the overall favorite to the brink in the gold medal game. A silver medal is a hell of an accomplishment.

Gold Medal Game: USA vs Canada

It’s here. The Gold Medal Game. USA. Canada. Does it get better than this? Well, yes, yes it does. We’ll be chatting live–LIVE–during the game. Join myself, Dave, and fellow fans while we watch the game together. Tell your friends. Have them tell their friends. Let’s make this huge.

OPPONENT: Canada

GOALIE: Roberto Luongo, 2.35 GAA and a .919 save percentage with Vancouver.

USA LINES:

Langenbrunner-Statsny-Parise

Kane-Kesler-Brown

Malone-Pavelski-Kessel

Ryan-Backes-Drury/Callahan

Our savior, Ryan Miller, will be in goal.

STATE OF THE UNION: Pretty damn good. USA looked good against the Finns. 6 goals in the first period? Crazy. Once again, Miller will have to stand on his head. This is a different Canadian team then the one we saw in the preliminary rounds. Their offense is clicking, and that’s without Sidney Crosby for the most part. Will he break out? I think the defense is a bit shoddy, and Luongo hasn’t really been tested. I think the key is an aggressive forecheck. USA has done that in all of the games. But you know that Canada is going to come out firing. Crowd will be on their side. It will help USA to get the first goal, silence the crowd. If Canada scores first, look out.

CRAZY THOUGHT: Drury scores

ON THE iPOD: Born in the USA, Bruce Springsteen

FINAL PREDICTION: I’ve struggled with this one. I really think it could go either way. If Miller plays like he has been, then USA gets the gold. If Crosby breaks out, watch out. It should be fun. That said, USA 3, Canada 2

So, watch, CHAT, discuss, have fun. USA!!! USA!!! USA!!!

Jokinen Nets Two, Finns Win Bronze

Fresh off their embarrassing 6-1 loss in the semi finals to Team USA, Team Finland rebounded nicely in the bronze medal game last night, defeating Team Slovakia to win the Bronze medal. The Finns showed some tremendous poise, netting four goals in the third period to erase a 3-1 deficit to win 5-3.

The comeback was led by Rangers center Olli Jokinen, who scored two goals two minutes apart. These goals tied the game, and then gave the Finns the lead for good. Valterri Filpulla Valtteri Filppula added an empty netter to seal the deal for the Finns.

Rangers forward Marian Gaborik, who suffered a lower body injury in the semi finals game, scored a goal for the Slovaks.

Team USA faces off against Team Canada for the gold today at 3pm.

It’s Canada

So, I’m terribly sorry for screwing up on the live chat. Of course, it’s not my fault. My town was hit HARD by that snow storm. 20 inches, maybe. Power was out (well, it’s out completely now, but for awhile, it was on in half of my house. Very weird. My bedroom had lights. My bathroom? Not so much. Late Friday Night it to no lights all over the house) As such, Internet was out, and my AT&T wireless internet card was impossibly slow. So, no chat. Thankfully, I am now in a hotel, and I have Internet a plenty. There will be a live chat. 3 PM. Be there.

Just a little scouting report before the game. As always, it comes down to Ryan Miller. But, the good thing is, Patrick Kane seemed to break out. So did Statsny. We’ve seen Parise become hot. So, if the three big offensive stars are in their groove, things should be better. But, we can’t stress enough how important Miller has to be. He has to be better than he was the first time against Canada. It should be fun .

So, remember, live chat 3 PM

Gaborik Leaves Semis Early, No Word on Injury

In case you missed it last night, Marian Gaborik left last night’s semi-finals game against Canada early, and did not return for the rest of the game. Early speculation is that it was a groin injury, but no official confirmation has been made. Due to the ridiculous NHLPA injury disclosure clause, all we know is that it is a lower body injury.

In the famous words of Scooby-Doo; ruh roh.

USA Hockey Live Chat!

So, USA Hockey is in the semi-finals, and, on Friday, will play the winner of Finland/Czech Republic (happening now). They are guaranteed to play for a medal. Win on Friday, and they are guaranteed a medal. In the spirit of the Olympics, and because it’s gonna be awesome, we here at BSB are going to live chat the USA game. All the usual suspects will be here, and we hope you will be too.

Quarterfinals: USA vs. Switzerland

Team USA, the #1 overall seed in the tournament, plays its quarterfinals game against Switzerland today at 3pm. The Swiss defeated Belarus in a shootout yesterday to advance to the quarters.

OPPONENT: Switzerland

GOALIE: Jonas Hiller, 2.70 GAA and a .919 save percentage with Anaheim

USA lines are presumably the same that beat Canada, with Miller in net

STATE OF THE UNION: #1 seed in the tournament, not having to face Russia, Sweden or Canada until the Finals, so pretty good. Can’t look ahead though, they need to win tonight to just medal. Then they will need to face either Finland or the Czech Republic, which is no small task. Remember, controlled excitement.

RANGERS PLAYING IN THIS GAME: Drury, Callahan, prospect Andres Ahmbul

CRAZY THOUGHT: Callahan scores.

FINAL PREDICTION: USA 4, Swiss 2.

So, watch, disucss, have fun. USA!!!!! USA!!!! USA!!!

Chris Drury

Everyone has said it, Chris Drury has been great so far for Team USA. Defensively excellent he has killed penalties blocked shots and been a strong veteran presence for the young Americans. What may have surprised some is Drury seems to have re-found an offensive game in the Olympics as well… With 2 goals thus far (including a game winner), he’s taking shots and going to the net – Drury has been very visible on the ice.

So why can he do it for USA and not the Rangers? His performance so far asks several questions; is he being deployed right in NY? does he actually have more to give? and if The Rangers arent using him correctly what are the American coaches doing differently?

With Tortorella on the coaching staff in Vancouver one can only hope he is seeing whatever is different fellow Coaches Gordon and Wilson are doing offensively and will look to perhaps replicate it with Drury after the games in NY.

There’s no doubt that if Drury plays for the Rangers like he has done for Team USA, The Rangers immediately become a lot better.

Olympic Round Up – Canada March On

Four playoff games no surprises. Unless you count Team Switzerland?! no. nor did I.

Anyway, Team Swizterland are now of interest to all American fans thanks to their narrow 3-2 shootout win over Belarus. The US team will know the Swiss well and thanks to their great game against Canada, USA wont underestimate them. You have to expect USA advancing to a medal game… so far so great for Team USA.

The Czech Republic advanced thanks to a 3-2 victory over Latvia that was alot closer than most would expect. Having taken a 2-0 lead  pretty quickly off goals from Tomas Fleischmann and Tomas Rolinek the plucky Latvians tied the game late in the third. Only thanks to an overtime goal from Boston Bruin David Krejci did the veteran ladden Czechs move on. Great performance from the Latvians who can hold their heads up with pride.  Former Ranger Jaromir Jagr only played 6 minutes in this one – the after affects of AO’s hit? The Czechs next go up agains the Fins in the quarters.

Slovakia moved into the quarters thanks to a narrow 4-3 win over Norway. Rangers sniper Marian Gaborik was back to his scoring self getting 1+1 and 9 shots off in 16 minutes of ice time. I’d say his leg is no longer an issue. Another game where the favourite couldnt shake off their lesser opponent though. Slovakia had a 3-1 lead before Norway got back to 3-3 before Miroslav Satan scored middway in the 3rd to win it. Next up will be a game of huge interest for Rangers as Gaborik and Slovakia take on the impressive Swedes in the quarters. A very intriguing game…

Canada won, as expected, 8-2 over the Germans last night. Joe Thornton, Shea Weber and Jarome Iginla (2) got Canada off to a great start before Marcel Goc got one back for the Germans. After that Crosby, Mike Richards, Scott Niedermayer and Rick Nash finished Canada’s scoring before the Germans got another to make it more respectable.

Despite the score, Canada will still not be in best of spirits thanks to their next opponent. Russia. A huge game for the quarterfinal stage, one big favourite is going home. If Russia win, watch the media onslaught in Canada begin….

Finally an observation. How many blow outs have there really been in this event? International hockey is alot closer than it used to be. The NHL is effected by this and is more international and diverse  than ever. Could this international parity (of sorts) help answer the fact that no team has won back to back Cups since the Detroit Red Wings???? Must have an impact, no?  Over at nasports.co.uk we look at the shrinking gap in hockey and offer a group stage review of the Olympics. I think Rangers fans will be interested as we choose our players of the group stages.

Roenick Issues Apology

When Chris Drury was elected to Team USA, Jeremy Roenick was, for lack of a better phrase, appalled:

“Not to take anything away from the guy because he’s had such a great career, but for Chris Drury to be on the team, it baffles me,” Roenick told Toronto radio station AM640.

“I know he’s a great leader and if he’s captain of the team, he’ll be a great captain, but I just don’t see him being as good for the team as a guy like Gomez would be or T.J. Oshie. Oshie would bring so much energy to this team and this type of format in an international event, that I don’t understand how those two guys aren’t on the team.”

Now, after the US victory over Canada and the #1 overall seed in tournament play, Roenick is changing his tune. He has issued an apology:

I think being in New York, I owe a huge apology, both in the New York area or across the country, to Chris Drury, who I said probably should not have been there, here in the Olympics. [He's] been a monster for Team USA. He’s been one of their best players. I’ll eat crow when crow needs to be eaten. This is my national apology to Chris Drury. He’s just been a great, great hockey player

Team USA is the youngest in the tournament, and a veteran like Drury, who has participated in a few Olympics before, is essential to help guide the youngsters as the team focus shifts into a new generation, headed by Zach Parise, Drew Doughty (I meant Jack Johnson, oops), and Ryan Miller.

The young guns have a solid chance of earning a medal, as the qualifying round begins tonight.