USA HOCKEY, THE BLACKHAWKS AND OTHER OLYMPIC THOUGHTS
Here's my take on this morning's headlines:
- Just hours before the 30th anniversary of the the program's most significant win, Team USA hockey delivered another upset last night in their surprising 5-3 win over the heavily favored host-country Canadian team. And while yesterday's win was nowhere near as great as the 1980 victory over Russia, beating mighty Team Canada on their ice should certainly give the Americans the confidence they will need as they head to the medal round. From the beginning of the game Team USA was the faster, more aggressive team and no play signified this more than Ryan Kesler's ridiculous empty-netter late in the game. Kesler, Ryan Suter, Brian Rafalski and captain Jamie Langenbrunner were the star skaters for the US but no player was more impressive than goalie Ryan Miller. Doing his best Jim Craig impression, Miller stopped 42 of 45 shots including an unbelievable flurry of attempts over the game's final three minutes. Both teams now continue on to the medal round, albeit in reverse positions of all predictions. The Canadians are the sixth seed and will play Germany tomorrow while the Americans get an extra day of rest and will play the winner of Switzerland-Belarus. Perhaps we may be set up for a rematch in the gold medal game and, if yesterday was any indication, the real winners will be the fans. As NBC play-by-play announcer Mike Emrick said before the game, there are about a million hockey players between these two countries and yesterday's contest featured the best 46.
- Four of those players are Chicago Blackhawks and it was great to see them all play a huge role in such a big game. The lone American, Patrick Kane, struggled early and did not contribute a point but overall he played really fast and created some great opportunities. He continues to be a top-option on the power play and Kane will need to find the back of the net if Team USA wants to win gold. On the Canadian side, Jonathan Toews , Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook combined for four points. Toews assisted on two goals, was the only +2 on the roster and was one of the two or three best forwards for Mike Babcock's team. Seabrook had an assist but played limited minutes late in the game. His defensive partner, Keith, led all Canadians in ice-time and had an assist as he played in virtually every situation as Team Canada's #1 defense-man. With his performance yesterday (and this NHL season), Keith proved he is probably the best blue-liner in the world. Grades: Kane B-, Toews A-, Seabrook B, Keith A.
- Here are some other Olympic thoughts:
- Bode Miller finally won a gold medal yesterday in the super-combi event. He has battled personal demons and failures to get back to this point and it was great to see his hard work pay-off.
- I still cannot believe NBC chose to put the hockey game on MSNBC instead of the mother-ship. The game was the biggest non-gold medal event of the Olympics and this morning NBC executives are probably regretting their decision.
- To make matters worse, NBC had the second round of ice dancing on the main channel. What were they thinking?
- As a Blackhawks fan, I have the privilege of listening to color-commentator Eddie Olczyk on a regular basis and he has been awesome during these Olympics. Eddie O is always pointing out the intricacies of the game and does a fantastic job providing the right amount of emotion for the situation. As the game ended, he said it was "tremendously tremendous" - what a perfect way to describe last night.
- Week 1 of the Olympics is in the books and the story so far has been the domination of the American team. Led by our stars (Shani Davis, Anton Apolo Ohno, Evan Lysacek, Shaun White, Lindsey Vonn, Bode Miller, hockey), Team USA has racked up an Olympic-best 7 gold medals and 24 overall medals. A gold medal in hockey may make this one of the greatest winter games performances of all-time. The women's hockey team also has a chance to win gold.
- Unfortunately, the US curling teams are not on that list.
- Here's what I'm looking forward to this week: Bobsled, curling/hockey elimination rounds, women's figure skating, freestyle skiing.
