King Crosby

It had to be “him”. If Canada was going to win the gold, you know “he” had to be the reason why. We all know who “he” is and for some reason, the fact that “he” scored that goal last night – made the US’s over time loss to Canada burn a little more for some people.

I know a lot of you out there uttered the phrase, “Anyone but him!” after Crosby scored the goal. But let’s drop the hate for five minutes? I know you think he’s a cry baby, boring and there’s a laundry list of other reasons why you don’t like him. But, let’s face the kid can play. He’s talented – he didn’t get as far as he has based on looks alone. Don’t get me wrong, the kid is a looker and has a great ass - but he’s worked that ass to get where he is today.

Just moments into over time, the kid from Cole Harbor, Sidney Crosby, got the puck past Ryan Miller and his legend grew a little bit more.

But it wasn’t just Sidney who won the game, Roberto Luongo proved why he is the best goalie in the NHL. Corey Perry scored his fourth goal in the series, with the help of his Ducks teammate, Ryan Getzlaf. Jonathan Toews was one of the unsung heroes – getting his first goal yesterday and he was named the top forward in the tournament.

Plus, you’d be an idiot if you didn’t give props to Team USA. According to most people out there, they were going to be a non-issue. They were the youngest team in the tournament and in-goal was a guy who had hit the skids prior to the Olympic break. They proved everyone wrong. They made people like Brian Rafalski and Ryan Kesler household names and hopefully inspired a few kids out there to pick up a stick and put on some skates.

Team USA wouldn’t have gotten as far as they did, if it wasn’t for the performance of Ryan Miller. He was undoubtedly the star in many people’s eyes of the Olympic games and watching him so visibly upset was hard to handle.

This isn’t the first time Miller had an unfortunate run in with Sidney Crosby. Picture it, Buffalo, 2008. It’s a snowy New Year’s Day at Ralph Wilson Stadium and a young, Sidney Crosby gets the puck past Ryan Miller during the shoot out and wins the game. Hopefully Miller doesn’t go all Ray Finkle on the people of Buffalo, he was amazing during the Olympics and I know he wanted a gold medal – but a silver is nothing to look down on. You were the star, sir and I tip my cap to you.

If that doesn’t help, Team USA – well, just remember…  at least you’re not Russia.

CHOKE-VECHKIN

"Do you think my medal will clash with my Stanley Cup ring?"

I was nervous  – but extremely excited. Russia, historically, usually was a tough opponent and I didn’t want Team Canada to blow their load, excuse the term, on them and have nothing to offer later. But, I couldn’t wait to see the two powerhouses battle it out. I mean, this was suppose to be the gold medal game and instead, the top contenders were holding on for dear life. It was Thunderdome!

Did we get Thunderdome? Nope. What did the Olympic viewing audience view? What most of us viewed from the comforts of our own home, was basically the varsity football team beating up on the kids in the slow class.  You know it’s bad to beat up on the retarded kids, but sometimes you got to smack’em around & show’em who’s boss.

It was great to see Canada put the goal in the net over and over again, but a blow out is never a good time. It was depressing almost. I had the honor of catching the game with my father, Hank, and as an older gentleman, he was bummed that Russian wasn’t the beast that they use to be. Gone are the days where the Russians are the athletic superior and stacked with the best of the best. Back when their female athletes looked just as rough and masculine as the men.

Instead Russia’s team seems to be filled with victims of the Chernobyl disaster & coked up, emaciated male models. Don’t hit too them too hard or they’ll break their frail bones. Even Alexander Ovechkin couldn’t score on Canada. Maybe if he spent more time practicing like a his Capitals teammate, Brooks Laich, he’d be the superstar that he supposedly is.

Who knows, maybe Russia decided to take a year off and focus on Sochi in 2014? It’ll be interesting to see who’s in and who’s out when the Olympics come to their neck of the woods.

With last night’s win against Russia, Canada is now one game away from the gold medal round and we all know they want a rematch against Ryan Miller and Team USA. Who wouldn’t want to see that? Well, maybe Russia and the other losing teams in Olympic hockey tournament – but they should have won those all important games if they wanted their vote to count.

Canada takes on Slovakia Friday night, while the US takes on Finland.

But Canada Was Suppose To Win!

Waking up this morning, I couldn’t help but wonder if last night really happened. 30 years ago the US hockey team beat the Russians in Lake Placid, cut to 2010 and the US hockey beat Canada 5-3 in a huge upset.

During talks with the media prior to last night’s game, both teams were doing whatever they could to keep the rivalry alive. Team USA biggest pot stirrer was Vancouver Canuck, Ryan Kesler, who flat-out said he hated Team Canada and wanted to do whatever he could to make sure Team USA won. Bringing the hate paid off last night for  Team USA.

Team Canada got schooled on their own sport and it was embarrassing. There was no reason why USA should have won and after Team Canada barely won in a shoot out against Switzerland on Thursday, the same team that Team USA pulled off their first win against, you would have thought Babcock and the rest of his staff would do whatever they could to find the right line combination to battle and beat Team USA.

Now Team USA is hardly a rag tag group of guys – excuse the term, they’re the best that money can buy. The Bad News Bears, they’re not (although, I would like to nominate Kesler for the Tanner Boyle award for being the biggest shit starter). But unlike Team Canada, Team USA just seemed click together better. Maybe Brian Burke had them do extra trust falls or they had a slumber party during try-outs, where they shared their inner most secrets. I don’t know.Whatever they did, it’s working.

I mean look at  Brian Rafalsky – he’s suddenly the King of the Stars & Bars and  you know Mike Babcock is wondering what the hell is going on and probably recommending he gets tested by Olympic officials. Rafalsky has scored 4 goals so far in Vancouver, which is also the same amount of goals he’s scored in 57 games this season. I guess with the right teammates, anyone can be a superstar.

Team Canada plays against Germany next. If they beat Germany, they’ll take on Russia in the quarterfinals and if you think Sunday night’s game was intense, you ain’t seen nothing yet.

Olympic Hockey Recap: The Nobody Cares About Jarome Iginla Edition

“You like me! You really like me!”

After days of sitting through filler, all eyes are on men’s hockey in Vancouver and no matter how hard NBC tried to keep their viewing audience from watching the games, the viewing audience lucked out and caught a glimpse of what they can hopefully expect during the medal rounds.

Team USA kicked off the day by taking on the delegation from Switzerland. The Swiss team was anchored by Anaheim (Mighty) Duck goalie, Jonas Hiller. Prior to the Olympic break, Hiller posted a record of 5-2  and was having a little more success than Team USA’s goalie, Ryan Miller. The Buffalo Sabre, had recently hit the skids and was struggling as of late. Miller had only one win the month of February. But much like the playoffs, the Olympics are an entirely different.

The US were the first to strike 18:59 into the first period. Robert Ryan, not to be confused with Bobby Ryan of the Anaheim (Mighty) Ducks, scored the unassisted goal on his NHL teammate. The  Cherry Hill Giant will be holding his head a little bit higher today.

Bobby Ryan told reporters after yesterday’s win, “Once I scored, I was able to settle down and come back into my own a little bit.” US General manager, Brian Burke understood her team would be nervous and they had every right to be. “This is the big stage. This is Broadway.”

St. Louis Blue David Backes, scored 6 mins into the 2nd and that was followed up by Tampa Bay’s Ryan Malone’s power play goal half way through the second period. By the end of the 2nd period, the US was ahead 3-1 and were up 22 shots to Switzerland’s 15 shots.

Now, I don’t want to say the US mailed it in and didn’t give their 100% during the 3rd period, but they only had 2 shots on goal. TWO – count’em 1-2 shots on goal. It’s bad enough the US Women’s hockey team did it against Russia, but you’re there to win and you want to be intimidating. Enough of this sportsmanship crap. Kick some ass and show these other countries they can’t mess with the stars & bars. The US takes on Norway next.

The US’s next opponent lost last night to Canada in a shut out. Hometown hero, Roberto Luongo, blocked all 15 shots on goal. But the real star of the night was Jarome Iginla. The man who according to Sean Avery nobody cared about because he was too boring, captivated the crowd the with his hat trick – one of which came on the power play.

Dany Heatley followed up Iginla’s performance with 2 goals, Philadelphia’s Mike Richards(who Doc referred to as Washington Capital, Mike Green – Ouch! Burn!) and Ryan Getzlaf & Corey Perry of the (Mighty) Ducks each scored one. Canada’s #1 son, Sidney Crosby, had three assists for the night. Unlike, the US – Canada didn’t lay down in the 3rd period and led with 42 shots on goal. Canada takes on Switzerland on Thursday.

Finally the Russian Federation or Russia as I like to call them, beat Latvia 8-2. Washington Capital, Alex Ovechkin and AK Bars Kazan(not to be confused with the cinematic gem, Kazaam) Danis Zaripov each scored 2 goals. Evgeni Malkin of the Pittsburg Penguins and Ilya Kovalchuck of the Atlanta Thrasers New Jersey Devils each scored a goal and recorded an assist.  Russia hits the ice next on Thursday and takes on Slovakia in a game we probably won’t be able to see because NBC are ass hats.

If you’re looking to fill your hockey fix today: Finland takes on Belarus, Sweden plays Germany and the Czech Republic takes on Slovakia.

Don’t Fuck With The Stars & Bars, Son!

Team USA came back and beat Team Canada 6-5, last night during the gold medal round of the IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship.  Last night’s victory was only the second time the USA has won the Gold and the sixth time Team USA has received a medal in the 30+ year old tournament. Team Canada had been at the top for the last 5 years, but failed to strike gold(GET IT!) again this year.

Team USA also featured a few players with roots in Mass. David Warsofsky is from Marshfield and plays for Boston University. Boxford’s Chris Kreider plays for Boston College and Ryan Bourque of Boxford, who comes hockey family some of you might be familiar with….

Team Canada Becomes A 5 Year Reunion – Olympic Bound Bruins

"You guys want to do this again on 2010?"

 As mentioned on my Twitter, considering the dramatic way Steve Yzerman announced Team Canada this afternoon, Brian Burke should contact Simon Fueller and everyone  at American Idol and have Ryan Seacrest do the announcement of Team USA. 

  “Phil Kessel……You are…….NOT on Team USA.” 

Let’s be honest, the best part (for Bruins fans at least!) was the announcement that Patrice Bergeron would be joining the team in Vancouver. Not bad for a kid who didn’t get an invite to camp this summer.  With the addition of Bergy, the Olympic viewers get to check out a mini reunion of sorts of the 2005 Canadian World Juniors Championship Hockey Team  that featured Sidney Crosby(A) – Pittsburgh Penguins, Corey Perry & Ryan Getzlaf - Anaheim (Formerly Mighty) Ducks, Brent Seabrook – Chicago Blackhawks, Shea Webber – Nashville Predators and  Mike Richards - Philadelphia Flyers . For the complete roster of Team Canada, go here. 

And Patrice isn’t the only Bruin heading to Vancouver in February, Zdeno Chara will be going and representing Team Slovakia, Marco Sturm will be representing Germany and David Krejci will be on the ice in Vancouver for the Czechs. 

Team USA will be announced on New Year’s Day in conjunction with the Winter Classic. Here’s to hoping Tim Thomas makes the team!