THE BEAUTIFUL GAME

Throw the puck at the net.

Because you may get a bounce, or it may just go in.

It would be difficult to convince me that a more beautiful, more complete game of hockey has ever been played, though the way it ended was as devastating in weight as the game itself was important.

Canada invented hockey. The National in NHL refers to the Nation of Canada. They gave us Taylor, Patrick, Orr, Lemieux and Gretzky. We may have 10 times their population, but they watched this game today in as many numbers as we did.

An upstart league in Vancouver, early in the century, for a moment took over the hockey scene, and in so doing revolutionized the game. Cyclone Taylor, or Canada's Ruth, played there, and the Patrick brothers implemented a slew of rule changes, first put into play in Vancouver, that define the sport, including artificial ice, the forward pass, the blue line, and the playoffs.

The US is the obvious natural rival of "the true north strong and free". We are more audacious, we are more powerful in all things not frozen, and we are next door. We also house 24 of the NHL's now 30 teams, and have brought the game some of its greatest moments. In a bizarre, carnival-like league formed in no-mans-land, Houghton, Michigan, the first professional team ever, the Houghton-Portage Lakes, were formed, in the first ever proper hockey arena. Our list of players is far less glitzy. We offer Modano, Roenick, LeClair, Leetch, Chelios and LaFontaine to their Orrs and Gretzkys.

And today, where they offered Crosby, Iginla, Nash, Thornton, Niedermayer, Luongo, Brodeur and Weber, we offered Kesler, Kessel, Kane, Backes, Johnson, Johnson and Miller, and like hell, we played with them for more than 60 minutes.

We could no longer skate under the radar, as was the mantra of Wilson and Burke. That ship sailed around goal #6 vs. Finland. The microscope was on ice, and so was the pressure. And no, we, as Americans, didn't get another gold, but I would dare to say we saw some miracles on ice.

There was a comeback, there were ups and downs, goals, graceful moves, powerful hits, beautiful saves, there was overtime, and there was unprecedented hustle, all from millionaires who were playing for free.

As the second period kicked into gear, the USA was struggling to chip back and forth with the Canadian squad, and then we got a break, a power play. We proceeded to not even take the zone effectively once, and swiftly yield a second goal to them as our failed PP expired. We looked beat, and they looked too good.

And then we fought our way back into it. We threw the puck at the net, like they always say to do, again, and again, and again, and with 24.4 to go, our masked, blockered and gloved hero on the other end now helplessly watching from the bench, we threw the puck into the net, and we had new life. Fans of the Rangers, Islanders, Flyers and Penguins went nuts for a New Jersey Devil, and people who couldn't tell you a Sedin from a Manning hooted and hollered. We stole the moment, we had our mini-miracle, all set-up.

And then? the best player in the world, in the eyes of many, playing for the home and native land of the sport that made him, threw the puck at the net, and he scored.

We watched, objectively, the perfect game, and it is far better to have loved and lost, then never to have loved at all.

Hockey gained some converts today, I know it, and every American kid old enough to follow a puck now wants in, ready to gear up and take their revenge in 20whenever, and for that, it is a victory for our country for a sport I love.

Congratulations, Canada, now don't look back.

THE WAITING

I support two NHL teams, fully, as a "fan", the New York Islanders and the Boston Bruins. For a 25 year old, neither franchise is a particularly joyous fit. In New York, those who pull for the Isles are few and far between, and they tend to be older, reverting in conversation to the glory days in the 80's. For the Bruins, fans are plenty, but cups are not. Still, the folks in Boston remember the days of Orr and Co. as fondly as anything; even my mother, who does not watch sports, to begin with, let alone hockey, as marginalized as it is nowadays, remembers the reverence for #4 when she was growing up in Cambridge. Born in 1985, I, like many others who were just born too late, am tortured by what I missed.

There are other examples that fit in my life: the '86 Mets, Larry Bird in his heyday, Parcells' Giants (I was 5), the '75 Red Sox, the '69 Mets, even the Brooklyn Dodgers, but bigger than any of these memories that I'm just not lucky enough to have, by leaps and bounds, however, bigger than Orr's Big Bad Bruins, Potvin-Gillies-Smith-Trottier, or a ball rolling by Buckner, and perhaps more referenced than any sporting event, period, in this country, is the Miracle on Ice. Yes, it's a wonderful, magical thing that we were able to do what we did, as a hockey nation, when we did it, and yes, I enjoy all the interviews, documentaries, Disney movies, etc., but boy does it drive me nuts that I wasn't around for it!

I understand that there will never be another 1980; nothing could even sniff 1980. I understand that the Cold War is over, and that there is no iron curtain standing between Plattsburgh and Montreal, or Winnipeg and Fargo, but for our time, for our generation, this is about as close as we can get.

This Canadian team, as good as Tretiak, Mikhailov, etc., were, is a collection of essentially half of the the best 50 players on earth, playing at home. They are a beast as beastly as any to lace up skates, and we, though also completely composed of NHL'ers, are not that way. Team USA, a collection of a few stars, some nice role players, and a great goalie, was picked by most experts to come in somewhere between 3rd, if they got lucky, and 7th. Instead, we sit on the edge of a gold medal game, against that same aforementioned northern nation, ever haughty in their view of our brand of their game, and we look like we belong here; there has been no luck.

Let us not forget, too, that while there is no Cold War, and Canada is about as much our political enemy as is Bermuda, there is a major crisis in our country. The combined approval ratings of the last two presidents is at the Ford/Carter level, the economy, jobs and all, finds itself in an eerily similar spot to 1980, there is a war on terror still going, troops scattered, in harm's way, all over the globe, and from Town Halls to Capitol Hills, we are at one other's throats. In essence, the stakes are not the same, but boy, could we use a feel-good, unifying story, and win or lose, I think we've had it.

Here's to taking it one more step, and giving us post-boomers, and on, our own little Miracle.

THE UNLIKELY OLYMPICS

For two days, I've heard analysis and predictions of, and myself the impending goaltending duel that would ensue between the US and Finland today. Miller has been dazzling all the way through, of course, and Kiprusoff is an elite goalie, coming off a shutdown of the Czechs, with a track record of performing well under pressure. See, 1 Vezina in 2006 and 5 shutouts in one year of playoffs en route to just falling short of a cup in 2004. Everyone talked about how out of the European bunch, the Finns played the most "North American" brand of hockey, therefore better suiting them to challenge the red-hot yanks, and play on the NHL-sized rinks. I heard how essentially, these two teams were mirror images of each other, and that it would come down to relentless execution, and/or luck, in a low-scoring slugfest. Relentless execution? Yes. What it was was an onslaught, almost entirely devoid of any physical play, Kiprusoff looking like a new call-up from Pee-Wee in Bantam, the Finns looking like Latvia, Teemu Selanne not a factor. Maybe if Kiprusoff gets some more help when he comes out to play that fateful first puck that found its way into the loving arms of Ryan Malone's stick, or if he does not play it at all, we do get that game we imagined, but from that moment on, the US executed brilliantly and brutally. Now, their belonging here cannot be questioned; they dominated Torino's runners-up, an undisputed major player in the world. By the by, nice to see you, Patrick Kane, you came just in time.

The way Finland-USA turned out was just the latest in a long string of contradictory outcomes in Men's Hockey in Vancouver:
Martin Brodeur, the record-holder of all record-holders, was mediocre at best.
Russia-Canada was not close, and barely interesting, and Sid v. Ovie was not a storyline.
Jonas Hiller may be, when all is said and done, the most notable performer of this tournament, once you consider how the US has played everyone else.
Teemu Selanne, the all-time leading Olympic scorer, had a mere 2 assists, and no goals.
Miikka Kiprusoff not only failed to carry Finland, but he brought them down.
Chris Drury has played like a champion.
The Slovaks beat Russia in group play, then they went ahead and knocked out a Swedish team that hadn't shown weakness since they had arrived.
Russia never showed up.
Brian Rafalski leads the Olympics in points.
Someone named Tore Vikingstad is second in goals, with 4. That's 2 more than Alexander Ovechkin.
We beat Canada.
We're going to play for Gold on Sunday.

Perhaps the only two foregone conclusions that have stayed true have been that Joe Thornton would not be a factor when it counted, and that at some point, whether there were hiccups on the way, Team Canada would blossom into the juggernaut that it is. Right now, they lead Slovakia, 2-0, and are soundly outplaying them. It's obviously too close to call anything, but I would guess we have a rematch, a northern mirror image of the Salt Lake final in '02.

Generally, especially as a hockey fan, I really like Canada, and Canadians. I even kinda root for a Canadian team, and I entered this tournament assuming that, provided they were not facing the US or Russia (my wife's home), I would be pulling for them, knowing how much this must mean to them as hosts, but boy, has that changed. Maybe it was the intensity of USA-Canada, rd. 1, maybe it was the way the Canuck fans have proceeded to boo us like hell in every other game, even cheering like they were watching their own children for the Swiss the other day, or maybe it was the way Ryan Getzlaf's mooky mug hollered into Malkin's ear at the end of the blowout on Wednesday. At any rate, I want them to go down, hard, and how sweet it will be if we can avenge the Salt Lake loss on their turf.

Edit: Yeah, so the Slovaks made it close, awful close. For Pavol Demitra's sake, I hope he can forget the one that got away.

A COMMENTER OFF OF TSN

Pretty much summed up Calgary's 6-yr deal with Rene Bourque today:
"Rene Borque, 6 years at $3.3 million. Shawn Horcoff, 6 years at $5.5 million. How in the world did the second one happen?"

In other non-olympic news, the Wild signed Cal Clutterbuck, who has a excellent name, to a 3-yr extension today. I actually hadn't been aware of the fact that he set the NHL single-season hits record last year. Impressive, and quite understandable that he is a very popular dude in Minny. At 22, he seems to be enhancing his intimidation game with a nice dash of scoring; it appears that the Wild are headed in a positive direction overall, despite looking very rough after losing Gaborik this summer.

Also, down in Port St. Lucie, the Mets injury bug is back, though he appears to have lost some of his sting. K-Rod has pink-eye.

MID-OLYMPIC EVALUATIONS

I'm writing this while peripherally glancing at Canada-Germany, a game I predicted earlier, to honor the Great Jamie Masdon, that Canada would win 100-6. This one is no surprise, but here' to Joe Thornton for finally scoring a (somewhat) meaningful goal.

Iggy looking for the natural trick...

With nothing but bad press, their backs against the wall, Louie in net, and still the most talented team in the tournament, Canada is not done, and tomorrow's Russia-Canada matchup should be epic. I would be shocked if either side doesn't show up . Of course, as I'm saying this Marcel Goc nets one for Deutschland, and it's only 4-1...

Team by team, here's how I feel about who's left, and yes, I'm going to be rude and just assume that the Czechs and Slovaks will beat Latvia and Norway later tonight:

1. USA: Our strength lies in two places. A) Ryan Miller. I, and everyone else who knows what a puck is have been singing sonnets of his merits for the last two days. This much we know. B) Where I think this team really has an edge, whereas a powerhouse team may not, is not merely in the underdog status, and the lack of pressure implied, but in the certainty of every player's role, whereas with a team like Canada, Mike Babcock has had to shuffle his lines 3 times now, and every player is adjusting to the discomfort of playing different roles with different minutes. Canada, Russia and the like are teams built entirely of superstars, and where this can be a disadvantage is not, in my eyes, in "grit" or "heart", but in awkwardness. Brent Seabrook, Brendan Morrow, and Patrice Bergeron have all played under 30 minutes. Seabrook averages 23 minutes per game in Chicago. This phenomenon may be overly pronounced with these three, but it hits everyone, from Sid on down. Rick Nash:Team Canada does not equal Rick Nash:Columbus, but Patrick Kane:Team USA is not far off from Kane:Chicago. The US has 4 established lines, the way a hockey team should. Kane, Parise, Kessel, Stastny, etc. come out to skate and score, while Drury, Backes etc. come out to bruise. And let me join Jeremy Roenick in apologizing for doubting Chris Drury. His presence has been felt.

Our weakness? Obviously, Rafalski has been tremendous, but I'm just not sure about this D corps all in all, with probably two Canada-esque offenses between here and gold. Tim Gleason, meh. Our success has come very much through our willingness to be hyper-aggressive and chase in the offensive zone, and this leaves room for plenty of counter attack. i'm not sure how long we can get away with this. And yes, when I'm talking about Team USA, I'll say "we".

2. Sweden: As an American, the Swedes scare me more than anyone. They quietly took gold in '06, and they have quietly played as well as, if not better than anyone in '10. For all of the accolades being thrown at Ryan Miller, Lundqvist has yet to surrender a goal. The Swedes may be the best rounded group of the bunch. They have a goalie. They have veteran leaders on the blue line in Lidstrom and Kronwall, as well as young upstarts, a la USA's Johnsons, in Enstrom and Oduya. They have scoring depth, again young and old, and versatility, and most importantly, they have a pair of twins who have hit their prime, both of whom are arguably Hart candidates, playing together as usual, in their element in Vancouver.

Weaknesses? It's tough to truly find one. One could argue that they lack spunk, I suppose, but that may just be because we're so caught up with the North Americans and the Russians that we haven't noticed. Watch out for Sweden.

3. Russia: It's tough to put a firing squad like this together, and just expect it to click. They haven't been bad, by any means, but they haven't exploded the way you want them to, though they looked inspired against the Czechs. Obviously, the story starts and ends with their offense. That isn't to say that they're not defensively talented, but Team Russia is the murderers' row of this tournament. Malkin's move to the top line, in place of Datsyuk, seems to have yielded good results, and beware goalies if all of these scorers find their stroke.

If anything really comes back to bite the Russians, I imagine it will be their stubborn desire to showcase the viability of the KHL, snubbing players like Kovalev and Frolov in the process. Russia could field a full team of NHL'ers, and I just don't buy that, outside of a select few, Morosov probably included, there are many players not in the NHL that should be. Huge game tomorrow against Canada, I imagine whoever comes out of that should be a tough team to crack the confidence of.

4. Finland: Not a bad squad, but they were the last team with a bye somewhat by default. There are a lot of old players here: Selanne, Ruutu, Saku Koivu, Jokinen, Salo, and they've looked it, especially against their national rivals in Sweden. There is supposed to be more animosity in that showdown than in any other, but you wouldn't have known it from Finland's performance.

Their biggest chance, like a few other teams, lies in Kipper getting hot, which he could do, but I expect to see the Czechs take them down tomorrow.

5. Czech Republic: Could NHL team convince Jagr to come hang out back West for a few months? He looks good enough, despite this now infamous hit. The Czechs could have won their group, and the matchup with Russia was closer than the score dictates; they made a very strong push late in the 3rd. Considering that, assuming they beat Latvia tonight, they're playing the weakest link of the bye-seeded teams in Finland tomorrow, they can smell at least a shot at a medal.

The Czech team is kind of like a poor man's Russian team, though perhaps with a better presence between the pipes. They are tremendously talented on offense, but questionable on the blue line. At the risk of being very redundant, Vokoun, like any of his counterparts, could steal a game.

As an aside, the Vancouver crowd, anticipating the end of Canada's rout on Germany, is booming the chant "We Want Russia" in unison. This is gonna be good...

6. Canada: A world of skill, not in sync yet. To be fair, they were fairly bloodthirsty against the US, save Ryan Miller, and have treated the cupcakes the way dream teams are supposed to. Two recent developments bode well for the host nation:

Roberto Luongo may be the best goalie in the world today. We all know what happened with CuJo and Brodeur 8 years ago, and this is being repeated. I don't know why Marty was starting, in the first place. Just the buzz in Vancouver around Luongo in net is enough to justify his place there.

I love the new top line, particularly the pairing of Crosby and Iginla. From a strictly scoring standpoint, think Magic Johnson setting up Reggie Miller, but of course Iggy brings a lot more to the table than his shot. If you know me, you know I have a man-crush on Jarome Iginla, and with as much is made of the perpetual search for the right centreman for him, here he is. It doesn't get better than Sid. These two should be a dynamic presence against the Russians.

7. Slovakia: I predicted some weeks ago that the Slovaks would upset someone, and they did, but my guess is that that was what they had in the tank. They have some incredibly talented players. Chara, Hossa, Halak, and Gaborik are as good a gang of 4 as any team can offer, but the quality of player just thins out too quickly after them. The Swedes are not a shoo-in against them, but I don't expect an upset. Oh, and as an Islander fan, I can't believe that Ziggy Palffy still plays hockey.

8. Switzerland: They've been a good story, one that will end tomorrow at the hands of the US. I like seeing the only Islander in the tournament, Swiss captain Mark Streit, do well for himself, Jonas Hiller has been heroic, and they appear to be as well-coached as any team, but they don't have nearly the depth needed to keep going. I think they could upset some other teams, but to me, Team USA's speed-based attack is the perfect recipe for opening the Swiss trap, as they are probably the most trap-reliant team out there.

TOP PERFORMERS, TO THIS POINT:
1. Henrik Lundqvist, Sweden: No goals against. No one else can say that.
2. Brian Rafalski, USA: Before Canada piled it on on Germany, he led all skaters in points, goals and +/-, and had the two huge ones against Canada.
3. Jarome Iginla, Canada: 1 trick, and a 2 goal effort to boot. Leads the tourney in goals.
4. Jaroslav Halak, Czech Republic: Next on the list in SV% and GAA after Lundqvist and Luongo, but Luongo has faced 5 NHL players to date.
5. Ryan Miller, USA: Performance against Canada alone has to get him on this list.

Let's go get the Swiss!

THEY'RE FOR REAL

Before I really get into what was one of the finest hockey games in a long, long time, can I just point three things out?
1) Ryan Miller is an absolute giant.
2) With Kesler's empty-netter sealing it, a Vancouver Canuck buried the canucks in Vancouver.
3) For the first time since before the Leafs, Blackhawks or Bruins won a cup, we beat Canada.

What a game, though; but it's tough to see exactly what to make of it.

As much as I love Tim Thomas, for one, I hope neither he nor Jonathan Quick gets within 90 feet of a net within the next week, and barring any injury, they won't.

Ryan Miller is a very likable guy, despite this commercial, and he is about as home grown as it gets, hailing from Michigan, having won a Hobey Baker in NCAA hockey, and spending his entire career to this point in a city that, though it is somewhat obscure, way up there, and probably not on the forefront of anyone's GPS in, say, Oregon, is oddly representative of USA hockey. Buffalo is small as sports towns go, in a forgotten corner of arguably one of our two most significant states. It also lives just down the QEW, in the shadow of the hockey capital of the world, Toronto, where sits the hall of fame (and with it the original Cup), Leafs Nation, and the origins of any who's who in hockey history, at least the anglophones. Buffalo is the small, blue collar, devoted hockey town, on the world's end of New York, looked down on by the Big Bad Canadians from the CN Tower, that seems to have a chance because they have a goalie, which leads me to the point: we got him, too.

I'm a goalie. I actually played a very intense game (that we won, against the 1st place team/highest scoring team in our league, ahem....) immediately before watching USA-Canada partially DVR'd. I've seen a lot of goalies put on shows that would make me shiver to partake in, but what I saw from Ryan Miller in the 1st and 3rd periods was beyond. I actually turned to my wife at one point, and said, "that's Sidney Crosby!", emphasizing, in my own head, that when I face a point-blank rocket from my opponent's star, in a tight one, I feel like my head is exploding, but this guy was doing it repeatedly, against the Chosen One and the ferocious Red Leafs, in the olympics. And make no mistake, the US played very well, at times, particularly the old guard of Rafalski/Langenbrunner, but Canada ran that game. They outshot us 45-22, and Miller's 19 stops in the 1st were, per Mike Eruzione, more than Jim Craig saw from the Soviets in any period.

Our attack looked plenty good, what lacked was consistent defense. I couldn't disagree with what Eddie Olczyk said in postgame more, that our young defenders were great, that he only counted one odd-man rush all night? Really? Cuz I sure saw a few...

If Miller doesn't have his AAAA+++, does this defense hold Ovie, Kovy and Co.? Does is hold the Sedins, especially when Lundqvist can match Miller on the other end? We shall see...

As for Canada, I have to say, half with a sigh and half with a smirk, that Marty looked cooked, case in point USA goal #2. He unmade his own save, dropping into an awkward pad-stack that opened up a hole that hadn't been there in between stick and pad. But more than anything, his willingness to come out and play the puck has not aged, while his quickness and recovery have. We've seen this in a much worse way with Marty Turco, but at this level we saw some with Mr. Brodeur. If Yzerman, Babcock and Co. want to keep their heads, Luongo starts every game from here on out, including what will presumably be an awesome quarterfinal against Russia. Canada must beat Germany to get there. They're not done, by any means, but A) They're shook, and B)one of Russia or Canada will not medal, which no one would have called.

As for us? Burke and Wilson were geniuses with the silent underdog routine, and they're keeping it going. Can't wait to see what's next.

SUPER SUNDAY (brought to you by MSNBC, ahem...)

Greetings to all in blogland! For any of you who were kind enough to peruse my old blog 2-3 years ago, I thank you, and beseech you to give me another chance not to flake out!

At any rate, down to business:
For most Americans, the term "Super Sunday" means one thing only, but for our neighbors to the north, and some of us down here, today is infinitely more super than that 4-hr commercial/nursing home rock group/game between two teams you don't care about that you can never even really get to watching, because the folks around you who have suddenly become experts for the day won't be quiet.

Today, as it was so simply and succinctly put by Greg Wyshynski over at Puck Daddy, is Hockey Heaven: Russia-Czech Republic at 3pm ET, USA-Canada at 7:40pm ET, and Sweden-Finland at 12am ET. I could get into the implications of each matchup: there's the historic grudge match between Russia and the Czechs, two serious medal contenders (the Czezhs perhaps more than we might have imagined), the two great powers of the Iron Curtain, complete with the best player on earth on one end, and a one-time superstar in his swansong on the other end, who happens to wear the number 68 to commemorate the invasion of his country by that of his adversaries; there is the battle of North America, perhaps the only arena in which one sees Canada as "big and bad" and the US as scrappy underdogs; there is the Scandanavian matchup, between the reigning gold medalists and their formidable younger sibling. I could go into these implications, but I doubt I could really add much. For now, I'm going to whine.

In the midst of my crazed fit of excited anticipation for today, I almost forgot that when our countrymen, those donning the same uniform worn by a team that in 1980 accomplished a feat that produced a moment considered by many to be the greatest in the history of American sports, hit the ice tonight, against one of the most talented hockey teams ever assembled, BY THE HOST COUNTRY, THAT WE HAPPEN TO SHARE A BORDER WITH, nonetheless, it will be broadcast into living rooms everywhere, on MSNBC. MSNBC!!!!

In my eyes, NBC has embarrassed itself with this. If you so happen to tune in to channel 4, here in the NY area, channel 7 in Boston, channel 11 in Atlanta, or any other NBC affiliate across the country, at 7:40pm, you will not see USA-Canada. You will see Ice Dancing. Ice Dancing. I have no idea what Ice Dancing is, considering that I was just subjected to watching night after night of grown men in sparkly costumes do something that looked an awful lot like dancing on ice. I thought that part was done. Of course, the vast majority of US TV viewers, at this point, have cable, and so if they wish, they can switch that dial up to channel God-knows-what to MSNBC, but by making this choice, the network has made a conscious decision to marginalize hockey. Most Olympic viewers, for better or for worse, flip on NBC around dinnertime, watch whatever's on, and hoot and holler for whoever's American, which is fine, but these people won't even know to switch to MSNBC, and thus they will miss what could be the highpoint of these Olympics for the sport of hockey. Perhaps that's an overstatement, considering that we are only in round robin play, but there is no guarantee that we'll see Canada again, who, though there is no shoo-in with the sort of offenses and goaltending out there that there is, are certainly the deepest team in the pool, and you'd be hard pressed to find a more loaded team, anytime, anywhere, in any era.

Secondarily, NBC is stupid. They have the NHL on sundays, and when Vancouver has come and gone, there won't be any Olympic Ice Dancing, or Women's Speedskating, or Men's 2-Man Bobsled, to put on, and what better way to generate interest in a sport and a league who's major weakness is probably lack of exposure than to showcase that sport with some of its leagues finest players in a wildly emotional grudge match (World Juniors, anyone?) that any Joe Football can get into?

Did I mention, speaking of paying no respect to USA Hockey, that tomorrow is the 30th anniversary of that day in Lake Placid?

Would they do this to one of those hardwood Dream Teams, who either rout teams in boring exhibitions, or lose so inexplicably that it's barely worth watching?

Disgusting.

That said, I encourage all of you to give NBC its ratings, MSNBC or not, and watch every last minute of USA-Canada tonight. Maybe they'll notice.

Anyways, here's some inspiration, go get 'em boys:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSmqeQNEV44