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!