10 thoughts on Olympic hockey so far

Sidney Crosby feeling reasonably good about something

1) International ice is too big. The misconception is big ice leads to more offence; in reality big ice means more places for players to hide and cycle the puck without accomplishing anything.

2) After watching the men's USA and Russia game, I'll bet Canada and Sweden want nothing to do with either of those teams in a shootout.

3) Speaking of that shootout, I can't stand how the same player can shoot an endless amount of times in international hockey. Yes I know Jonathan Toews and Team Canada benefited from this in the 2007 World Junior Championship.

4) I may have been wrong about the USA men's hockey team. On Red River College's Triple Deke radio show, I said the team consists of a bunch of penalty killers and lacks scoring depth. So far team USA looks really good.

5) I don't know who will win gold in men's hockey, but the biggest loser may be the Detroit Red Wings. An injured Pavel Datsyuk insisted on going to the Olympics despite a nagging injury, and now Henrik Zetterberg is out for the tournament with a herniated disc in his back. 

6) How good is Sweden's Erik Karlsson? Very good.

7) The women's game played between Team Canada and the USA was fantastic and very physical. I would love to see those two teams play a game with full hitting. I honestly have no idea why hitting is not allowed in women's hockey.

8) While it would be great for women's hockey to see a different team make it to the final, I desperately want to see Canada and the USA play again for the gold medal. I think if that happens (it probably will) the USA will win.

9) The team that should scare the Canadian men's team the most is Switzerland. Canada seems to have bad luck against the Swiss, losing to them in Turin and needing a shootout to beat them in Vancouver. Now that the Swiss have Jonas Hiller in goal, if Canada meet them in an elimination game, disaster could ensue.

10) It would be a real shame if this was the last time NHL players are allowed to go to the Olympics. While there is talk of bringing back the World Cup of Hockey, I am not sure if it will have the same prestige for the fans or the players.  That being said, at least the tournament might always be played consistently on NHL sized ice.

Update:

11) Now that Barkov is injured, the Finish men's team is missing their top three centres in him, Mikko Koivu and Filppula. This means Finland are most likely done. Also, it means Canada has the softest pool ever and may not be challenged before an elimination game (I write this before the two teams play).