Olympic Hockey

[Shady Ultima]

Ok, being a Canadian, this is pretty much the only sport in the US Olympics I'm pumped for. The teams look great, should be a great series. With Czechs, Russia, Canada, and Sweden being the top picks for Gold, this should be quite the battle.

I'm gonna borrow the NHL.Com's olympic preview bit. It's a bit old, as Kiprussoff is still the goalie for the Finland team.

I had absolutely no hand in writing this and it can be found here

2006 Olympics Rosters

    * Canada
    * Czech Republic
    * Finland
    * Germany
    * Italy
    * Kazakhstan
    * Latvia
    * Russia
    * Slovakia
    * Sweden
    * Switzerland
    * United States

TEAM: Czech Republic

USUAL SUSPECTS: Goaltenders Dominik Hasek and Tomas Vokoun, defensemen Jaroslav Spacek, Marek Malik, Frantisek Kaberle, Tomas Kaberle and forwards Jaromir Jagr, David Vyborny, Milan Hejduk, Vaclav Prospal, Martin Rucinsky, Martin Straka and Robert Lang.

HAPPY TO BE HERE: Petr Prucha, Rostislav Olesz, Ales Hemsky, Martin Erat, Petr Cajanek, Jan Bulis, Milan Hnilicka, Filip Kuba, Marek Zidlicky, Pavel Kubina

STRENGTHS: Great goaltending. Leading NHL scorer in Jagr. Jagr's supporting linemates Rucinsky and Straka. Prucha's rapid development and strong recent play. Veteran defense. Defending World Champions.

WEAKNESSES: Defense shows some age. Forwards roster much stronger offensively than defensively.

WHAT TO EXPECT: Czechs thrive on international play where their puckhandling and skating skills show to best advantage. They never quit. Should get stronger as tournament goes on.

TEAM: Germany

USUAL SUSPECTS: Goaltender Olaf Kolzig; defensemen Christian Ehrhoff and Dennis Seidenberg; forwards Jochen Hecht, Marco Sturm, Marcel Goc, Daniel Kreutzer, Tomas Martinec, Klaus Kathan, Michael Hackert and Jan Benda.

HAPPY TO BE HERE: Goalies Robert Muller and Thomas Greiss; defensemen Sascha Goc, Christoph Schubert, Stefan Schauer, Andreas Renz, Lasse Kopitz, Alexander Sulzer; and forwards Stefan Ustorf, Alexander Barta, Eduard Lewandowski and Petr Fical.

STRENGTHS: Kolzig still has his skills. Benda doesn't score much but he gives Germany a big defensive center to match against other teams' big, scoring centers.

WEAKNESSES: Kolzig's backups and the defense lack experience against NHL players. Martinec's scoring is down in recent years. Hackert was unsuccessful in the AHL this season.

WHAT TO EXPECT: On paper, this is one of the weaker teams but the Germans play conservatively and with a lot of pride. Don't expect big upsets by this team but they tend to win the games they should.

Peter Forsberg and Markus Naslund
Good friends Peter Forsberg and Markus Naslund lead an explosive offensive for Sweden.
TEAM: Sweden

USUAL SUSPECTS: Goaltenders Mikael Tellqvist and Henrik Lundqvist; defensemen Christian Backman, Kim Johnsson, Kenny Jonsson, Niklas Lidstrom, Niklas Kronwall, Mattias Norstrom and Mattias Ohlund; forwards Daniel Alfredsson, P.J. Axelsson, Peter Forsberg, Fredrik Modin, Markus Naslund, Samuel Pahlsson, Daniel Sedin, Henrik Sedin, Mats Sundin and Henrik Zetterburg.

HAPPY TO BE HERE: Goaltender Stefan Liv, Mika Hannula, Jorgen Jonsson, Mikael Samuelsson,

STRENGTHS: Superb defense and an excellent offensive team. Every single defenseman plays in the National Hockey League and they are a nice mix of stay-at-home types and guys who can start the offense.

WEAKNESSES: Inexperienced goaltending. However, Lundqvist had out-of-this-world stats in the Swedish Elite League last season and has looked good in New York this year.

WHAT TO EXPECT: A medal. This is one of the strongest and most experienced teams in the tournament. Any team with Lidstrom and Forsberg is going to be formidable. Figures to be one of the deepest teams in the event of a shootout, which is how they won gold in 1994.

TEAM: Slovakia

USUAL SUSPECTS: Goaltender Jan Lasak; defensemen Zdeno Chara, Ivan Majesky, Andrej Meszaros, Martin Strbak, Radoslav Suchy, Lubomir Visnovsky and Milan Jurcina; forwards Peter Bondra, Pavol Demitra, Marian Gaborik, Michal Handzus, Marcel Hossa, Marian Hossa, Ladislav Nagy, Miroslav Satan, Jozef Stumpel, Marek Svatos and Richard Zednik.

HAPPY TO BE HERE: Goalies Peter Budaj and Karol Krizan; forward Richard Kapus.

STRENGTHS: The Slovaks don't seem to realize their country is one-half of one percent the size of Canada. They have the highest ratio of quality players to land mass of any hockey-playing country. They play with big hearts, plenty of courage and an overflow of national pride. They are easily one of the most likable teams in the tournament. Extremely talented cast of forwards.

WEAKNESSES: On paper, the goaltending. Lasak is good but has proven beatable at this level. Budaj is a hard worker, well liked by teammates and officials but still young. Krizan must have something good going for him to be backstopping MoDo. The defense is decent, led by Visnovsky and Chara.

WHAT TO EXPECT: A gold medal! You'd probably have to be in Bratislava, Martin or the High Tatra to believe this but watch out for this talented team.

TEAM: Latvia

USUAL SUSPECTS: Goaltender Arturs Irbe and Sergejs Naumovs; defensemen Sandis Ozolinsh and Karlis Skrastins. Forwards Alexandrs Semjonovs, Maris Ziedins, Grigorijs Pantelejevs and Janis Sprukts.

HAPPY TO BE HERE: Goaltender Edgar Masalskis; defensemen Victors Pujacs, Arvids Rekis, Agris Saviels and Atvars Tribuncovs; forwards Armands Berzins, Girts Ankipans, Aigars Cipruss, Vladimirs Mamonovs, Mikelis Redlihs, Leonids Tambijevs and Herberts Vasiljevs.

STRENGTHS: Ozolinsh and Skrastins. Perhaps Masalskis.

WEAKNESSES: Basically, throughout the lineup. Their older players who were trained by the Soviets are aging and there is little money for an expensive national hockey program. This is a small country, free for little more than a decade. The team represents a good effort to develop the national program but it still has a way to go. Semjonovs is not the scorer he once was, nor is former NHLer Pantelejevs.

WHAT TO EXPECT: A real good time in Turin but likely no medal. Irbe got Carolina to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2002. Naumovs has served Latvia honorably for years but Masalskis was their goalie at the 2004 World Championship after being the all-star goalie for the league champions. Latvijas uzvaras? (Latvia wins!) Not likely, but they'll be fun to root for. Hold your own minute of silence in honor of Sergei Zholtok, an NHL veteran who died last year while playing in his native country.

TEAM: United States

USUAL SUSPECTS: Rick DiPietro, Chris Chelios, Derian Hatcher, Aaron Miller, Brian Rafalski, Mathieu Schneider, Jason Blake, Craig Conroy, Chris Drury, Scott Gomez, Bill Guerin, Mike Modano, Mark Parrish, Brian Rolston, Keith Tkachuk and Doug Weight.

HAPPY TO BE HERE: Robert Esche, John Grahame, John-Michael Liles, Jordan Leopold, Erik Cole, Brian Gionta and Mike Knuble.

STRENGTHS: The defense has a nice blend of speed and strength, youth and experience. There are more scrappy grinders than offensive stars among the forwards. Modano, Guerin, Parrish, Tkachuk and Gionta will be expected to carry the scoring load. Knuble is a very nice addition.

WEAKNESSES: Opponents know they're not facing Hasek when they play the United States. The country lacks a clearly recognized No. 1 goaltender so the Olympics offers these three a chance to grab the reins and reign.

WHAT TO EXPECT: Low-scoring losses. What happened to hockey among Gen X in the United States? The 1980 Miracle On Ice victory produced a generation of top talent but the current group seems a cut below, requiring the services of some of those older players the kids grew up watching.

Dany Heatley
Dany Heatley, one of the league's leading scorers, is sure to make an impact in Turin for Canada.
TEAM: Canada

USUAL SUSPECTS: Martin Brodeur, Roberto Luongo, Rob Blake, Adam Foote, Scott Niedermayer, Chris Pronger, Wade Redden, Ed Jovanovski, Shane Doan, Simon Gagne, Kris Draper, Dany Heatley, Jarome Iginla, Vincent Lecavalier, Brad Richards, Ryan Smyth, Martin St. Louis and Joe Thornton.

HAPPY TO BE HERE: Marty Turco, Robyn Regehr, Rick Nash and Todd Bertuzzi.

STRENGTHS: Everywhere. Brodeur returns in search of a second gold medal, as do many others. No team has as good a backup goalie as Luongo. The defense is the strongest in the Olympics. The offense is young and skilled and hungry. The coaching staff amicably blends a variety of different approaches. The team is capable of handling any opponent's strategy.

WEAKNESSES: Some of the guys pronounce some words a little differently, eh? But on the ice, the Canadians are aboot as good as it gets.

WHAT TO EXPECT: The favorite to win gold. Also expect to see hockey at its finest when Canada plays Russia, Sweden, Finland, Slovakia, Czech Republic or the United States.

TEAM: Switzerland

USUAL SUSPECTS: Goaltenders David Aebischer and Martin Gerber; defensemen Olivier Keller, Goran Bezina, Mathias Seger, Severin Blindenbacher, Mark Streit and Julien Vauclair; forwards Paul DiPietro, Patrick Fischer, Adrian Wichser, Thomas Ziegler, Flavien Conne, Martin Pluss, Patric Della Rossa, Marcel Jenni, Sandy Jeannin, Ivo R?themann;

HAPPY TO BE HERE: Goalie Marco Buhrer; defensemen Martin Steinegger; forward Romano Lemm, Thierry Paterlini

STRENGTHS: The goaltending. Both Aebischer and Gerber are proven NHL goaltenders. It'll be nice to again see DiPietro, a hero of Montreal's 1993 Stanley Cup.

WEAKNESSES: The defense is inexperienced against NHL players. This is a country that only recently began sending players to the NHL. Now, that the Swiss have stepped up their program, look for them to join the world leaders in another decade.

WHAT TO EXPECT: A disciplined team. Two members were sent home at the last Olympics for violating curfew.

TEAM: Italy

USUAL SUSPECTS: Goaltenders Gunther Hell and Jason Muzzatti; defensemen Michele Strazzabosco, Armin Helfer and Christian Borgatello; forwards Stefan Zisser, Mario Chitarroni, Stefano Margoni, Giuseppe (Joe) Busillo, John Parco, Giorgio De Bettin, Jason Cirone, Lucio Topatigh, Manuel De Toni and Anthony Iob.

HAPPY TO BE HERE: Goalie Rene Baur; defensemen Florian Ramoser, Andre Signoretti, Carter Trevisani and Robert Nardella; forwards Anthony Tuzzolini, Giulio Scandella and Luca Ansoldi.

STRENGTHS: Helfer has had a long and successful career but was injured earlier this year. Signoretti played four years at Ohio State. Trevisani played Canadian Juniors. Iob is a proven scorer. Scandelli was third-leading scorer for Rouyn-Noranda three years ago. Ramoser and Strazzabosco are excellent defenders. Cirone had a long minor-league career in North America.

WEAKNESSES: Italy hasn't played in a World Championship since 2002. They won the right to move up from a lesser division at the 2005 World Championships in Einhoven in May. Strangely, the two players, Dino Rossi and Roland Ramoser, who scored to beat France in the final for coach Michel Goulet, weren't named to this Olympic team.

WHAT TO EXPECT: Italy has never medaled at an Olympics or World Championship. But they are the host and it would provide a lot of local fun if they were successful. Make a batch of manicotti, drink an aristocratic Barbaresco in honor of the venue and toast the hosts, after the game, with grappa.

TEAM: Russia

USUAL SUSPECTS: Nikolai Khabibulin, Evgeni Nabokov, Ilya Bryzgalov, Andrei Markov, Danny Markov, Alexei Zhitnik, Darius Kasparaitis, Sergei Gonchar, Ilya Kovalchuk, Alexei Kovalev, Alexei Yashin, Viktor Kozlov, Maxim Aginogenov, Alexei Zhamnov and Maxim Shushinsky.

HAPPY TO BE HERE: Fedor Tyutin, Anton Volchenkov, Dmitri Bykov, Pavel Datsyuk, Alexander Ovechkin, Alexander Frolov, Evgeni Malkin and ALexander Kharitonov.

STRENGTHS: Throughout the lineup. Great goaltending. Veteran defense. Highly skilled offense.

WEAKNESSES: Age is catching up with some of the great players in this lineup. While the team is strong, there are some other Russian NHLers that you might have expected to be on this team, starting with Sergei Samsonov.

WHAT TO EXPECT: The Russians should be in contention for a medal.

Miikka Kiprusoff
Netminder Miikka Kiprusoff is a steady force in the net for Team Finland
TEAM: Finland

USUAL SUSPECTS: Miikka Kiprusoff, Teppo Numminen, Sami Salo, Kimmo Timonen, Aki-Petteri Berg, Ossi Vaananen, Saku Koivu, Olli Jokinen, Jere Lehtinen, Teemu Selanne, Ville Peltonen and Sami Kapanen.

HAPPY TO BE HERE: Kari Lehtonen, Fredrik Norrena, Joni Pitkanen, Tony Lydman, Niko Kapanen, Mikko Koivu, Tuyomo Ruutu, Antti Laaksonen, Antti Miettinen, Jarkko Ruutu and Jukka Hentunen.

STRENGTHS: When the teams were picked, Kiprusoff led the NHL with shutouts and was one victory behind the League leaders. The defense is a nice blend of experience and youth. The forwards have a good blend of grinders and scorers. They don't always medal but everyone seems to remember the Finns as the toughest game they played in these international events.

WEAKNESSES: Some disarray in team selection. Lehtonen hasn't played since the beginning of the season due to injury and may not be ready. His replacement would be Antero Nittymaki, the starter for the Atlantic Division leading Philadelphia Flyers, who was upset that an injured player was chosen ahead of him. His teammate, Sami Kapanen, said he likely wouldn't play.

WHAT TO EXPECT: With the Finns, you can never tell. Expect rough games and close scores. Expect the action to go right to the final whistle as they are among the best conditioned athletes and never quit regardless of the score.

TEAM: Kazakhstan

USUAL SUSPECTS: Vitaliy Yeremeyev, Alexey Troshchinskiy, Vitaliy Tregubov, Andrey Pchelyakov, Alexander Koreshkov, Konstantin Shafranov and Yevgeniy Koreshkov.

HAPPY TO BE HERE: Vitaliy Kolesnik, Sergey Ogureshnikov, Oleg Kovalenko, Artyom Argokov, Denis Shemelin, Alexey Koledayev, Yevgeniy Pupkov, Alexey Vassilchenko, Fedor Polishchuk, Sergey Alexandrov, Andrey Ogorodnikov, Andrey Troshchinskiy, Andrey Samokhvalov, Dmitriy Upper, Dmitriy Dudarev and Nik Antropov.

STRENGTHS: Kolesnik, the huge goalie for the Colorado Avalanche, may be their best goalie. Antropov is the only other NHL player on the roster. The Koreshkovs have been around for quite some time and may be their best scoring threats. The group listed under USUAL SUSPECTS are the seven returning players from the 1998 Olympic team. Kazakhstan did not play in the 2002 Olympics. This team closely resembles the the 2005 World Championship team that upset Germany.

WEAKNESSES: They were beaten, although not badly, by the Russians, Belarus, Switzerland, Czech Republic and Slovakia at the 2005 World Championships. However, they haven't added enough strength to expect those outcomes to change.

WHAT TO EXPECT: A look at a team from a country that has a developing hockey program. If you haven't seen Kolesnik fill up a net, this will be a good opportunity. It should also give Antropov, an imposing physical presence, a chance at team leadership.

Obviously, I'm rooting for Canada for gold, but I definately see they have competition.

Any Olympic predictions or basically anything about it, let's hear it!

[Drace]

Go Holla.... Oh, wait. We're in the other Ice-skate-sport department (Ice-skating). Ah well. Go Canada! Go Brian Boitano!

[MrMister]

When Brian Boitano was in the alps, fighting grizzly bears, he used his magical fire breath and saved the maidens fair!

Uhm.. I don't really like hockey, because my team is Vancouver.

[Tomi]

GO CURLLING!!!!

Yeah, hockey (curlling) is fun to watch.

[Archem]

What would Brian Boitano do if he were here right now? He'd make a plan and he'd follow through, that's what Brian Boitano'd do!
I like hockey. It (and dodgeball) should be the only sports, in my opinion, since they're the only ones that seem worth playing. This doesn't really include the semi-sports, like paintball and... uh... air-soft gun shooting? Well, then again, dodgeball is sort of a semi-sport... It should be an official one! That solves my dilemma. Go h(o)o(c)key.

[Apex]

Now here is somthing I can actually watch.

Isn't Pattrick Roy coaching the Canadian team?

I wish the Avalanche would compete instead of a country.

GO AVS!

[Razor]

Apex? You're on?
This week is just full of surprises.

[Shady Ultima]

Haha, Apex, that's funny. Patrick Roy... actually coach. Man, that guy is the most cocky goalie ever. He turned down the Olympics, and of course, without him they won

And if any NHL team represented a country... it definately would have to be Toronto (not a fan, but they're the most popular) and would have to have major changes as the team is split up among various other teams.

And the Avs will never do anything until they realize they need a solid goaltender... which Aebischer is not.