Loss against USA? It set us up well.

A nation was devastated after Team Canada's Men's Ice Hockey Team lost to its American brothers in the last game of the round robin. The 5-3 loss just sunk a Canadian ship that was already battered from a close call against the Swiss. After the loss it seemed like most of Canada thought we would have no chance at a gold medal, our mission from the start going into the Olympic Games. But Canada quickly proved the critics wrong, they are still in the hunt. A 8-2 victory over the Germans was just the start, helping Canada to gain momentum and get a team that worked as a unit. The game had its fair share of interesting moments, including when Shea Weber shot the puck through the net for a second Canadian goal. So what to think of that game? It was a great team builder, and helped Canada gain confidence going into a date with destiny against the Russians. It was set to be the greatest hockey battle of the century.... what happened? Canada was much stronger right from the start and blew passed the Russians 7-3. The team had its strongest game of the tournament, and looked very much like the blueprint of the team was supposed to look like. Everyone on the team looked good and our passing and defense was at an all time high. And when goalie Roberto Luongo was needed, he was good. The Russians never really looked in the game after Ryan Gezlaf made it 1-0, and Canada fed off that goal to score 3 more before the period was over. The game would set them up for one against Sweden in the semi-finals... or would it? Sweden met up with Jaroslav Halak and the Slovaks. The Swedish team came into the Olympics defending champions from the 2006 Turin games. But that could be the place in which this campaign would end for the Swedes. Going into this game the Slovaks were underrated going into this tournament. But a team that has names such as Marian and Marcel Hossa Zdeno Chara and Zigmund Palffy are a force to be reckoned with. And as Canada started its game against the upstart Slovaks, it looked again like the Big Red Machine was unstoppable. Canada quickly made it 2-0, on goals from Patrick Marleau and Brenden Morrow. And made it 3-0 on a Gezlaf goal going into the third period. That is when the game started to pick up. A lucky bounce saw a lot of wind taken out of Canada's sails as they went into the final couple of minutes, and then after a poor defensive play, the Slovaks made it 3-2. And it was a hockey game. It got pretty scary too as Luongo had to make an incredible save to keep Canada in the lead going into the finals seconds. And it wasn't until the final buzzer that anyone felt Canada had won. Hopefully, Canada will learn from this lesson going into a game of revenge against the Americans, who we have waited a week to get back in our sights. The game will be interesting, as it will be a rematch of the 2002 gold medal game in Salt Lake City. And Canada will look to repeat that history and again take the gold in Men's Ice Hockey. But the Americans are looking to beat us again. But make no mistake this is not the same Team Canada that they saw in the round robin. We have a much more lethal offense as the Gezlaf-Perry-Morrow line look almost as dangerous as the one that has Sidney Crosby. And our defense is much more solid then it was in our first start against the Americans. And i think that we can even count more on the Goal tending in this one, as Luongo has looked pretty good in all of his four starts so far this tournament. But whatever happens, it will be a great game.

Germany-Canada: The Preview

Tonight Hockey Canada will hold its breath as Canada enters the knockout rounds of the Winter Olympic hockey tournament, coming off a tough loss to arch rivals the USA. And its certainly going to have to be a solid win for the Canadians, as they will have fans to please after the disappointment. Brodeur will be out of goal in favour of Vancouver Canuck's goalie Roberto Luongo. And quite frankly Canada is looking for a new dawn in it's Men's Hockey play so far in Vancouver. Brodeur played a poor game against the Americans, taking bad risks at crucial points in the game. While many of the American goals got in the net because of lucky bounces, most of those bounces would not have happened if Brodeur had been better positionally. But Canada is looking to but that result behind them, and have switched its lineup going into this game. Keeping with the Shark's line but adding Staal to the Crosby-Iggy line and dropping Nash to the Duck's line with Corey Perry and Ryan Gezlaf. But Perry and Gezlaf have been noted for poor play so far this tournament. Particularly Perry who missed a chance against the Swiss that could have won Canada the game. He also played poor on the last American goal in the 5-3 loss on Sunday. The addition of Nash to the line? Poor genius. Canada will need a better distributed offense and Heatley-Marleau-Thorton have been the bulk of the Canadian goals at this point in the tournament. And entering into the game against the Germans Canada is looking to get some other players rolling. But lets not get ahead of ourselves, Germany could still beat us and are a very solid team, not unlike the Swiss. But one comparable difference between the Germans and the Swiss is that longtime German goalie Olaf Kolzig is not in net meaning German doesn't have a NHL goalie, the way Switzerland had Hillier. But almost everyone in the media is looking ahead to what could be one of the best hockey games in the history of the sport in the Olympic Games. It could feature Crosby against Oveckin. The Kid against The Great. And two of the NHL's top players head to head in a battle in which the loser will be sent home. It will amount to a lot of drama. But if Canada thinks ahead the Germans could easily burn them, leaving us to only wish we had been able to see the game against Russia. So as Hockey Canada prepares for a new dawn, the must be sure to not look ahead to the future and focus on the present. This game will be for confidence, if this one goes into Overtime like the one against the Swiss it would lose Canada a lot of respect and confidence going into a game against one of hockey most dynamic forces, something that i don't think they can recover from.