Olympic Hockey Finals – USA vs. Canada
The Olympic hockey tournament is set with the gold medal favorite Canadians playing the surprising Americans for all the marbles. America shocked Canada last week, but do the young Americans have another Miracle on Ice in them?
The last time these 2 teams met in an Olympic hockey final was in 2002 in Salt Lake City, where Canada beat USA 5-2. The USA has lost 5 of its 6 gold-medal meetings against Canada. Canada is seeking to become the first country to win a hockey gold medal at home since the Americans did so in 1980 in Lake Placid.
Canada got by Slovakia 3-2 in one semifinal while the USA crushed Finland 6-1 to set up an all North America match up for the gold medal. Team USA is the youngest team in the Olympic tournament and they are riding high not knowing they were not supposed to go this far. The Americans have not played or acted like such as young team, as they were not overly excited in the win over Finland and they have not trailed at any time in the tournament.
The Americans will have to get good forward play from Patrick Kane, Zach Parise, and Paul Stastny to pull off another shocker against Canada. In the game against Finland Kane had 2 goals and Stastny, who had struggled, had a goal and an assist. The Americans have pressured their opponents and pushed up their defense to try to get more offense. U.S. defenseman Brian Rafalski had 2 assists in the Finland win and he leads all American scorers with 4 goals and 8 points. The Americans can’t stop attacking, as they need to pressure Canada all game like they did in last week’s win.
Goalie Ryan Miller has arguably been the best goalie in the NHL this season and he has played great in the Olympic tournament. He will have to play well in this game for the Americans to have any chance. He thwarted the stacked Canadians lineup in the win last week and he will have to do so again for the Americans to get the gold.
Sidney Crosby leads team Canada and he will be counted on to pressure Miller with his shooting and passing. Jarome Iginla will have to help Crosby out, especially if the Americans really key on stopping Crosby. G Roberto Luongo has taken over for Martin Brodeur in goal and he has a tall task in this game to stop an American squad that is playing with a ton of confidence. If he gives up more than 1 goal and the Canadians lose he will not be a popular guy north of the border.
Dont Agree? Let us Know. We love hearing your thoughts and picks!
Loading ...
