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- Predictions: My prediction powers totally left me in the medal games and it just goes to show you how tough it was to predict this torunament. I said Russia would defeat the Czechs for the Bronze and the Czech Republic won the game 3-0. I thought the return to the lineup for Russia of Evgeni Malkin would be enough to help them win. But in the end it seems like Russia spent all they had in defeating the Canadians and once that was over they just didn't have it anymore. I also predicted Finland to go undefeated with their eighth win and take home their first ever Gold. Didn't happen. The Swedes were just a bit deeper offensively and that was the difference. So I went 3-5 in my prediction since the quarterfinals. I promise to do better in 2010! Former Islander Kenny Jonsson was named the most valuable defenseman in the tournament. Nice to see that he was chosen for his defensive ability and they didn't choose a more offensive d-man. Watching Jonsson in this tournament, it made me think just how much the Islanders have missed his presence back on their blue line. Kenny has been missed perhaps much more than the loss of Adrian Aucoin and Roman Hamrlik. But to lose all three has been devastating and the Islanders have much to do to rebuild and gain a new identity to their back corp. Alexei Yashin had a chance to go for Gold and instead he comes away empty handed. Well, I can't say I feel bad for him because as we've seen for much of the season with the Islanders, Yashin failed to show up for most of the tournament. In fact, his invisibility prompted Olympic commentators Ray Ferraro and Bill Clement to state just that about Yashin during the Russians Bronze shutout. It just goes to show you that the Islanders can go out and acquire the greatest two players in the NHL to play on Yashin's wings and it's most likely he still wouldn't produce. Even on an all world team Yashin looked mediocre and failed to contribute. How bout this for a comparison: 1992 second overall pick Alexei Yashin and 2004 second overall pick Evgeni Malkin. Yes, there is like a 10 year difference but Yashin was a lot like Malkin when he first came to the NHL. Something just tells me Malkin is going to be the better of the two, but he practically is already. One more thing about Malkin. I think the IIHF did wrong in suspending him for a phantom kick of Canada's Vincent Lecavalier. It just didn't happen. That fact leads me to possibly wonder if some Canadian power that be perhaps in the IIHF upper ranks decided to give a parting shot to the Russian team that knocked Canada out of the tournament. I don't mean to create a controversy but you never know. None of the Islanders really performed well in the Olympics. Rick DiPietro had good numbers but he never stood on his head. I can't totally blame him because Team USA never scored goals for him. The ineptitude was a total team effort. How bout this note about the U.S. Team: This was their worst showing in USA Olympic History. in Lillehammer-1994, the Americans finished with a 1-1-3 record in the round robin, defeating Italy 7-1 and tying Canada 3-3, France 4-4 and Slovakia 3-3. They then lost their playoff game(equivalent to this years quarterfinals) 6-1 to Finland. Team USA then played a 7th place game and lost 4-3 to Germany. With all that Team USA finished in 8th place in 1994 with a 1-3-3 record. 2006 they went 1-4-1 for eighth place, arguably even worse. Stats DiPietro gave up 9 goals in 4 games for Team USA, a GAA
of a little over 2.00. Miroslav Satan recorded 2 assists in 6 games, both on game winning goals against Team USA and Sweden. Alexei Yashin recorded a goal and 3 assists in 5 games. He scored a goal and 2 assists vs. lowly Latvia. * I could not find a boxscore for the USA vs. Russia game. It is not included in the stats. Russia won 5-4.
Standings - Round Robin
February 25, 2006: There are only two games remaining now for the 2006 Olympics. The most important two. Of course both Russia and the Czech Republic wish they were in the final game, but instead they will battle for a Bronze medal on Saturday afternoon. Alexei Yashin and his Russian teammates had their hopes dashed for a Gold Medal on Friday as Finland was superior in pounding Russia 4-0. The Finns will now play in their first ever Gold Medal Game. One of the biggest side stories to this game was the absence of Russian star Evgeni Malkin, who was suspended for one game by the IIHF for kicking Canada's Vincent Lecavalier in the quarterfinals. - NHL Hall of Famer Jari Kurri is the architect of the Finnish team that is going into the final game with a perfect record of 7-0. It seems like the Finns are building on something that was mentioned a few games back. I think it was a quote by Philadelphia Flyer GM Bob Clarke. He stated that in the Olympics, it's not like playing a Finn in the NHL. Here, it's like you're playing against a flag. This could be the year for the Finns and a Gold Medal would solidify the Finnish Flash Teemu Selanne as an even bigger icon in his homeland than he already is. It would be great for a country that just like Canada, considers hockey to be their #1 sport. But the Finns will be up against a tough test in the Swedes who walloped the Czech Republic 7-3 in their semifinal match. Sweden has so much depth and scoring ability. This should be an amazing game between two rival countries. Whichever goaltender is better, Finland's Antero Nittymaki or Sweden's Henrik Lundqvist, whoever can play a better defensive game, and whoever can put together a solid offensive attack will win the Gold. The Swedes look slightly better on paper offensively, but so did the Russians as compared to Finland. As for my predictions, I went 1-1 in the Semifinals. So that makes me 3-3 so far with two more games to predict. Bronze Medal CZE vs. RUS: The Russians will get back Evgeni Malkin for the Bronze Medal game against the Czechs. Jaromir Jagr hasn't really performed and his team hasn't come together all tournament. I think the Russian will welcome Malkin's return, which shows how important he has been to the team. Prediction: Russia will win the Bronze for the second straight Olympics, as they last won the Bronze in Salt Lake City in 2002. They have won 12 medals in their Olympic history. A 13th would break a tie for most medals all-time that they share with Canada, 12. SWE vs. FIN: I went against Sweden in the quarterfinals, but didn't make that mistake again when they faced the Czech Republic in the Semifinals. I went against Finland though in the Semifinals, predicting that Russia would beat them in a close game that could have gone to overtime. Finland then came out and dominated the Russians. Prediction: I can't go against the Finns. They have exhibited the greatest amount of desire and patriotism in this tournament. They are 7-0 and could become only the second country to ever go perfect in the Olympics. The Russians last did it in 1984 at Sarajevo. Sweden will be tough, and I think they may have an edge in goal. But I still think Finland will find a way. Sweden has only won the Gold Medal once, and that was also the last time they medaled back in 1994 at Lillehammer. Obviously, a great match up will be Peter Forsberg for Sweden, and Selanne for the Finns. February 24, 2006: Team USA was defeated by Finland 4-3 in their quarterfinal match on Wednesday and were eliminated from the Olympic Tournament. They finished with a dismal 1-4-1 record, beating only Kazakhstan. Not only did the Americans have a disappointing tournament, but Team Canada also lost their quarterfinal game in a tight 2-0 loss to the Russians. Team Canada finished with a 3-3 record and failed to even medal in their Gold medal defense of 2002. - Well, I went 2-2 in my quarterfinal predictions and probably should have gone 3-1 if I didn't make that dumb prediction that Switzerland would defeat the Swedes. I guess I was just upset with the rumors that Sweden was looking to tank their last game of the round robin against Slovakia so they could draw the Swiss in the quarterfinals. Sweden was much deeper and talented, but it really makes you wonder how Switzerland came up with wins over the Czech Republic and Canada. I also predicted Slovakia to defeat the Czechs and it was a very close game. Slovakia owned most of the momentum for the second half of the game as they tried to come back from a 2-0 deficit. They were only able to get one from Marian Gaborik as the Czechs, who struggled during the round robin, have found a way to make it to the Semifinals. Semifinals CZE vs. SWE: It will be very hard to predict the winners in the remaining games because they all are talented teams. I still think the Czech Republic is the weakest of the four. But they also have Jaromir Jagr. The Swedes will have their hands full with him if he shows up and is healthy. After watching Sweden against the Swiss, they are very deep with the likes of Henrik Zetterberg, Mats Sundin, the Sedin twins, and Daniel Alfredsson. If they can overcome the loss of Mattias Ohlund on defense they should win the game. Prediction: Sweden will get to the Gold Medal game and have a chance to medal for the first time since 1994. The Czechs will have to look towards the Bronze medal. RUS vs. FIN: This will be another fabulous game. I just don't know who to go with in this one. The Finns have looked excellent in this tournament. They have everyone contributing from Teemu Selanne on down. Ollie Jokinen has played strong and Antero Nittymaki has been unbeatable in net. Yet the Russians are an offensive force and almost seem unbeatable right now. They have young superstars in Ilya Kovalchuk, Alexander Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin. They have older stars in Alexei Kovalov and Alexei Yashin. I think the Russians have more momentum after slaying Canada and could use that to just edge out the Finns. Prediction: Russia in a one goal game, possibly even in overtime. Team USA finished the round robin with their third straight loss, this time a more spirited 5-4 effort against the Russians. The Americans came back in this game from deficits to tie the game 2-2, 3-3, and 4-4 until Russia finally overcame for their fourth win (4-1 record). Going in, Team USA knew they would be facing Finland in the Quarterfinals on Wednesday, but they still wanted to go 2-2-1 instead of 1-3-1. Finishing with the worst record of the top eight does not bode very well for the U.S. To be honest, it's not out of the question, and in no way would I compare this to 1980, but Team USA may need a minor miracle to defeat Finland tomorrow. - In other action, Switzerland clinched second place in Group A by skating to a 3-3 tie with Italy. Finland posted their fourth shutout of the tournament with a 2-0 win over Germany. The Finns have allowed only 2 goals in their 5 games played. Canada started off strong against the Czech Republic and jumped out to a 3-1 lead. They had to hold off the Czechs for most of the second half of the game to gain the 3-2 win and clinch third place in Group A. Over in the B Group, Russia finished second with their win only to Slovakia who defeated Sweden 3-0 and achieved a perfect 5-0 during the round robin. Sweden finished third, more on that later. I know you can't always assume matches between division leaders, but a Finland vs. Slovakia final would be some game. But first there will be some heated contests before the Medal games. Quarterfinals USA vs. Finland: As I mentioned earlier, Team USA has their hands full tomorrow. They only defeated Kzakhstan in the round robin. They had trouble scoring until their last game against Russia where they broke out for 4 goals. Give them credit for playing three close one goal losses to the other three powers in their Group. Perhaps they can finally get it right when it most counts Wednesday. Remember in 1980 the Americans won the Gold against the Finns. The way they've played thus far this could be a minor miracle as well if they find a way to win. How can they win? If Jason Blake ever buries his chances that would be a huge help. Rick DiPietro needs to stand on his head. I guess what I'm saying is it would be nice to see the Islander contingent contribute to a big win. Also, they have to shut down Teemu Selanne, who is playing like he really wants to win and scoring plenty of goals. Prediction: I hate to say it, but I don't see the Americans winning this one. It's very hard in hockey to come back when you fall behind. Team USA has not proven that they can except against Latvia, a weak opponent. They did three times against Russia but still fell behind and lost in the end. The Finns have looked too good. SWE vs. SUI: It bothers me that the Swedes would come out in public and suggest that they might try to lose their game against Slovakia so they can draw the Swiss. I thought that was disrespectful towards the Slovaks, who have done nothing but show they are a real threat in this Olympics. Sweden tried to retract their statements, and Slovakia still beat them which still raises questions over their effort. Sweden doesn't deserve to win this because they are overlooking the Swiss. It's setting up for another great upset. Prediction: The Swiss will make it to the Semifinals against an over confident Sweden. CAN vs. RUS: I dislike the over confident swagger of the Russians. But they seem to back it up. Rookie Alexander Ovechkin and non NHL'er Evgeny Malkin have pretty much outperformed every player on Team Canada. They are going to have to come up with a big performance and get world class goaltending from Martin Brodeur in order to defeat the Russians. Plus they might want to hope the Russians come out with one of their enigmatic games like they did on day one against Slovakia. Prediction: I see Russia winning this if the young kids outperform the Canadians. CZE vs. SVK: What a battle this will be. Slovakia split from the Czech Republic before 1998 and formed their own nation. Before that, they were only allowed four spots in the Czech Olympic roster. The Czechs have not played well in this tournament and look more like the 1994 team that was listless than the 1998 team that won the Gold. The Czechs did not beat any of the top teams in their Group. Slovakia will play with a lot of passion. Prediction: Slovakia will advance. Their pre-tournament weakness of goaltending has not been a problem. The Czechs have hope to continue their good play of the second half of the game against Canada. But I don't think it will be enough. If my predictions hold true, Russia would go on to face Finland in the Semifinals and Slovakia would face Switzerland. If that happens I see Slovakia making it to the Gold Medal Game. Russia vs. Finland is too close to predict. Of course I hope I am wrong about Team USA and they surprise Wednesday by making it to the Semis. February 21, 2006: Tuesday marks the fifth game of the tournament for all teams. The Quarterfinal teams are set, only positioning and match up are yet to be determined. The only thing we do know is that Team USA will face Finland, who are locked into the #1 spot in Group A, in the Quarterfinals. Slovakia currently holds the top spot in Group B with a 4-0 record, but if they should lose to Sweden Tuesday and Russia defeats Team USA the Russians could gain the top seed in Group B. Team USA needs to come up with a good showing after falling twice by a 2-1 score. They are currently 1-2-1 and a win would give them some confidence going into the Quarterfinals. - They could beat the Russians. The Russians have been very good since losing their first game and have won three straight. Yet they have been enigmatic at times, defeating Kazakhstan only 1-0, then coming back and blowing out Latvia 9-2. Hopefully we will see Rick DiPietro back in net for Team USA. He, Jason Blake and Mark Parrish will get to go head to head with Alexei Yashin. As for the rest of the games tomorrow, like I mentioned Miroslav Satan and Slovakia will be looking to go 5-0 when they meet Sweden who have played well except for one game against Russia. It will be interesting to see if Peter Forsberg will play as he sat on the bench for the entire game against Team USA. Canada will face the Czech Republic in what will be a battle of the 2-2 teams in Group A. Canada has lost their last two games without scoring a goal and the Czechs have not beat a tough opponent yet. Switzerland will face Italy and have a good chance to go 4-1 and clinch second place in Group A. Germany has gotten two straight ties against the Swiss and Italians but they will most likely lose to Finland who will cruise to a 5-0 record. In the early game of the day, Latvia will face Kazakhstan in what most likely is a meaningless game. Unless Kazakhstan lays down, allows 15 goals to Latvia and Team USA loses to Russia. Then it would be meaningful. Monday: Women's USA wins Bronze; Canada defeats Sweden for Second straight Gold Congrats to both Team USA and Team Canada for earning medals once again. And congrats to the Swedish ladies for putting on a fight and making it to the Gold Medal game. They lost and should be extremely happy with their best finish ever, a Silver Medal. Team USA has been in a bit of a regression, having won Gold in 1998, Silver in 2002, and now Bronze in 2006. They may need to re-evaluate their program. With Sweden and Finland catching up, Team USA needs to perhaps do some better recruiting to stay on top. It will be interesting to see who returns in 2010 in Vancouver. Katie King had a huge game to win the Bronze, scoring a natural hat trick. Too bad it came in the wrong game and not against the Swedes. She is currently 30 years old and it will be hard for her to return at age 34 in four years. For that reason I think she should have been named captain. Krissy Wendell in a good player, a star. But perhaps she could have done more on the ice to get Team USA into the finals. At this point and time I think Katie King would have made a better choice for the captaincy. Patricia Dunn-Loma is currently 31 so it's likely she won't be back either in 2010. Interesting, with Sweden's loss they finished the tournament with a 3-2 record. Both their losses came to Canada 8-1, and today's 4-1. Team USA finished the tournament with a 4-1 record. Obviously the loss came at a crucial time. As for Canada, they outscored their opponents 46-2 in the tournament. Gillian Apps and Cherie Piper each scored 7 goals. Apps became only the fourth woman to record a hat trick in Olympic play. Katie King has two hat tricks with the one she had today. Hayley Wickenheiser led all women in scoring with close to 20 points in 5 games. I'd be shocked in 4 years if Danielle Goyette returned. She's currently 40 and has had something like 20 separated shoulders, the same shoulder, throughout her career. She took a slapshot today and hardly got it to the net. Maybe it's time to step aside and let someone else play. Cassie Campbell is currently 32 and defenseman Cheryl Pounder is 29. Both could be questionable returns for 2010. 28 year olds Jayna Hefford and Delaney Collins also could be question marks as will 29 year old third string goaltender Sami Jo Small. February 20, 2006: Team USA lost again Sunday and again by a 2-1 score, this time to Sweden. The Americans drop to 1-2-1 and have no chance to move any higher now than 4th place in the Group B. Despite their two straight losses, the U.S. has seemingly backed into the playoff rounds thanks to the fact that everybody, except them, beat up on Latvia. The Latvians have a final game vs. Kazakhstan, but even if they win the game and tie Team USA with 3 points, the tie breaker would go to goal differential. Team USA is currently a +1. Even if the Latvians didn't go -7 against Russia today they still would have been a longshot to make up the -8 they were at. - So with the Americans locked in at fourth in Group B and Finland defeating Canada earlier today 2-0, Team USA now knows they will face the 4-0 Finns on Wednesday in the Quarterfinals at 10:30am. am USA's final preliminary match will be against the 3-1 Russia Team. Team USA right now reminds me a lot of the Islanders this season, a good team on paper that can't seem to score or get it done. It seems so even more with Rick DiPietro getting handed the torch in goal. He has played spectacular at time. But their are some small instances where he rears the struggles he seen over the course of the season with the Islanders. Now I know that all goaltenders see the puck hit the iron, but it seems to happen too much with Rick where a puck is blown by him and he's looking around without a clue. He also shot the puck out of the rink once for a penalty. He just seems to lack the focus right now of an elite NHL goaltender. Perhaps he still has some experience to gain. He has made some great saves though too, especially in today's game on a breakaway in which he denied P.J. Axelsson. As far as the other matches, Switzerland continues to play well yet they only tied Germany proving they are not quite there yet and can win or lose against any opponent. Yet, they are amazingly in second place in Group A with 5 points. A win against Italy on Tuesday could guarantee them a second place finish in their Group. Jaromir Jagr played for the Czech Republic after receiving that head jarring hit by Jarko Ruutu of Finland. He didn't look 100% but the Czechs managed to easily dispatch Italy 4-1. This will set up a fight for third play in Group A Tuesday between the Czechs and Canada, both teams currently 2-2. Canada suddenly is looking as in-cohesive as Team USA in losing their last two. Finland has given up only two goals to the Czechs in the tournament and have posted 3 shutouts in the tournament. Finland should go 5-0 with a win over Germany on Tuesday. Going 5-0 won't be as easy for the Slovaks however as they will face Sweden. The Islanders Russia ran up the score today against Latvia. While the stars of the game were Ilya Kovalchuk with 4 goals and Alexander Ovechkin with his own tally, Alexei Yashin quietly registered a goal and 2 assists in the game. Can someone tell me how Russia can only defeat Kazakhstan 1-0 yet they annihilate Latvia 9-2? Perhaps fatigue plays a part in these results. I expected the Slovaks to walk all over Kazakhstan but they only eaked out a 2-1 win. Yet, they are now 4-0 and lead their Group undefeated, just as the Finns do. Miroslav Satan had a quiet game as well. In the USA game, Jason Blake had some key penalty killing ice time and made some great blocks. He took a puck to the arm that had to sting. Offensively he didn't get too many chances, but he was on the ice when the Americans scored. As for Mark Parrish, it seemed as though he only got one shift in the entire game. It was in the first period on the tale end of Team USA's first 2 man advantage. Monday: Women's Medal Day At 10:30am the American women will take on Finland for the second time this tournament, this time for the Bronze Medal. This will be the first time Team USA has not played for the Gold or Silver since Women's Hockey was made an Olympic event in 1998. They won Gold in 98', Silver in 2002 and look to complete their collection with a Bronze. Team USA struggled early against Finland the first time around, but came back from a 3-1 deficit to win 7-3 with a big third period, especially by Angela Ruggiero. Hopefully the American women will have forgotten about their lost chance to face Canada this year. It seems that they realize other nations like Finland and Sweden were eventually going to catch up to them. As for the Gold Medal Game, Canada should be the huge favorites as they have outscored opponents in their trek to the Finals by a score of 46-1. Sweden's upset win over Team USA was a big win for their program, but can they do it twice? It's doubtful. But their goaltender Kim Marti'n will be tough to beat and they are led by Maria Rooth who scored 2 goals and a shootout goal against the U.S. I expect though that the offense of Gillian Apps, Hayley Wickenheiser, Cherie Piper and crew will be too much for the Swedes to defend. February 19, 2006: So far we've seen the Women's Swedish hockey team pull off a huge upset over Team USA, instantly vaulting them into the elite level with USA and Canada at the women's level. On the Men's side, Switzerland Thursday defeated the Czechs 3-2 in what they termed their greatest victory. Well if that was their greatest victory then I wonder what they will call the unbelievable event they pulled off on Saturday when they shutout, yes SHUT OUT Team Canada 2-0. Perhaps the Swiss have arrived. Some teams are making a statement this Olympics including Switzerland(2-1), Slovakia(3-0) and Finland(3-0). Day 4 continues with 6 games on Sunday. - Was very surprised that Russia only defeated Kazakhstan 1-0. But they still got the W and improve to 2-1, winning their last two after dropping their opening game against the Slovaks. Italy and Germany played a thrilling even game. It took the Germans to pulling their goaltender Olaf Kolzig in the final minute of play to get a 3-3 tie. With the surprising play of Switzerland, this is not good news for Germany or Italy making the playoff round. They can only hope the Czechs continue to struggle. Italy will face the Czech Republic Sunday, but I can't see them winning. At the same time, I didn't see Switzerland beating Canada and Martin Gerber made 49 saves for a shutout Saturday. So don't count anybody out. Sweden played much better against Latvia Saturday defeating them 6-1. The Latvians look as though they already achieved their crowning moment in tying Team USA. They looked tired and not up to the challenge the Swedes offered. Sweden came off a 5-0 defeat to Russia on Thursday and the addition of Peter Forsberg just made them stronger. The Finns are surprising as well as they are undefeated after a spirited 4-2 win over the Czechs in what could be classified as the most ill willed game of yet. In the contest, Jarko Ruutu of Finland totally plastered Jaromir Jagr into the boards, opening a cut on Jagr's forehead and forcing to leave the game. Some felt Ruutu's hit was dirty and he was ejected from the game for his action. Personally I thought it was a clean hit. The Islanders Team USA vs. Slovakia was a great game and unfortunately for the Americans they came up on the short end of the stick with a 2-1 loss. Jason Blake had a beautiful chance to tie the game 2-2 in the third period when he was fed a breaking pass into the top left circle. Blake skated in and tried to roof one in over Budaj's shoulder but the puck clanked off the high post. Mark Parrish once again saw most his ice time with the extra man. USA now drops to 1-1-1 and 4th place in Group B. This can be a bit of a precarious position because if they should struggle to get anymore points, and Latvia finds a way to get another win, it could force a tie breaker that would come down to goals. This to me doesn't make sense because the first tiebreaker should be head to head. But that is not how it works in the Olympics as they have thrown a bit of a wrench into the tie breaking system to give a defeated team in head to head play a chance to qualify. Anyway, Miroslav Satan made a great play and pass from behind the net on the game winning goal by Peter Bondra. Rick DiPietro got the start in goal which raised some eyebrows because of coach Peter Laviolette's pre-Olympic announcement that John Grahame was his #1 goaltender. DiPietro made some outstanding saves, particularly a goal saving sprawl with seconds remaining in the first period. He was beaten today by two snipers in Marian Hossa and Peter Bondra. Slovakia is full of snipers and there really was nothing DiPietro could have done on each play. I think it was a good decision to start DiPietro. I have a feeling Laviolette will come back with Grahame against Sweden on Sunday. Day 4 Germany will face Switzerland and if the Swiss are for real they will win their third straight. Russia eaked out a 1-0 shutout over Kazakhstan Saturday and their meeting with Latvia should be a little more heated Sunday. Arturs Irbe sat out Latvia's loss to Sweden so he would be rested to face Russia. Slovakia will be 4-0 after they stomp Kazakhstan. The Czech Republic will face Italy and should come up with a win though they have struggled and it doesn't seem to be a gimme. Now for the two best games of the day. Canada, fresh off their first ever loss to Switzerland, will face the red hot Teemu Selanne and the undefeated Finns. Will Canada bounce back or will Finland go 4-0 and bascially take the top spot in Group A? Team USA is at a crossroads game against Sweden. If they lose it could be a struggle the rest of the way. A win would vault them back into the top of the pack and keep pace with the other top teams in Group B. Which Swedeish team will show up? The one that crushed the weaker competition in Latvia and Kazakhstan? Or the Swedish team that didn't show up in a 5-0 loss to Russia? We will find out..... February 18, 2006: The Men get back into action on Saturday with another six games on the Olympic slate. Russia most likely has the easiest game of the day and should go 2-1 with a win over Kazakhstan. There may be some kind of sub plot rivalry with Kazakhstan (just like with Latvia) being so close to Russia but it's doubtful that will do anything to help Kazakhstan come close to beating Russia. Sweden may have an easy game with Latvia but as we've seen the Latvians have done gone down that easily. Canada will face Switzerland and even though that seems like a chance for the Canadians to go up 3-0, remember the Swiss will be playing high coming off their upset of the Czechs. - On to the good games slated for today. Italy will face Germany. While many people will think this is a yawner it is a very important game for these two countries. Normally you'd think Germany may not have too much trouble beating the Italians. But one of Germany, Italy or Switzerland are going to slip into the fourth spot and the playoff round in Group A. So both teams will be going full force in this contest. The Czech Republic, now without Dominik Hasek and Patrick Elias due to injury, will face Finland who have not given up a goal in their first two wins. Ales Kotalik should help the Czechs who have looked drab thus far. Unless Jaromir Jagr and company have a huge game the Finns behind sniper Teemu Selanne could bag a few goals in this one. And what might be the best game of the day, Team USA takes on perfect 2-0 Slovakia who are looking to make a statement in 2006 that they have arrived. This will be the toughest test for the Americans. Can they stop the top Slovak line of Marian Hossa, Marian Gaborik and Pavol Demitra? The Americans need to jump on the Slovaks and pepper their goaltender because that is one area that may be exploited. It would be nice to see Jason Blake and Mark Parrish get on the scoreboard as well. Will Rick DiPietro get the start or will coach Peter Laviolette stick to his guns and go back with his proclaimed #1 John Grahame? The Women I have to comment on the women's hockey tournament. It was very exciting. I was riveted watching Team USA take on Sweden in the playoff game on Friday. I can't believe Sweden won but the women's game is growing stronger in Finland and especially Sweden and it won't be too long before perhaps the Swedes are right up there with Canada and the U.S. Many of these European girls are being recruited for the college ranks just like the men are. Girls from Finland and Sweden will be playing with Canadian and American women next season for teams like Minnesota Duluth, etc. I would love one day to add a page to islesinfo.com that covers some of the women's game. Obviously it doesn't really coincide with the Islanders, but I bet a few of these women could even play in Bridgeport. Some of these girls are really good. Very good skaters. It's a shame they don't have a WNHL like they do with the WNBA. Surely they could fill 5 to 10 teams for a mini league. It would be a great chance for some of the best hockey playing women in the world like USA's defenseman Angela Ruggiero and Canada's Hayley Wickenheiser, both who have played a game at the minor pro level with men, to show their skills and grow their sport. Ruggiero and Wickenheiser are just a couple of great players in the game. Gillian Apps, who has amazing bloodlines with her brother Syl Apps Jr. II having played minor pro, father Syl Apps Jr. having played in the NHL, and grandfather Syl Apps a hockey hall of famer, is a monster for her Canada Team. I mean that strictly in terms of on ice performance. She's registering hat tricks for her team and is like a power forward. Canada is just ridiculous though as they go into the Gold Medal Game having outscored their opponents in the tournament 42-1. Canada should win the Gold, but it was a great accomplishment for the Swedish women, who got an unbelievable performance from their goaltender Kim Marti'n. I hope Team USA gets over their loss and still manages to take home the Bronze. They won the Silver back in 2002 and the Gold in 1998. February 16, 2006: Team USA coach Peter Laviolette decided to go with Rick DiPietro in game 2 vs. Kazakhstan and he played well even though he faced a weak team and didn't face too many shots. He almost had a shutout but allowed a third period goal. The U.S. Team jumped out to a 3-0 lead in a game they had to win, but seemed to let down into the second period allowing the game to be closer than it should have been. It will be interesting to see if DiPietro gets the start Saturday in what surely will be their toughest game yet, the 2-0 Slovakia Team. Laviolette named John Grahame his #1, but DiPietro has the team's only win thus far. - Still, now that Team USA won, they are 1-0-1 and undefeated with 3 points. The next few games will surely tell if they are up to the challenge against teams that are filled with NHL stars: Slovakia, Sweden & Russia. The Islanders Like I mentioned, DiPietro almost had a shutout but was not severely tested against Kazakhstan. Jason Blake seemed to get a little more ice time than Mark Parrish. But, as in Laviolette's Islander days, even though Blake had a breakout year under him a few years ago, Blake still did not see any time on the powerplay. Parrish had, but has not come anywhere near converting. Some interesting notes about Kazahkstan's Dmitri Upper, the Islanders 2005 5th round draft pick. According to Mike Emrick and John Davidson, who may have talked to some Islander scouts, Upper may still be in the Islanders plans. They stated that the Islanders either compare him to or want him to be a "Claude Lapointe type" who is scrappy and like a pest. I'll believe when I see it if Upper ever comes over to North America but I didn't see anything from him to warrant him coming over anyway. The best teams so far are obviously the three 2-0 teams: Finland, Canada & Slovakia. The Finns have not allowed a goal as of yet but that's against Italy and Switzerland. Canada too has beaten two soft teams in Italy and Germany. Slovakia on the other hand has upset the Russians 5-3 and in their second game gave the Latvians a dose of reality with a 6-3 win. You still have to question their defense, which is slim after Zdeno Chara, and their goaltending. Saturday's game against the USA will be huge. The biggest upset so far happend on day 2 as Switzerland defeated the Czech Republic 3-2 in what the Swiss are calling most likely their country's greatest victory in the sport. It seems the Czechs came into the tournament thinking they were better than they really are perhaps. They lost Dominik Hasek early in the game and had to go with Tomas Vokoun. They are hoping Hasek can return but they should just give the reigns to Vokoun. So far, besides Jaromir Jagr and Tomas Kaberle, this team looks unspectacular. February 15, 2006: What a day of hockey it was that marked the first day of action for the men's Olympic Hockey at Torino, Italy. As expected Sweden, Finland and Canada pretty much handled their opponents with ease. The Czech Republic weren't expected to have trouble with Germany, but Olaf Kolzig kept things close. While it may not have been an upset on paper, Slovakia came up with a huge win for their country over Russia, who came into the Olympics as one of the favorites. And lastly, Team USA was expected to steamroll over Latvia and jumped out to a 2-0 lead. Amazingly, Latvia scored the next three straight and forced the Americans to have to tie it. - If the U.S. Team had lost this game it would have been a devastating way to start the tournament and possibly would have gone down as one of their most worst defeats. Not all is lost for the rest of the tournament, but it doesn't give you much confidence going into the other games the Americans face knowing they are in a tough bracket. The Islanders Jason Blake started off the USA/Latvia game by taking a dumb holding penalty. Luckily the team bailed him out. Blake came back and made up for it by drawing two penalties later on. Jason also got the honor of starting the game. But from what I saw, it often looked as though Blake was laboring at times and looked tired. As for Mark Parrish, he didn't receive as much ice time as Blake and was played predominantly on the power play. He took a really bad highsticking penalty in the third period that drew blood and an infraction of 4 minutes. The Americans killed the penalties off, but Parrish did not see the ice for the rest of the game. As I predicted, Slovakia/Russia was the best game of the day. Miroslav Satan, who was named an assistant captain, was displaying his nifty puckhandling skills. He had some near chances to score and drew a crucial penalty in the third period when he rushed the net off the boards. If he had managed to slide the puck underneath Ilya Bryzgalov it would have been a hell of an individual effort. As for Alexei Yashin, he was pretty much a non-factor. He started the game playing on a line with 2 non-NHL'ers in Alexander Kharitonov and Maxim Shushinsky. Later he was moved up to a line with Maxim Afinogenov. Still, it has become more and more evident to me watching the game, that Yashin has become more and more a big grinding boards man, almost perimeter on a regular basis. It's a very boring style and is such a big contrast from his Ottawa days. Day 2 Finland will most likely improve to 2-0 as they face the host Italy in Day 2 action. The Czechs also have a good chance to go up 2-0 but just as they struggled a bit with Germany, the same could happen against Switzerland. The days best matchup most likely will involve Russia once again. They face Sweden, who most likely rested goaltender Henrik Lundqvist in their opener against Kazakhstan in anticipation of starting him against the Russians. Another loss for Russia could be certain doom for that country in this tournament. Slovakia will face Latvia in the battle of the upset teams from day 1. I think Slovakia will win and quite possibly will go on to have their best Olympics ever. Canada will steamroll over Germany to go 2-0. The Germans reportedly are planning to rest Kolzig and start a 20 year old inexperienced goaltender. And finally, Team USA will look to rebound and get their first win against Kazakhstan. February 14, 2006: The Men's Olympic Hockey Tournament gets under way early Wednesday morning. It is guaranteed to be a great tournament with as many as 6 out of 12 teams having a chance to medal. Day 1 will see some good match ups. At 2pm EST. Alexei Yashin and his Russian Team will face Miroslav Satan and the Slovaks. It will be interesting to see if the Russians can inject any passion into their game which is something that has been missing in recent tournaments. As for Slovakia, they will need their defense to finally catch up to their offense. As we all know, goaltending will play a huge key. At 3pm EST, Team USA will get under way with a must win over Latvia. - It will be fun to watch Jason Blake and Mark Parrish for the U.S. Team. Unfortunately, Rick DiPietro will most likely not start as coach Peter Laviolette has named Tampa Bay's John Grahame his starting goaltender. If you are willing to get up early in the morning and you miss former Islander defenseman Kenny Jonsson, you can watch him and Sweden take on Kazakhstan at 5:30am EST. All times below are Eastern Standard Time.
Another notable player that spent some time in the Islanders system as a free agent signing is Tony Tuzzolino, who will see action for the host Italy. Perhaps now we will somehow find out if he is related to the Islanders 2005 7th round selection Nicholas Tuzzolino. Former Islanders in the Tournament: CAN - G Roberto Luongo, D Wade Redden, RW Todd Bertuzzi; CZE - G Milan Hnilicka, W Martin Straka, G Dusan Salficky(injury fill in for Dominik Hasek); FIN - C Ollie Jokinen; RUS - D Darius Kasparaitis, W Alexander Kharitonov; SVK - D Zdeno Chara; SWE - D Kenny Jonsson, W Jorgen Jonsson; USA - D Mathieu Schneider; LAT - W Grigori Panteleev; GER - coach Uwe Krupp
He has already been forced to miss three games because of the injury that occurred on the final shift of the Islanders' 5-3 victory over Washington on Jan. 31. Zhitnik said he has not healed enough to play in the Olympics and doesn't want to compromise his health for the rest of the NHL season. ''I have to think long-term first for the Islanders and myself,'' said the 33-year-old rearguard. ''That is what is fair.'' Alexei Yashin, the Islanders captain and a member of the Russian team, said the loss will be felt by both teams. ''Z is one of our top guys on the blue line with the Islanders and on Team Russia,'' he said. ''But you have to respect his decision. ''He is thinking about the Islanders and what is most important.'' The Islanders are 1-1-1 without Zhitnik. They will play at Philadelphia on Wednesday and at New Jersey on Saturday before the Olympic break that runs until Feb. 28. Zhitnik has five goals and 20 assists this season. islesinfo.com comment: This is a shame for Alexei, you don't want to see things like that happen where a player has to pull out because of injury in a major tournament. You have to credit Zhitnik for thinking of the Islanders first, as a few other major named throughout the NHL have also one with their respective NHL clubs. The NHL should come first. Those are the guys paying their salaries. Obviously an Islander won't be replacing Zhitnik as the Islanders don't have another Russian defender. Other possibilities off the top could be Minnesota's Andrei Zyuzin, Buffalo's Dmitri Kalinen or Toronto's Alexander Khavanov. Zyuzin brings more offense than the other two who are more defensive. The Russian team has already seen another defender pull out in Dmitri Bykov, who was playing in Russia this year. They replaced him with little known Denis Kulyash, who is in Nashville's system. Sergei Zubov would be a great addition but he has already stated he would not play.
Division rivals Philadelphia Flyers (Robert Esche, Mike Knuble, Derian Hatcher) and New Jersey Devils (Brian Gionta, Scott Gomez, Brian Rafalski) are the other two teams. The Lowdown: C Jason Blake: Blake will be making his first appearance in the Olympics for the U.S. squad. He's no stranger to the coach that selected him. In fact none of the Islanders are as they will be lacing it up under former Islander coach Peter Laviolette. Blake was selected to the World Cup Team in 2004 and impressed. He impressed with his water bug style and notched a goal against Slovakia. He also had a penalty shot against Russia, but did not convert. For some reason whether it was the U.S. program or his choice, Blake did not take part in the 2005 World Championships in Austria. RW Mark Parrish: Parrish has a history of being overlooked by the U.S. program. But not when it counted most. He will make his Olympic debut in February 2006. Laviolette likes Parrish and brought him to Austria in the 2005 World Championships. G Rick DiPietro: Rick is finally the go to #1 guy in net for the U.S. He backed up Robert Esche at the 2004 World Cup. Esche has not played up to par with the Flyers this season, splitting time with Finn Antero Nittymaki. The U.S. is ready to pass the torch to the young DiPietro. It will be up to him to keep it and make a run with a new look American squad that has a few new faces and some old guard no longer around (Jeremy Roenick for one).
Palffy was more probably left off the team because after his appearance in 2002 he promised he'd never play for the Slovak Team anymore. So therefore he was not selected. Some may remember that the Slovak's in 2002 had to take part in a qualification tournament prior to the Olympics in which some of the games coincided with the NHL schedule. Palffy only played in one game and the Slovak's failed to make the round robin tournament.
Zhitnik started off the season great but has tapered off a bit offensively and struggled at times defensively. Still, he co-leads the Islanders in assists(with Yashin) with 20 and is having one of his best offensive years. One of the Russians assistant coaches Sergei Nemchinov serves as a system coach in the Islanders organization this year. He was given a leave of absence in late November to join the Russian leaders which include GM Pavel Bure.
Didn't expect C Oleg Kvasha to make the team like he did in 2002. He has been injured with a sprained ankle for the last month or so and has not played well all season. Instead, the Russian's decided to take two players from the Russian League in former Islander Alexander Kharitonov and Maxim Shushinsky. They also decided to bring Evgeni Malkin who is just as big as Kvasha and a much better player. Oleg was even disappointing at the 2002 tournament when he went scoreless in 5 games and was a healthy scratch once. Statistically, Yashin has gone 4-4-8 in 12 Olympic games played. Six of those points came in six games during 1998. Zhitnik has recorded 3 assists in 14 career Olympic games. He was a member of the Unified Team that won Gold in 1992.
Unfortunately C Mike York was left off the U.S. Olympic Squad. He played for them in the 2002 Olympics. York had a poor start to the 2005-06 season which probably played a big part in the decision. Interestingly he has been the hottest Islander in the month of December, climbing all the way to second on the team in scoring. If he had 5 or 6 more goals on the season he would most likely be with the Americans in February. With two months left still before the Olympics, York could be on a high list if there should be anyone who gets injured. C/LW Shawn Bates was the hottest Islander in the month of November recording 9 goals in his previous 7 games before suffering a hamstring strain. Had it not been for that he may have been considered for Team USA. D Janne Niinimaa was left off the Finnish Olympic squad. This may have been a result of Niinimaa's tumultuous relationship with Finland's power that be in the recent past. He left the 2004 World Cup after having a dispute with the coach. He had a bad start to the 2005-06 season, averaging almost over 3 penalties a game early on. It's a shame D Radek Martinek was not named to the Czech Team. That would have done a lot of good for his confidence. Former New York Islander D Kenny Jonsson was named to the Swedish Team. This is an odd move considering he just recently suffered another concussion. His brother Jorgen will also be a member of the team, a spot that should have been had by RW Mattias Weinhandl, but 5 points on the year isn't going to get anyone named to the Olympics.
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