"If We're Going To Bet, Why Don't We Make It Interesting?"

Thers seems to be under the brave but very mistaken idea that the Americans' fluke victory over Canada will be replicated. (Despite the Ygleasias curse!) Hence, he will be generously donating $50 to a Canadian charity of my choice (readers who current reside there are welcome to provide suggestions of good ones.) In the vanishingly unlikely event of an American win, I will do likewise to an American charity of his choice.

In all seriousness, this should be a hell of a game. Canada has one major advantage (depth among their forwards) and one advantage of unknown importance (I'll take Babcock over Wilson behind the bench in a big game for sure), and with Luongo properly in net no real disadvantages on paper. But Switzerland and Slovakia nonetheless gave Canada all it could handle and the American team that's already beat Canada once is certainly much better than they are, so...let's hope the game is as great as it should be.

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The Final Four

Today's games should both be interesting. The Miller/Kiprusoff matchup this afternoon should be fun. As a Canada rooter, I'm actually a little leery about the Slovakia matchup; just as people overreacted to the loss to the U.S. (particularly given the extent of Canada's territorial advantage), it's almost as if thing got set up a little too perfectly. As Switzerland has been twice in a row, I would expect Slovakia to be a tough opponent. But forced to pick I think we'll see a rematch of '02...

...er, I meant to say that by the time I turned the game on the Americans would already have completely blown out Finland.

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All Things Olympic Open Thread

And in anticipation of what should be the highlight of the Games, hopefully Joe Thornton is being told to channel the spirit of John Tonelli.



Most importantly of all, let's hope there aren't any (&%%&* shootouts.

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Don't Count Your Money While You're Sitting at the Table

While I can understand the enthusiasm about the first American win against Canada since 1960, I think prudence dictates leaving this kind of post until after the medal round.

Still, the game amplifies two points that could be seen before the tournament. One the one hand, the Americans aren't as good player for player as Canada or Russia, but Miller is as good as any goalie in the world right now, which makes the Yanks as live an underdog as they looked tonight -- one can see something like the Czechs in Nagano happening. On the other hand, the game won't comfort any Canada rooter who (like me) was concerned about the team dipping into its nostalgia file. It's pretty hard to argue that at 37 the immortal Brodeur is as good as Luongo. But it's even more clear that Brodeur's former teammate and fellow aging player of immense career accomplishment Scott Niedermayer (-17 this year) isn't close to being an elite defenseman anymore, but seems to be on the ice at crucial moments. (This isn't just about age, of course; the unlikely American star Rafalski is 36 too, but unlike Niedermayer is having an excellent year.) They're certainly good enough to win anyway -- and playing these declining first-ballot Hall of Famers is nowhere near as egregious as, say, going with a washed-up Todd Bertuzzi in '06 -- but these marginal choices mattered tonight and may keep mattering.

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