The U.S. and Canadian men's hockey teams were elminated from the Olympic tournament yesterday, by Finland and Russia respectively, leaving North America without a representative in the medal games.  Instead the Finns and Russians, along with the Swedes and Czechs will duke it out over the hardware.

This wasn't supposed to happen.  Canada, the defending gold medalists, were supposed to put up a better fight.  After all, they had a roster stacked with veteran NHL talent and scorign ability.  Likewise, the U.S. team was supposed to avenge several lackluster (and embarrassing) Olympic performances with a lineup of experienced NHLers. 

Notice a theme here?  Age.  Both the Canadians and Americans went with experience over younger talent, hoping that with scarce time to practice together and gel as a team, veteran leadership and game experience would be enough to propel them through.  So they went with the old standbys -- Chelios, Sakic, Hatcher, Draper -- instead of young guys like Crosby, Staal and Speeza, all having fantastic NHL seasons.

But there was a fundamental fallacy in their strategy.  On the larger international ice with little rest and back-to-back games, the old guys couldn't keep up.  Both the U.S. and Canadian teams, who had talked so emphatically about their goal scoring potential headed into the games, had trouble scoring.  Why?  They had no legs under them.  Both teams looked like they were skating through quicksand throughout the tournament.  They never got into rhythm, never got anything going, and fell back on trying to rely on their individual talent rather than working as a team.

Nowhere was that more evident than when both teams played Russia.  Bouyed by an influx of young talent -- 20-year-old Alex Ovechkin, 19-year-old Evgeni Malkin and 22-year-old Ilya Kovalchuk -- combining with veteran playmakers such as Alexei Kovalev and Pavel Datsuyk, the Russians out-skated, out-hustled and all over out-played both teams.

A lot of soul seraching and finger-pointing will be done in the USA Hockey and Team Canada boardrooms this week.  Blame will be hurled at the players, coaches and manegement.  While there is plenty to go around, a hard look back should be taken at the player selection process for both teams.  The strategy was obviously flawed.

Russia's Sergei Gonchar, who plays for the Pittsburgh Penguins, seemed to get it, wondering aloud after the game why Crosby was left off the Canadian roster, "The big ice would be an advantage for a guy like him.  He has great speed, great vision.  He has the skills and it would be a great advantage for him to play. His style fits this game perfectly."

 

These guys are killing me.  Notre Dame's men's basketball team took No. 3 UConn into overtime before losing last night.  ND is now 13-11, 4-9 in conference play.  But the killer is they always come so close.  Their last 10 losses have been by an average of 4.3 points.  They've also come close to knocking off several ranked opponents in overtime, but they just can't close.  They may just be the best awful team out there this season.

The Czech Republic loses to Switzerland, the Americans skate to a tie with Latvia, the Russians lose to the Slovaks then thrub the Swedes -- what the heck is going on in the Olympic hockey tournament?!?!?!

Less than two full days into group play, the Olympic hockey tournament is shaping up to be a doozy.  Olympic hockey has historically had one storyline -- is it going to be Canada, the US or Russia?  But in the 1990's things got interesting with the Swedes taking gold in '94 and the Czechs winning in '98.  The way this year's tournament is shaping up it could be anyone's game.  So far the Slovaks look strong with two wins under their belts.  The Canadians are just getting under way with Germany and should have no problem dispensing them.  Although the struggled early against Italy, so who knows what could happen.

Some key injuries could further impact the way the tournament shakes out.  Czech Slinky Dominik Hasek left yesterday's game with a hamstring pull.  Peter Forsberg is in Turin but has yet to skate for Sweden due to a groin strain and may not play at all.  Much to the chagrin of NHL executives back home, more injuries are sure to occur as play goes on.

So far this tournament has more drama than anything NBC has tried to shove down viewers throats.  While the games are being broadcast during the day on MSNBC, it's sad that primetime viewers aren't at least being treated to highlight reels.  After all, if we're being subjected to roller derby on ice, couldn't we at least get 10 minutes of highlights of a sport most viewers know and possibly care about?

A great story came out of the Olympics yesterday.  Unfortunately it hasn't gotten nearly the amount of play that Michelle Kwan's withdrawl or Bode Miller's failure to medal have.

U.S. speedskater Joey Cheek won gold in the 500m event.  While the win was impressive, it wasn't the biggest story.  At the post-race press conference, Cheek announced he would be donating the entire $25,000 bonus he would receive from the U.S. Olympic Committee to Right to Play, a non-profit organization founded by former speedskating champion Johan Olav Koss that seeks to help children throughout the world through sports.  Cheek specifically requested that the money go to sponsor work in the war-torn Darfur region of Sudan and called on corporate sponsors to match the gift. 

Cheek explained, "If I retired yesterday, I'd have gotten everything in the world from speedskating and from competing in the Olympics. So for me, to walk away today with the gold medal is just amazing. And the best way I can say thanks that I can think of is to try and help somebody else."

And with that Cheek personified what the Olympics are supposed to be about.

Every four years I seem to fall in love with some non-mainstream sport during the Winter Olympics.  It is usually something I would never sit down and watch at any other time; but once in four years I find it irresistable.

In 2002 it was the biathalon.  It combines cross country skiing and target shooting.  The best part is, if you miss a target you have to do a penalty lap.  We need more penalty laps in sports.  Who could dislike this sport? 

This year I have succumbed to snowboarding, specifically the halfpipe competition.  Let me state for the record that I am a  wanna be surfer/snowboarder girl.  But growing up in Maryland my opportunities for both have been limited to occassional trips to California and Colorado.  In short, I suck; I can barely make it down the mountain.  But that hasn't kept me from developing a strong affection for both the men's and women's U.S. snowboarding teams this Olympics.  These kids (and I do mean kids, they all should have endorsement deals with Clearasil) have unbelievable skills.  Watching the competition the last two nights I was blown away, despite the NBC announcer's annoying habit of using the phrase "throw down" after every run.  The kids can fly, twist, spin and otherwise contort themselves.

AS impressive as their tricks were, the best part was their attitude.  They were completely relaxed in their New York Yankees-esque pinstripes, hugging each other and mugging for the camera.  I half expected a dogpile or snowball fight at any moment.

And frankly the post-event interviews were the most honest I've heard in a long time.  There was no guile, no attempt at image manipulation, no savvy really.  They were just kids doing the thing they loved most and amazed at the fact that they'd won Olympic medals for it.  It showed on their faces, in their actions, and through their answers.

My only disappointment -- no one asked what they were all listening to during their turns on their iPods.