Monday, March 1, 2010

Welcome Back 2002

First off congratulations to Canada's Men's Team for winning gold earlier today. This makes Canada the new record holder of the most gold in one Winter Olympic Game.

Back to the hockey though:

The tournament near the end seemed like 2002. You have the team that upset Sweden in the Quarter Finals (Slovakia), a strong U.S. team (despite the lack of veteran presence) a Canadian team trying to reel from the disappointment of the last Olympics (and switching goalies in the preliminary round). The only difference between both Games was how the medal games went.

The medal games this time around were mostly different.

Bronze Medal Game

This game featuring Finland and Slovakia was close all the way through even with the Slovak's holding a 2-goal lead. Finland was able to fight back and get the winning goal with about 10 minutes left in the 3rd period for the 5-3 win. 2002's Game featuring Russia and Belarus was over almost as it started. Russia beat Belarus 7-1.

Gold Medal Game

In a 2002 re-match, the Canada-U.S. game was a lot closer throughout. The 2002 game was close until Canada opened up in the third and cruised to a 5-2 win. Today's game was close right down to the wire. Canada got up 1-0 midway through the first then extended the lead in the second. Moments after Canada took a 2-0 lead, the U.S. responded with a shot that was tipped to make the score 2-1. After a couple good chances of extending the lead, Canada started to play protective hockey in the third. This led to their mini-downfall. With 25 seconds left, the U.S. was able to tie the game up after a scramble infront of the Canada net. In overtime, after a couple back-and-forth sequences, Canada was able to get the winning goal after getting a pass from Iginla in the corner and shooting five-hole on Miller.

Now that the Olympics wrapped up, the next big thing is the NHL Trade Deadline. Which doesn't seem thats exciting since a lot of the major deals already happened.

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