Farewell Vancouver.
TSJ has elected to move on – down the west coast from Van City to the City of Angels, Los Angeles. Instead of taking in the Olympic action first hand from the comfy confines of Canada Hockey Place, I’m forced to get my hockey fix while soaking up the sunshine and indulging in killer Mexican food (a quick shout-out to the live streaming wizardry of NBCOlympics.com for making this all possible).
As I sat down and watched on my laptop as Team Canada dominated Germany 8-2 in their Playoff Qualifier Tuesday, I realized something. Man, our guys are good. I mean, really good. So far, they’ve outhit, outshot, outskilled and outplayed their opponents (although they haven’t always outscored them). Despite their overall record, I would even suggest that Canada is the most dominant team in this tournament.
Still, questions abound – Can Canada score when they need to? Who will be their goalie? And is Canada’s defence solid enough?
It's Luongo - Not Brodeur - From Here On
On the surface, it appeared that Canada’s inability to clinch a bye into the Quarterfinals was a bad thing, only furthering doubts of far this team can go. In reality, the “extra” game against Germany went a long way toward answering those various questions and addressing the doubts that have been dogging Team Canada for much of the Olympics.
After failing to find first line chemistry throughout the round-robin, it appears Sidney Crosby and the rest of the nation can now breathe a sigh of relief. The “Science Experiment” (thank you Pierre McGuire for incessantly mentioning this term no less than 100 times during the broadcast) upfront of Crosby, Eric Staal and Jarome Iginla combined for 3 goals vs. the Germans, emerging as the anchors for the squad’s top line.
The questions in goal have also been answered. Roberto Luongo is the man from here on in. With all due respect to Martin Brodeur, he was too inconsistent in his two previous starts to get the nod in the Quarterfinals. Luongo is the right choice moving forward, giving Canada, in my opinion, the best chance to win.
Niedermayer Captains The Blueline
We also saw the changing of the guard for Canada’s much-maligned defence during Tuesday’s game vs. Germany. Olympic rookies Duncan Keith and Drew Doughty have emerged as “Top Four” defencemen on this team (along with Captain Scott Niedermayer and Shea Weber). They’re now being counted on to log crucial minutes on the Canadian blueline, in place of veterans Chris Pronger and Dan Boyle.
Next up – a quarterfinal date with Russia – where one team advances and the other goes home. Canada will attempt to snap a 50-year drought vs. its fiercest hockey rival, last defeating Russia in Olympic competition all the way back in 1960 at Squaw Valley (Ironically, the Americans snapped a similar streak when they defeated Canada on Sunday in round-robin play).
For the Canucks, the pressure of trying to win on home soil has been immense. Yet, for the first time all tournament long, this team finally appears ready to take their game to the next level. In their quest for hockey gold, a win against Russia Wednesday night might finally make believers out of everyone – including themselves.
In hindsight things are always crystal clear aren’t they? Unfortunately I am reading this after the game is complete but I guess all the questions were answered weren’t they?
Is Canada ready for the US? Answer: Yes.
Signed, sealed, delivered. Thank you Russia for the confidence booster on our march to Gold. We salute you!