2010 Olympic Hockey Previews – Crunch time for Canada
Time for hosts to claim what is rightfully theirs
THE preliminaries have been played. The seeding has been set. And wow, what a difference a day can make. Canada, previously the hands down favorite to win the gold medal is now ranked sixth going into the playoff rounds after being stunned by the Americans in a 5-3 loss.
Touted by basically everyone as the team to beat coming into the tournament, Canada is now not only considered by many as underdogs, but also has to beat Germany on Tuesday to play the Russians in the quarter-finals. The hosts should mop the floor with the Germans, but there have been some big surprises already in the tournament.
Adding insult to injury is the fact that Canada would have had an easier route if they had beat the Swiss in regulation in Game two. Hindsight is 20/20 but Canada could have played Latvia and then faced Finland in the quarters had the they beat Switzerland in regulation, assuming they still lost to the US.
But the past is behind us and now Canada must focus on the future. Personally, I’m rooting for a rematch with the US at some point, just so we can establish dominance in the one sport we’re good at.
However questions are starting to surface behind arguably the best goaltender of this generation. Martin Brodeur letting in 4 goals on 18 shots on Sunday. Is it time to start hometown favorite Roberto ‘Bobbie Lou’ Luongo?
Whatever coach Mike Babcock decides, it’s time for Canada to step up and take what every Canadian thinks is rightfully ours, which is the Gold medal and hockey dominance.
Here are the games being played tomorrow; with the winners advancing to the quarter finals to play either USA, Sweden, Russia, or Finland:
- Switzerland vs. Belarus
- Czech Republic vs. Latvia
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