Game showdown: Team USA vs. Team Canada (Final)
time: 8:10 AM ET (14:10 local time)
broadcast: Television — Peacock, NBC
bronze medal match
Well, our boy Simon Nemec ended the tournament with a Cinderella performance as he beat Finland 5-1 in the bronze medal game on Saturday. He has performed well in this tournament, regularly playing 22-25 minutes, and in the semifinals against the United States, he played more minutes than Quinn Hughes. Additionally, he was just -1 in a very lopsided game. With the Devils season coming up, I see no reason not to release this kid and give him a ton of playing time and PP1 clutch time. He’s a bit of an oddball in that he would absolutely thrive in an important role and then be a mess in a smaller, protected role. Nemec is the only defenseman to rank in the top 20 in scoring chance creation tracking by Dimitri Filipovic and JFresh.
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for gold
Anyway, here we are – and what everyone expected to happen is happening. Both teams hit speed bumps along the way, as Canada was taken to overtime by the Czech Republic, Finland barely scraped through, and the United States was taken to overtime by Sweden in the quarterfinals. The U.S.’s semifinal matchup against upstart Slovakia was certainly an easy one, but Nimmo, Thuner, and Slovakia earned the right to play in a tournament where you have to beat the team in front of you (the Devils can take note of that).
A victory for Team USA would bring about sea change in the hockey world. There is no doubt that this is a long time coming as we have followed Canada for thirty years, but the historical record is rather uneven. While the United States and Canada have played against each other for more than a century, they have faced off 19 times at the Olympics, 14 times at the World Cup of Hockey and twice in last year’s Four Nations, the appetizer tournament. The last time the U.S. beat them for gold was in 1960, and Canada has also beaten the U.S. for gold at professional events in Salt Lake City (2002), Vancouver (2010) and Sochi (2014). Overall, Canada is 12-4-3 against the United States at the Olympics and has nine gold medals to our two. Including the World Cup/Canada Cup and the 4 nations, Canada’s advantage is 23-8-4. It’s still their game, but it will allow us to move forward smoothly.
You have to go back to the 1996 World Cup of Hockey to find a group of U.S. players considered on par with Canada. This is actually an interesting debate – is that group better than the current group? Nostalgia says yes, but the skill and speed of gameplay looks completely different now than it did back then. I’ve seen clips of those three games before and it was more like a brawl than a hockey game. This does put U.S. hockey back on the map after being in trouble since 1980.
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What happened around the same time was that the USNTDP was formed in 1997 after some moderate to poor results at the World Juniors. “The plan” combined with NHL expansion has catapulted USA Hockey to the second-ranked nation in the world, ahead of countries such as Russia, Sweden and Finland. No longer “a bunch of guys from Boston and Minnesota,” but players from all over the country to build a truly national program, and the current Olympic team has 17 USNTDP alumni on its roster.
question mark
One of the bigger storylines coming up is whether or not Sidney Crosby will star. He missed the semifinals due to a bent left leg, and per hockey guidelines we don’t know what the exact nature of his injury was. Unless his knee is completely shattered, I can’t see a guy like Crosby sitting on the sidelines. If he did, it would be a major blow to Team Canada’s morale (see: the 2010 Golden Goal) and also a major blow to Pittsburgh, one of the teams we’re trying to catch up to.
Tachi Thompson also exited the semifinals after suffering a pretty brutal cross-check at the net, but similar to Crosby, we don’t know what his deal was. This is said to be a precautionary measure. He was the perfect player for this team and unleashed his bombs on multiple occasions, including some kind of magic trick from a bad angle in the semifinals. I watched it several times and still couldn’t figure out where he put the ball, and there didn’t seem to be a hole in the goalkeeper’s chest. I’m also looking forward to him and Jack playing together again.
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united states of hughes
Pity poor Thomas Tartar. This guy just wants to get to the European Pro League with one last retirement deal and have fun developing the next wave of kids Slavkovsky and Nemek in the Olympics. And, he was put on the poster by Jack in the Olympic semifinals. I think it’s safe to say that Jack is back and he performed extremely well in his limited time throughout the game. Sullivan was more or less forced to move him into the starting lineup, playing alongside Dylan Larkin and Takhi Thompson, with the trio having excelled in both games against Slovakia. In the semifinals, Jack ranked 13th among all players in scoring chance contributions, finishing the game in minimal power play time and 3/4 line minutes. He is the team’s third most efficient driver on offense and the only driver not in the first PP unit. We need this version of Jack to show up if we have any chance at the end.
The more I watch Quinn, the more annoyed I get with Tom Fitzgerald. Why aren’t you going to propose to him as godfather, man? Whether it’s clearing cap space, using up a few games on the Brewers League roster, or just beating down a wild offer. Remember when we traded Timo Meier, he said “Don’t make a move without calling me” – with Quinn, you do the same. I’m sorry to repeat this, but it is complete malpractice. Quinn is just a born monster. Sorry, I’m done ranting.
Here are some interesting microstats from Jfresh, and Lookie, who tops the list of offensive stats per game (read the note at the top to see how this is expressed):
What are your thoughts?
Can the boys complete this mission? Do you think this will be close, or will the teams pull away? What do you think?
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Play free birds
Oh mom, don’t cry, USA Hockey is a matter of life and death.
Rock Flag Eagle, LGUSA
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