Gold Medal Game Preview: Canada vs. USA
Gold Medal Game: USA vs. Canada - February 28, 2010 12:00pm PST - Canada Hockey Place
The gold medal matchup comes down to a rematch between Team USA and Team Canada. This is a game for bragging rights for both the players and their fans. This game is so big that NBC will air this game live. Canada would like to apologize to people that our country is shutting down for three hours between 12pm and 3pm as we will be tuned in to watch the game. Even if you don't like hockey, you should be watching it as this may turn out to be one of those games that we talk about for a long time. This may also be the last hockey game in the Olympics that the NHL participates in.
Only 7 minutes into the third period of the Canada vs. Slovakia semi-final on friday night, the home crowd chanted "We want U-S-A" and they got what they wished for, it's a Canada vs. USA gold medal game.
Brian Burke said that "A gold medal immortalizes your team," and he's right, no matter which team wins today, they will be remembered. Americans want a "Millercle" and Canadians expect nothing but gold, tough stakes there for either team.
"It's fun," said Luongo to Canwest. "You come out on the ice, you see everyone screaming and wearing red. It's fun to be a part of that and it's an experience you probably won't ever get to live again.
"I'm just looking forward tomorrow and the craziness in the building."
Both teams will most likely have the same game plan coming in to this game with both teams to coming out hard in the first 10 minutes to set the tone for the rest of the game. The first goal scored may end up being the most important one. Depending on what happens after the first 10 minutes we may see both teams tighten up and play a more responsible game.
Team USA brings on two things to todays game: an excellent goaltender and speed in their young players. Brian Burke has been saying that his team was the underdog coming into the tournament icing the youngest team, but can you really consider them the underdogs today? They have won all their games, already beaten the Canadians and thumped the Finns in the semi's to advance to this game. The US have gotten better, especially now so that Patrick Kane scored 2 goals in the last game.
Team USA will be home team in the game, so they will have the advantage of last change. They will also have an edge with regards to having the same start time throughout the games with today's game starting at 12pm. As many hockey players a creatures of habit, being adjusted to eating breakfast before the game for the last 2 weeks may help the Americans.
Crosby has had a quiet games so far, but even if his effort doesn't show up on the score sheet, you can see that he's doing his part. His line with Staal and Iginla will draw the top defensive pairings to try shut them down. The good thing about Canada is that they don't have just one great line, they have four. They have had scoring come from their Sharks line of Heatley, Thornton and Marleau or from their line of Getzlaf, Perry and Morrow. And their line of Toews, Nash and Richards have been shutting down top lines as well as contributing the odd goal. Team Canada will be the away team, so expect Babcock to try to matchup the defensive pairing of Niedermayer and Weber against the Parise line of the USA.
In the Olympics having a great goaltender in net who is hot can be the key to winning. If Ryan Miller can win tonight's game with a hot goaltending performance he is poised to become a household name in the US. At the other end of the rink, Roberto Luongo looks to cement his place in Canadian hockey history. A win tonight will silence the Luongo critics (and he has many of them) and prove that he is an elite goaltender.
Never before has a host nation won so many gold medals in a Winter Games. Going from a country who has never won gold at home, last night with a win in men's curling ,Team Canada matched a gold medal record for countries at the Winter Olympics at 13 gold medals. Canada is now poised to break that record with a gold in hockey, it's kinda poetic if it happens in the men's hockey game. The fans of Team Canada will live and die by each moment in the game, and if they lose, may drown all their sorrows in beer. As a precaution to curb the open consumption of alcohol, the city of Vancouver is having liquor stores in the downtown area close at 2pm.
The hometown advantage of the crowd will obviously go to Canada today shouting "Go Canada Go" and cheers of "Louuuuuuu" every time Luongo makes a save. But Team USA had the home crowd when they played in Salt Lake City in 2002, and they ended up losing to Team Canada. The Americans would love to do the same to Team Canada tomorrow.
May the best team win.
Vancity Canuck writes about the Vancouver Canucks at Benched Whale and the Tampa Bay Lightning at The Hockey Bay Blog in addition to her work on Bloguin's Olympic Hockey Blog.
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