[Game Preview] Germany vs Canada
Written by Greg Ezell   
Monday, 22 February 2010 08:45

germanylogocanadalogo

Last night the Canada and United States Olympic hockey teams battled in a fantastic tilt that saw the US win 5-3 behind a hot goalie (Ryan Miller) and a balanced offensive attack. To say that the United States dominated the ice, however, is grossly misleading as Canada (almost) doubled USA's shots on goal (45-23). For a complete review of the game, please visit the game review written by Joe Tetreault.

Because Canada lost, they will face Germany on February 23 at 4:30 PST (7:30pm EST). As I've been trying my best to cover the German Olympic team between illness and my own wedding, I've noticed that this team is more of a bandy league champion than an Olympic gold medal champion.

Germany was stomped in opening preliminary play, going 0-3 and being shut out two of the three games they played in (0-2 to Sweden, 0-5 to Finland). Much like Germany, Canada struggled in preliminary play as well, though their 2-1 record doesn't reflect that. After an easy 8-0 victory over Norway, Canada struggled to a 3-2 shootout win over the Swiss and the aforementioned 5-3 loss to the United States.

If anyone believes that this game will be competitive, they must be tested for some sort of psycotropic drug because Germany has been anything but competitive throughout these Olympics. Germany has been the welcome mat for Group C, which includes a bad Belarus team (that beat the Germans 5-3) and hasn't shown much spark throughout these games. Hell, their first goal came in their third game of preliminary play when David Seindenberg scored on the power play. Since that goal though, the Germans really haven't been in a game.

Canada will be flying after an embarrassing loss (in the eyes of Canadians) to the United States and should be embarrassed if they score anything less than ten goals on either Thomas Greiss (3.55 GAA, 83% S%) or Dimitri Patzold (5.00 GAA, 85.71 S%).

Look for Roberto Luongo to get the start against Germany because Marty Brodeur did not look sharp against the United States. Luongo has one start under his belt and made 15 saves in the shutout against Norway.

There is absolutely no way Canada coughs this one up against Germany, which saddens me because I'd love to see the Germans pull off a major upset. The German team isn't as deep as the Canadians, they don't have the talent of the Canadians and they'll get crushed from the drop of the puck to the last tick of the clock. There is no way Canada loses two in a row in Vancouver.

I'll have to full review on Wednesday morning of the game (working a double tomorrow with no access to a computer during/after game time).



Digg! Reddit! Facebook! Technorati! StumbleUpon! BallHype: hype it up!
Comments (1)Add Comment
That was a strange game
written by Stu_C, February 22, 2010
I was actually pretty surprised they didn't pull Brodeur after 3 goals. Or even 2. After the US had scored twice on their first 4 or 5 shots and Brodeur had already misplayed the puck a few times I thought he wouldn't be starting the 2nd. When you outshoot a team 19-6 in a period and are controlling play, if you are losing it's pretty clear where the problem is. Brodeur is one of the best goalies of all time, but he's not playing well enough right now to be in net for the knockout games. You don't see the Czechs starting Hasak or the Russians starting Tretiak. Historically great goalies, but history alone shouldn't get you a spot on the ice. If you want to look at history, take a look at the Turin games. Brodeur actually played fairly well that tournament but he wasn't great. That's much more recent history than the 2002 games.

Write comment

busy
 

Standings

Group A
TeamWLPts
USA 3 0 9
Canada 2 1 5
Switzerland 1 2 3
Norway 0 3 1
Group B
TeamWLPts
Russia 2 1 7
Czech Republic 2 1 6
Slovakia 2 1 5
Latvia 0 3 0
Group C
TeamWLPts
Sweden 3 0 9
Finland 2 1 6
Belarus 1 2 3
Germany 0 3 0

Teams in Bold receive byes into the quarterfinals

Schedule/Results

DateTimeMatchup
2/16 12:00 PM USA 3 Switzerland 1
2/16 4:30 PM Canada 8 Norway 0
2/16 9:00 PM Russia 8 Latvia 2
2/17 12:00 PM Finland 5 Belarus 1
2/17 4:30 PM Sweden 2 Germany 0
2/17 9:00 PM Czech Republic 3 Slovakia 1
2/18 12:00 PM USA 6 Norway 1
2/18 4:30 PM Switzerland 2 Canada 3 F/SO
2/18 9:00 PM Slovakia 2 Russia 1 F/SO
2/19 12:00 PM Belarus 2 Sweden 4
2/19 4:30 PM Czech Republic 5 Latvia 2
2/19 9:00 PM Finland 5 Germany 0
2/20 12:00 PM Norway 4 Switzerland 5 F/OT
2/20 4:30 PM Latvia 0 Slovakia 6
2/20 9:00 PM Germany 3 Belarus 5
2/21 12:00 PM Russia 4 Czech Republic 2
2/21 4:40 PM Canada 3 USA 5
2/21 9:00 PM Sweden 3 Finland 0
2/23 12:00 PM Belarus 2 Switzerland 3 F/SO
2/23 4:30 PM Germany 2 Canada 8
2/23 7:00 PM Latvia 2 Czech Republic 3 F/OT
2/23 9:00 PM Norway 3 Slovakia 4
2/24 12:00 PM Switzerland 0 USA 2
2/24 4:30 PM Canada 7 Russia 3
2/24 7:00 PM Czech Republic 0 Finland 2
2/24 9:00 PM Slovakia 4 Sweden 3
2/26 12:00 PM Finland 1 USA 6
2/26 6:30 PM Canada 3 Slovakia 2
2/27 7:00 PM Finland 5 Slovakia 3
2/28 Overtime
USA 2 Canada 3 F/OT
All Times Pacific

Syndication

About Bloguin

Bloguin is the revolutionary blog network specifically focused on helping bloggers get the most out of their websites. We're currently working on building a large network of online communities and hope to expand our blogging coverage to include a wide range of topics.

Advertisers

The Bloguin Network allows advertisers to promote their products and services to our ever-growing number of visitors. We offer both site-specific ad placements as well as the ability to run a network-wide campaign. If you're interested in working with Bloguin to meet your advertising needs, please contact us.

Bloggers Wanted

The Bloguin Network is always looking to expand. We're specifically looking for blogs in the sports, entertainment, and video games field, but are open to adding any type of quality site. If you're a blogger and interested in joining our network, please fill out our application form.

The Bloguin Login

The Bloguin Login gives you full access to everything our network has to offer. Your name and password will work for each and every one of our sites. Signing up is simple, and will allow you to post in all our forums, create member blogs, and access other cool features! What are you waiting for? Create an Account!