| 18 February 2010
Henrik Lunsqvist proved yesterday that the New York Papers are hardly hyperbolic when the call him King Henrik. Niklas Hagman showed grit and determination in illuminating the lamp with a pair of goals. And flag bearer Jaromir Jagr flashed the panache that put his name on Lord Stanley's Cup as a teenager almost two decades.
It's your Olympic Hockey Wake-Up Call, with another trio of games on tap today and a troika in the books. So grab your coffee and live a little, have one of them paczki from Tuesday. They're still delicious. We'll have the run down from last night, the look at today and some news from around the rinks, after the jump
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Niklas Hagman's pair of goals keyed the Finns attack as they stomped Belarus 5-1. A day after a pair of eight goal outbursts, the Finnish five spot was the high water mark in goal scoring as all six teams played at a brisk pace and demonstrated the joys of Olympic hockey. Take for example Hagman's on bended knee goal. A relative youngster at 30 among Finland's greybeards, Hagman told reporters after the game how significant winning was to the team.
"There are a few guys that this might be the last Olympics, so we're trying to play as well as we can to help them. We know that they're going to try their best to help the team's success, so I hope it's a good thing for us, because it's a little extra for everybody."
Belarus' goal came off the stick of Canadien forward Sergei Kostitsyn. Their goalie Vitali Koval kept the game from becoming a laugher, stopping 40 of the 45 shots he saw. They next face Sweden on Friday. The Finns will tangle with Germany, also on Friday.
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Henrik Lunqvist's 21 saves were the big difference as Sweden shut down an energetic German team that had been hoping to steal a point or maybe two by surprising the defending gold medal team from Torino. The game also saw NHL legend Peter Forsberg play significant minutes. Forsberg's injury woes have erased much of his last three years of hockey. And at age 36, how how much more hockey lays ahead is unknowable. He took his regular shifts and confessed to experiencing a bout of nerves before as well as the customary aches and pains of advancing age afterwards:
"I was nervous in the beginning, on the small ice. It’s definitely great to be back, though, and playing against the best players in the world. I feel O.K. At this stage of my career I don’t think I’m going to be really healthy again, so I’m just going to do my best."
Germany's squad is composed primarily of players in Germany's Deutsche Eishockey Liga (or DEL), which is a lesser regarded European league, though it is home to more expat American and Canadian players than any non-North American league. Head coach Uwe Krupp instilled in his team determination and discipline, knowing those qualities would be essential to overcoming the talented players they would be facing. They couldn't steal a point against Sweden, but they will get a chance on Friday to nab one or more from Finland. Sweden looks ahead to Belarus, also on Friday.
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Before Sid the kid was the young sensation in the Steel city, there was Super Mario's wingman, Jaromir Jagr. Possessing, speed and skill with just enough size to concern a defenseman with thought of playing the body, Jagr was a force on the ice. The salad days with the Penguins are long gone now, and Jagr's considerable ability has eroded with age. But the skill that accompanied his talent remains and was on display last night in Vancouver.
Our own Jibblescribbits live blogged the game that featured great goaltending and some nifty play on both ends of the ice. Still the night was Jagr's. But don't be hasty, says Jibbles:
I'm beginning to think maybe Jaromir Jagr has some hockey left in him. Of course, he'll always be overshadowed by his brothers Boromir and Faromir.
Slovakia's lone goal came from Marian Gaborik, who was not expected ont he ice until the third Slovak game of the tournament. Slovakia will need him tonight as they get saddled with the quick turnaround to face off against Russia. The Czechs will tangle with Latvia on Friday night in more Group B play.
What's on tap tonight?
- Team USA is back on the ice versus Norway. I'm afraid my knowledge of Norwegian beers is limited, so we'll be ugly Americans and tout the brewer patriot whose descendants brought us pretentious microbrews that eventually were gobbled up by corporate beer makers in a leveraged buyout, ruining the utter nebbishness of beer snobs. Ironically, the Boston Beer Company is the largest American Owned brewery, with Anheuser-Busch now safely in the hands of Belgian Brewing giant InBev.
On tap on ice will be the US still working out the kinks, hoping to demonstrate a little more prowess on the offensive end of the ice, while maintaining the steady defensive play. Norway is hoping to catch the US looking ahead to Sunday's big matchup against Canada. Puck drops at noon Pacific time. We'll have a recap this evening and hopefully some video highlights before the nightcap begins. 
Game two is Switzerland against Canada. The host Canadians will be serving some Labatt Blue, a fine Canadian beer, though not quite as good in your humble correspondent's opinion a nice cold Molson in a frosted pilsner glass. Ahhhh refreshing.
On the ice, the Canadians will see if their fireworks will be slowed down by the Swiss disciplined system. It's unlikely that they will notice much difference between the final two periods of the Norway game and the beginning of the contest with Switzerland. If Switzerland is down by three goals in the first period, and they have to abandon their system to play a more wide open style of hockey, the game could get blowout ugly in a hurry. Recap tonight after the game.- The nightcap features Russia and Slovakia. In Russia beer is called vodka and is served at breakfast, lunch and dinner to all living beings. The dead receive doubles.
Team Russia may have an easier go of it against Slovakia, who will be the first squad to have the misfortune of going back to back in the games. Playing late last night in an wide open game will wear out the Slovaks. Russia's forwards seem poised to exploit any tiredness that they encounter. Doubles for Slovakia!
Around the Rinks
Our eyes are focused pretty tightly on the men's draw. But the Washington Post is happy to remind us that there is a women's tourney too. And Team USA is taking no prisoners.
SI has a photo essay on the best Olympic Hockey moments. Number ten is the US Women's Olympic gold medal in Nagano in 1998. Anyone have a guess about number one? Gee I wonder what it might be.
The story has been posted elsewhere, and even here, but the controversy about the slogans on hockey masks continues to get play in the popular press. This time the NY Times covers it. Irony alert, the winter games in particular include many judged events that take into account artistic expression. But slogans on hockey masks, eh, not so much.
ESPN's page 2 is proposing the debut of table hockey as an olympic sport. Such an argument is ludicrous. Until foosball is recognized at the summer games, there can be no consideration given to it's faux frozen friend. Justice delayed is justice denied. Give us our fooooooooos
mmmmm Paczki!
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