Switzerland 3, Belarus 2 (SO). Despite giftwrapping Belarus a couple of goals during the game, Hiller holds Belarus off in the shootout.

Canada 8, Germany 2. Canada easily disposes of Germany on their way to a highly anticipated match up with the Russians on Wednesday.

Czech Republic 3, Latvia 2 (OT). Czechs sleepwalk through the game and need OT magic from David Krejci in order to avoid elimination.

Slovakia 4, Norway 3. Slovakia jumps on Norway early and holds them off late to advance.

The swirling pregame question asked what troubled team Canada.  The shootout win over the Swiss was bad enough.  But to lose to the Americans, at home no less, was ignominy.  So changes were made, because changes must be made after big losses.

Lines were shuffled, and the venerable Martin Brodeur was benched in favor of his understudy, Roberto Luongo.  As our staff of experts noted Marc-Andre Fleury's services in these games remain unnecessary.

The changes helped enabling Canada to reach their anticipated place in the quarterfinals.  The path was a longer one than they wanted.  Tonight they take on the team that their own GM called the favorites before the games began.  After the jump we look at Team Canada's game last night against the Germans and their match tonight with Russia.

They met in the tourney opener.  They'll open the quarterfinals, but from one team it will be the final act.

Last week, Switzerland found themselves on the short end of a 3-1 decision, unable to solve the riddle of Ryan Miller and overwhelmed by an aggressive American attack.  They get a second crack at team USA as the quarterfinals begin in Vancouver at noon local time, three eastern.

That rematch was far from preordained.  The Swiss had to beat Belarus to get a second shot at the now high flying Americans.  After the jump, we'll recap the Switzerland's victory and look ahead to their game tomorrow.

Dear Dick Ebersol and the rest of NBC;

I write this with the most sincere admiration for your broadcasts as I am a big fan of The Office and, well, The Office. Oh, I do like Law and Order: SVU as well, though I find B.D. Wong to be quite the pain in the ass. Please make the writers of SVU kill his character because he is insufferable and bothersome.

I'm sorry, I am clearly getting off track and I apologize. I blame it on this illness that has kept me from enjoying your Olympic coverage because I've been sleeping early since my return to Boston on Friday night. Speaking of your Olympic coverage, I am quite the hardcore hockey fan and I must say that your coverage of the sport not only bothers me but also disgusts me in the same breath.

Reported earlier today by the Puck Daddy, then later confirmed by Coach Mike Babcock, Luongo will start against Germany tonight. Luongo who played the opening game for Team Canada shutting out Norway 8-0. Luongo has had plenty of rest since he has not played since last Tuesday and will not have to face back to back games facing Germany followed by Russia on Wednesday (assuming that Canada beats Germany, but that seems like a given, no?).

Brodeur had played an average game against the Swiss, but had let in a goal that should have been a routine glove save for him. He then struggled against Team USA making mistakes that led to the Americans' win including batting the puck away to Rafalski. What Brodeur lacked was big game changing saves, which across the rink Ryan Miller was making.

Luongo will bring his butterfly style of goaltending to Team Canada and be the starter for the team for the rest of the tournament with Brodeur as backup. He was told last night by Babcock that he would be the starter.

In other Team Canada news, Babcock is yet again shuffling the top line, this time breaking up the Crosby-Nash duo. Crosby will now play with Jarome Iginla on the right wing and Eric Staal on the left wing. Nash will drop down to the line with Getzlaf and Perry.

vs.

Playoff Qualifier 4: Slovakia vs. Norway - February 23, 2010 9:00pm PST - Canada Hockey Place

The Slovaks have played well so far in the tournament, they initially lost to the Czech Republic in one of the best games of the tournament, then playing a back to back game the next night beating Russia in a shootout, followed by a thumping of Latvia on Saturday. They will have the momentum of the last two wins rolling in to tonight's game. Norway on the other hand have not one a game but have gotten a point when they forced Switzerland into overtime on Saturday.

Halak's stingy goaltending has been one of the reasons why Slovakia has been doing so well. Having the veteran Demitra and Stumpel on their team with Hossa and Gaborik have given the team the scoring that they've needed.

Norway, tied with Latvia in the number of goals allowed so far at 19, will have a tough battle tonight. They have not won a game in the last 28 games played since 1972. Their best player of last game, with the possible best name of the tournament, Tore Vikingstad netted a hattrick until their goaltender Pal Grotnes gave up a goal in overtime.

For either team, playing Sweden on Wednesday will be a tough game as Sweden along with USA were the only two teams to win all of their group games in regulation.

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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Yesterday was a blissful international hockeygasm, and there was so much hockey yesterday that some stuff probably was lost. With all due respect to Slovakia, it's not often when the best 6 teams in the world play their rivals with a lot at stake. I know the initial reaction is to say these were just preliminary games, but look at how the seeding broke down and then it'll become obvious that these games matter. A lot.

So here's a breakdown of the good, the bad and the ugly from the weekend, starting by team. By weekend, I mean top 6, because I didn't really watch much of the under-card games on Saturday.

More after the jump

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.

Now that the fringe Olympic Hockey games are over with, it's time for The Royal Half to sit down and watch 2 Hockey Superpowers battle it out in their quest for Olympic gold. So, since the US and Russia may not play until the elimination rounds… I'll have to settle for watching US vs Canada today.

Border War, NBC? I mean, we've had our disagreements over NAFTA...
but I'd hardly call it a "Border War."

Now we all know that secretly The Royal Half is rooting for Slovakia to take home the gold… solely for the reason that the Slovakian Olympic Hockey team is the greatest collection of Los Angeles Kings All-Stars since the 1981 NHL All Star Team. (That's right... Palffy, Demitra, Handzus, Visnovsky, Stumpel and I'm pretty sure Nagy is an alternate!) But let's be real here. I'm an American. I was alive when the Miracle on Ice happened... but I might be more familiar with the Ray LeBlanc led team of 1992. So I'm rooting for Team USA. And since the coverage of this Winter Olympics by NBC has been some of the most technologically advanced of all time… I can't wait to watch today's game in glorious High Definition. Oh wait... what's that Directv? You carry CNBC in HD but not MSNBC? Is that because the financial graphics are more intense on CNBC? Well, even though the game wasn't in HD, check out "The Royal Half's Olympic Cavalcade of Screengrabs"... after the jump!