Vancouver Calling

Fear not hockey fans. Even though the Kings are off for a few weeks we'll have plenty of news and updates here on MayorsManor. I'm packing for Vancouver and will be taking in plenty of the men's ice hockey leading up to the medal games the last weekend of the month.

Team USA - the group nobody is predicting to win according to GM Brian Burke and head coach Ron Wilson - kicks things off tomorrow vs. Switzerland at noon PST.

Wilson has said Kings captain Dustin Brown will play on a line with USA captain Jamie Langenbrunner and hometown Canuck Ryan Kesler (one of 139 Ryan's on the team).

Will we see an all Ryan line for Team USA? Guess we'll have to tune in to see.

Jack Johnson is currently scheduled to be paired with Brooks Orpik of the Pittsburgh Penguins.

It's looking more and more like Jonathan Quick will probably not see any ice time in Vancouver - despite playing lights out hockey coming into the games. Wilson told reports over the weekend that he hasn't budged from his earlier thoughts of Ryan Miller as the starter and Tim Thomas backing him up.

Get your DVR ready, here's a look at the TV schedule for this week's opening of Pool Play (all times local, PST):

Tuesday 2/16
Pool A - USA v Switzerland at 12:00 PM on USA Network
Pool A - Canada v Norway at 5:00 PM on CNBC
Pool B - Russia v Latvia at 9:30 PM on CNBC

Wednesday 2/17
Pool C - Finland v Belarus at 12:00 PM on MSNBC
Pool C - Sweden v Germany at 5:00 PM on CNBC
Pool B - Czech Republic v Slovakia at 9:30 PM on CNBC

Thursday 2/18
Pool A - USA v Norway at 12:00 PM on USA
Pool A - Switzerland v Canada at 5:00 PM on CNBC
Pool B - Slovakia v Russia at 9:30 PM on CNBC

Friday 2/19
Pool C - Belarus v Sweden at 12:00 PM on MSNBC
Pool B - Czech Republic v Latvia at 5:00 PM on CNBC
Pool C - Finland v Germany at 9:00 PM on CNBC

Saturday 2/20
Pool A - Norway v Switzerland at 12:00 PM on MSNBC
Pool B - Latvia v Slovakia at 4:30 PM on MSNBC
Pool C - Germany v Belarus at 9:00 PM on MSNBC

Sunday 2/21
Pool B - Russia v Czech Republic at 12:00 PM on NBC
Pool A - Canada v USA at 4:00 PM on MSNBC
Pool C - Sweden v Finland at 9:00 PM on MSNBC

The final day of Pool Play could be dubbed 'Super Sunday' as it's highly likely that those three games will determine the winners of each pool. This is critical because the winners get a bye into the next round - thus, not having to play on Tuesday 2/23.

Get ready. The Games are about to begin!

The Mayor
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