USA Leading & Former Kings Everywhere

Random Ramblings from Thursday's Olympic hockey match ups...

We had the USA-Norway at noon, followed by Canada-Switzerland and then Russia-Slovakia. Let's start with the Canada game. Why not, that's what the hockey media throughout North America seems to be focusing on.

In that game I felt sick. My stomach seriously hurt as I found myself cheering for Jonas Hiller. For three periods I was forced to suspend reality. I tried as hard as I could to forget that he's a Mighty Duck. For today, he was just some kid goaltender on an otherwise anonymous team from Switzerland. A team playing in a jersey that was so ugly, it was actually cool.

The Swiss are physical. Damn! They played rough against the Americans on Tuesday and brought their bounce house style of play again today. Perhaps the coach told them Sidney Crosby is just an overgrown Raggedy Ann doll (or would it be Andy?) because they were throwing him around from one end of the ice to the other. I guess Sid got the last laugh with his game winning goal in the shootout through. Which, by the way was his SECOND turn. You see, after the first three shooters, guys can go again. What? Who came up with this crazy rule? So weird.

Extremely exciting game - just a disappointing result. So close, so close. In fact, for a few hours it was the best game of the tournament so far.

But first, notes from the U.S. game played earlier in the day...

Nobody should be wearing #9 with USA across their chest unless the guy wearing it is Mike Modano. Period. Not even open for debate.

Jack Johnson is the man! Period. He played strong in game one and upped his game again vs. Norway today. He picked up an assist and could have easily had a goal or two. And his defense looks real good too. The short handed goal was not his fault. So don't even start. He was left out to dry on a two on one. Keep it up Jack. Sunday's your chance to show that Doughty isn't the old young stud the Kings have on D right now. Don't look now, but Jack is tied for the team lead with a +3 rating.

Dustin Brown? Well, that's a different story. It seemed like he would go long stretches without seeing the ice. Was Wilson triple shifting Drury / Parise / Kane? It sure seemed like it.

Remember when the Kings hosted Hockey Fest back in August? Tons of former players were brought back to tell stories, take pictures and sign autographs. Well, the 2010 Winter Olympics are kinda like that - just different. Everywhere you look there are current or former Kings. However, rather than mingling with the fans - they're here to play!

Tim Gleason? Hi, how are you.

The night cap featured names like Palffy, Demitra, Grebeshkov, Visnovsky, Stumpel and Handzus. I will say, it's weird not seeing Frolov out there for team Russia though. And every time I see Palffy I think of Andy Murray. Is that weird?

Zues - my man...you were a hot mess in overtime. First you lost your helmet. Next shift your stick. Thankfully both skates were strapped to your feet.

There were also two coulda been Kings - Kovalchuk and Gaborik.

And...oh no...another goalie with ties to the Ducks...Bryzgalov for Russia. Thankfully, I was cheering against him - hoping for a Slovakia win.

What a game. Slovakia-Russia was the best game of all the (men's) hockey played this week. It very easily could have been a game 7 for the Stanley Cup...only with a shootout to decide it. Slovakia had so many chances in the third and in overtime. Then came the shootout...

First up for the Kings, Stumpel. 1-0 Slovakia.

Russia's captain, Morozov up next. Miss.

Second shooter for the Kings, Demitra. Poke checked away. Still 1-0 Slovakia.

Who else for Russia but #8? The greatest player in the NHL ties it up 1-1.

Hossa denied. Then, Datsyuk denied. So, it's 1-1 after the first three shooters.

Ovi again for Russia? Didn't we already see the 'do over' thing in the Canada game? Yep. Thankfully, different result this time. Ovi can't score on his second try of the session.

The Kings press repeat themselves and send Stumpel back out. No goal. On to round 5.

Kovalchuk for Russia...wide.

Here we go...MICHAL HANDZUS to win it for the Kings...denied. DAMN IT!

OMG! Ovi again for Russia. Third time is a...denied.

Gaborik is stopped by Bryzgalov. We're still tied.

Malkin skates in for Russia, plays with the puck and just can't get a shot off. No goal.

Demitra up next. He does the big wide turn-in thing that he does...shoot, score. In my best Bob Miller voice "Kings Win! Kings Win! The Kings win the game!"

I know it was Slovakia, leave me alone.

AWESOME GAME!

For a final tie in to former Kings...Friday will be Wayne Gretzky day over at Molson Hockey House...the place that has quickly become The Place to be in Vancouver.

The Mayor
www.twitter.com/Mayor119

WJC Sunday: Dream Match-Up is On

If you missed the USA-Canada game on New Year's Eve you missed one of the best hockey games you'll ever see. Now, the rematch has been set.

Team USA was able to knock off a loaded Sweden team earlier today to advance to the gold medal game of the World Junior Championships. Waiting for them on Tuesday will be a Canadian team who already holds a shootout victory over them in the opening round.

Canada will be playing for their sixth straight gold medal. The U.S. will be playing for their sixth medal ever...and only their second gold.

Sunday's two semi-final games provided the following action:

USA 5, Sweden 2
Tyler Johnson's 2010 NHL draft stock went up a little. He put the U.S. on top 1-0 less than two minutes in. That was the only goal of the first period.

Then, Team USA took a nap during the entire second period. It was worrisome. Sweden capitalized by scoring two goals. Oilers prospect 'MPS' Magnus Paajarvi-Svensson has been getting much of the press for his team this year at the World Jr's, but it was the Oilers other Swedish prospect, Anton Lander, who had both goals.

Jerry D'Amigo (Toronto Maple Leafs prospect) once again played a major role for the Americans. He scored late in the second to tie things up. He was also leveled on a clearing play that resulted in a five minute power play for the U.S., which turned up nothing more than a few shots on goal. Then, late in the game with the U.S. up 3-2 he scored a huge short-handed goal.

Setting him on the play was Team USA captain Derek Stepan (NY Rangers draft pick), who continues to lead all players in points and assists this year's WJC.

Canada 6, Switzerland 0
The LA Kings have four players on Team Canada, more than any other NHL team. It seems that in the five games Canada has played so far, at least one of them was always part of the story. This game was no different, as Brayden Schenn netted his second goal of the tourney in the third period. With that goal he now has points in every game played by Canada in the WJC this year.

The other story of the game may be injured defenseman. Coming in to the game the Swiss were without two of their d-men, including Anaheim Ducks prospect Luca Sbisa. On the other side, Canada picked up the win here, but they finished the game without their d-man Travis Hamonic. He separated his shoulder and will not play on Tuesday.

Jordan Eberle opened the scoring for Canada just 3:48 into the game, a move that tied him with former Kings center Jason Allison for second place on Canada’s all-time WJC scoring list. Taylor Hall, looking to become the number one overall pick at the NHL Draft in Los Angeles this June, also scored twice in the victory.

Kings defensive prospect, 'Mr. Nasty' Colten Teubert, also had an assist in the game - his first at this year's WJC.

So the showdown is set. It will be USA-Canada for the gold medal. WOW.

Switzerland's dream tourney will continue as well when they play Sweden for the bronze. The Swiss are looking for only their second medal ever, they picked up a bronze back at the '88 World Jrs beating the Czech Republic in overtime.

Watch both games live on the NHL Network Tuesday.

The Mayor
www.twitter.com/Mayor119
note: you can read the recap of the NYE thriller between Canada and the U.S. by clicking here.

WJC Recap: Day Two

Every spring fans of the NBA watch the NCAA's March Madness to see future superstars do battle in the annual college basketball tournament. In turn, puck heads from throughout North American and Europe tune in to the World Junior Championships each holiday season to get a glimpse of future NHL stars. You'd be hard pressed to name 10 elite hockey players who didn't play in this tourney when they were 18-20 years old. It's the best of the best and it makes for some great hockey. Here are the highlights of day two:

Sweden 7, Austria 3
For the second straight game Austria played a strong game, but took the loss in the end. Sweden continued pressuring their opponents with a roster stacked full of legitimate NHL prospects. In fact, all seven of their goals came from recent draftees: Oliver Ekman Larsson 2 goals (Phoenix Coyotes), Anton Rodin 2 goals (Vancouver Canucks), Jacob Josefson (New Jersey Devils), Mattias Ekholm (Nashville Predators) and Andre Petersson (Ottawa Senators). Not all of their top talent is offense though, they started New York Islanders draft pick Anders Nilsson in net.

USA 3, Switzerland 0
The Americans picked up their second victory less than 24 hours after their tournament opener. Most of the credit goes to the second youngest player on the team, goaltender Jack Campbell. He was a rock star in the first period, stopping all 14 shots the Swiss threw at him. This just continued his stellar play in nets when wearing USA on his jersey.

Last year at the IIHF Under-18 World Championships he was an obvious choice for the tournament's all-star team. Campbell didn't allow any even strength goals while posting a 6-1 record with a 0.75 GAA and two shutouts. Oh yea, and he was the winning goaltender when the U.S. beat Russia for the gold medal. Remember his name when the 2010 NHL draft comes along in June.

In this game, things were scoreless after one period. From that point forward, Team USA's defense kicked in (allowing just 8 shots over the final 40 minutes) and the offense did enough for the win, with goals by Chris Kreider, Matt Donovan and AJ Jenks.

The top line for USA is now being called 'the Original Six' line...because they were all drafted by O6 teams: Danny Kristo (Montreal Canadiens), Derek Stepan (NY Rangers) and Jerry D'Amigo (Totonto Maple Leafs).

Team USA is now 17-0-2 USA all time vs Switzerland at the WJC.

Finland 4, Czech Republic 3
The Fins were down 2-0 after the first and 3-1 after the second. They came storming back in the third with the unanswered goals - including a pair from Anaheim Ducks prospect Sami Vatanen - to defeat the Czechs 4-3 in a wild game. Somewhere Teemu Selanne is smiling right now.

Slovakia 8, Latvia 3
Slovakia netted five goals in the first period and never looked back. Five of their eight goals on the night came from a trio probably bound for the NHL within two years - TB Lightning prospect Richard Panik had two goals, as did 'Mr Excitement' Tomas Tatar (Detroit Red Wings) and San Jose Sharks draft pick Marek Viedensky put one in too.

On Monday Canada will play it's second game of the tournament, against Switzerland. Team USA will take the day off and prepare for Latvia on Tuesday.

The Mayor
www.twitter.com/Mayor119