Welcome to the seventh (?) of a regular feature throughout the Olympic break, an open thread to discuss all that is going on in the sport of hockey at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. (Note: John or I make these the night before, scheduled to appear at 10 AM. I should be up for the late games, so hang out with me, won't you?.)
Just so you know, the Devils are stepping up online for additional coverage. The official site has a hub for the Olympics; complete with a schedule for both tournaments. The team site also has a blog written by team correspondent Scott Modrzynski called The Devil is in the Details. All posts are listed on the hub; just scroll down past the players and you'll see it on the side. Zach Parise is also providing a few words to Tom Gulitti's Fire & Ice every day, so check that out.
We all got teased with the potential for upsets in the final two games of the qualification round of the 2010 Olympic Men's Ice Hockey Tournament. Team Czech Republic needed Overtime to defeat the surprising Latvians. A shockingly weak goal given up by the Latvian goalie to David Krejci ended the game and the hopes of the passionate Team Latvia and their fans. The Czechs move on to face Finland later today.
Also late last night, the Slovakians got a challenge from hell by way of the pillaging Norwegians, but a late Miroslav Satan goal put them ahead for good, as they beat Norway by a score of 4-3, as they move on to meet the Swedes. Earlier in the day, Switzerland finished off Belarus in a shootout and Canada routed Germany, 8-2. It's a shame we couldn't at least see one surprise team in the quarterfinal round, but let's face it, the 7:30, 10 and Midnight matchups are all the sort of games we've been dreaming about.
Special Rule: Do not use these posts to complain about how no one cares about Men's Ice Hockey. This isn't the place for that. Violators will be banned until March 1 assuming no other rules were broken. Please use this post for all your comments, analysis, and thoughts about today's hockey games in Men's Ice Hockey games. Not the other Olympic sports, mind you. Men's Ice Hockey - Quarterfinal Round 3:00 PM ET/Noon PT - Quarterfinal 1: USA vs. Switzerland (NBC) 7:30 PM ET/4:30 PM PT - Quarterfinal 2: Russia vs. Canada (CNBC) 10:00 PM ET/7:00 PM PT - Quarterfinal 3: Czech Republic vs. Finland (CNBC) Midnight ET/9:00 PM PT - Quarterfinal 4: Slovakia vs. Sweden (CNBC)
Want to watch the games online and legally? For the Americans, NBC has streaming options. For the Canadians, CTV has streams. Thanks to user C.J.Richey121 for the NBC information and to user dchoubak about CTV. Let's do this.