February 15th, 2010

Six games took place on the eve of the Olympic Break. With good news, Ryan Getzlaf is a go. He scored 4 points last night, enough said.

Ottawa over New York Islanders 4-3
The Islanders came into the 3rd period with the lead. Blake Comeau scored twice in the first to frames, along with Matt Moulson who is having a surprising season. Jarkko Ruutu was the only goal scorer for the Ottawa Senators in the 1st and 2nd periods, scoring his 10th of the campaign at 6:16 of the first. The Sens came out flying after the second intermission scoring 3 goals. Kovalev potted one in and Jason Spezza scored one on the powerplay. Mike Fisher scored the game winner with his 20th goal of the year, half way through the third.

Nashville over Pittsburgh 4-3
This one went to the ever entertaining shootout. To get to that point, 3 different Pens scored receptively for their team, and 3 different Preds scored for their respected team. Sidney Crosby opened the scoring with his 42nd of the year. Martin Erat followed that up with his own in the 2nd, but the hard working Matt Cooke followed it right up. Pittsburgh was unable to hold that lead, Jordin Tootoo scored immediately after Cooke's. In the 3rd period, Brooks Orpik scored his first of the season and Canadian Olympian Shea Weber followed that up too with a slapshot. In the shootout Dan Ellis stopped Letang and Crosby, while his teammates backed him up, not allowing Marc-Andre Fleury stop a single puck, going 2 for 2.

New York Ranger over Tampa Bay 5-2
Minnesota over Vancouver 6-2
Chicago over Columbus 5-4
Anaheim over Edmonton 7-3

So hopefully I'll get the last 4 teams up before the 2nd game starts. If I didn't I'll be angry at myself...

Switzerland: Luca Sbisa
Luca Sbisa is one of two players on Switzerland who will have represented their country both at the junior level, as well as at the Olympic level this year. I was tempted to pick the Canadian born Hnat Domenichelli but ultimately decided on Sbisa. He played well with the Swiss this Christmas and won't have a huge role with the men. Mark Streit and Yanick Weber I imagine will have the bigger roles but they can't play the entire game. If Sbisa can go out and play solid shifts and makes few mistakes, then Switzerland won't have to worry about the defense, epically with Anaheim Ducks starter Jonas Hiller, and will be able to focus more on offense.

Russia: Anton Volchenkov
Volchenkov was highly underrated is the early stages of his career. He now has been gaining reputation of being one of the best defencmen in the league. He dosen't show up to often on the scoresheet but does all the little things perfect. If you follow hockey, you know just how appreciated he is with the Ottawa Senators. If he does just what he does with the Sens, then Russia has a fantastic chance of a gold medal. They are so full of depth that everyone does have a small important role, and Volchenkov's may not have the glory that Alex Ovechkin's or Sergei Gonchar's have, but it is just as big, if not bigger than theirs.

Latvia: Martin Karsums
I'm not giving Latvia much of a chance of going anywheres, and lets face it if they do it will because their entire roster really, really, really stepped it up. To be honest, I would chose the Latvian fans as the key player. I was able to see just how much the Latvians love their team, no matter the score. Latvia is very much in the same boat with Belarus. They will need to be able to put the puck in the net, when given the rare opportunity. Martin Karsums was one of the few NHL players when invited to camp. He started the season playing for the Tampa's farm team, the Norfolk Admirals but decided to head on overseas and play in the KHL. He has always put up average numbers where ever he plays. Disappointingly, his name is no where as cool as fellow teammates Oskar Bartulis or Guntis Glavins but no matter what will be expected to do a lot while playing with Latvia.

USA: Chris Drury
A hard choice. This team is stacked full of great, young players which is why I decided to choose the veteran Chris Drury. I remember his play through the 2002 Winter Olympics and that in itself makes him a better player. He will be surrounded by the likes of Zach Parise, Phil Kessel and Patrick Kane. He doesn't need to worry much about scoring all the goals. He will provide calmness to the team and play constient when asked too. Drury will also be able to pick it up when others a slacking. He has had a pretty weak season thus far, but that won't come into effect with the players he will be surrounded by and the stage he's playing on.

Less than 24 hours to go! I can't wait. Props to Alex Bilodeau (pictured above) for giving us our first gold in Vancouver, it was a memorable moment to watch, that is for sure. Dale Begg-Smith is a loser too. Seems like a strange kid. Canada's women's team let in a goal vs. the Swiss. Still manged to pull away with a close 10-1 game. That puts them at 2 and 0, with 28 goals for with 1 against.

All my Best; Enjoy Life
Ryan Francis