It may not look like it with just 4 goals over two games, but the Americans continued their dangling, sniping ways into the second round of the playoffs. The unofficial clang count was somewhere in the neighborhood of 10,000 for the US as they missed blowing out their opponent by half an inch on many occasions. The defending champion Czech team went home without much of a fight, managing only 1 goal over two games.
Norway, on the other hand, put up quite a fight. The only underdog to make it through the first round was also the only underdog to not get swept out of the second. They stunned the number two seeded Russia with a victory in game one, but made too many mistakes and missed too many oppurtunities in the next two games. Two missed penalty shots and the inability to get a shot off on a wide open net sunk the Norwegians in game two while going shorthanded on six different occasions lost them the chance to take game three.
So that means that the final four now consists of the four top seeded teams. Top seeded Canada will host Sweden while number two seeded Russia will have to shake off their near loss to take on the USA
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
The Games Matche the Hype; Sweden Moves On
The geographical rivalry and an unusual amount of talk between teams gave quite a bit of hype to the match up between #4 seeded Sweden and #5 seeded Finland. The series lived up to the hype, although not exactly in the way that everyone anticipated. Much of the talk going into the series surrounded both teams' full compliment of phenominally talented snipers and playmakers, but it was the goaltending that stole the show. Sweden took the first game, 2-0 and the second, 1-0 as Henrik Lundqvist posted back to back shut outs to earn both victories. Lundqvist is undefeated in 3 games and still hasn't allowed a goal in the tournament. He was also named 1st star in both games against Finland.
Lundqvist has had to be dominating with the way Sweden's forwards have been playing. Only Peter Forsberg and Loui Erikson scoring goals in 3 games. Part of that is due to Finland's two headed goalie attack. Miika Kiprusoff stopped 11 of 13 shots in game 1, but was replaced by Niklas Backstrom in game 2 who stopped 13 of 14 shots.
Sweden will be facing Canada in the semi-finals.
Lundqvist has had to be dominating with the way Sweden's forwards have been playing. Only Peter Forsberg and Loui Erikson scoring goals in 3 games. Part of that is due to Finland's two headed goalie attack. Miika Kiprusoff stopped 11 of 13 shots in game 1, but was replaced by Niklas Backstrom in game 2 who stopped 13 of 14 shots.
Sweden will be facing Canada in the semi-finals.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Canada Moves On
Canada's far superior skill, speed, and strength helped them to win the series against Switzerland, but costly mistakes and over agressiveness played a large part in Switzerland losing the series. Whichever way you want to look at it, the number 1 seed in the tournament cruised their way into the semi-finals with 2 straight victories.
The 4-0 score in the first game could've been a much closer 1-0 had it not been for two key errors. The first goal of the game came when Swiss goalie, Jonas Hiller made an easy save, but dumped the puck back out into traffic. The Canadian team promptly jumped on the loose puck and Dany Heatley put the puck into the net.
"I needed to be perfect and I failed", were Hiller's only words before shuffing out of the arena.
The second key error came in the third when Swiss forward, Martin Pluss, was called for a game misconduct after slashing Canadian, Ducan Keith. Pluss was given a 5 minute major during which Canada scored 2 goals. Keith sat out much of the second half of the game with an apparently wrist injury but seems to be ok now.
"That call was horse!@#$", exclaimed an angry and unapologetic Pluss. "The refs were against us from the start. They don't want Switzerland winning. They want Canada. Did you see the call on Staal? Given a breakway when we had a #$%#ing defender right in front of him??? $#@@." There is no official news yet, but there are rumors of heavy fines and even bans directed at Pluss for his comments and actions.
The ironic thing is Switzerland looked their best during Pluss's major. They were able to rattle off several shots on Canadian goalie Roberto Luongo and even killed off 2 full minutes of 5 on 3. But their agressive approach meant that the Canadians had plenty of scoring chances once they managed to get the puck moving back the other way.
Switzerland carried their agressiveness into the second game, but they overdid it a little bit and took several bad penalties. Both Canadian goals in their 2-1 victory were scored on the power play. The Swiss, lead once again by Martin Pluss, racked up the penalty minutes and while they managed to tie the game at 1, they were too consistantly shorthanded to make a second comeback.
The 4-0 score in the first game could've been a much closer 1-0 had it not been for two key errors. The first goal of the game came when Swiss goalie, Jonas Hiller made an easy save, but dumped the puck back out into traffic. The Canadian team promptly jumped on the loose puck and Dany Heatley put the puck into the net.
"I needed to be perfect and I failed", were Hiller's only words before shuffing out of the arena.
The second key error came in the third when Swiss forward, Martin Pluss, was called for a game misconduct after slashing Canadian, Ducan Keith. Pluss was given a 5 minute major during which Canada scored 2 goals. Keith sat out much of the second half of the game with an apparently wrist injury but seems to be ok now.
"That call was horse!@#$", exclaimed an angry and unapologetic Pluss. "The refs were against us from the start. They don't want Switzerland winning. They want Canada. Did you see the call on Staal? Given a breakway when we had a #$%#ing defender right in front of him??? $#@@." There is no official news yet, but there are rumors of heavy fines and even bans directed at Pluss for his comments and actions.
The ironic thing is Switzerland looked their best during Pluss's major. They were able to rattle off several shots on Canadian goalie Roberto Luongo and even killed off 2 full minutes of 5 on 3. But their agressive approach meant that the Canadians had plenty of scoring chances once they managed to get the puck moving back the other way.
Switzerland carried their agressiveness into the second game, but they overdid it a little bit and took several bad penalties. Both Canadian goals in their 2-1 victory were scored on the power play. The Swiss, lead once again by Martin Pluss, racked up the penalty minutes and while they managed to tie the game at 1, they were too consistantly shorthanded to make a second comeback.
Switzerland Advances; Round 1 Complete
The final game of round 1 was a nailbiter as Germany and Switzerland kept things very close for 40 minutes. Scoreless after 1, tied 1-1 after 2, but the Swiss team dominated in the 3rd period to go up 3-1 against Germany and earned the final spot in round 2. Gorin Bezina's had the game winner.
"We're thrilled to be moving on", Gorin said. "We were technically considered the favorites going into the game, but Germany was very close to us in skill level. It was a huge win and we're riding so high right now that I think we have a shot against Canada in the next round."
There were very few surprises in the first round of the tournament with 10th seeded Norway beating 7th seeded Slovakia being the only upset. That is a far cry from last year's tournament that saw #3 ranked US fall to #16 ranked Belarus and #2 ranked Russia fall to #17 ranked Denmark. Some felt last year's upsets took a little away from the tournament and many are happy to see the best teams moving forward.
"Upsets are great in sports. It's why people watch," commented Canadian GM Steve Yzerman. "But having the more star studded teams advance will be good for the sport in general. Few remember how Belarus and Denmark fared after their upsets last year. But everyone will remember if Canada and Russia or the US and Sweden face eachother in the finals. I'm really looking forward to some great games between some great teams."
Round two will feature Canada vs. Switzerland, Sweden vs. Finland, USA vs Czech Republic, and Norway vs Russia. All the series will be best of 3.
"We're thrilled to be moving on", Gorin said. "We were technically considered the favorites going into the game, but Germany was very close to us in skill level. It was a huge win and we're riding so high right now that I think we have a shot against Canada in the next round."
There were very few surprises in the first round of the tournament with 10th seeded Norway beating 7th seeded Slovakia being the only upset. That is a far cry from last year's tournament that saw #3 ranked US fall to #16 ranked Belarus and #2 ranked Russia fall to #17 ranked Denmark. Some felt last year's upsets took a little away from the tournament and many are happy to see the best teams moving forward.
"Upsets are great in sports. It's why people watch," commented Canadian GM Steve Yzerman. "But having the more star studded teams advance will be good for the sport in general. Few remember how Belarus and Denmark fared after their upsets last year. But everyone will remember if Canada and Russia or the US and Sweden face eachother in the finals. I'm really looking forward to some great games between some great teams."
Round two will feature Canada vs. Switzerland, Sweden vs. Finland, USA vs Czech Republic, and Norway vs Russia. All the series will be best of 3.
Monday, July 19, 2010
Round One Draws to a Close
Three more games in the books, one a solid effort on both sides, one a historically bad powerplay performance, and one was a back and forth match for the ages.
The Czech Republic blanked Latvia 2-0 on goals by Pavel Kubina and Jaromir Jagr. The Czech's dominated the pace of the game and it could've been much worse if any of their several post shots gone in, but the underdog Latvians held their own and made things interesting.
Belarus also made things interesting, but for other reasons. The team went into this year's tournament with a reputation as giant killers after taking down the number 3 seeded United States last year. When two foolish penalties by Finland put them at a 5-3 advantage it looked as if they were well on their way to slaying another giant. Two minutes later, however, it was Belarus who looked foolish as they struggled to even get a shot off. Finland used the momentum to quickly score a goal and put themselves up 1-0. Despite the fact that Finland couldn't keep themselves out of the penalty box, Belarus was unable to score a powerplay goal. In fact, Finland outscored Belarus 2-0 while Belarus was on the powerplay thanks to 2 shorthanded goals. The Belarus team was unavailable for comment as they quickly left the stadium, but their embarrassed (and likely soon to be fired) coach could be seen screaming at his players all the way to the bus.
In the final game of the day we finally got to witness the first upset of the year. The number 10 seeded Norway team will be advancing while the number 7 seeded Slovakian team will be going home thanks to a Per-Age Skroder goal in double OT gave Norway a 4-3 victory. A quick 2-0 lead put Norway in the driver's seat, but Marian Hossa hoisted the Slovakian team on his shoulders and scored 3 unanswered goals to put his team up 3-2. The hat trick wasn't enough, however as Norway's captain, Patrick Thoresen's goal tied things up with seconds left on the clock.
The final game of the first round will feature the 8th seeded Switzerland team versus the 9th seeded Germans. And there are rumors that round 2 of the tournament will switch to a best of 3 format.
The Czech Republic blanked Latvia 2-0 on goals by Pavel Kubina and Jaromir Jagr. The Czech's dominated the pace of the game and it could've been much worse if any of their several post shots gone in, but the underdog Latvians held their own and made things interesting.
Belarus also made things interesting, but for other reasons. The team went into this year's tournament with a reputation as giant killers after taking down the number 3 seeded United States last year. When two foolish penalties by Finland put them at a 5-3 advantage it looked as if they were well on their way to slaying another giant. Two minutes later, however, it was Belarus who looked foolish as they struggled to even get a shot off. Finland used the momentum to quickly score a goal and put themselves up 1-0. Despite the fact that Finland couldn't keep themselves out of the penalty box, Belarus was unable to score a powerplay goal. In fact, Finland outscored Belarus 2-0 while Belarus was on the powerplay thanks to 2 shorthanded goals. The Belarus team was unavailable for comment as they quickly left the stadium, but their embarrassed (and likely soon to be fired) coach could be seen screaming at his players all the way to the bus.
In the final game of the day we finally got to witness the first upset of the year. The number 10 seeded Norway team will be advancing while the number 7 seeded Slovakian team will be going home thanks to a Per-Age Skroder goal in double OT gave Norway a 4-3 victory. A quick 2-0 lead put Norway in the driver's seat, but Marian Hossa hoisted the Slovakian team on his shoulders and scored 3 unanswered goals to put his team up 3-2. The hat trick wasn't enough, however as Norway's captain, Patrick Thoresen's goal tied things up with seconds left on the clock.
The final game of the first round will feature the 8th seeded Switzerland team versus the 9th seeded Germans. And there are rumors that round 2 of the tournament will switch to a best of 3 format.
Sweden Avances
PROVIDENCE - Sweden advanced to the second round after one of the most exciting games so far in this year's still young tournament. A very sound game played by both sides ended in a 1-0 Swedish victory. Two huge missed opurtunities on Ukranian breakaways that were more bad shots than they were great saves wound up being the difference.
"He beat me. I went down and he had the puck behind me," admitted Swedish goaltender Henrik Lundqvist. "Luckily for me, the puck slid through the crease and missed the net. I have to be better. I won't be so lucky next time".
The lone Swedish goal came on a deke by Loui Erikson that caused both Ukranian defenders to lose sight of the puck. He slipped through the middle and beat Ukraine goalie, Stephen Holowka high stick side.
"He beat me. I went down and he had the puck behind me," admitted Swedish goaltender Henrik Lundqvist. "Luckily for me, the puck slid through the crease and missed the net. I have to be better. I won't be so lucky next time".
The lone Swedish goal came on a deke by Loui Erikson that caused both Ukranian defenders to lose sight of the puck. He slipped through the middle and beat Ukraine goalie, Stephen Holowka high stick side.
Sunday, July 18, 2010
A new year underway
PROVIDENCE - The NHL '10 International Tournament is underway and it began the way it was supposed to. Three star-studded rosters took on three countries with lesser hockey programs and the favorites ran away with victories.
The top seeded Canadian team eeked out a 2-0 victory over France in a game that wasn't as close as the score indicated. France's coaching staff employed a style that tried to emphasize their strength. Christobal Huet, the only NHLer on Team France's roster, was leaned on heavily as France played an all-defense game that resulted in only 6 shots on net and 0 goals.
"The guys in front of me played their hearts out," Huet said. "A lot of them have zero pro experience and were going against guys twice their size. I had to stop a lot of shots, but not a lot of them came from good scoring areas."
The Canadians dominated the pace of the game, but it wasn't until the middle of the third period before they were able to break a 0-0 tie on Dany Heatley's powerplay goal.
"Yeah, we were a bit nervous," said Canadian Shea Weber. "They held the game really close and we couldn't get one in until's Dany's goal"
Rick Nash added a goal in the final minutes to bring the score to 2-0.
In the day's second game Russia's high powered offense got the number 2 seed off to a 3-0 lead before Kazahkstan managed 2 goals to make it a 3-2 contest. Sergei Federov quickly made it a 1-0 game with NHL teammates Alexander Semin and Alexander Ovechkin adding goals. The Russian defense relaxed allowing for 2 unanswered goals before tightening up and holding onto the win.
The biggest blowout of the day came at the hands of Team USA when they shelled the Austrian team 5-0. The Americans displayed a level of skill and scoring touch that many didn't think they possessed coming into the tournament. Ryan Kesler, the game's 1st star, scored 2 goals and added an assist. Jamie Langenbrunner, Chris Drury, and Bobby Ryan also pitched in a goal. Langenbrunner dangled and dazzled his way to severael scoring chances, making the Austrian defense look foolish on several occasions. Ryan Miller stopped all 10 shots he faced.
Canada, Russia, and the US all advance while the second half of the first round are still to come. The upcoming games promise to be some good ones as many of the remaining teams are evenly matched.
The top seeded Canadian team eeked out a 2-0 victory over France in a game that wasn't as close as the score indicated. France's coaching staff employed a style that tried to emphasize their strength. Christobal Huet, the only NHLer on Team France's roster, was leaned on heavily as France played an all-defense game that resulted in only 6 shots on net and 0 goals.
"The guys in front of me played their hearts out," Huet said. "A lot of them have zero pro experience and were going against guys twice their size. I had to stop a lot of shots, but not a lot of them came from good scoring areas."
The Canadians dominated the pace of the game, but it wasn't until the middle of the third period before they were able to break a 0-0 tie on Dany Heatley's powerplay goal.
"Yeah, we were a bit nervous," said Canadian Shea Weber. "They held the game really close and we couldn't get one in until's Dany's goal"
Rick Nash added a goal in the final minutes to bring the score to 2-0.
In the day's second game Russia's high powered offense got the number 2 seed off to a 3-0 lead before Kazahkstan managed 2 goals to make it a 3-2 contest. Sergei Federov quickly made it a 1-0 game with NHL teammates Alexander Semin and Alexander Ovechkin adding goals. The Russian defense relaxed allowing for 2 unanswered goals before tightening up and holding onto the win.
The biggest blowout of the day came at the hands of Team USA when they shelled the Austrian team 5-0. The Americans displayed a level of skill and scoring touch that many didn't think they possessed coming into the tournament. Ryan Kesler, the game's 1st star, scored 2 goals and added an assist. Jamie Langenbrunner, Chris Drury, and Bobby Ryan also pitched in a goal. Langenbrunner dangled and dazzled his way to severael scoring chances, making the Austrian defense look foolish on several occasions. Ryan Miller stopped all 10 shots he faced.
Canada, Russia, and the US all advance while the second half of the first round are still to come. The upcoming games promise to be some good ones as many of the remaining teams are evenly matched.
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