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.