Olympic hockey – Jagr said it: “We can beat anybody and anybody can beat us!”
After Czech Republic’s defeat of Slovakia at their Olympic hockey tournament opener in Vancouver Olympic Games, Jaromir Jagr, one of NHL’s all-time great forwards, said it: “We can beat anybody here, and anybody can beat us.”
That prophesy has been correct in both respects. The Czechs beat the Slovaks and Latvia, got edged by the Russians, narrowly escaped defeat at the hands of Latvia the second time around in the preliminary round, and last night suffered a devastating narrow-margin loss to Finland.
Most of the games at the Olympic tournament involving the top teams in the world were tight games and not pretty to watch. US barely slipped past Switzerland which Canada subdued only by a single goal in am unexpected shootout earlier. Slovakia made it barely past Norway 4:3, same score by which they surprised Sweden, tournament’s favorite.
There have only been two shockers thus far. Canada’s rout of Russians by a score of 7:3 in the preliminary round and the defeat of Sweden in the quarterfinals. Though the Americans have been expected to play team Canada for the gold before the tournament started, by now both teams know they have to get first through their semifinal matches, US against Finland and Canada against Slovakia, and it would not be a real bombshell if Finland would play Slovakia for the gold.
None of the NHL hockey stars, including Ovechkin, Malkin or Crosby, have shined. In fact it can be said that most remarkable performances have been delivered only by the goalies. The astounding realization comes from noting that the historically second-rated teams of Norway, Latvia and particularly Switzerland have improved so much that from here on they have to be counted among Olympic hockey contenders rather than underdogs.
