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Chasing Glory 2010

The Hockey News Olympics SIP

<div class="byline">By Ken Campbell</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0080-0158/9273685-1-eng-US/f0080-012.jpg" title="f0080-01" width="319" height="208"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>S</span>wedes are, by nature, exceedingly polite and tremendously unimpressed with themselves. Yes, that&rsquo;s a generalization. But believe us, the label fits.</p><p>Which makes it all the more shocking that they intend on being such boorish guests in Vancouver: How dare they ruin Canada&rsquo;s party! But that&rsquo;s exactly what they have the potential to do. Not since the days of the Soviet Union&rsquo;s Big Red Machine has an Olympic champion defended its gold medal with so many returning players and such a formidable lineup.</p><p>With Peter Forsberg playing back in his homeland this season, the Swedes could have as many as 15 players back from the team that won gold at Turin in 2006. And the new players they&rsquo;ll be adding certainly won&rsquo;t be any slouches, either. The hockey program at all levels in Sweden has made a remarkable turnaround and it was based on the fact the powers-that-be finally realized they would give themselves a huge advantage if they exploited their skill instead of using wildly talented players to try to put their opponents to sleep.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0080-0230/9273678-1-eng-US/f0080-022.jpg" title="f0080-02" width="943" height="1341"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Henrik Zetterberg&rsquo;s two-way prowess will be on full display.</b> <span class="photo-credit">(ZETTERBERG: ELSA/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>The Swedes have structure, familiarity and a motherlode of talent. If they weren&rsquo;t so darn modest, they&rsquo;d probably arrive in Vancouver with a swagger. But their opponents know that beneath that veneer of propriety lies the heart of a cold-blooded dream killer.</p><p><b>STRENGTHS</b> Sorry, not enough space to list them all. Let&rsquo;s start with experience. No team in the tournament will have as many players with big-game pasts than Sweden. From there we&rsquo;ll go to pure offensive talent, move on to a top coach in Bengt Gustafsson and spend some time admiring the fact that so many of them are teammates that they&rsquo;ll have a built-in familiarity with each other before the Games even begin. Their goaltending is outstanding. No longer does Sweden enter a best-on-best tournament without the depth to keep pace with the other hockey powers &ndash; this team is as deep as it is talented.</p><p><b>WEAKNESSES</b> Sweden has some of the best playmakers on the planet, in keeping with that good-guy unselfish theme, but if it is lacking one thing it is the presence of a true sniper who can change the course of the game with one shot. That situation didn&rsquo;t improve any when Johan Franzen went down with a torn anterior cruciate ligament that could keep him out of the Olympics. Daniel Alfredsson&rsquo;s days as an elite scorer are probably behind him, so the Swedes will have to look elsewhere, perhaps to someone such as Loui Eriksson, to be the one to find the back of the net.</p><p><b>OFFENSE</b> Starting and creating offense will not be a problem, but as we have already mentioned, finishing it might be more of a challenge. Still, the Swedes possess some breathtaking skill, particularly down the middle. At the back end, they have players who might not pound the puck, but who have an uncanny ability to find their forwards&rsquo; sticks through a maze of players. No player on the Swedish roster has posted a 50-goal season in the NHL, but there is more than enough pure talent spread among the forwards to put up big numbers.</p><p><b>DEFENSE</b> Having a six-time Norris Trophy winner as your anchor is certainly a good place to start. This will undoubtedly be Nicklas Lidstrom&rsquo;s last chance to shine on the international stage and there&rsquo;s not a player in this tournament who has played at a higher level in more important games than he has. Unlike past years when Sweden had to dip into its domestic league to find enough defensemen to fill out its Olympic roster, the NHL is now loaded with talented Swedish rearguards. The only real problem is there is a serious dearth of right-shot defensemen. In fact, Anton Stralman of the Columbus Blue Jackets is the only Swedish one in the NHL this season.</p><p><b>GOALTENDING</b> Barring an injury, Henrik Lundqvist of the New York Rangers will play every minute of every game in Vancouver and if past history is any indication, he&rsquo;ll play each of them very, very well. Lundqvist was terrific four years ago in Turin, winning five of six games, and has been on an upward trajectory in the NHL ever since. Should the Swedes be in a tight game, they have the comfort of knowing they have one of the best shootout goalies in their crease. Lundqvist likely won&rsquo;t have to steal any games for his team, but he&rsquo;s capable of doing so if that&rsquo;s what is required.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0081-0174/9273671-1-eng-US/f0081-012.jpg" title="f0081-01" width="942" height="1091"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Henrik Sedin joins an elite group of Swedish forwards.</b></figcaption></div><p><b>COACHING</b> Long gone are the days when the Swedes trapped and hoped to win games 1-0. They have some of the best two-way players in the world and can afford to play a puck-pressure type of game without worrying about getting caught up the ice. Gustafsson has the luxury of playing the game any way you want. If you want to lock down and play defense, he has the players for that and if you want to play pond hockey, his offensive players have the speed and skill to make you look foolish.</p><p><b>OUTLOOK</b> The Swedes go into the Games as an odds-on favorite to at least win a medal. And don&rsquo;t be surprised if the color is gold for a second straight Olympics and for the third time in the past five. Anything worse than third place will be considered a disaster.</p><h2><b>THN PREDICTION</b></h2><p><b>3</b>rd</p><p><i>Expect the defending champs to medal, though they&rsquo;re in tough to repeat</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0080-0316/9273664-1-eng-US/f0080-032.jpg" title="f0080-03" width="727" height="702"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(ALFREDSSON: ELSA/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><h2><b>PATRIOT GAME</b></h2><h3><b><i>Daniel Alfredsson</i></b></h3><p><i>Alfredsson has represented Sweden at six World Championships and all three Olympics that have included NHLers. The veteran leader might not be a 100-point NHL player anymore, but he&rsquo;s still capable of clutch contributions.</i></p><p><b>INTERNATIONAL RECORD*</b></p><p>GP G A P</p><p><b>74 26 39 65</b></p><h2><b>TAKE NOTICE!</b></h2><h3><b><i>SWEDEN</i></b></h3><p><i>Depth + Experience + Goalie = Repeat?</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0081-0246/9273657-1-eng-US/f0081-022.jpg" title="f0081-02" width="189" height="250"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>F</b></p><p><b>Nicklas Backstrom</b></p></figcaption></div><p><i>He&rsquo;ll be without his spunky sidekicks from Washington, but by joining the defending Olympic gold medallists, Backstrom will have plenty of &lsquo;Swede&rsquo; passes to dish out.</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0081-0334/9273650-1-eng-US/f0081-032.jpg" title="f0081-03" width="189" height="250"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>D</b></p><p><b>Niklas Kronwall</b></p></figcaption></div><p><i>Kronwall is a defender who will feast upon puck-carriers with their heads down, and some pop is good for the Swedes on the smaller ice. Kronwall adds experience as a 2006 gold medal winner.</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0081-0414/9273643-1-eng-US/f0081-042.jpg" title="f0081-04" width="189" height="250"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>G</b></p><p><b>Henrik Lundqvist</b></p> <span class="photo-credit">(AL BELLO/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p><i>Lundqvist is another member of the Turin squad who is returning to defend the gold medal. One of the best goalies in the world, this Swede is a lock for Vancouver and beyond.</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0082-0155/9273636-1-eng-US/f0082-012.jpg" title="f0082-01" width="898" height="1129"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0082-0226/9273629-1-eng-US/f0082-022.jpg" title="f0082-02" width="371" height="270"></div><h2><b>COMMEMORATIVE STAMP COLLECTION</b></h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0082-0312/9273622-1-eng-US/f0082-032.jpg" title="f0082-03" width="111" height="72"></div><p><i>February 26, 2006 Turin, Italy</i></p><p>Everyone knows the Swedes actually circulated a postage stamp featuring Peter Forsberg&rsquo;s 1994 shootout winner against Canada <i>(see inset)</i>, so we commissioned our own keepsake that immortalizes their gold medal in 2006. After the crushing humiliation of losing to Belarus in the quarterfinals of the 2002 Olympics, Sweden had revenge on its mind when the tournament came to Turin four years later. With NHL stars such as Mats Sundin, Peter Forsberg and Nicklas Lid-strom all in their primes, the Tre Kronor rode the hot goaltending of New York Rangers stalwart Henrik Lundqvist into the gold medal game, where the Swedes iced arch-rival Finland 3-2 for the ultimate prize.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0082-049/9273615-1-eng-US/f0082-042.jpg" title="f0082-04" width="513" height="717"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>PETER FORSBERG</b></figcaption></div><h2><b>REWIND</b></h2><p><b>HOW THEY DID IN 2006</b></p><p><b>1</b>st</p><p>After Sweden won its second gold medal in 12 years, Swedish players were recognized for their excellence, but in some seemingly strange ways. Daniel Alfredsson finished third in tournament scoring with five goals and 10 points, but was left off the all-star team in favor of Alex Ovechkin (5-0-5). Nicklas Lidstrom was named an all-star, but Kenny Jonsson, who wasn&rsquo;t, was named the tournament&rsquo;s best defenseman.</p><h2><b>OLYMPIC FAST FACTS</b></h2><p>Last Medal Gold (2006)</p><p>All-Time Olympic Record 69-41-14</p><p>Pre-Olympic World Rank 3rd</p><p>Host Country Never hosted</p><h2><b>OLYMPIC HISTORY</b></h2><p><i>The granddaddy of Swedish hockey is Sven &lsquo;Tumba&rsquo; Johansson, a center who played in four Olympic Games in the 1950s and &rsquo;60s and is widely considered the best Scandinavian player of his generation. Johansson ranks third all-time in Olympic goals with 25 and fourth all-time with 29 games played. He scored eight goals at the &rsquo;52 Games in Oslo, Norway, as a 20-year-old, leading Sweden to the bronze medal. And he scored 11 times at Innsbruck, Austria, 12 years later, as Sweden captured the silver. In 1957, Johansson became the first European-trained player to attend an NHL camp when he tried out for Boston.</i></p><h3><b>MEDAL COUNT</b></h3><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0082-054/9273608-1-eng-US/f0082-052.jpg" title="f0082-05" width="112" height="196"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2><b>ALL-TIME OLYMPIC TEAM</b></h2><p><i>Here are the five best Swedish performers in Games history</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0082-063/9273601-1-eng-US/f0082-062.jpg" title="f0082-06" width="189" height="250"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>F</b></p><p><b><i>Peter Forsberg</i></b></p></figcaption></div><p><b>1994</b></p><p><b>1998</b></p><p><b>2006</b></p><p><i>Highlight-reel shootout goal against Canada won Sweden its first Olympic gold medal at Lillehammer in 1994, stamping his place in hockey lore.</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0082-073/9273594-1-eng-US/f0082-072.jpg" title="f0082-07" width="189" height="250"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>F</b></p><p><b><i>Mats Sundin</i></b></p></figcaption></div><p><b>1998</b></p><p><b>2002</b></p><p><b>2006</b></p><p><i>Scored 11 goals and 20 points in 16 Olympic games. He was brilliant in a 5-2 preliminary round shocker against Canada in &rsquo;02, and led all scorers in Salt Lake.</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0082-083/9273587-1-eng-US/f0082-082.jpg" title="f0082-08" width="189" height="250"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>F</b></p><p><b><i>Daniel Alfredsson</i></b></p></figcaption></div><p><b>1998</b></p><p><b>2002</b></p><p><b>2006</b></p><p><i>Ottawa Senators great tied for second in overall scoring in 2006, recording five goals and 10 points in eight games and winning a gold medal at Turin.</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0082-093/9273580-1-eng-US/f0082-092.jpg" title="f0082-09" width="189" height="250"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>D</b></p><p><b><i>Roland Stoltz</i></b></p></figcaption></div><p><b>1960</b></p><p><b>1964</b></p><p><b>1968</b></p><p><i>A fearless defender who refused to wear a helmet. He kept opponents away from the Swedish net while earning a silver medal at Innsbruck, Austria, in 1964.</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0082-103/9273573-1-eng-US/f0082-102.jpg" title="f0082-10" width="189" height="250"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>D</b></p><p><b><i>Nicklas Lidstrom</i></b></p></figcaption></div><p><b>1998</b></p><p><b>2002</b></p><p><b>2006</b></p><p><i>Gave Sweden its second-ever gold medal in &rsquo;06, breaking 2-2 tie with a third period goal in 3-2 win over Finland in Turin. Also led all blueliners in scoring.</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0082-113/9273566-1-eng-US/f0082-112.jpg" title="f0082-11" width="189" height="250"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>G</b></p><p><b><i>Tommy Salo</i></b></p> <span class="photo-credit">(BRIAN BAHR/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p><b>1994</b></p><p><b>1998</b></p><p><b>2002</b></p><p><i>Despite being the goat at 2002 tournament in Salt Lake City, he posted a 2.11 GAA in six games as Sweden won its first gold medal in 1994.</i></p><p>* Includes Olympics, World Championship, World Cup and World Junior<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0080-01

IN THIS ISSUE

BURNING SPEED, SKILL TO KILL

<div class="byline">By Randy Sportak</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-01532/9272322-1-eng-US/f0045-012.jpg" title="f0045-01" width="319" height="208"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-01621/9272315-1-eng-US/f0044-012.jpg" title="f0044-01" width="1952" height="2813"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(JEFF VINNICK/HOCKEY CANADA)</span></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><span>I</span>t was the morning after Team Canada&rsquo;s disappointing loss to Sweden to open its 2002 Olympic Winter Games when Jarome Iginla witnessed true leadership.</p><p>Amidst the letdown of a 5-2 defeat, Iginla walked into his team&rsquo;s dressing room in Salt Lake City and saw the new line combinations. The 24-year-old was slated to skate alongside another young winger Simon Gagne, 21, with veteran Joe Sakic in the middle. Still insecure in his position among the constellation of Canadian stars, the Calgary Flames standout was worried Sakic would be upset, but then the Colorado Avalanche captain gathered his new wingers.</p><p>&ldquo;It was exciting to me, whoever I was playing with,&rdquo; Iginla said. &ldquo;I was young and they were all superstars. My first game, I played with Steve Yzerman and Brendan Shanahan, so that was a thrill. And the chance to play with Sakic and Gagne sounded great to me, but I realized Sakic went from playing with Mario Lemieux and Paul Kariya to Gagne and myself. I wasn&rsquo;t sure how he would take that.</p><p>&ldquo;But right away he came up to us and said he felt our line could be really good and was excited to be playing with us young guys and that we could create some energy. That was a relief. You could understand if he&rsquo;d be disappointed, but he was positive and we ended up being a good line.&rdquo;</p><p>Good line in that tournament.</p><p>Great players in their careers.</p><p>Now, it is Iginla&rsquo;s turn to be a mentor.</p><p>When the 2010 event begins, the two-time Olympic veteran will be counted on to play a leading role.</p><p>It&rsquo;s a responsibility Iginla takes seriously. After having gone through the process of being excited to simply make the team, to a key player and standout en route to gold at Salt Lake City and the disappointment of &lsquo;06, Iginla has plenty of experience to draw upon. And plenty to dispense among any others on the squad.</p><p>The biggest message he takes from his experience: Prepare for close games.</p><p>&ldquo;The tournaments we&rsquo;ve won, world juniors or World Championships, you have to believe you&rsquo;ll be in close games and will find a way to win those close games,&rdquo; Iginla said. &ldquo;You have to enjoy playing in those games, not wonder, &lsquo;Why are we in it?&rsquo; Other countries have good teams and want to win.</p><p>&ldquo;Right from the start it was emphasized from the coaching staff through Mario Lemieux, Sakic, (Martin) Brodeur that it was about getting better and not to be worried about the way each game went. Not to worry about how the opener went or the tight game with Germany or the Czechs. We had to keep getting better, so deal with being in close games because we had to win those close games when they counted. We did.&rdquo;</p><p>In 2002, they sure did, and Iginla was a key part of it, scoring twice in the gold medal game versus the United States. Four years later, Canada wasn&rsquo;t so fortunate.</p><p>What Iginla, now 32, learned from those tournaments is to embrace the scrutiny and relish the opportunity that comes with it.</p><p>&ldquo;There&rsquo;s a lot of pressure and intensity, but it&rsquo;s enjoyable,&rdquo; Iginla said. &ldquo;Hockey Canada has done a great job preparing players, from the under-18 to world juniors to World Championships, getting them used to that expectation to win&hellip;Everybody knows being part of Team Canada, the goal is gold and that&rsquo;s it. That&rsquo;s the expectation of everybody playing on the team. You have to find ways to enjoy it.&rdquo;</p><blockquote class="pullQuote">&lsquo; ON THE BENCH I&rsquo;M A FAN&hellip; THEN YOU GO ON AND YOU GO AS HARD AS YOU CAN&rsquo;</blockquote><p>In fact, the all-or-nothing aspect of the Olympic tournament appeals to Iginla&rsquo;s competitive nature.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;ll be a lot of pressure, but as an athlete that&rsquo;s what you hope for. You want to be on that stage and want to represent your country. There will be a lot on the line, but if you come through that, it will be very, very memorable.&rdquo;</p><p>Iginla has vivid recollections of Canada&rsquo;s national pride on display after helping the country win it all in Salt Lake City.</p><p>&ldquo;One of my best hockey memories was when we won the &rsquo;02 gold, not only from winning that, but seeing on the news the reaction. From the different towns and cities, there were so many people enjoying and being part of it. Their passion was something I&rsquo;ll never forget. Maybe it&rsquo;ll be topped at this Olympics with a gold at home.&rdquo;</p><p>At least he&rsquo;d be on the receiving end of adulation in Vancouver, as opposed to the reception he usually gets as one of the Canucks&rsquo; biggest rivals. Plus, playing on NHL-sized ice will help, too.</p><p>However, Iginla is a positive thinker, and part of his game is to believe how making it through such a tough task will help down the road.</p><p>&ldquo;Those games, I&rsquo;ve never been more nervous or more excited,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;The final game in &rsquo;02, you want to win so bad &ndash; it had been 50 years &ndash; and on the bench I&rsquo;m a fan, even though I&rsquo;m sitting beside Lemieux. Then you go on and go as hard as you can.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s learning how to channel those feelings. It&rsquo;s a lot of pressure each shift, and it helps to draw on in other games. You can go to those places in your head when you&rsquo;re preparing for big games.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0045-01

NATIONAL FLAME

f0118-02

<div class="byline">By Edward Fraser</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0092-0154/9274084-1-eng-US/f0092-012.jpg" title="f0092-01" width="319" height="208"></div><p>While success on the international stage hasn&rsquo;t come easily for Team Norway, they have proven themselves to be a capable opponent.</p><p>In recent years, the Norwegians have kept games close against the &lsquo;Big 7&rsquo; nations &ndash; including a 3-2 overtime loss to Slovakia in their final game of the 2009 World Championship. And they&rsquo;ve consistently come out on top in contests against competition of a similar ilk, going undefeated in their three Olympic qualifying matches.</p><p>It&rsquo;s been a steady rise for Norway in the IIHF rankings, progressing from 15th in 2006 to their current spot just outside the top 10. Their ability to keep games tight has been key.</p><p>&ldquo;We play a real defensive style,&rdquo; said Ole-Kristian Tollefsen, a tough-as-nails defensive defenseman who plays for the Philadelphia Flyers after breaking into the NHL with the Columbus Blue Jackets. &ldquo;We can&rsquo;t go and play free-for-all. You&rsquo;ll be pretty much punished if you do that. Our game is built up on the defensive zone and getting chances on a couple breaks on offense.&rdquo;</p><p>Beyond Tollefsen, the only other name on Norway&rsquo;s roster that is likely to be familiar to North American fans is Patrick Thoresen, who played 106 NHL games with the Flyers and Edmonton Oilers from 2006-08. The 5-foot-11, 190-pound left winger, who plays for Salavat Ufa in the KHL, put up four goals and six points in three qualifying games. He will be an offensive catalyst along with Tore Vikingstad, a potent point-producer with the Hannover Scorpions of the German Elite League.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0092-0221/9274077-1-eng-US/f0092-022.jpg" title="f0092-02" width="942" height="592"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Patrick Thoresen is Norway&rsquo;s lone forward with NHL experience.</b></figcaption></div><p>The goaltending duties will likely fall to 32-year-old Pal Grotnes, who played every minute of Norway&rsquo;s three qualifying games and posted respectable numbers (3-0-0 record, 2.00 goals-against average and .910 save percentage).</p><p>Like other countries that don&rsquo;t rely on NHLers to make up their roster, Norway will benefit from familiarity in its ranks; coach Roy Johansen will know exactly what to expect from each of his charges.</p><p>&ldquo;We don&rsquo;t have a lot of changes during the year,&rdquo; Tollefsen said. &ldquo;Everybody knows each other and we have a great group of guys.&rdquo;</p><p>In the four-team Group A, Norway has only one realistic chance for a win.</p><p>&ldquo;The U.S. and Canada will be real tough for us,&rdquo; Tollefsen said. &ldquo;Hopefully we can just play a good game and not be embarrassed. But against Switzerland, you never know. They have great players, but we have great players that come from European leagues. So we can maybe get a win there&hellip;You never know.&rdquo;</p><h2><b>THN PREDICTION</b></h2><p><b>11</b>th</p><p><i>Norway&rsquo;s back in the Olympics for the first time since 1994 &ndash; when it finished 11th</i></p><h2><b>TAKE NOTICE!</b></h2><h3><b><i>NORWAY</i></b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0092-0313/9274070-1-eng-US/f0092-032.jpg" title="f0092-03" width="189" height="250"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(POPPE, CORNELIUS/AFP/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p><b>D</b></p><p><b>Ole-Kristian Tollefsen</b></p><p><i>No-nonsense defenseman won&rsquo;t be intimidated by all-world opponents and will set the physical tone for Norway.</i></p><p><b>LW</b></p><p><b>Tore Vikingstad</b></p><p><i>Along with the Patrick Thoresen, he&rsquo;ll be expected to carry the offense. And even if he doesn&rsquo;t, he still has the best name.</i></p><p><b>G</b></p><p><b>Pal Grotnes</b></p><p><i>He&rsquo;s going to busy trying to stop the likes of Canada and the U.S., but he fared well in pre-Olympic competition.</i><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0092-01

DEFENSIVE VIKINGS

<div class="byline">WITH JASON KAY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-012335/9270727-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg" title="f0006-01" width="514" height="434"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(MARK WILSON)</span></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><span>S</span>everal years ago, during a particularly intense playoff game in Maple Leaf Gardens, an announcement came over the speakers in media row. &ldquo;Please refrain from cheering in the press box.&rdquo;</p><p>The message was aimed at one excited broadcasting type who had a tough time containing his enthusiasm. He was breaking one of the unwritten rules of the trade: remain impartial.</p><p>Or at least emote that image. It&rsquo;s a game sportswriters tend to play; try to appear unbiased, while, deep down, there&rsquo;s a yearning for the favorite team to succeed. Heck, it&rsquo;s only natural. The reason we&rsquo;re drawn to the job is the same reason we became fans. Sure we love and appreciate the game, but we also have strong ties to teams.</p><p>At international events, however, and especially the Olympics, the masks of non-partisanship are generally lowered a smidgen. It&rsquo;s safer for reporters to flash their national colors, if only briefly. While technology and progress makes the world smaller by the year, enough differences still exist across borders and oceans to stimulate national pride.</p><p>In addition, many NHL reporters are acquaintances or colleagues &ndash; on the same team, so to speak. The common opponent is often the source, the aloof defenseman, surly coach or defensive GM. At world events, it becomes less important to keep up appearances when you don&rsquo;t really know the guys covering the rival nations.</p><p>Of course, the majority of the media&rsquo;s focus in Vancouver will still be on telling the story as it is, holding up a mirror to the Games and trying, most of the time, to remain neutral (and that doesn&rsquo;t mean cheering for Switzerland). And there are plenty of reasons to be excited about the best-on-best tournament beyond patriotism.</p><p>Most notable, is the across-the-board injection of new leadership. In Canada, whiz kids such as Sidney Crosby, Mike Richards and possibly Shea Weber, all 25 and under, replace stalwarts such as Joe Sakic, Rob Blake and Kris Draper. Ditto for Team USA, where Zach Parise, Ryan Suter and Patrick Kane are in and Derian Hatcher, Bret Hedican and Robert Esche are out. Alex Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin aren&rsquo;t new to Russia&rsquo;s roster, but the 24- and 23-year-olds will be driving the bus. Sweden&rsquo;s top guns &ndash; Henrik Zetterberg and the Sedins &ndash; are all under 30. Mats Sundin is history, Peter Forsberg a question mark.</p><p>You get the point. The Olympic torch has been passed to younger hands, a reflection of the direction the game has taken, an era in which it&rsquo;s dominated by super-skilled twentysomethings in North America and Europe. It makes it an especially exciting time to be a hockey fan&hellip;not to mention &ndash; and keep this between us &ndash; a flag-waving journalist.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-021568/9270720-1-eng-US/f0006-022.jpg" title="f0006-02" width="326" height="175"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0006-01

CHEERS FROM PEERS

<div class="byline">BY ELLIOTT PAP</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-021690/9270796-1-eng-US/f0008-022.jpg" title="f0008-02" width="281" height="280"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>V</span>ancouver is pretty much a hockey town &ndash; make that pretty much a Canucks town &ndash; so the Winter Olympics are something new and different for the populace to embrace.</p><p>The main sporting buzz this year has been the Canucks, their mediocre start and incredible string of injuries in the first half of the NHL season. But the Olympic buzz has been building as various events were rolled out in a carefully planned strategy.</p><p>The athletes&rsquo; uniforms have been unveiled, the Olympic red mittens are on sale, the torch has been relayed and, of course, there is constant discussion about the men&rsquo;s hockey team &ndash; who&rsquo;s looking good, who&rsquo;s looking feeble and who&rsquo;s hurt.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-012230/9270789-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg" title="f0008-01" width="934" height="1379"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>GM Place temporarily becomes Canada Hockey Place, and the main shinny venue, during the Games.</b> <span class="photo-credit">(COURTESY OF VANOC/COVAN)</span></figcaption></div><p>&ldquo;There&rsquo;s a lot of buzz,&rdquo; said Bev Wake, the Olympics editor for the Vancouver <i>Sun</i>, prior to the Games. &ldquo;I wasn&rsquo;t convinced it was going to catch on quite this soon because we&rsquo;re typically not an overly excitable city. But it&rsquo;s really started. I get a sense when I go to events that people are excited about the Games. They&rsquo;re starting to talk about the athletes and what they expect them to do, and they&rsquo;re naming specific names.&rdquo;</p><p>At times, Vancouver has been called &ldquo;No Fun City,&rdquo; but that won&rsquo;t be the case during the Olympics. In addition to the usual gathering spots &ndash; Robson Street, for example &ndash; the city will set up two &ldquo;celebration sites.&rdquo; David Lam Park, in trendy Yaletown, will cater to families and people of all ages while the Beatty-Georgia Street parking lot, just a stone&rsquo;s throw from Canada Hockey Place, the main venue for games, will be a more beer-garden type atmosphere.</p><p>For the real high-end fun seeker, the Molson Canadian Hockey House will cost you $500 a day, be open from 11 a.m. to 2 a.m., and provide all the food, beverages and entertainment you can handle. And if you like that, there&rsquo;s also a full Games pass available for $8,500 that includes the use of a private box.</p><p>&ldquo;I think the Hockey House is incredibly expensive at $500 for a day, but I think it will get an interesting crowd,&rdquo; Wake said. &ldquo;I wouldn&rsquo;t be surprised to see that be quite a popular place&hellip;You know, &lsquo;I couldn&rsquo;t get a ticket to an Olympic event so, for one day, I&rsquo;m going to spend this money to see what it&rsquo;s like and hang out at a place like this.&rsquo; It could be pretty cool even though it is pricey.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-012004/9270782-1-eng-US/f0009-012.jpg" title="f0009-01" width="1133" height="1508"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Expect Vancouver, which is crazy for the Canucks, to be equally enthusiastic for its national sporting heroes.</b> <span class="photo-credit">(JEFF VINNICK/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>Retired Canucks icons and ex-captains Stan Smyl and Trevor Linden will be ambassadors at the Hockey House, with retired NHL stars such as Paul Coffey, Cam Neely, Luc Robitaille, Peter Mahovlich, Danny Gare and Russ Courtnall expected to make appearances.</p><p>Meanwhile, getting around Vancouver during the Games will be an adventure despite extensive planning. Vancouver doesn&rsquo;t have any inner-city expressways so traffic jams are an almost daily occurrence, especially when there is a severe rainstorm or any kind of snowfall.</p><p>A new rapid transit line from downtown to the airport &ndash; half underground, half above-ground &ndash; opened in August and will take some of the heat off the downtown-airport corridor. It&rsquo;s already a hit with the public and officials are hoping it will be embraced by the many Olympic visitors.</p><p>Other plans are in place for Olympic-specific bus routes, while Vancouver-area commuters are being encouraged to keep their cars at home or adjust their work schedules that bring them into the city&rsquo;s core, if at all possible.</p><p>&ldquo;I think the transportation plan is incredibly thorough,&rdquo; Wake said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think traffic is going to be a real issue. I think, in that area, they are well prepared. The odds of Vancouver getting hit with a big snowfall in February are low, but they have rented snow-removal equipment just in case.&rdquo;</p><p>Fog could be a bigger issue, not for the hockey tournament or other skating events being held indoors, but for the mountain venues. The alpine events are scheduled for Whistler, B.C., while the freestyle events will be held at Cypress, the latter considered a &ldquo;local mountain&rdquo; because it overlooks Vancouver.</p><p>The competition at Cypress has already been moved to the evening and will take place under the lights to combat any potential fog issues.</p><p>&ldquo;Given the amount of work they&rsquo;ve put into the Games and what has happened so far, I am cautiously optimistic they are pretty well prepared,&rdquo; Wake said.</p><p>&ldquo;I think the weather is more of an issue for spectators than athletes. For athletes, events can be delayed and they can make snow. But if you get a slide on the Sea-to-Sky (Whistler) Highway, well, I mean, how do you prepare for that? You just really hope that timing is on your side.&rdquo;</p><p>Timing. Or luck. Maybe it&rsquo;s up to the sporting gods now.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0008-02

VAN CITY: GOOD TO GO

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-021395/9270827-1-eng-US/f0009-022.jpg" title="f0009-02" width="235" height="406"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>I</span>T WAS A GUST</b>&nbsp;<i>of fresh air, not a chinook as some feared, that is among the most lasting legacies of the 1988 Calgary Games. Daring ski jumper Eddie &lsquo;The Eagle&rsquo; Edwards and a very green Jamaican bobsled team captured the imaginations of onlookers by defying odds and competing on the world&rsquo;s biggest stage despite their lack of experience. The hockey event went truer to form as a star-studded Soviet squad &ndash; featuring Slava Fetisov and Igor Larionov &ndash; rolled to another gold at the Olympic Saddledome. It was the superpower&rsquo;s final Olympic title before the fall of the Iron Curtain.</i><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0009-02

CALGARY OLYMPICS 1988

<div class="byline">BY JOHN GRIGG</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0010-07" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-07270/9270900-1-eng-US/f0010-072.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Like in 2002, look for Team Canada&rsquo;s Martin Brodeur to be golden again.</b> <span class="photo-credit">(BRIAN BAHR/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-012199/9270942-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg" title="f0010-01" width="145" height="102"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2><b>1. CANADA</b></h2><p class="dropcap"><b><span>H</span>OW THEY&rsquo;LL WIN</b>&nbsp;<i>Depth at every position comes to the fore. Canadian forwards wear out opposing D-men with skill, grit; blueliners prove stifling.</i></p><p><b>HOW THEY&rsquo;LL LOSE</b>&nbsp;<i>Too much pressure. Canada is supposed to win, especially at home, but has been known to wilt.</i></p><p><b>REALITY CHECK</b>&nbsp;<i>Despite strong cast, if team&rsquo;s best players don&rsquo;t come together quickly, other talented teams in tourney will prevail.</i></p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-021595/9270935-1-eng-US/f0010-022.jpg" title="f0010-02" width="145" height="102"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2><b>2. RUSSIA</b></h2><p><b>HOW THEY&rsquo;LL WIN</b>&nbsp;<i>Defense corps overachieves &ndash; and goaltending steps up when &lsquo;D&rsquo; falters. The snipers have to live up to superstar billing.</i></p><p><b>HOW THEY&rsquo;LL LOSE</b>&nbsp;<i>Injuries to top forwards mean lesser lights forced into big roles. Aging defense can&rsquo;t handle the rigors of compact tourney.</i></p><p><b>REALITY CHECK</b>&nbsp;<i>Russia has the most exciting group of forwards in the world, but they&rsquo;ll have to play a strong team game, too.</i></p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-031011/9270928-1-eng-US/f0010-032.jpg" title="f0010-03" width="145" height="102"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2><b>3. SWEDEN</b></h2><p><b>HOW THEY&rsquo;LL WIN</b>&nbsp;<i>Goalie Lundqvist is MVP and youngsters step into roles vacated by retirements and health problems.</i></p><p><b>HOW THEY&rsquo;LL LOSE</b>&nbsp;<i>Overwhelmed by deeper squads with punishing forecheckers and defense units.</i></p><p><b>REALITY CHECK</b>&nbsp;<i>Spotlight isn&rsquo;t on the Swedes despite being the defending champs. Will they be a pressure-free force &ndash; or a laissez-faire pushover?</i></p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-04703/9270921-1-eng-US/f0010-042.jpg" title="f0010-04" width="145" height="102"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2><b>4. USA</b></h2><p><b>HOW THEY&rsquo;LL WIN</b>&nbsp;<i>All-world goaltending and great tournaments from supporting cast of veterans able to lead the way for young stars.</i></p><p><b>HOW THEY&rsquo;LL LOSE</b>&nbsp;<i>Youth overwhelmed by the spectacle of the Games and unable to gel; veterans prove to be a detriment.</i></p><p><b>REALITY CHECK</b>&nbsp;<i>USA will be overrun by bigger, stronger Canadians, outperformed by talented Russians and out-savvied by veteran Swedes.</i></p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-05515/9270914-1-eng-US/f0010-052.jpg" title="f0010-05" width="145" height="102"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2><b>5. FINLAND</b></h2><p><b>HOW THEY&rsquo;LL WIN</b>&nbsp;<i>Great, great goaltending. Veterans Selanne, Saku Koivu and Lehtinen play like it&rsquo;s 1999 and blueline is able to hold the fort.</i></p><p><b>HOW THEY&rsquo;LL LOSE</b>&nbsp;<i>Selanne, Saku Koivu and Lehtinen play like its 2010 and next generation can&rsquo;t step up.</i></p><p><b>REALITY CHECK</b>&nbsp;<i>Always dangerous because of experience and netminding. Can sneak up on foes if taken lightly, but not strong enough to win.</i></p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-06385/9270907-1-eng-US/f0010-062.jpg" title="f0010-06" width="146" height="102"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2><b>6. CZECH REPUBLIC</b></h2><p><b>HOW THEY&rsquo;LL WIN</b>&nbsp;<i>Scoring from three lines and big contributions from underrated blueline at both ends of the ice. Vokoun plays like true No. 1.</i></p><p><b>HOW THEY&rsquo;LL LOSE</b>&nbsp;<i>Depth compromised by injuries or because Kontinental Leaguers Jagr and Hudler aren&rsquo;t ready for best-on-best format.</i></p><p><b>REALITY CHECK</b>&nbsp;<i>Czechs haven&rsquo;t developed any top-end talent in years and the best days are behind Jagr, Elias, Lang, Sykora, Hamrlik, Spacek, etc.</i></p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-08199/9270893-1-eng-US/f0010-082.jpg" title="f0010-08" width="145" height="102"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2><b>7. SLOVAKIA</b></h2><p><b>HOW THEY&rsquo;LL WIN</b>&nbsp;<i>Big guns Gaborik and Hossa dominate and Chara-led blueline able to keep opposing shooters at bay; Halak is lights out in net.</i></p><p><b>HOW THEY&rsquo;LL LOSE</b>&nbsp;<i>Any injuries to top forwards or blueliners will be disastrous as there simply is no depth to replace them.</i></p><p><b>REALITY CHECK</b>&nbsp;<i>Slovaks are too thin across the board, especially at center and in goal. Once up-and-coming program is no longer The Next Big Thing.</i></p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-09152/9270886-1-eng-US/f0010-092.jpg" title="f0010-09" width="145" height="102"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2><b>8. SWITZERLAND</b></h2><p><b>REALITY CHECK</b>&nbsp;<i>A medal is out of the question, but some preliminary round surprises &ndash; like shutting out Canada in 2006 &ndash; and a spoiler role are definite possibilities.</i></p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-10128/9270879-1-eng-US/f0010-102.jpg" title="f0010-10" width="145" height="101"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2><b>9. GERMANY</b></h2><p><b>REALITY CHECK</b>&nbsp;<i>No longer the next European team on the rise, Germany has been passed in IIHF rankings by non-Olympic entry Denmark. Team&rsquo;s best players &ndash; Sturm, Hecht, Erhoff &ndash; are good, but not great.</i></p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-11103/9270872-1-eng-US/f0010-112.jpg" title="f0010-11" width="144" height="102"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2><b>10. BELARUS</b></h2><p><b>REALITY CHECK</b>&nbsp;<i>With its best players and only NHLers &ndash; Grabovski and Montreal&rsquo;s Kostitsyn brothers &ndash; having down years and known best for fighting among themselves, Belarus is destined for bottom-of-the-barrel finish.</i></p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-1281/9270865-1-eng-US/f0010-122.jpg" title="f0010-12" width="138" height="101"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2><b>11. NORWAY</b></h2><p><b>REALITY CHECK</b>&nbsp;<i>Lucky to even be in the tournament after defeating an undermanned Denmark squad in qualification, the Norwegians will be happy just participating.</i></p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-1358/9270858-1-eng-US/f0010-132.jpg" title="f0010-13" width="145" height="102"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2><b>12. LATVIA</b></h2><p><b>REALITY CHECK</b>&nbsp;<i>The &lsquo;Group of Death&rsquo; will result in Latvia likely finishing 12th in preliminary round, meaning its fourth game will be against the fifth-place team and, thus, tiny nation doomed to standings basement.</i><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0010-07

FEARLESS PREDICTIONS

<div class="byline">BY SCOTT RENNIE</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0012-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-012146/9270973-1-eng-US/f0012-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Most Olympians know what to expect on North American-size ice.</b> <span class="photo-credit">(ELSA/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>here hasn&rsquo;t been a true best-on-best men&rsquo;s hockey tournament played on North American-size rinks since the 2004 World Cup of Hockey. That will change in Vancouver.</p><p>While Olympic hockey is normally played on ice sheets measuring 200 feet by 98 feet, the 2010 Games will be played on the smaller, NHL-friendly surface that is only 85 feet wide.</p><p>In 2006, Olympic organizers and the IIHF decided not to expand the ice sheets at Canada Hockey Place (GM Place has been renamed for the Games) and UBC Thunderbird Arena. They said this saved about $10 million in renovations and will allow for maximum attendance at the venues.</p><p>There&rsquo;s always a question of how playing on the big rinks in any international tournament will affect the outcome, as the wider rink theoretically allows for a faster, more wide-open style of play not always seen in the NHL.</p><p>But the two North American hockey nations don&rsquo;t foresee any home-ice advantage in playing on familiar terrain this time around.</p><p>&ldquo;The whole international versus North American ice surface debate is not as much a factor as it was at this level 15 to 20 years ago,&rdquo; said Johnny Misley, vice-president of hockey operations for Hockey Canada. &ldquo;Today, players at the professional level have experienced the game on both surfaces and have adapted well.&rdquo;</p><p>Misley added that size wasn&rsquo;t a factor in any decisions about who will wear the red and white in Vancouver.</p><p>&ldquo;Regardless of ice surface, Canada wants to have a fast and smart team that plays a pressure game in all 200 feet of the ice,&rdquo; he said.</p><p>Jim Johannson, assistant executive director of hockey operations at USA Hockey, agreed.</p><p>&ldquo;There&rsquo;s going to be so many NHL players at the tournament who are used to playing on that ice,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think it&rsquo;s going to be a full advantage for anyone.</p><p>&ldquo;Bottom line, there&rsquo;s not a guy who&rsquo;s not going to be comfortable with the size of the ice.&rdquo;</p><p>Johannson&rsquo;s real focus, whatever the size of the rink, was building a winning team in a matter of weeks.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s always a challenge to get a group of guys together in such as short time and play at such a high level,&rdquo; he said.</p><p>Johannson added that because there is less room to avoid confrontation on the smaller ice, the games should be more exciting.</p><p>&ldquo;From a hockey purist&rsquo;s standpoint,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;I&rsquo;m excited that it&rsquo;s going to be on the ice that it is.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0012-01

SIZE DOESN’T MATTER

<p class="dropcap"><b><span>C</span>ANADA HOCKEY PLACE</b>, <i>known as GM Place in NHL circles, will host the big games, with UBC&rsquo;s Thunderbird Arena serving as the secondary site.</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-021679/9271018-1-eng-US/f0012-022.jpg" title="f0012-02" width="576" height="342"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>THUNDERBIRD ARENA</b></p><p><b><i>Opened</i></b>&nbsp;<i>July 7, 2008</i></p><p><b><i>Capacity</i></b>&nbsp;<i>7,200</i></p> <span class="photo-credit">(KIM STALLKNECHT/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-031082/9271011-1-eng-US/f0012-032.jpg" title="f0012-03" width="540" height="898"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(GEORGE FREY/AFP/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-04646/9271004-1-eng-US/f0012-042.jpg" title="f0012-04" width="575" height="342"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>CANADA HOCKEY PLACE</b></p><p><b><i>Opened</i></b>&nbsp;<i>Sept. 17, 1995</i></p><p><b><i>Capacity</i></b>&nbsp;<i>18,630</i></p> <span class="photo-credit">(BRUCE BENNETT/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0012-02

THE VENUES

<div class="byline">BY DENIS GIBBONS</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-011910/9271056-1-eng-US/f0013-012.jpg" title="f0013-01" width="666" height="462"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Finnish goalie Ari Sulander had a heroic moment against Canada.</b> <span class="photo-credit">(SULANDER: AL BELLO/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><h2><b>HERO</b></h2><h3><b>JIM CRAIG</b></h3><p class="dropcap"><span>P</span>rior to the 1980 Olympics in Lake Placid, N.Y., Craig was a mostly unheard-of college goalie for Boston University. After the Olympics, his NHL career with Atlanta, Boston and Minnesota lasted only 30 games. But for two weeks, he stonewalled the best shooters in the world en route to an unlikely &ndash; some say, miraculous &ndash; U.S. gold medal.</p><h3><b>PETR SVOBODA</b></h3><p>For more than 40 years Czechoslovakia lived under Communist rule, mostly dictated from Moscow. It&rsquo;s ironic a defenseman, whose last name translates to &lsquo;Freedom,&rsquo; scored the only goal as the Czech Republic shut out Russia 1-0 for the gold in Nagano in 1998. Dominik Hasek was the hero of that Olympics, but Svoboda stepped up at a crucial moment.</p><h3><b>ARI SULANDER</b></h3><p>Nicknamed &lsquo;Sulo,&rsquo; the second-string goalie stepped in to take over for Jarmo Myllys in the bronze medal game at the 1998 Games and led the underdog Finns to a 3-2 victory over Team Canada, loaded with NHL stars such as Wayne Gretzky, Steve Yzerman, Joe Sakic and Paul Kariya. Sulander never played in the NHL, but at 40 is still active in Switzerland.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-021336/9271049-1-eng-US/f0013-022.jpg" title="f0013-02" width="671" height="463"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Ilya Kovalchuk&rsquo;s elbow may have cost the Russians a medal in 2006.</b> <span class="photo-credit">(KOVALCHUK: BRIAN BAHR/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><h2><b>GOAT</b></h2><h3><b>BOB DUPUIS</b></h3><p>In a preliminary round tilt against Canada in 1980, a Finnish defenseman tried to ice the puck from his own goal line. But the puck took a weird bounce and snuck past Bob Dupuis in the Canadian net. Dupuis was attempting to redirect the puck when it hopped over his stick. The 190-foot goal helped Finland to a 4-3 upset, deflating Canada&rsquo;s chances.</p><h3><b>ILYA KOVALCHUK</b></h3><p>In the second period of the 2006 bronze medal game, with the Czech Republic leading 1-0, Russian star Ilya Kovalchuk elbowed defenseman Pavel Kubina in the face and was ejected. The Russians lost their second-leading scorer and the Czechs went on to a 3-0 win to claim the bronze. Kovalchuk had scored four goals in the first seven games.</p><h3><b>BRAD WERENKA</b></h3><p>In 1994, Canada was leading Sweden 2-1 and was just 130 seconds away from its first gold medal in 42 years when Brad Werenka took a penalty on Mats Naslund. Magnus Svensson scored to tie the game and force overtime. Both teams went scoreless in OT, but Peter Forsberg won it for Sweden with a stamp-tacular shootout goal against Corey Hirsch.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0013-01

OLYMPIC HEROES & GOATS

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-03976/9271087-1-eng-US/f0013-032.jpg" title="f0013-03" width="560" height="666"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(SALO: AP PHOTO/RUSTY KENNEDY)</span></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>L</span>IKE BILL BUCKNER</b>, <i>Tommy Salo had a very accomplished career that was redefined thanks to one unforgettable error. Buckner was a career .289 hitter with 2,700 hits, but his unfortunate 10th-inning fielding miscue cost the Boston Red Sox a chance to win the 1986 World Series. Salo was excellent at the 2002 Olympics, leading gold medal favorites Sweden to a 3-0 record before a quarterfinal game against underdog Belarus. A head-high slapshot from beyond the blueline by Vladimir Kopat with two minutes remaining hit Salo in the mask, bounced up, off his back and into the net. Salo was made the scapegoat in one of hockey&rsquo;s biggest upsets ever. One Swedish newspaper published the photo of every player and their NHL salary under the headline: &ldquo;Guilty! Of dishonoring their country!&rdquo;</i><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0013-03

TOMMY SALO: GOAT GOALIE

<div class="byline">BY DENIS GIBBONS</div><p class="dropcap"><span>O</span>ver the years, the Olympics have served as the backdrop to some of the greatest games between hockey&rsquo;s biggest rivals. Most recently, there was Sweden&rsquo;s 3-2 victory over Scandinavian nemesis Finland in the 2006 gold medal game. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s our national sport, so this is the greatest,&rdquo; said Swedish center Henrik Sedin. While that contest was the only monumental meeting for the Swedes and Finns at the Olympics &ndash; their rivalry is more World Championship-based &ndash; here are some of the defining moments among Olympic rivals:</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-012122/9271125-1-eng-US/f0014-012.jpg" title="f0014-01" width="732" height="1113"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>CANADA VS. RUSSIA</b> <span class="photo-credit">(AL BELLO/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-021591/9271118-1-eng-US/f0014-022.jpg" title="f0014-02" width="1992" height="1734"></div><h2><b>Canada vs. USA</b></h2><h3><b>1932</b></h3><p><i>On opening day, Canada squeaks out a 2-1 overtime win. On the final day, the teams are tied 2-2 after 30 minutes of OT. Canada wins gold, the U.S. silver.</i></p><h3><b>1956</b></h3><p><i>The U.S. upsets Canada 4-1 in Italy and goes on to capture the silver medal, while the Canadians finish a disappointing third after gold in &rsquo;48 and &rsquo;52.</i></p><h3><b>1960</b></h3><p><i>U.S. goalie Jack McCartan makes 38 saves at Squaw Valley, Calif., as the Americans surprise Canada 2-1. Team USA claims its first Olympic gold.</i></p><h3><b>2002</b></h3><p><i>Canada wins its first Olympic gold medal in 50 years with a 5-2 victory over the U.S. at Salt Lake City. Tournament MVP Joe Sakic scores twice in the final.</i></p><h2><b>Canada vs. Russia</b></h2><h3><b>1956</b></h3><p><i>Soviet Union goalie Nikolai Puchkov shuts out Canada 2-0 to give his country its first Olympic medal in hockey &ndash; and a gold one, too. Nyet bad&hellip;</i></p><h3><b>1964</b></h3><p><i>Veniamin Alexandrov scores the winning goal in the third period to give the Soviets the gold medal in a narrow 3-2 win over Father Bauer&rsquo;s national team.</i></p><h3><b>1992</b></h3><p><i>Following two scoreless periods, the former Soviets &ndash; playing as the Unified Team &ndash; rally to defeat Dave King&rsquo;s national team 3-1 in the gold medal game.</i></p><h3><b>2006</b></h3><p><i>In the most exciting game of the tournament, the Russians shut out Canada 2-0 to send the Canadians packing in the quarterfinal at Turin.</i></p><h2><b>Canada vs. Czech Rep.</b></h2><h3><b>1948</b></h3><p><i>Canada and Czechoslovakia play to a scoreless tie. Two days later, they finish in a tie for first, but Canada wins the gold with a superior goal differential.</i></p><h3><b>1992</b></h3><p><i>Canada breaks a 2-2 tie with a pair of third-period goals to eliminate Czechoslovakia 4-2 in the semifinal and qualify for the gold medal game.</i></p><h3><b>1994</b></h3><p><i>Despite being outshot 37-24, Canada eliminates the Czech Republic 3-2 in overtime in the quarterfinal on a power play goal by Paul Kariya in Norway.</i></p><h3><b>1998</b></h3><p><i>Robert Reichel has the lone shootout goal as the Czechs, with only 12 NHL players in uniform, upset Canada in the semifinal. Dominik Hasek is brilliant in net.</i></p><h2><b>USA vs. Russia</b></h2><h3><b>1960</b></h3><p><i>The Americans dash all Soviet hopes of repeating as gold medalists with a 3-2 win at Squaw Valley, Calif. The U.S. goes on to win the gold medal.</i></p><h3><b>1980</b></h3><p><i>Mike Eruzione&rsquo;s late goal gives a scrappy bunch of U.S. collegians a stunning 4-3 win over the Soviets at Lake Placid. People refer to it as &ldquo;a miracle on ice.&rdquo;</i></p><h3><b>1992</b></h3><p><i>The U.S. is undefeated entering the semifinal in Meribel, France, but bows out of gold medal contention with a 5-2 loss to the Unified Team.</i></p><h3><b>2002</b></h3><p><i>In a game played at a lightning-fast tempo, the two countries tie 2-2 in the preliminary round. When they meet again in the semifinal, the U.S. wins 3-2.</i></p><h2><b>Russia vs. Czech Rep.</b></h2><h3><b>1976</b></h3><p><i>Czechoslovakia leads the Soviet Union 3-2 in the third period in the showdown for gold. But the Soviets bounce back to win 4-3 on a goal by Valery Kharlamov.</i></p><h3><b>1984</b></h3><p><i>Legendary Soviet goalie Vladislav Tretiak closes out his brilliant career by shutting out Czechoslovakia 2-0 in the gold medal game at Sarajevo.</i></p><h3><b>1998</b></h3><p><i>Petr Svoboda scores the only goal of the game in the third period as the Czech Republic upsets Russia 1-0 in the gold medal game.</i></p><h3><b>2006</b></h3><p><i>Tomas Vokoun of the Czech Republic makes 28 saves, 12 of them in the third period, to shut out the favored Russians 3-0 in the bronze medal game.</i><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0014-01

HOCKEY HOSTILITY

<div class="byline">BY RYAN DIXON</div><p class="dropcap"><span>O</span>ne of the best aspects of having NHLers compete at the Olympics is the animosity from their existing rivalries being carried over and brought to a boil under the spotlight of an intense two-week tourney. Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin already waged one epic seven-game playoff showdown last spring; how about a one-game duel for gold in February? On the flip side, the Olympics can also make strange bench-fellows of players, forcing them to put personal issues aside. Anyone else anxious to see Mikhail Grabovski center the Kostitsyn brothers?</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-011880/9271163-1-eng-US/f0015-012.jpg" title="f0015-01" width="942" height="842"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>The Olympics give the Crosby-Ovechkin feud a new showcase.</b></figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-021336/9271156-1-eng-US/f0015-022.jpg" title="f0015-02" width="1943" height="799"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(JEFF VINNICK/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><h2><b>Crosby vs. Ovechkin</b></h2><p><i>Forget the individual hardware, Crosby is up one Stanley Cup on Ovechkin, so you know the slick Russian would love to win the race to gold &ndash; on Sid&rsquo;s home soil, no less.</i></p><h2><b>Selanne vs. Lidstrom</b></h2><p><i>Two of the best Scandinavian skaters ever seen, Selanne will be out for revenge after Lidstrom&rsquo;s game-winner gave Sweden a 3-2 win over Finland in the 2006 final.</i></p><h2><b>Chara vs. Jagr</b></h2><p><i>Despite being 6-foot-9, Chara will be trying to win one for the little guy (Slovakia) when he goes up against 6-foot-2 Jagr&rsquo;s Czechs in the Olympics&rsquo; tallest rivalry.</i></p><h2><b>Grabovski vs. The Kostitsyns</b></h2><p><i>Apparently the trouble started when the three were teammates in Montreal and snowballed when Grabovski was traded to Toronto. Now, they&rsquo;re wearing the same colors again.</i><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0015-01

INDIVIDUAL ILL WILL

<div class="byline">BY ADAM PROTEAU</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0016-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-011896/9271194-1-eng-US/f0016-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Players don&rsquo;t need a coach like Team Canada assistant Ken Hitchcock to rev them up.</b> <span class="photo-credit">(DAVID BOILY/AFP/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>he concept of a pre-game &ldquo;Win one for the Gipper&rdquo;- type pep talk given to athletes before a competition almost always makes for must-see dramatic action on a movie or TV screen.</p><p>Indeed, anyone who has witnessed Paul Newman riling up his famous Charlestown Chiefs toward the end of <i>Slap Shot</i> &ndash; or Kurt Russell as Herb Brooks in <i>Miracle</i>, the story of the gold medal-winning U.S. team at the 1980 Lake Placid Winter Olympics &ndash; will attest to its motivational power.</p><p>But with the 2010 Vancouver Games looming large, it&rsquo;s important for hockey fans to remember that, as with many dramatized episodes on big or small screens, the reality of those rah-rah talks is far less gripping than many would have you believe.</p><p>And to prove it, you need only talk to hockey veterans who have spent their entire pro lives listening to rally cries that range anywhere from off-the-cuff to meticulously detailed and delivered.</p><p>&ldquo;Completely overrated,&rdquo; said L.A. Kings coach Terry Murray. &ldquo;Any coach that strays from the messages he&rsquo;s been giving to his players all season &ndash; in terms of game strategy and expectations he has of his guys &ndash; is in my mind a coach who is really reaching.</p><p>&ldquo;I doubt very much (pep talks) happen that frequently at the NHL level anymore&hellip; and I can&rsquo;t imagine, with the quality of the guys who&rsquo;ll be at the Olympics, that the coaches there will think they need to wind any of them up with a big pre-game talk.&rdquo;</p><p>Detroit Red Wings blueliner Brian Rafalski played U.S. college hockey and in Europe before he made it into his first NHL game in 1999, but no matter where he&rsquo;s been, there has always been a fair degree of cynicism as to the effectiveness of a pre-game pep talk.</p><p>&ldquo;They might affect you a bit when you&rsquo;re younger, but as you get older, I think they don&rsquo;t have as much impact,&rdquo; said Rafalski, a safe bet to be a key member of the U.S. Olympic squad in Vancouver. &ldquo;As a player, you know what you have to do to be successful&hellip; You learned that over many years, not a single night or because of what somebody may point out to you before a game.</p><p>&ldquo;And the bigger the game, the more awareness the players in the dressing room have as to what they need to focus on and who has to play what role to help the team win.&rdquo;</p><p>If the last few moments before any crucial game are about anything, they&rsquo;re about reinforcing a message that should have been sent at the start of the season &ndash; or in this case, at the start of the Olympic tournament.</p><p>&ldquo;What you do before games is, you give them the plan,&rdquo; said Ottawa Senators GM Bryan Murray. &ldquo;In some cases, you have to emphasize the preparation or a particular matchup that players may need to be aware of. But unless you have a real serious reason, there&rsquo;s no need to do much at all.</p><p>&ldquo;Obviously, the teams in the Olympics will all have an abundance of good players who are good because they&rsquo;re motivated. So to me, whatever you tell them before the first puck drops is a matter of giving them information, as opposed to rattling any chains.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0016-01

MORE THAN WORDS

<div class="byline">&#x2013; Kurt Russell, as Herb Brooks, in the movie &#x2018;Miracle&#x2019;</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-021461/9271225-1-eng-US/f0016-022.jpg" title="f0016-02" width="449" height="542"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(THN ARCHIVES)</span></figcaption></div><p><b><i>&ldquo;Great moments &hellip;are born from great opportunity.</i></b>&nbsp;<i>And that&rsquo;s what you have here tonight, boys. That&rsquo;s what you&rsquo;ve earned here tonight. One game. If we played &rsquo;em 10 times, they might win nine. But not this game. Not tonight. Tonight, we skate with them. Tonight, we stay with them. And we shut them down because we can! Tonight, WE are the greatest hockey team in the world. You were born to be hockey players. Every one of you. And you were meant to be here tonight. This is your time. Their time is done. It&rsquo;s over. I&rsquo;m sick and tired of hearing about what a great hockey team the Soviets have. &hellip;This is your time. Now go out there and take it.&rdquo;</i><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0016-02

HERB BROOKS

<div class="byline">BY RYAN KENNEDY</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0017-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-011670/9271256-1-eng-US/f0017-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>KOZLOV, KOVALCHUK & ARMSTRONG</b></p><p><b>Like most teams, Atlanta will use the two-week layoff as a chance to rest up for the NHL stretch drive</b></p> <span class="photo-credit">(SCOTT CUNNINGHAM/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><span>F</span>or the NHLers privileged enough to represent their countries, the Olympics is a whirlwind of travel, tightly packed games and either heartbreak or glory. For the rest of the league, it&rsquo;s a two-week working vacation.</p><p>No NHL games are scheduled from February 15 through March 2, but teams and players will still be busy. According to rules negotiated by the NHL Players&rsquo; Association and the league, teams cannot practice or hold mandatory events from Feb. 15-23. Not that the players are going to be sitting around eating chips the whole time. The Olympic break means a condensed NHL schedule and the modern game holds no place for the out of shape.</p><p>&ldquo;You have to keep yourself ready to go,&rdquo; said Atlanta right winger Colby Armstrong. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve been jamming some games in tight, so we know we&rsquo;ll be making up for it somewhere.&rdquo;</p><p>Thrashers GM Don Waddell believes the Olympic break will take the place of the Christmas break for his team, which plays in Boston on Dec. 23 and again in Tampa Bay on Dec. 26.</p><p>&ldquo;For us, we have a really busy holiday season,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m looking at (the Olympics) as our holiday break.&rdquo;</p><p>Not that it&rsquo;s all fun and games. Today&rsquo;s NHLers are generally in peak physical condition, but even they can fall out of good habits if they&rsquo;re not vigilant. Because of that, Carolina Hurricanes strength and conditioning coach Pete Friesen will be giving suggestions for individual workout plans for the non-Olympian Canes players.</p><p>&ldquo;The onus is on them,&rdquo; Friesen said. &ldquo;Their fitness can drop dramatically and that can even happen during an all-star break.&rdquo;</p><p>Some players may put on weight if they get off track, while others may work out too hard and lose too much weight. Either way, once the practice moratorium is up it&rsquo;s best to ease the players back into routine.</p><p>&ldquo;I think you&rsquo;ll start off more like a training camp atmosphere,&rdquo; Waddell said. &ldquo;Get the guys back out there, get the sweats going.&rdquo;</p><p>Friesen agreed, noting that bag skates are out of the question since groins will no longer be in mid-season form.</p><p>&ldquo;If you do a bunch of stops and starts, you&rsquo;re going to blow them up,&rdquo; he said.</p><p>What everyone agreed on was the fact the experience will be great for those attending and a boon for the NHL teams when they return.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve got to believe it&rsquo;s a positive, guys look forward to it,&rdquo; said Waddell, who can expect to see several Thrashers in Vancouver. &ldquo;You could say the rest may be good, but we&rsquo;re talking about premier players here. It&rsquo;s just a great experience.&rdquo;</p><p>And for those players watching at home, the Games gives them a chance to be fans for a couple weeks.</p><p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got guys from all over the world on this team,&rdquo; Armstrong said. &ldquo;So there may be some bets.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0017-01

OLYMPICS: A BUSY ‘BREAK’ FOR NHL

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-021286/9271294-1-eng-US/f0017-022.jpg" title="f0017-02" width="262" height="215"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>T</span>HEY&rsquo;RE NOT ALL OLYMPIANS</b>, <i>but the Atlanta Thrashers are the NHL&rsquo;s version of the United Nations with players from nine different countries.</i></p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-03925/9271287-1-eng-US/f0017-032.jpg" title="f0017-03" width="1283" height="404"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0017-02

THE THRASH MISHMASH

<div class="byline">BY RYAN DIXON</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0018-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-011772/9271325-1-eng-US/f0018-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>The Czech-Slovak rivalry has been more amicable than antagonistic.</b> <span class="photo-credit">(BRIAN BAHR/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>Sometimes an inquisitor doesn&rsquo;t really consider how a question will be received until it&rsquo;s already half-posed.</p><p>For instance, while North American fans, far removed from the politics of Eastern Europe, often ponder what a powerhouse team the Czechs and Slovaks could have if they were still one nation, perhaps the players from those countries are so fiercely proud of the colors they currently wear it would never occur to them to contemplate the &ldquo;what ifs&rdquo; of the issue. As it turns out, the potentially troubling hypothetical was met almost universally with a twinkle.</p><p>&ldquo;We talk about it over the summers, the guys have a beer and talk, you know it would be awesome,&rdquo; said Jaroslav Spacek of a combined Czech-Slovak roster. &ldquo;But what happened happened, it&rsquo;s not going to change. And even now, we can have a great lineup and the Slovaks have great players. We split the countries and now we&rsquo;ve got to go on our own.&rdquo;</p><p>When the Soviet Union crumbled in the late 1980s, many East Bloc nations under hammer-and-sickle rule once again found independence.</p><p>The Soviet-supported communist government in Czechoslovakia fell apart and the country, as part of the &lsquo;Velvet Revolution,&rsquo; peacefully dissolved into two entities. And while Slovakia and the Czech Republic are cordial neighbors, nobody is anxious to see the guy beside him higher on the podium.</p><p>&ldquo;When we play against the Czech team, we want to beat them and I think it&rsquo;s the other way around, they want to beat us, too,&rdquo; said Slovak goalie Jaroslav Halak, Spacek&rsquo;s teammate in Montreal. &ldquo;We want to show them we are good, too.&rdquo;</p><p>So far, the Czech Republic has had more success, winning five world championships since the breakup, including a win over Slovakia in the 2000 final. Slovakia&rsquo;s greatest triumph came when it reigned supreme at the &rsquo;02 worlds. Of course, the Dominik Hasek-led Czechs scored the golden blow at the Nagano Games in 1998, the first Olympics that featured NHLers.</p><p>&ldquo;We are something like brother nations, but I would say the players are not of the same origin somehow,&rdquo; said Slovak coach Jan Filc. &ldquo;We have a little bit of a different nature than the Czechs. When we were together, it was high quality because Czechs have a very well developed sense of techniques and tactics. Slovaks are maybe a little more quick, more natural and put more heart in the game. The combination of those two things always made a good team. We miss a little bit of the Czech&rsquo;s sense and they probably sometimes miss the direction to the net our skills of that kind.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0018-01

CZECH-SLOVAKIA: DREAM TEAM?

<p class="dropcap"><b><span>T</span>HE CZECHS AND SLOVAKS</b>&nbsp;<i>could combine to ice a potent squad for the Olympics, if a time machine sent the countries back to the communist days of Czechoslovakia. They would have plenty of offense up front and on the blueline, but perhaps some questions in goal.</i></p><p><b>CZECH PLAYERS IN RED | SLOVAK PLAYERS IN BLUE</b></p><h2><b>LEFT WING</b></h2><p>MARTIN HAVLAT</p><p>Ales Hemsky</p><p>Patrik Elias</p><p>Milan Michalek</p><h2><b>CENTER</b></h2><p>Vaclav Prospal</p><p>David Krejci</p><p>Michal Handzus</p><p>Jiri Hudler</p><h2><b>RIGHT WING</b></h2><p>Marian Hossa</p><p>Marian Gaborik</p><p>Jaromir Jagr</p><p>Marek Svatos</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-021339/9271363-1-eng-US/f0018-022.jpg" title="f0018-02" width="361" height="376"></div><h2><b>DEFENSE</b></h2><p>Zdeno Chara</p><p>Tomas Kaberle</p><p>Jaroslav Spacek</p><h2><b>DEFENSE</b></h2><p>Lubomir Visnovsky</p><p>Pavel Kubina</p><p>Marek Zidlicky</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-03969/9271356-1-eng-US/f0018-032.jpg" title="f0018-03" width="281" height="377"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">((BOTH): DON EMMERT/AFP/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><h2><b>GOALIES</b></h2><p>Tomas Vokoun</p><p>Ondrej Pavelec<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0018-02

CZECH-SLOVAKIA 2010

<div class="byline">BY RYAN DIXON</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0019-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-011595/9271394-1-eng-US/f0019-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Peter Forsberg killed Canada in &rsquo;94 with a dazzling shootout move.</b> <span class="photo-credit">(DON EMMERT/AFP/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>Tom Renney got a measure of revenge, but not enough.</p><p>On two occasions in 1994, Renney watched from the bench while a gold medal was decided by shootout.</p><p>First, in Lillehammer, Norway, a Renney-coached Team Canada fell to Sweden as Peter Forsberg clinched his country&rsquo;s first-ever Olympic gold with his now-famous one-handed puck drag past Canadian goalie corey hirsch.</p><p>A few months later, at the World Championship in Italy, Renney was again part of the coaching staff when Canada was on the right side of the dramatics, ending a 35-year gold medal drought in that tournament by beating Finland via the 1-on-1 showdown.</p><p>But don&rsquo;t think for a minute that positive outcome has changed his opinion on how big games should be decided.</p><p>&ldquo;I still don&rsquo;t think championships of any kind should be settled by a shootout or anything close to a skills competition like that,&rdquo; said Renney, an associate coach with the Edmonton Oilers.</p><p>Whether it&rsquo;s because the Olympics are the Olympics, not the World Championship, or simply because the sting of losing somehow has greater staying power than the thrill of victory, it&rsquo;s clear Renney still isn&rsquo;t completely at peace with the knowledge his scrappy bunch of amateurs were denied a chance to enter Canadian hockey lore thanks to a format that removes the game&rsquo;s team aspect.</p><p>&ldquo;It was one of those things where, we certainly knew it was part of the program, we prepared for it, no question about that, but nothing prepares you for having to stand there and watch it,&rdquo; said Renney of the nerve-wracking experience. &ldquo;To be honest with you, I think everyone understood from 1994 how crucial it can be.</p><p>&ldquo;I can honestly say that we didn&rsquo;t win a silver, we lost a gold, basically in a skills competition.&rdquo;</p><p>Renney&rsquo;s view is pretty standard in North America, particularly before the NHL adopted the shootout to settle regular season games. While many Europeans were reared on soccer, a sport that allows the world&rsquo;s biggest tournament to end on penalty kicks, fans on this side of the Atlantic seem to have a gag reflex built into their sporting DNA when it comes to shootouts.</p><p>&ldquo;I think we recognize that it is very much about the team aspect and it doesn&rsquo;t come down to any one individual from a static start deciding something&hellip;it just doesn&rsquo;t really make sense,&rdquo; said Renney, acknowledging the logistics of an Olympic tourney can&rsquo;t be ignored either. &ldquo;I think there is an aversion to it, for sure, but i will say we&rsquo;ve grown more accustomed to it.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0019-01

SHOOTOUT BLUES

<div class="byline">BY RORY BOYLEN</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0020-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-011529/9271425-1-eng-US/f0020-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>While it&rsquo;s usually the NHL refs who have to adapt to different rules, it&rsquo;ll be the European officials who face change this time.</b> <span class="photo-credit">(DON EMMERT/AFP/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><span>W</span>hen the Olympics roll around every four years, there are adjustments to be made by the players, from the bigger ice to different rules to new teammates.</p><p>But you rarely hear about the plight of the referee, who also has to adjust to changes and can&rsquo;t afford to miss a beat.</p><p>When the Games were in Turin in 2006, the ice was international size and the one-referee system was still being used. These were two big changes for NHL officials who were getting used to the two-referee system employed by the league after the lockout.</p><p>To best prepare NHL refs for the international stage, the IIHF held a seminar in Toronto &ndash; and another upon arrival in Europe &ndash; for those going to Italy to go over the different rules and any other changes that would have to be made. In fact, to get used to the one-man system again, the NHL refs were sent down to the American League.</p><p>&ldquo;The NHL had us go to the AHL and do a couple games just because it&rsquo;s totally different positioning and totally different skating, so we did a couple games just prior to going over,&rdquo; said veteran ref Don Van Massenhoven.</p><p>Pierre Racicot, another NHL official who worked the &rsquo;06 Games, said it wasn&rsquo;t the on-ice game that was different; it was the whole atmosphere.</p><p>&ldquo;It was my first European experience and I&rsquo;m used to North American fans, but European fans were totally different,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;They sing, chant, play music&hellip;It was great.&rdquo;</p><p>Of course, in Vancouver, there won&rsquo;0t be as many adjustments for the NHL mediators The ice will be smaller and the two-man system will be used, so this time it&rsquo;ll be the European refs who get an eye-opening experience.</p><p>If you read that last sentence and shuddered, thinking of the amateurish reputation European officials have with North American fans, know this: The NHL refs who went to Turin insist that perception is a complete mirage.</p><p>Both Van Massenhoven and Racicot said the European referee myth is overblown.</p><p>In 2006, the two sides spent a lot of time together and shared stories of coming up through the ranks &ndash; and it was surprising how similar they all were.</p><p>&ldquo;The European officials take a lot of crap, but they&rsquo;re good officials,&rdquo; Van Massenhoven said. &ldquo;There were about 20 of us, so quite a good friendship developed with officials from all over the world.&rdquo;</p><p>Racicot also pointed out how the IIHF encouraged zero tolerance on obstruction in 2006 and that was something new to the European officials.</p><p>&ldquo;We had gone through half a season of learning and adjusting&hellip;for them it was a crash course in how to do it,&rdquo; Racicot said. &ldquo;It took them a couple games to adjust, but I think they&rsquo;re used to calling more penalties so I think it was an easy adjustment for them.&rdquo;</p><p>In Vancouver, there will be times when the two-man system is split between an NHL ref and a European official and neither is concerned about consistency. As Van Massenhoven said, &ldquo;Hockey is hockey,&rdquo; and once the growing pains are over, the refs will settle in and be at their best.</p><p>Just ask Racicot about his opening game four years ago and it&rsquo;s clear brain cramps can happen to anyone:</p><p>&ldquo;They don&rsquo;t call touch icing, which I had not done in 15 or 20 years. So the very first play, you&rsquo;re focused, you&rsquo;re going on your instinct and it tells you, &lsquo;OK, I have to wait until the defenseman touches the puck.&rsquo;</p><p>&ldquo;By the time he touched the puck he didn&rsquo;t really want to touch it and the other guy almost had a shot on net and it took me five seconds to blow the whistle and realize, &lsquo;Oops.&rsquo; It was mass confusion out there.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0020-01

OFFICIALLY READY FOR VANCOUVER

<div class="byline">BY JOHN GRIGG</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0021-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-011246/9271512-1-eng-US/f0021-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Denmark failed to qualify for Vancouver, but is a rising power.</b> <span class="photo-credit">(MARTIN ROSE/BONGARTS/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><span>F</span>ive nations have won 19 of the 20 Olympic gold medals in men&rsquo;s hockey. Only Great Britain in 1936 &ndash; a team manned by Canadian military men &ndash; has broken the golden hold of Russia, Canada, the U.S., Sweden and the Czech Republic. But with hockey growing globally, there are a number of non-traditional countries pushing for inclusion among the world&rsquo;s top 12.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-02812/9271505-1-eng-US/f0021-022.jpg" title="f0021-02" width="634" height="515"></div><h2><b>Denmark</b></h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-03528/9271498-1-eng-US/f0021-032.jpg" title="f0021-03" width="128" height="83"></div><p>Denmark is the IIHF&rsquo;s 12th-ranked team &ndash; ahead of Olympic participant Germany &ndash; but fell to Norway in a 2009 qualification final, the Danes&rsquo; final stab at the 2010 Games.</p><p>But Denmark is producing world-class players, including NHLers Frans Neilsen, Peter Regin, Jannik Hansen, Lars Eller and Mikkel Boedker.</p><p>&ldquo;Denmark probably would have made the Olympics if they had all their guys,&rdquo; said THN European correspondent Risto Pakarinen of the qualifying tourney, which took place during the NHL season. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a shame they didn&rsquo;t, they play really good hockey and have several good young players.&rdquo;</p><p>Eller played in the tournament and was adamant Denmark would be an Olympic team if it had all of its players available.</p><p>&ldquo;I definitely think so,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;We lost to Norway and they qualified. It was close.&rdquo;</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-04405/9271491-1-eng-US/f0021-042.jpg" title="f0021-04" width="315" height="284"></div><h2><b>France</b></h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-05284/9271484-1-eng-US/f0021-052.jpg" title="f0021-05" width="127" height="83"></div><p>Of the teams outside the IIHF&rsquo;s top 12, France climbed the furthest in 2009, moving up four spots to No. 14 in the world.</p><p>&ldquo;France has played two great worlds in a row and their current (group) still has a couple more in them,&rdquo; Pakarinen said.</p><p>Baptiste Amar, Laurent Meunier and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare all play in the Swedish Elite League.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-06217/9271477-1-eng-US/f0021-062.jpg" title="f0021-06" width="345" height="218"></div><h2><b>Ukraine</b></h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-07178/9271470-1-eng-US/f0021-072.jpg" title="f0021-07" width="130" height="86"></div><p>Ukraine also failed to qualify without its NHLers, Alexei Ponikarovsky and Ruslan Fedotenko. But at Salt Lake City in 2002, the NHLers were there to help Ukraine to a 10thplace finish, ahead of current Olympic squads Switzerland and Slovakia.</p><p>With continued growth and a Games close to home in 2014, the Ukrainians are a group to watch.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-08138/9271463-1-eng-US/f0021-082.jpg" title="f0021-08" width="361" height="180"></div><h2><b>Kazakhstan</b></h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-09107/9271456-1-eng-US/f0021-092.jpg" title="f0021-09" width="129" height="86"></div><p>The former Soviet Republic is ranked 20th in the world, but has more than 15 million hockey-loving inhabitants to draw on. Kazakhstan has past Olympic appearances, too, in 1998 and 2006.</p><p>&ldquo;I always dreamed about it,&rdquo; said Atlanta center Nik Antropov of his Olympic experience in &rsquo;06 with the ninth-place Kazakhs. &ldquo;Just to experience it is unbelievable.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p></div>

f0021-01

UNTAPPED POTENTIAL

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-1083/9271557-1-eng-US/f0021-102.jpg" title="f0021-10" width="424" height="344"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-1162/9271550-1-eng-US/f0021-112.jpg" title="f0021-11" width="139" height="93"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>T</span>HE MOST POPULOUS</b>&nbsp;<i>country in the world is also one with northern geography and the economic ability and political will to create a top-notch hockey program. China has had Asian League teams and a partnership with the NHL&rsquo;s San Jose Sharks to build the country&rsquo;s hockey infrastructure. The Chinese women are ranked ninth in the world, the men No. 31. Look for those rankings to climb quickly once the Chinese take to the sport en masse, backed by government money and incentives.</i></p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-1245/9271543-1-eng-US/f0021-122.jpg" title="f0021-12" width="345" height="660"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(JIM MCISAAC/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0021-10

COUNTRY OF THE FUTURE: CHINA

<p class="dropcap"><b><span>J</span>UST BECAUSE</b>&nbsp;<i>a team pulls off one of the biggest upsets in a sport&rsquo;s history doesn&rsquo;t mean the squad was entirely upstart. The 1980 U.S. Olympic team competed and thrived against high-end competition for half a year leading up to the Games, playing an interlocking schedule with the American and International Leagues, both major development circuits for the NHL at that time. &ldquo;As we were playing those games, I started to believe we had a pretty good team,&rdquo; said Team USA assistant coach Craig Patrick. &ldquo;It wasn&rsquo;t just the victory at the end, it was all the hard work those guys went through for seven months. That&rsquo;s what stands out to me. It&rsquo;s just amazing what they endured and how much they deserved to win.&rdquo;</i><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

TIRELESS MIRACLE WORKERS

<div class="byline">BY RYAN DIXON</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0022-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-011418/9271588-1-eng-US/f0022-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Team USA&rsquo;s win not only shocked the world in 1980, it inspired an entire generation of young American players.</b> <span class="photo-credit">(AP PHOTO)</span></figcaption></div><p>Here&rsquo;s the thing with miracles; they tend to have far-reaching tentacles.</p><p>The ramifications of a bunch of American college kids beating the mighty Soviet Union en route to winning a stunning gold medal in Lake Placid are, in some ways, still playing out 30 years later.</p><p>Watching the &lsquo;Miracle on Ice&rsquo; team in 1980 inspired a group of kids that grew up to form the golden generation of U.S. hockey players.</p><p>That&rsquo;s why it was anything but a miracle when, 16 years later, a potent Team USA beat another hockey superpower, Canada, to claim top spot at the 1996 World Cup.</p><p>&ldquo;All the young kids who watched in &rsquo;80, the Brian Leetches and the Mike Richters and Bill Guerins and those players, the young American guys who watched that, they became the next wave who were successful in &rsquo;96,&rdquo; said Craig Patrick, an assistant coach to Herb Brooks on the &lsquo;Miracle&rsquo; team. &ldquo;And they&rsquo;ll say, &lsquo;That really inspired me.&rsquo; &rdquo;</p><p>Now, Team USA is in transition again, with many young players reared on that World Cup win dotting the roster for the red, white and blue. Seems inspiration drawn from the &lsquo;Miracle on Ice&rsquo; just keeps on giving.</p><p>Who knows, maybe another unexpected triumph for the Americans in Vancouver would have the same effect on today&rsquo;s young Yanks that watching the &lsquo;Miracle&rsquo; bunch had on Leetch, who was just about to turn 12 when his countrymen struck gold.</p><p>&ldquo;My goal growing up, after watching the Olympics in 1980, was, &lsquo;Wow, maybe I can be an Olympic player,&rsquo; &rdquo; said Leetch, who went on to become just that in 1988. &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t know anybody who played in the NHL, I didn&rsquo;t have any basis (for that to be the goal), but USA Hockey and the olympics were kind of the thing for me.&rdquo;</p><p>It was the same story for ED Olczyk, only the timeline was a bit shorter. Olczyk was still a few months shy of his 14th birthday when Team USA shocked the world, so he figured to be on the same path as Leetch. But his accelerated development lumped Olczyk in with the 1984 U.S. team that had the daunting task of taking the torch from the &lsquo;Miracle&rsquo; boys. At 17 years and six months, &lsquo;Eddie O&rsquo; is the youngest American to ever suit up in the Olympics.</p><p>Watching the Americans triumph on home ice as a kid gave a shot in the arm on the road to that accomplishment.</p><p>&ldquo;I thought, &lsquo;Man, that would just be incredible to be a part of that&rsquo;,&rdquo; said Olczyk, who will be in Vancouver as a TV analyst. &ldquo;I thought eight years from then, I&rsquo;d be 21, but for me it was four years later and trying to follow in the footsteps of that 1980 team.</p><p>&ldquo;It certainly made a big impact on myself and my goals. As far as kids getting into hockey, it really gave it a strong boost.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s hard to believe it&rsquo;s 30 years&hellip;It just really was an amazing feat.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0022-01

MIRACLE(S) ON ICE

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-02908/9271643-1-eng-US/f0023-022.jpg" title="f0023-02" width="942" height="675"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>The first group of Americans to shake up the hockey world was the 1960 Olympic squad that won gold on home ice.</b> <span class="photo-credit">(HOCKEY HALL OF FAME)</span></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-011251/9271650-1-eng-US/f0023-012.jpg" title="f0023-01" width="228" height="237"></div><p class="dropcap"><i><span>T</span>eam USA&rsquo;s victory in 1980 was the rare miracle that actually had a precedent. Twenty years earlier, a similar collection of college kids stunned the hockey world by claiming gold on home soil in Squaw Valley, Calif. The U.S. had won silver at the previous two Olympics, but were considered underdogs against powerhouse teams from Canada, the Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia</i></p><p><i>Team USA went 2-0 in round-robin play and then was a perfect 5-0 in the final round, outscoring opponents 29-11, to claim the country&rsquo;s first-ever gold medal in hockey 50 years ago. Along the way, the U.S. upset Canada 2-1 and became the first American team ever to beat the Soviets.</i></p><p><i>That didn&rsquo;t deter the Soviets from lending the Americans a helping hand at the height of the Cold War. In their final game, the U.S. trailed the Czechs 4-3 after two periods. The Russians, having no chance at the gold, decided they&rsquo;d rather see an American victory than a Czech one and lent the Yanks their oxygen tanks. The result? Team USA scored six unanswered third period goals en route to a 9-4 win and a place in history.</i><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0023-02

SQUAW VALLEY HIGH

<div class="byline">BY JOHN GRIGG</div><p class="dropcap"><span>W</span>hen you&rsquo;re the defending champs, the pressure is usually squarely on your shoulder pads. But for Team Sweden, these Olympics are decidedly pressureless.</p><p>Sweden, ranked No. 3 in the world by the IIHF, is one of the globe&rsquo;s top teams to be sure, but with the Olympics on Canadian soil, all the pressure is on the Canucks. Russia, too, is under the gun to perform as the world&rsquo;s top-seeded team. But don&rsquo;t underestimate the Tre Kronor.</p><p>With top-caliber goaltending from Henrik Lundqvist, leadership from the likes of Nicklas Lidstrom and Daniel Alfredsson, and forwards such as Henrik Zetterberg, the Sedins and Nicklas Backstrom, Sweden will be tough to beat in their bid to repeat.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-1386/9271793-1-eng-US/f0024-132.jpg" title="f0024-13" width="942" height="967"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Goaltender Henrik Lundqvist and his Swedish teammates celebrate in 2006 after defeating their rivals from Finland 3-2 to win gold.</b> <span class="photo-credit">(AL BELLO/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><h2><b>GROUP A</b></h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-011366/9271786-1-eng-US/f0024-012.jpg" title="f0024-01" width="145" height="102"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h3><b>CANADA</b></h3><p><i>Prior to 2002, Canada&rsquo;s last gold medal was claimed by the Edmonton Mercurys in 1952.</i></p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-02987/9271779-1-eng-US/f0024-022.jpg" title="f0024-02" width="145" height="102"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h3><b>USA</b></h3><p><i>The U.S. won its gold medals on home ice; 1960 at Squaw Valley, Calif., and &rsquo;80 at Lake Placid, N.Y.</i></p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-03702/9271772-1-eng-US/f0024-032.jpg" title="f0024-03" width="145" height="102"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h3><b>SWITZERLAND</b></h3><p><i>In May 1908, Switzerland founded the IIHF with Belgium, France and Great Britain.</i></p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-04508/9271765-1-eng-US/f0024-042.jpg" title="f0024-04" width="138" height="102"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h3><b>NORWAY</b></h3><p><i>According to the IIHF, there are 40 ice rinks in Norway: 37 indoor and three outdoor.</i></p><h2><b>GROUP B</b></h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-05369/9271758-1-eng-US/f0024-052.jpg" title="f0024-05" width="145" height="102"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h3><b>RUSSIA</b></h3><p><i>Russia&rsquo;s worst finish is fourth, in 2006 at Turin, Italy, and 1994 at Lillehammer, Norway.</i></p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-06300/9271751-1-eng-US/f0024-062.jpg" title="f0024-06" width="145" height="102"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h3><b>CZECH REP.</b></h3><p><i>At Nagano, Japan, in 1998, the Czechs gave up just six goals in six games en route to gold.</i></p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-07249/9271744-1-eng-US/f0024-072.jpg" title="f0024-07" width="145" height="102"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h3><b>SLOVAKIA</b></h3><p><i>Slovakia finished fifth in 2006 in Turin; Marian Hossa had 10 points in six games.</i></p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-08208/9271737-1-eng-US/f0024-082.jpg" title="f0024-08" width="145" height="102"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h3><b>LATVIA</b></h3><p><i>In two appearances, Latvia finished ninth in 2002 at Salt Lake City and 12th in 2006.</i></p><h2><b>GROUP C</b></h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-09176/9271730-1-eng-US/f0024-092.jpg" title="f0024-09" width="145" height="102"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h3><b>SWEDEN</b></h3><p><i>Since the fall of the Soviet Union, no team has won more Olympic gold medals than Sweden (two).</i></p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-10141/9271723-1-eng-US/f0024-102.jpg" title="f0024-10" width="145" height="102"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h3><b>FINLAND</b></h3><p><i>Finland won silver in 2006 with a potent offense that included five of the top seven scorers.</i></p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-11117/9271716-1-eng-US/f0024-112.jpg" title="f0024-11" width="144" height="102"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h3><b>BELARUS</b></h3><p><i>Belarus has 1,000 male players, but is ranked eighth in the world and home to a KHL team.</i></p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-12103/9271709-1-eng-US/f0024-122.jpg" title="f0024-12" width="145" height="102"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h3><b>GERMANY</b></h3><p><i>Sixty-one percent of registered German hockey players are junior-aged.</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-1478/9271702-1-eng-US/f0024-142.jpg" title="f0024-14" width="419" height="756"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>TEEMU SELANNE</b> <span class="photo-credit">(ELSA/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><h2><b>BEST OF THE BEST</b></h2><p>LEADERS SINCE NHL INVOLVEMENT IN &rsquo;98</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-1568/9271695-1-eng-US/f0024-152.jpg" title="f0024-15" width="411" height="254"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-1661/9271688-1-eng-US/f0024-162.jpg" title="f0024-16" width="411" height="256"></div><p>* Minimum six games played</p><h2><b>ALL-TIME OLYMPIC MEDALS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-1753/9271681-1-eng-US/f0024-172.jpg" title="f0024-17" width="408" height="770"></div><p>* USSR/Russia played as Unified Team in 1992; Czech Rep. includes Czechoslovakia until 1994<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0024-13

THE BIG 12

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-011218/9271831-1-eng-US/f0025-012.jpg" title="f0025-01" width="604" height="527"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(CLIVE ROSE/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><h2><b>2010 OLYMPIC SCHEDULE</b></h2><p>PRELIMINARY GAMES</p><p>All start times are Eastern Standard Time</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-02862/9271824-1-eng-US/f0025-022.jpg" title="f0025-02" width="1991" height="2250"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(JEFF GROSS/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><h2><b>PLAYOFF</b></h2><p><i>At the conclusion of the Preliminary Round, all 12 teams will be ranked in one group. The top four teams will advance to the quarterfinal. The bottom eight will play a single qualification game: 5 vs. 12, 6 vs. 11, 7 vs. 10 and 8 vs. 9.</i></p><p><i>The four winners advance to face the top four teams in single elimination playdowns.</i></p><h3><b>TUESDAY, FEB. 23</b></h3><p>QUALIFICATION 1 3:00P</p><p>QUALIFICATION 2 7:30P</p><p>QUALIFICATION 3 10:00P</p><p>QUALIFICATION 4 12:00A</p><h3><b>WEDNESDAY, FEB. 24</b></h3><p>QUARTERFINAL 1 3:00P</p><p>QUARTERFINAL 2 7:30P</p><p>QUARTERFINAL 3 10:00P</p><p>QUARTERFINAL 4 12:00A</p><h3><b>FRIDAY, FEB. 26</b></h3><p>SEMI-FINAL 1 3:00P</p><p>SEMI-FINAL 2 9:30P</p><h3><b>SATURDAY, FEB. 27</b></h3><p>BRONZE MEDAL 10:00P</p><h3><b>SUNDAY, FEB. 28</b></h3><p>GOLD MEDAL 3:15P<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0025-01

WHAT TO WATCH

<div class="byline">KEN CAMPBELL</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-02996/9271869-1-eng-US/f0026-022.jpg" title="f0026-02" width="942" height="1425"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Underdog status suits Ryan Kesler and Team USA just fine.</b> <span class="photo-credit">(JAMIE SQUIRE/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-011379/9271876-1-eng-US/f0026-012.jpg" title="f0026-01" width="187" height="222"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>P</span>rior to being kicked to the curb like last week&rsquo;s garbage, former NHL Players&rsquo; Association executive director Paul Kelly oversaw a vote among his constituents concerning their future participation in the Olympics.</p><p>Of the 560 players who responded, 538 of them &ndash; or 96 percent &ndash; supported the NHL&rsquo;s continued involvement in the Games. The only problem is, if you posed the same question to the NHL&rsquo;s board of governors, you&rsquo;d probably have a tough time getting more than a handful of votes. (The national federations? Oh, they like it, too. Funny you don&rsquo;t hear too much carping from Canada over having to change its logo now that it stands to make about $100 million in sweater sales leading up to the Olympics.)</p><p>And therein lies the conundrum. Everyone from NBC Sports to the players to the fans to the International Ice Hockey Federation loves the concept of the best-on-best tournament in the biggest spectacle in winter sports every four years.</p><p>Meanwhile, the NHL teams, who happen to be the ones signing those enormous paychecks to the players, hate the idea.</p><p>That&rsquo;s largely because after three tries, the NHL has yet to see a significant and sustained bump in anything from viewership to merchandise sales because of its involvement in the Olympics and there is a growing feeling that shutting down the season for two weeks every four years is more of a detriment than a benefit. On a mass appeal level, the league has found out that most casual sports fans who don&rsquo;t follow the game feel the same way about hockey as many of us do about sports such as track and field, gymnastics and rowing. We care passionately about them for about two weeks every four years, then they pretty much get sucked out of our consciousness as soon as the closing ceremonies end.</p><p>The league has no interest in preaching to the choir here. It knows it has one of the most dedicated fan bases in pro sports and that people who love hockey will watch the Olympics at 3 a.m. if that&rsquo;s what is required. What the NHL doesn&rsquo;t have is the casual viewer, and even though it&rsquo;s willing to fight to the death for franchises that don&rsquo;t have a chance because they&rsquo;re in non-hockey markets, the league is apparently prepared to throw in the towel on Olympic involvement.</p><blockquote class="pullQuote">&lsquo; THE NHL SEEMS TO BE READY TO THROW IN THE TOWEL ON THE OLYMPICS&rsquo;</blockquote><p>It doesn&rsquo;t like the idea of shutting down in the middle of the season and is well aware of the injury risks and the burnout factor associated with participating. Going from the high of the Olympics to the grind of the regular season is difficult and teams in today&rsquo;s NHL simply don&rsquo;t have the time for their best players to struggle at a crucial point in the season. And let&rsquo;s face it; we&rsquo;re talking about a fairly narrow-minded group here that has a history of not being able to see anything beyond its own bottom line.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-011298/9271862-1-eng-US/f0027-012.jpg" title="f0027-01" width="1951" height="1425"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Will this be the first and last Olympics for Phil Kessel?</b> <span class="photo-credit">(DIMA KOROTAYEV/BONGARTS/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>Of course, there&rsquo;s a chance the league is simply taking this stance as a negotiating chip for the next collective bargaining agreement. The owners know the players desperately want to play, but if they think the players want to be in the Olympics badly enough to take it in exchange for concessions on guaranteed contracts or terms on deals, they&rsquo;re probably shooting a little too high.</p><p>There&rsquo;s no doubt there will be enormous pressure on the NHL to stay, from superstars such as Alex Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin &ndash; who want to play in their home country when Russia hosts the 2014 Games &ndash; to broadcasters and sponsors. But if Gary Bettman and the league have displayed one thing over the past few years, it&rsquo;s that they won&rsquo;t change their agenda to bend to outside pressure.</p><p>All of which is as good a reason as any to cheer for the U.S. to win the gold medal in these Olympics.</p><p>Leading up to the Games, you&rsquo;re going to hear an awful lot from U.S. GM Brian Burke about how his team doesn&rsquo;t deserve to be breathing the same rarefied air as Canada, Sweden and Russia in this event. Burke is nothing if not brilliant. By doing this, he simultaneously takes pressure off of his players and creates the impression Team USA is a bunch of ragtag underdogs. Americans love that label.</p><blockquote class="pullQuote">&lsquo; THE LEAGUE MIGHT VIEW A U.S. WIN AS A REPEAT OF 1980, WHEN THE GOLD MEDAL SPIKED INTEREST IN THE SPORT&rsquo;</blockquote><p>The U.S. team is young and relatively inexperienced at this level, but if it gets on an early roll it could easily gain enough momentum to be a serious contender. The scenario doesn&rsquo;t exactly fit the 1980 &lsquo;Miracle on Ice&rsquo; template, but some of the same elements are there. Unlike 1998, 2002 and &rsquo;06, the U.S. is not considered a favorite in the tournament and that gives the squad something of an us-against-the-world aura.</p><p>So if the U.S. can somehow not only challenge for a gold medal, but win it in dramatic fashion, that might just be enough to push the league over the edge and force it into future participation. That&rsquo;s because nothing gets the NHL head office&rsquo;s blood pumping more than the idea that it can somehow conquer a frontier in which it has always had difficulty making inroads.</p><p>The league would be more likely to view a U.S. win as a repeat of 1980, when the gold medal spiked an interest in the sport &ndash; mostly in terms of participation &ndash; in the country and spawned a generation of American-born NHL stars. Would a gold medal in Vancouver by U.S.-born NHLers 30 years later create the same kind of excitement and result in a sustained increase in interest? Doubtful, but perception is everything and all the NHL needs is the hope that it will happen.</p><p>And nothing will inspire that kind of hope the way a gold medal victory on Feb. 28 for the U.S. would.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0026-02

IT’LL TAKE A MIRACLE

<div class="byline">ADAM PROTEAU</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-02961/9271914-1-eng-US/f0028-022.jpg" title="f0028-02" width="995" height="1627"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Here&rsquo;s hoping, first and foremost, that Canada rules at being a great host.</b> <span class="photo-credit">(TODD WARSHAW/ALLSPORT)</span></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-011359/9271921-1-eng-US/f0028-012.jpg" title="f0028-01" width="187" height="222"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>he corporate leviathan known as the Olympics (Inc.) long ago abandoned the pretense its movements were steered by the core athletic value of good sportsmanship and not an intra-planetary bazaar of barely restrained commerce.</p><p>Thankfully, almost all Olympic athletes continue to exemplify the notion of respect for your fellow competitors. But on the eve of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games, I have to admit I&rsquo;m a little worried about the general Canadian public&rsquo;s commitment to Olympic ideals.</p><p>Or at least, the hockey-watching Canadian public&rsquo;s commitment to them.</p><p>After all, many of my fellow Canadians wholeheartedly believe the Olympic gold medal in both men&rsquo;s and women&rsquo;s hockey is forever ours to lose, solely by virtue of our birth certificates.</p><p>It&rsquo;s hard to fault them for feeling that way. For most of the past few decades, Canadian hockey fans have been subject to a never-ending barrage of nationalist blarney.</p><p>Illogical as it may seem to those outside the Canadian hockey bubble, thousands of us have been persuaded that we&rsquo;ve always wanted to win more than our competition, that the game itself is ours and ours alone, that the valor inside our hearts &ndash; and not, say, Valery Kharlamov&rsquo;s shattered ankle, or Soviet-bloc politics that prevented many Europeans from exposure to the North American game &ndash; inevitably was what landed Canada in the winner&rsquo;s circle time and again.</p><p>Of course, on numerous occasions throughout those years, the hockey gods have exposed that line of thinking as little more than the cynical work of tribal propaganda artists.</p><p>You tell Nicklas Lidstrom &ndash; a.k.a. the first European captain of a Stanley Cup-winning team &ndash; he didn&rsquo;t have enough heart to help lead his team to four sets of championship rings.</p><blockquote class="pullQuote">&lsquo;YOU TELL FORSBERG THAT SWEDEN DIDN&rsquo;T EARN ITS OLYMPIC GOLD&rsquo;</blockquote><p>You tell Peter Forsberg that Sweden didn&rsquo;t earn its Olympic gold at the 2006 Turin Games. You tell Borje Salming and his litany of facial scars that he didn&rsquo;t have the intestinal fortitude to be a pioneer for European NHLers through the 1970s and &rsquo;80s.</p><p>And those three legends are just from one nation. We haven&rsquo;t yet talked about former Red Wing Vladimir Konstantinov and the lion heart that won him a Cup in Detroit &ndash; and more importantly, gave him the will to battle on after a devastating car accident.</p><p>We haven&rsquo;t pointed to the unparalleled exuberance of Konstantinov&rsquo;s Russian countryman Alex Ovechkin, or the understated class that masks fellow Russian Pavel Datsyuk&rsquo;s relentless pursuit of the puck.</p><p>We haven&rsquo;t mentioned people such as Finland veteran Saku Koviu, or American youngster Phil Kessel, both changed by successful fights against cancer.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-011205/9271907-1-eng-US/f0029-012.jpg" title="f0029-01" width="1951" height="1425"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Cheer and paint your face? Sure, but don&rsquo;t go crazy if Canada loses.</b> <span class="photo-credit">(GARY M PRIOR/ALLSPORT)</span></figcaption></div><p>To imagine Canadian teams always will prevail over these types of quality players &ndash; especially now that they&rsquo;ve skated alongside North Americans for so long &ndash; is to presume we hold an inherent providence over the sport.</p><p>Think of the arrogance that entails. Think of the inner sneer that has to accompany it. If another country had the gall to claim to understand and excel at alcohol consumption more than Canada did, would we not regard them like burping boors of the lowest standard?</p><p>You bet your sweet Labatt 50 we would. So please, Canadians and Vancouverites, if Canada wins the tournament in February, let&rsquo;s try real hard not to be obnoxious in victory.</p><p>And if we lose, let&rsquo;s definitely not re-examine every operational facet of Hockey Canada.</p><p>You know that temptation will exist, right?</p><p>If the Canadian team loses &ndash; and if that loss doesn&rsquo;t come in a shootout, in the gold medal game, after 17 disputed and rejected Canadian shootout goals &ndash; we&rsquo;ll hear cries from every corner of the country to commission a royal investigation into the senseless outrage.</p><blockquote class="pullQuote">&lsquo; THE TRUE SPIRIT OF THE OLYMPICS ASSURES US THERE ARE REASONS TO BE HAPPY FOR ANY AND EVERY CHAMPION&rsquo;</blockquote><p>Such jerking of the national knee would be equally loathsome as an over-proud reaction to a triumphant Canadian Olympic squad. For it too assumes we had the gold in our possession and gave it away, as opposed to an acknowledgement of another nation doing everything right over a short span of time.</p><p>I&rsquo;ve written it before, but it&rsquo;s worth repeating: The game of hockey doesn&rsquo;t belong to Canada. Granted, it almost assuredly is more popular per capita here than anywhere else. And it holds a great deal of the game&rsquo;s initial history within its borders.</p><p>However, claiming paternity of a creation doesn&rsquo;t entitle anybody to demand a lifetime of deference and servitude from it.</p><p>Don&rsquo;t get me wrong &ndash; you&rsquo;re allowed to cheer for your country, to have your days inflate and deflate with each win and loss in Vancouver, whether you cheer for Canada or any other team. The Games most certainly are about pride; they&rsquo;re just not about narcissism and the commerce &ndash; always remember the commerce, all you kids out there &ndash; of telling the common man everything he wants to hear.</p><p>The true, unsponsored spirit of the Olympics assures us there are reasons to be happy for any and every champion &ndash; or at least, to respect them &ndash; no matter which anthem they stand for and sing to.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0028-02

IT’S NOT ‘OUR’ GAME

<div class="byline">BY ADAM PROTEAU</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0030-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-011369/9271959-1-eng-US/f0030-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Alex Ovechkin has his eye on playing in the Olympics at home in 2014.</b> <span class="photo-credit">(MIKE STOBE/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><span>A</span>lex Ovechkin&rsquo;s public thoughts on the likelihood of NHL participation in the Winter Olympics beyond the 2010 Games in Vancouver sounded very much like an open and direct challenge to league leaders who have hinted that hockey&rsquo;s top athletes may be forced out of future Olympic on-ice battles.</p><p>&ldquo;Nobody can say to me you can&rsquo;t play for your country in the Olympic Games,&rdquo; said the Washington Capitals superstar last September. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t care. I&rsquo;ll go play in the Olympic Games for my country. If somebody says to me &lsquo;You can&rsquo;t play&rsquo;&hellip;See ya.&rdquo;</p><p>A large part of the reason Ovechkin is so adamant is the fact the 2014 Winter Games will be held in his homeland of Russia. But it isn&rsquo;t just him jonesing for future shots at gold; the vast majority of NHL players also support continued Olympic participation.</p><p>And that points to a potentially serious off-ice clash, just in time for the next round of NHL collective bargaining negotiations in 2011.</p><p>Would Ovechkin consider skipping the NHL &rsquo;s 2013-14 season to play in Sochi? Would the league dare to engage one of its biggest draws in a public stare-down &ndash; or worse, would they go the scorched-earth route and serve him with a lawsuit for breach of contract? (The Caps have No. 8 signed through 2020-21.)</p><p>Before you get your knickers knotted up beyond repair, let&rsquo;s first examine why the league is reticent to keep carving out significant Olympic breaks in their schedules every four years.</p><p>Certainly, the already compressed nature of the regular season schedule &ndash; and the litany of injuries many hockey insiders believe go hand-in-hand with it &ndash; make it understandable why NHL team owners would be wary to tempt fate and potentially lose a marquee draw or two during the Games.</p><p>According to NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, no decision has been made by the league on future Olympic participation.</p><p>&ldquo;We haven&rsquo;t said we&rsquo;re not going to Sochi,&rdquo; said Bettman in November. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve just said we haven&rsquo;t made a decision and that seems to have snowballed into something bigger, like we&rsquo;re anti-Olympics.&rdquo;</p><p>The commissioner, who told <i>Maclean&rsquo;s</i> magazine he was instrumental in bringing NHLers to the Olympics in the first place (at the 1998 Nagano Games), is acutely aware of the public sentiment in favor of keeping the arrangement as is.</p><p>However, a number of factors prevent him and his group of owners from rubberstamping another go-round.</p><p>&ldquo;You balance the pros and the cons,&rdquo; Bettman said. &ldquo;If we go to Sochi, it&rsquo;s eight hours time difference from the East Coast of North America. Every game&rsquo;s going to be played between four in the morning and two in the afternoon, live. You tell me &ndash; is that worth it, to shut down and impact, potentially, your season? I don&rsquo;t know the answer.&rdquo;</p><p>International Ice Hockey Federation president Rene Fasel is much more definitive in his support of NHLers at the Games.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s known that Bettman is not so much in favor to go to the Olympics in 2014,&rdquo; Fasel said. &ldquo;I think this is wrong. He should be the man that says, &lsquo;We want to go because this is good for our sport.&rsquo; I think this is a must for the game. He was not so happy with me for saying this.&rdquo;</p><p>Fasel believes the NHL will allow its players to play in Sochi.</p><p>&ldquo;Speaking with the players, I know they want to go,&rdquo; Fasel told Canadian reporters at a November news conference. &ldquo;Even the guys who don&rsquo;t play in the Olympics, they want to go on vacation and play golf during the break. Even they would be in favor.</p><p>&ldquo;Nothing is ever 100 percent, but I would think there is a better than 90-percent chance they will come.&rdquo;</p><p>One former NHL GM told The Hockey News that he doesn&rsquo;t think the commissioner and league can opt out of the arrangement without incurring the wrath of both fans and players.</p><p>&ldquo;Rightly or wrongly, Gary already wears the black hat in Canada for the Phoenix (Coyotes) ownership mess,&rdquo; said the ex-GM, who asked that his name not be used. &ldquo;If he really wants to be eternally loathed, the best way to do that is to reverse course on the Olympics. To me, the barn door has already been opened on this issue, in terms of allowing professional players into the tournament&hellip;I can&rsquo;t see how you put those horses back in the barn.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-011256/9271952-1-eng-US/f0031-012.jpg" title="f0031-01" width="942" height="1050"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Superstars Ilya Kovalchuk and Evgeni Malkin have also been vocal in their desire to skate in Sochi in the 2014 Games.</b> <span class="photo-credit">(BRUCE BENN ETT/GETTY IM AGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t care what the TV time zone difference is between Europe and North America. Hockey fans here will stay up or record games if they have to &ndash; and (the NHL&rsquo;s) European market will benefit from it.&rdquo;</p><p>Many hockey insiders see the league&rsquo;s hesitation as strategic in nature.</p><p>&ldquo;Ultimately, I think Gary biding his time on this is simply just a bargaining chip the league wants to have in their arsenal for when the next CBA is negotiated,&rdquo; said the former GM. &ldquo;The owners are going to cave on it, but they&rsquo;re going to want something in return.&rdquo;</p><p>Fasel concurred.</p><p>&ldquo;I also think (Bettman&rsquo;s public stance) is part of the strategy of negotiation,&rdquo; Fasel said. &ldquo;Knowing Gary, it could be that, if he says &lsquo;Yes&rsquo; now, he cannot negotiate it with the players afterwards. Because he knows they want to go.&rdquo;</p><p>In other words, all of Bettman&rsquo;s talk about logistical nightmares may just be a ruse designed to land the owners more concessions from the players.</p><p>Indeed, any implied pull-out strategy would run counter to every other professional sport&rsquo;s commitment to the Games.</p><p>&ldquo;(The Olympics are) a great opportunity for the NHL brand,&rdquo; said Fasel in October. &ldquo;When David Stern decided to bring the NBA to Barcelona (Spain, for the 1992 Games), it was huge.</p><p>&ldquo;If you want to bring hockey to new people and new sponsors, you have to use the huge stage of the Winter Olympics. For (the Turin Games), we had 14 billion TV viewers. When I see the numbers the NHL reaches on TV, you cannot compare.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0030-01

THE SOCHI SITUATION

<div class="byline">BY DENIS GIBBONS</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0032-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-011342/9271997-1-eng-US/f0032-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Ask anybody: One of the most magical moments in the history of sport is the U.S.&rsquo;s unlikely &lsquo;Miracle on Ice&rsquo; in 1980.</b> <span class="photo-credit">(AP PHOTO)</span></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><span>H</span>ockey historians are constantly debating the most exciting moments of all-time at the Winter Olympics. The arguments will continue in the years to come, but here are 10 highlights that will be tough to top:</p><h2><b>1. 1980</b></h2><h3><b>THE MIRACLE</b></h3><p>It was a clear case of David slaying Goliath. An inexperienced team of U.S. collegians was a decided underdog against the five-time Olympic champion Soviet Union at Lake Placid, N.Y. With the Soviets leading 3-2 after two periods, Mark Johnson tied the score for the Americans. With 10 minutes to go, Mike Eruzione fired a snapshot from the slot that beat Vladimir Myshkin to give the U.S. a 4-3 victory. Two days later, after beating Finland 4-2, the U.S. won Olympic gold.</p><h2><b>2. 1998</b></h2><h3><b>DOMINATION</b></h3><p>Canada outplayed the Czechs in the semifinal at Nagano, Japan, but the score was 1-1 at the end of regulation. Canada dominated the scoreless overtime. Surprisingly, coach Marc Crawford didn&rsquo;t select Wayne Gretzky for the shootout. Dominik Hasek stopped all five Canadian shooters, while Robert Reichel scored for the Czechs in a 2-1 win. Petr Svoboda then scored the only goal as the Czechs upset Russia 1-0 in the gold medal game.</p><h2><b>3. 2002</b></h2><h3><b>FINALLY GOLDEN AGAIN</b></h3><p>Mario Lemieux made a brilliant play, faking out everyone except a teammate by letting a pass go through his legs to an uncovered Paul Kariya. Lemieux&rsquo;s linemate tallied for Canada to tie the score with the U.S. in the gold medal game at Salt Lake City, Utah. Canada defeated the Americans 5-2, with Joe Sakic and Jarome Iginla each netting two goals, to earn its first Olympic gold medal in 50 years.</p><h2><b>4. 1960</b></h2><h3><b>MIRACLE THE FIRST</b></h3><p>Czechoslovakia was leading the U.S. 4-3 after two periods on the final day at Squaw Valley, Calif., when Soviet captain Nikolai Sologubov entered the American dressing room and urged the players to take extra oxygen. Many did, and the U.S. rammed in six unanswered goals in the final frame to capture its first Olympic gold medal. The star of the tournament was U.S. goalie Jack Mc-Cartan. Bill Cleary of the U.S. said he was proud to play for his country for $15 a month.</p><h2><b>5. 2002</b></h2><h3><b>HEAD SHOT</b></h3><p>Spectators couldn&rsquo;t believe their eyes when Belarus was locked in a 3-3 tie with heavily favored Sweden in the third period of a quarterfinal game at Salt Lake. But they really started pinching themselves when Belarus defenseman Vladimir Kopat beat Swedish goalie Tommy Salo with a long shot from beyond the center red line with only 2:24 to play to knock the Swedes out of the tournament.</p><h2><b>6. 1994</b></h2><h3><b>STAMP IT</b></h3><p>After 60 minutes in the gold medal game between Canada and Sweden, the score was tied 2-2. Another 10 minutes of overtime failed to decide anything. In the shootout, Sweden&rsquo;s Peter Forsberg moved left to his forehand and then slid the puck to his backhand. With one hand on the stick, he beat Corey Hirsch on the open side. Salo made a great save on Paul Kariya at the other end and Sweden claimed its first-ever Olympic gold.</p><h2><b>7. 1956</b></h2><h3><b>SOVIET SIGHTING</b></h3><p>In its first Olympic appearance, the Soviet Union blanked Canada 2-0 to win gold in a game played outdoors at Cortina d&rsquo;Ampezzo, Italy, before a capacity crowd of 12,700. Canada outshot the newcomers 23-9, but Soviet goalie Nikolai Puchkov was unbeatable. The U.S. also upset Canada 4-1 on its way to silver. While the Soviets made a smashing debut, Canada&rsquo;s bronze was its worst international result ever.</p><h2><b>8. 2006</b></h2><h3><b>SWEDISH DOUBLE-DIP</b></h3><p>Despite losing to Russia and Slovakia in the preliminary round, Sweden earned its second Olympic title by edging arch-rival Finland 3-2 in the gold medal game on a third period goal by Nicklas Lidstrom. Just two months later, eight of the Swedish players were on the Tre Kronor team that won the World Championship in Latvia, shutting out the Czech Republic 4-0.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-011196/9271990-1-eng-US/f0033-012.jpg" title="f0033-01" width="1446" height="841"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>The U.S. stunned Canada 3-1 at the 1998 Games in Nagano to capture the first women&rsquo;s gold medal in hockey.</b> <span class="photo-credit">(BRUCE BENNETT STUDIOS/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><h2><b>9. 1998</b></h2><h3><b>THE WOMEN ARRIVE</b></h3><p>As expected, Canada and the U.S. played for gold in the first women&rsquo;s Olympic tournament at Nagano. The underdog Americans shocked the four-time world champs 3-1 to become Olympic victors. Just three days earlier, the U.S. gave itself a huge confidence boost by rallying from a 4-1 deficit to win 7-4 over Canada in the final game of the preliminary round. The gold medal victory sparked a huge growth in women&rsquo;s hockey in the U.S.</p><h2><b>10. 2006</b></h2><h3><b>SWEDISH SURPRISE</b></h3><p>Maria Rooth and Kim Martin became national heroes in Sweden after starring in a stunning 3-2 upset of the U.S. in the semifinal at Turin, Italy. After the Americans took a 2-0 lead, Rooth scored twice to force extra time. A 10-minute overtime period was scoreless. In the ensuing shootout Martin stopped all five of the American shooters, while Rooth and Pernilla Winberg connected for Sweden to send their country on to the gold medal game. It mattered little to Sweden that they lost 4-1 to Canada in the finale.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0032-01

TOP 10 OLYMPIC MOMENTS

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0033-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-02819/9272028-1-eng-US/f0033-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Canada tied for second in 1964, but a change in the tie-breaking procedure resulted in a medal-less Olympics.</b> <span class="photo-credit">(AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p><b>1.</b>&nbsp;<i>Heartbroken after losing 3-2 to the Soviets on the final day of the 1964 Games, Canada expects to receive bronze medals after finishing in a tie for second with Czechoslovakia and Sweden. Only then do they learn the rules for breaking a tie in the standings have been changed. Sweden gets the silver medal and Czechoslovakia the bronze.</i></p><p><b>2.</b>&nbsp;<i>Midway through the 1998 Olympics, it&rsquo;s discovered Ulf Samuelsson holds both Swedish and American passports. Since Swedish law doesn&rsquo;t allow dual citizenship, he&rsquo;s banned from the rest of the Games. Without one of its top blueliners, Sweden loses 2-1 to Finland in the quarterfinal and winds up without a medal.</i></p><p><b>3.</b>&nbsp;<i>At Sapporo, Japan, in 1972, the U.S. surprises Czechoslovakia 5-1 en route to silver &ndash; and completes an amazing comeback from the depths of hockey mediocrity. They were called &ldquo;the forgotten team&rdquo; as American viewers missed the medal ceremony when NBC ended its Olympic coverage a few minutes before the event took place.</i></p><p><b>4.</b>&nbsp;<i>The Soviet Union breezes through its first seven games at Calgary in 1988 and clinches gold by thumping Sweden 7-1 with one round left to play. On the final day, Finland shocks the Olympic champs 2-1 to win silver, its first hockey medal. The game establishes Finland as a hockey power, a contender rather than a pretender</i></p><p><b>5.</b>&nbsp;<i>Jimmy Foster, who played in Canada for 13 years, prevents the nation from winning gold in Germany in 1936. That&rsquo;s because he is in net for Great Britain, which nips Canada 2-1 and later becomes Olympic champs for the only time. The Brits had another victory by refusing to give the Nazi salute in the opening ceremonies.</i><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0033-02

TOP 5 FORGOTTEN MOMENTS

<h2><b>1998 NAGANO, JAPAN</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-02929/9272111-1-eng-US/f0034-022.jpg" title="f0034-02" width="391" height="269"></div><h3><b>CZE 1 : RUS 0</b></h3><p class="dropcap"><i><span>P</span>enguins teammates Jaromir Jagr and Darius Kasparaitis met in the first Olympic final featuring NHLers. The Russian defense kept Jagr in check, but couldn&rsquo;t prevent Czech D-man Petr Svoboda from scoring the winner.</i></p><h2><b>2002 SALT LAKE CITY, USA</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-03738/9272104-1-eng-US/f0034-032.jpg" title="f0034-03" width="394" height="272"></div><h3><b>CAN 5 : USA 2</b></h3><p><i>They would go on to win the Stanley Cup together a few months later, but Red Wings stars Steve Yzerman and Brett Hull first faced off against each other with Olympic gold on the line in Salt Lake.</i></p><h2><b>2006 TURN, ITALY</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-04593/9272097-1-eng-US/f0034-042.jpg" title="f0034-04" width="393" height="270"></div><h3><b>SWE 3 : FIN 2</b></h3><p><i>After playing on the same side for five years in Vancouver, the Sedin twins had the inauspicious opportunity to go up against agitating Finn Jarkko Ruutu. Henrik and Daniel got the last laugh, and a golden one at that</i><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0034-02

GOLD MEDAL SHOWDOWNS

<div class="byline">BY RYAN KENNEDY</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0034-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-011355/9272066-1-eng-US/f0034-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Stanley Cup champs Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin might be on opposite sides in the gold medal game.</b></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><span>W</span>hen the medal round begins and the stakes get raised to the highest level, there will be some potentially awkward staredowns between the combatants.</p><p>That&rsquo;s because no matter what the matchups are, there&rsquo;s bound to be a clash of NHL teammates looking at each other while wearing opposing international sweaters. Back in 1998, Dominik Hasek led the Czech Republic to a gold medal with a stunning victory over the Russians in the final. In doing so, he relegated Buffalo Sabres teammate Alexei Zhitnik to silver</p><p>Hasek&rsquo;s teammate in Nagano, Colorado&rsquo;s Milan Hejduk, would bring his gold medal resume to Denver the next season, joining a loaded squad that included Canadian Olympians Joe Sakic and Adam Foote, and Swedish star Peter Forsberg.</p><p>So isn&rsquo;t it a bit weird facing your NHL teammates on Olympic ice? For most competitors, it comes with the territory.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s always fun to play against everybody,&rdquo; Hejduk said. &ldquo;It makes it special.&rdquo;</p><p>The double-edged sword, of course, comes from the fact that you want to do everything possible to give your country the advantage in the tournament, but must balance that off against letting NHL opponents know the secrets of your NHL teammates once the race for gold ends and the race for the Stanley Cup commences again. But most hockey players prefer to live in the here and now, and winning that medal usually trumps whatever confidential information on NHL teammates may come back to haunt them in North America. Evidently, sharing is encouraged in the international game.</p><p>&ldquo;Especially if you play against your (NHL) teammate goalie,&rdquo; Hejduk said. &ldquo;You give some scoops for international success.&rdquo;</p><p>Fellow Colorado Avalanche winger Marek Svatos, who suits up internationally for the Czech Republic&rsquo;s chief rival, Slovakia, agrees with Hejduk&rsquo;s assessment.</p><p>&ldquo;Of course, of course,&rdquo; Svatos said. &ldquo;If you know the guys, you&rsquo;re going to give the scouting report.</p><p>&ldquo;I guess you get used to playing against your teammates internationally.&rdquo;</p><p>Thanks to the speed of the game &ndash; especially in an Olympic tournament where the best talent in the world is concentrated on a handful of teams &ndash; Buffalo Sabres defenseman Toni Lydman believes allegiances die quickly.</p><p>&ldquo;You can&rsquo;t think about that, you&rsquo;re playing for your country,&rdquo; said the Finnish blueliner. &ldquo;Besides, it&rsquo;s too quick to even realize who&rsquo;s coming into the corner with you.&rdquo;</p><p>And while there are few incidents of NHL teammate-on-teammate violence in the Olympics (Jarkko Ruutu and Jaromir Jagr were both Penguins, but not at the same time when the pesky Finn drilled the Czech star in 2006), that doesn&rsquo;t mean players aren&rsquo;t giving each other the gears whenever they can both before and after the Games.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-011267/9272059-1-eng-US/f0035-012.jpg" title="f0035-01" width="934" height="1099"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Daniel Alfredsson and Mats Sundin had to put the Battle of Ontario on hold when they teamed up for Sweden.</b> <span class="photo-credit">(DAVE SANDFORD/GETTY IMAGES/NHLI)</span></figcaption></div><p>&ldquo;We throw jokes here and there,&rdquo; Svatos said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s always fun.&rdquo;</p><p>Pavel Kubina, a veteran of the past two Olympic tourneys for the Czechs, agreed.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s always like that,&rdquo; said the Atlanta Thrashers defenseman. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s always a little trash talk.&rdquo;</p><p>And while the gamesmanship is ongoing in NHL dressing rooms and dissipates as soon as someone else makes a gaffe worthy of greater mockery, coming together with teammates who are usually blood enemies is a key aspect of forming a champion Olympic squad.</p><p>&ldquo;Sometimes you play five or six games and it&rsquo;s over,&rdquo; Kubina said.</p><p>Because of that, NHL rivalries must be put to bed quickly. To wit, Sweden&rsquo;s 2006 gold medal entry featured both Ottawa&rsquo;s Daniel Alfredsson and Toronto&rsquo;s Mats Sundin, two very important forwards who were at the center of the Battle of Ontario back in the NHL. Similarly, Canada&rsquo;s champion 2002 squad in Salt Lake City was anchored by Colorado captain Joe Sakic and his Detroit Red Wings counterpart Steve Yzerman. Needless to say, those two NHL teams had a very contentious rivalry at that particular time.</p><p>But as Anaheim Ducks defenseman and Canadian Olympian Scott Niedermayer points out, friends and foes get mixed up a lot from the time a player graduates from the junior ranks to the NHL and onward, through trades and free agency.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s something you get used to as you move up the ladder,&rdquo; Niedermayer said. &ldquo;You go out and compete just like they do.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0034-01

FAMILIAR FOES

<div class="byline">&#x2013; with Adam Proteau</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-02832/9272149-1-eng-US/f0036-022.jpg" title="f0036-02" width="942" height="1425"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Marc Crawford has &ldquo;come to grips&rdquo; with his shootout picks.</b> <span class="photo-credit">(TODD WARSHAW/ALLSPORT)</span></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-011253/9272156-1-eng-US/f0036-012.jpg" title="f0036-01" width="187" height="222"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>W</span>hen I first heard I would coach Team Canada at the 1998 Olympics, I was driving home from Colorado in the middle of July. Bobby Clarke was on the line and I remember just thinking, &ldquo;Wow, this is really, really special.&rdquo; I had to pull off the road because I knew it might be dangerous to drive.</p><p>We had a big press conference in Toronto to make the announcement and that&rsquo;s when I started to realize how big this tournament was going to be in Canada, just by the number of reporters at the Royal York hotel that day.</p><p>The assistant coaches &ndash; Wayne Cashman, Mike Johnson and Andy Murray &ndash; had been the coaches of Canada&rsquo;s World Championship team that won the gold medal in 1997, so they had a real good feel for international hockey. I probably deferred a little bit more to them in terms of strategy than I would&rsquo;ve if we&rsquo;d been working in the NHL or a World Cup. They knew the international beat better than I did and they took a lot of the lead, especially Andy and Mike.</p><p>It was tough to balance my NHL duties with my Olympic duties and it was the first time NHLers were going to the Olympics. We didn&rsquo;t know the beast of the tournament, the international rules and what happened in that type of format. It was all new.</p><p>We had our first meeting in Vancouver at the NHL All-Star Game, but it dealt more with logistics like tickets, clothing and apparel, and didn&rsquo;t have a lot to do with hockey. So we then turned our attention to preparation and that&rsquo;s where Mike and Andy did a great job of pre-scouting and designing a simplified game plan for the team.</p><p>We presented our information on the plane ride over. We had individual meetings with the players and we had a team meeting to discuss our structure. And then we had two or three practices once we got over to Japan.</p><p>We didn&rsquo;t have time to stop and smell the roses. We went straight from the airport and stayed overnight one night in Tokyo, and the next day we boarded the bullet train, which was neat.</p><blockquote class="pullQuote">&lsquo; WE HAD 10 MINUTES WHERE WE WEREN&rsquo;T GOOD AND THAT&rsquo;S ALL IT TOOK&rsquo;</blockquote><p>But when we arrived, it was a madhouse. An absolute madhouse. I don&rsquo;t know how Alberto Tomba and some of the other great athletes were treated, but the NHL players were treated extremely well &ndash; especially Wayne Gretzky.</p><p>When he came off that train, I had a sense of how The Beatles must have felt. That&rsquo;s exactly what it was like. Honestly, it was bordering on the edge of frightening; certainly exciting, but it was uncontrolled and I think Hockey Canada learned a lot from what happened there.</p><p>Our players were very professional throughout the tournament; they were extremely receptive in practice and games to the strategies we used. I thought they were terrific.</p><p>Truthfully, we had a 10-minute stint where we weren&rsquo;t good in the tournament and that was all it took. That was the 10 minutes at the start of the semifinal game against the Czech Republic, but we fought our way back and I thought we dominated the rest of the way and in overtime.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-011119/9272142-1-eng-US/f0037-012.jpg" title="f0037-01" width="1976" height="1459"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Canada&rsquo;s first NHL-powered Olympic entry finished fourth.</b> <span class="photo-credit">(GARY M PRIOR/ALLSPORT)</span></figcaption></div><p>Unfortunately, when we got to the shootout, in hindsight I think we were terrified. And they were more accustomed to it.</p><p>After the game against the Czechs, I didn&rsquo;t say anything to the players. We had a meeting four or five hours later that night and the only thing I remember was we tried to regroup the guys.</p><p>Needless to say, it was devastating. And I thought Bob Gainey was absolutely tremendous in recapturing the group, and Gretzky also showed tremendous leadership at that point. It was foreign to us to be playing for a bronze medal, but no excuses &ndash; nowadays, you recognize that you always want to perform well.</p><p>But the loss to Finland in the bronze medal game was probably the poorest outing we had and yet we still played well enough to win. We outshot them and outchanced them, but they got a great performance from Ari Sulander, their goalie, and that&rsquo;s how sports goes. Every player to a man would&rsquo;ve loved to have won that game; it would&rsquo;ve given us a lot of solace.</p><p>You learn so much from these experiences and looking back, I think that group &ndash; coaches, management, Hockey Canada and especially the players &ndash; used those lessons to their advantage the next time. They were totally ready in 2002 &ndash; and they probably had their adversity at the right time then.</p><p>The 1998 Nagano Games were the first time modern NHLers played in the Olympics. We got served a couple of good lessons, but I still cherish the memory of being there. I&rsquo;ll probably go to my grave with the epitaph of &ldquo;Here&rsquo;s a guy who coached in the NHL &ndash; oh yeah, and he didn&rsquo;t choose Wayne Gretzky for the shootout.&rdquo;</p><p>At the same time, I&rsquo;ve come to grips with it. And I tell everyone now, &ldquo;Hey, maybe I should&rsquo;ve picked Wayne to shoot, but I&rsquo;m comfortable knowing I did what I thought was the right thing to do to try and win at that particular time,&rdquo; and that&rsquo;s all you can ask for.</p><blockquote class="pullQuote">&lsquo; WHEN WE GOT TO THE SHOOTOUT, I THINK WE WERE TERRIFIED&rsquo;</blockquote><p>In terms of advice for players going to the Vancouver Games, I&rsquo;d say take nothing for granted and be at your absolute best each and every shift, because it&rsquo;s such a short event and it&rsquo;s really won and lost on crucial moments.</p><p>On the other side, I&rsquo;d tell them to make sure they find the time to smell the roses and appreciate the enormity of where they are.</p><p>For professional athletes, we so often have big-time performances that we take them for granted, but the Olympics are so huge and on a global stage.</p><p>I think hockey players are really getting that now &ndash; not just the Canadians, but everybody. They know the world is watching.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0036-02

THE FIRST TIME

<div class="byline">&#x2013; with Ken Campbell</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-02821/9272194-1-eng-US/f0038-022.jpg" title="f0038-02" width="988" height="1417"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Steve Yzerman says the team-only celebration was a career highlight.</b> <span class="photo-credit">(BRIAN BAHR/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-011209/9272201-1-eng-US/f0038-012.jpg" title="f0038-01" width="187" height="222"></div><p>Some of the greatest moments, the ones you cherish the most as a hockey player, happen in the dressing room.</p><p>And that&rsquo;s what I&rsquo;ll remember most about the 2002 Canadian Olympic team.</p><p>We had just defeated Team USA 5-2 in the gold medal game, and it was a personal accomplishment that ranks right up there with my Stanley Cups in 1997 and &rsquo;98 and the one we won with the Detroit Red Wings four months after the gold medal in Salt Lake City to cap one of the most rewarding seasons of my 22-year NHL career.</p><p>When you win a Stanley Cup, the scene in the dressing room after the game is an absolute free-for-all. Total chaos. You&rsquo;re there in your cramped quarters celebrating with members of your family and your friends. The media is there and so are all kinds of people you&rsquo;ve never seen before. I was blessed to be part of that bedlam three times during my playing career.</p><p>But after the gold medal game in Salt Lake City, it was just us &ndash; the players and the coaching staff. We were able to sit around for two hours and talk about what we had just accomplished over a couple of beers. Just the players alone with our thoughts and emotions.</p><p>It was one of the most wonderful experiences I&rsquo;ve ever had as a hockey player. It wasn&rsquo;t the same kind of raucous party you see in the dressing room after a Stanley Cup, but it was so special to be a part of that celebration.</p><p>It&rsquo;s interesting when you contrast that with the feelings we had in our dressing room before the gold medal game. We felt we were hitting our stride by the time the championship game came around, but we knew we were facing a talented, veteran team in the Americans.</p><p>I know I was really nervous about the gold medal game and I think everyone on our team was. At the rink in Salt Lake, they had the main dressing room, but then there was another room closer to the ice surface where we went after warm-ups and between periods. I remember in that room before the game, nobody said anything. They didn&rsquo;t need to. We were a veteran group and a lot of us had been through the disappointment in 1998. We knew what we had to do.</p><p>There weren&rsquo;t a lot of rah-rah guys on that team, but that&rsquo;s not what we needed. We had a group of players who went about their business and did what they had to do to get the job done. There was absolutely no sense of panic among our guys when we lost the first game of the tournament 5-2 to Sweden, then followed that up with just a 3-2 win over Germany and a 2-2 tie with the Czechs in the round-robin. We knew we were getting better by the Germany game because despite the close score, we were in control until the final minutes when they had a flurry and we hung on for the win.</p><p>It was before the game against the Czech Republic that I learned I would be playing on a line with Mario Lemieux and Paul Kariya, a line that would stay together for the rest of the tournament. My knee had really been bothering me after the game against Germany and had swelled up and was full of fluid. In fact, if I had known how much my knee was going to bother me, I probably wouldn&rsquo;t have played.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-011113/9272187-1-eng-US/f0039-012.jpg" title="f0039-01" width="1951" height="1425"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Despite playing on a bad knee, Yzerman was key for Canada in &rsquo;02.</b> <span class="photo-credit">(MARTIN ROSE/BONGARTS/GETTY IM AGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>But I had made a commitment to the team and I was intent on fulfilling it, even as the 13th forward. That&rsquo;s exactly what I thought I would be going into the Czech game, but when I came in to look at the board, I saw my name with Mario and Paul. I had no idea what the coaches were thinking and I sure didn&rsquo;t question it, but I thought, &lsquo;I&rsquo;d better pick up my game here.&rsquo;</p><p>The Czech game, which we tied 2-2, was an outstanding game and we thought we played really well. I think it was then that we really began to believe in ourselves as a team. Our line seemed to click well right away and continued to do so throughout the tournament.</p><p>Mario and I each finished the tournament with six points and Paul had three goals and four points. Not a bad showing considering Mario and I were the two oldest forwards on the team.</p><p>With our line, it all revolved around Mario. The goal I got in our 2-1 win in the semifinal over Finland, Mario could have scored that himself, but he left me with a wide-open net. And on Paul&rsquo;s goal in the gold medal game when Mario let the puck slide between his legs&hellip;there&rsquo;s no way I&rsquo;m letting that puck go between my legs, nor is any other guy in the league. And that&rsquo;s what makes Mario so special.</p><p>We didn&rsquo;t go through an 82-game schedule and the playoffs, but it was amazing how quickly a group of guys bond in a tournament like the Olympics. I think everyone just really appreciated what we had accomplished. It was about nothing but winning and when we did that, we were like a bunch of kids again.</p><p>After we had our celebration time as a team in the dressing room, they took us on a bus to a party and everyone was there, so we just kind of dispersed.</p><blockquote class="pullQuote">&lsquo; IT WAS ABOUT WINNING&hellip; AND WHEN WE DID, WE WERE KIDS AGAIN&rsquo;</blockquote><p>The Red Wings sent their plane to get all of the Detroit players on the Monday and we immediately played on Tuesday and Wednesday, back-to-back, in Tampa Bay and Florida.</p><p>This time around in Vancouver, it will be a completely different situation for me. Like Wayne Gretzky did in 2002, I&rsquo;ll be on the sidelines watching and fretting with every other Canadian through each game.</p><p>As players and coaches, you just go out and play and you know you have control over what happens on the ice. As a part of Canada&rsquo;s management team, though, it&rsquo;s almost like when you watch your children playing sports. You&rsquo;re probably more nervous than they are.</p><p>But at least my knee will hold up all right this time.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0038-02

PERFECT MOMENT IN TIME

<div class="byline">&#x2013; with Wayne Fish</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0040-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-02493/9272239-1-eng-US/f0040-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Chris Pronger skates into his fourth Games for Canada.</b> <span class="photo-credit">(ROBERT LABERGE/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-01807/9272246-1-eng-US/f0040-012.jpg" title="f0040-01" width="187" height="222"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>W</span>hen people ask me how disappointing it was to not win the Olympic gold in 2006, I tell them we all look back on it nearly four years later and it still leaves a bitter taste in our mouths.</p><p>It&rsquo;s gold medal or bust for sure in Canada.</p><p>The expectations for the citizens of Canada are high, but I think they are even higher for us as players and what we expect of ourselves and what we want to do for our country.</p><p>I&rsquo;ve been a part of three Olympic teams and was fortunate enough to win gold at Salt Lake City in 2002. The two defeats are disappointing, there is no getting around that.</p><p>We, the players, expect the best of ourselves and obviously the country expects that, too &ndash; to perform to that capability, that high level. So, yeah, you feel disappointed that you let your country down, but you also feel disappointed that you let yourself and your teammates down.</p><p>We had high expectations in Turin after winning the gold at Salt Lake. We had such high hopes and to lose in the fashion that we did, to not play up to our potential, was extremely disappointing.</p><p>The 2006 tournament in Italy reminded us that in order for a team to win, each and every player has to be at his best.</p><p>I think to a man over there we all needed to play better. When you play against that high a level of competition, we can all look in the mirror and say, &ldquo;I could have played better.&rsquo;&rsquo; For a team to be successful in that kind of tournament, with the caliber of players that are there, you need everyone playing to the top of their abilities.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-01695/9272232-1-eng-US/f0041-012.jpg" title="f0041-01" width="1951" height="1425"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Opponents will be on guard when powerful Pronger is on the ice.</b> <span class="photo-credit">(DON EMMERT/AFP/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>For whatever reason, we weren&rsquo;t at our best. We played Switzerland in one of the round-robin games and lost. Our offense was pretty much inept and we weren&rsquo;t able to score any goals.</p><p>I recall we got off to a decent start against Italy, but then we played Switzerland and we lost 2-0. I wouldn&rsquo;t say we were overconfident going into that game, but we didn&rsquo;t play our best. Then we played an OK game against the Czechs and I believe we felt like we were kind of back on track.</p><p>It was very inconsistent play on our part, though, kind of back and forth. It&rsquo;s not the way you want to be playing in a tournament like the Olympics. There can&rsquo;t be periods where there are lulls in your game. You want to be continually getting better with each game and, to be honest, we weren&rsquo;t doing that.</p><p>A lot was made of the tight schedules and the travel demands the players faced leading up to Turin. When you lose, you can always build excuses for yourself &ndash; jet lag, not enough time to practise, getting off your routine. But pretty much every team to a man had to fly over (from NHL play in North America).</p><p>Some players are going to have different schedules. Back in 2006, I took a red-eye to Toronto, got two hours of sleep before the team practice there, then took another red-eye to Italy. It&rsquo;s tiring, but there&rsquo;s enough time to adapt.</p><p>Once you get through that first game, there&rsquo;s plenty of time to get over the jet lag and to get your legs back. Certainly, it&rsquo;s going to affect every player differently and some guys are going to feel better than others. But at the end of the day, most of the players coming from North America are going to experience the same issues and they learn how to deal with them.</p><p>I think the important thing for us to remember is that each Olympics is a valuable learning experience.</p><p>At the end of the day, the core group from Canada &ndash; the six or eight guys who were there in &rsquo;02 and &rsquo;06 and are probably going to be in Vancouver this time, as well as the players who have won Stanley Cups or international championships &ndash; they understand that the Olympics are a team goal and a team concept.</p><blockquote class="pullQuote">&lsquo; IF YOU&rsquo;RE NOT GOING TO BUY IN, YOU&rsquo;RE NOT GOING TO BE ON THE TEAM&rsquo;</blockquote><p>Everyone has to buy in, everyone has to play under the same structure, the same concept and understand that&rsquo;s the way it has to be.</p><p>That&rsquo;s something we learned from the last Olympics.</p><p>I know that was one of the biggest things that they stressed when we were at the Olympic camp in Calgary last summer &ndash; the coaches told us that this is the way we&rsquo;re going to play and everyone needs to buy in.</p><p>If you&rsquo;re not going to buy in, you&rsquo;re not going to be on the team. That&rsquo;s been a real focal point for us.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0040-02

THERE IS ONLY GOLD

<div class="byline">By Adam Proteau</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-01718/9272284-1-eng-US/f0043-012.jpg" title="f0043-01" width="319" height="208"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-01729/9272277-1-eng-US/f0042-012.jpg" title="f0042-01" width="1756" height="2532"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(JEFF VINNICK/HOCKEY CANADA)</span></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>he last time Sidney Crosby was eligible to represent his homeland at the Winter Olympics &ndash; in 2006 at the Turin Games &ndash; the brain trust at Hockey Canada quietly decided to go in a competitive direction that didn&rsquo;t include the then-18-year-old.</p><p>Although Crosby was reticent to discuss the likelihood of playing in his first Olympic Games, he did acknowledge the idea of wearing Canada&rsquo;s colors in Vancouver has stuck in the deep recesses of his mind.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s always something I think about when I&rsquo;m reminded of it,&rdquo; Crosby said, &ldquo;but at the same time, I found it pretty easy just to put it on the back burner, worry about playing (in Pittsburgh) and being at my best here, and if that&rsquo;s the case, everything kind of takes care of itself. That&rsquo;s how I&rsquo;ve been trying to look at it.&rdquo;</p><p>That&rsquo;s a very wise way to look at it. And it&rsquo;s impossible to argue with his results.</p><p>Because &ndash; and call it a hunch if you want to &ndash; something tells us that, this time around, Team Canada isn&rsquo;t going to dismiss the Penguins superstar quite so easily.</p><p>Or at all.</p><p>&ldquo;If Sidney Crosby is not named to that team,&rdquo; said one NHL management figure familiar with the Olympic process, &ldquo;this will be (Team Canada architect) Steve Yzerman&rsquo;s one and only time in charge of that team. But I think Steve has every intention of holding on to that job, if you know what I mean.</p><p>&ldquo;If you don&rsquo;t, I can be a lot clearer: Sid is as much of a lock as anybody who&rsquo;ll be on the Canadian team.&rdquo;</p><p>Certainly, any elite NHLer&rsquo;s chances at wearing his country&rsquo;s colors in the Olympics would be improved by the Stanley Cup championship, Art Ross and Hart Trophies, Lester B. Pearson Award and NHL first-team all-star honors Crosby now has on his professional resume.</p><p>His accumulated international hockey experience may not be Shane Doan-like in terms of games played&ndash; thus far, he&rsquo;s only appeared in the 2004 and 2005 World Junior Championships as well as the 2006 World Championship &ndash; but he quickly carved out a legacy for himself there as well, winning a gold medal and a silver in his two WJC showings.</p><p>And in spite of early-season struggles that limited the Cole Harbour, N.S., native to &ldquo;only&rdquo; a point-per-game average through the first segment of 2009-10, the progression of Crosby as an NHLer entails so much more than any amount of league hardware or media laurels ever could.</p><p>Those fortunate enough to see the Pens captain every day, behind the scenes and away from the spotlight, are the ones with the best view on his continuing development.</p><p>&ldquo;The thing that&rsquo;s most evident when you&rsquo;re around him, even for a short period of time, is his burning desire to get better &ndash; and not just at scoring goals, or things that are going to show up on a scoresheet or win awards for him,&rdquo; said Penguins coach Dan Bylsma. &ldquo;For four years, he&rsquo;s been to all of our penalty kill meetings because he wants to get better at it&hellip;He didn&rsquo;t do it for the first three years, but he came to every meeting because he wanted to get better and show he could do it and add to his game.&rdquo;</p><p>Crosby&rsquo;s focus on improvement didn&rsquo;t end there.</p><p>&ldquo;He&rsquo;s also worked at faceoffs for years as well, he hasn&rsquo;t always been good, but you can see now how it&rsquo;s paid off in his game,&rdquo; Bylsma said. &ldquo;That determination is really what he shows you and his teammates each and every day he&rsquo;s around the rink.&rdquo;</p><blockquote class="pullQuote">&lsquo; THE MOST EVIDENT THING ABOUT CROSBY IS HIS DESIRE TO WIN&rsquo;</blockquote><p>Added Crosby&rsquo;s Penguins teammate Kris Letang: &ldquo;He&rsquo;s focused so much more on his defensive game. When you come into the league as an offensive player, all the attention is on you because you can score goals and bring offense, but there&rsquo;s a different aspect of the game we&rsquo;ve seen from him as he&rsquo;s learned about the league.</p><p>&ldquo;He&rsquo;s been blocking shots, playing down low (in the defensive end) and leadership-wise, he&rsquo;s also gained a lot of experience. He has come a long way.&rdquo;</p><p>When the topic turns to whether Crosby felt slighted by not playing for Canada in 2006, opinions are mixed.</p><p>&ldquo;Maybe he was a little bit,&rdquo; Letang said. &ldquo;But I think most people would say he&rsquo;s one of the best players in the NHL right now, if not the best in the league and he&rsquo;s always ready for a challenge. To be a leader on the Olympic team is going to be one of those challenges and I don&rsquo;t see him not being up for it.&rdquo;</p><p>Penguins playoff hero Max Talbot disagrees with Letang.</p><p>&ldquo;No, I don&rsquo;t think Sidney is bitter at all,&rdquo; Talbot said. &ldquo;Of course he would love to represent his country and win a gold medal, but I&rsquo;m not sure he&rsquo;s angry with the past or motivated by it. He&rsquo;s matured all-around in his game and that&rsquo;s because he&rsquo;s driven to do all the small things that put him at his best when he&rsquo;s out there on the ice.</p><p>&ldquo;That&rsquo;s all that matters to him &ndash; and that&rsquo;s why he&rsquo;s had the success he&rsquo;s already had in this league.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0043-01

THE FUTURE IS NOW

<div class="byline">By Ken Campbel</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-01491/9272360-1-eng-US/f0047-012.jpg" title="f0047-01" width="319" height="208"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-01525/9272353-1-eng-US/f0046-012.jpg" title="f0046-01" width="1951" height="2809"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(JEFF VINNICK/HOCKEY CANADA)</span></figcaption></div><p>The official record will always show that Rick Nash had zero goals in six games at the 2006 Winter Olympic Games in Turin, Italy.</p><p>If you visit YouTube, however, you&rsquo;ll see some irrefutable evidence to the contrary.</p><p>In Canada&rsquo;s 2-0 loss to Switzerland &ndash; yeah, that really happened &ndash; goalie Martin Gerber made what looked like an all-time spectacular save on Nash &ndash; yeah, that really happened, too &ndash; but replays showed Gerber&rsquo;s glove was clearly across the goal line and in the net when he caught the puck.</p><p>The goal wouldn&rsquo;t have won the game for Canada, nor would it likely have prevented the team from finishing a disastrous seventh, but Nash still looks at 2006 as a positive point in his career and will apply the lessons he learned in Turin when he hits the ice for Canada in 2010.</p><p>To be sure, Nash expects both himself and Canada to have a better experience this time around.</p><p>Nash being robbed against Switzerland was fitting, considering what a terrible time Canada had scoring goals in Turin. Canada was inexplicably shut out three times in six games, against the Swiss and Finland in the qualifying round before losing 2-0 to Russia in the quarterfinal. Canada gave up only 11 goals in the tournament, but scored just 15 times in six games.</p><p>&ldquo;It was good for me personally because I got to sit back and watch guys like (Joe) Sakic and (Rob) Blake handle themselves in pretty much the worst possible situations you could be in,&rdquo; said Nash, the first overall pick by Columbus in 2002.</p><p>&ldquo;To go in rated No. 1 and finish seventh was really disappointing, but I tried to take some positives out of it.&rdquo;</p><p>The version of Nash that Canada gets in 2010 is a much more mature, refined and experienced player on the international stage. He also gives Canada something of an embarrassment of riches on the right side along with Jarome Iginla, Corey Perry and Martin St-Louis, all of whom are natural right wingers.</p><p>As good as he already was in 2006, Nash was just beginning to find his game.</p><p>He was known more for his goal-scoring ability than anything else. In his sophomore season of 2003-04, Nash shared the Rocket Richard Trophy, scoring 41 goals. But he added just 16 assists and was a minus-35, leaving many to wonder if he&rsquo;d ever become more than a triggerman.</p><p>Nash looked to be on track to be much more after the lockout. In 2005-06, ankle and knee injuries limited him to just 54 NHL games, but he still posted 31 goals and 54 points, and was plus-5.</p><p>His assist totals have risen each of the past two seasons, and will again this year. And maybe most importantly, he was a plus player each of the past two years as well.</p><p>While his point totals continued to trend upwards, this season much has been made of his evolution as an all-around player, even though he was on pace for almost 60 goals.</p><p>There is little doubt Nash has more to offer the Canadian Olympic team than he did four years ago. His game has far more texture now and he is drawing ice time in more situations such as penalty killing and playing with a lead.</p><p>&ldquo;My game has pretty much completely changed,&rdquo; said Nash, 25. &ldquo;Since Hitch (Columbus Blue Jackets coach Ken Hitchcock) has come here, he has molded me into a complete player. Before I used to just score goals, but I hope they feel now they can use me in every situation.&rdquo;</p><p>In 2005, the year of the NHL lockout, Nash and Joe Thornton were magical for Canada at the World Championship. Nash led the way with nine goals and 15 points in nine games for the Canadian team, which won silver.</p><blockquote class="pullQuote">&lsquo; I KNOW WHAT IT&rsquo;S LIKE TO PLAY IN A GOLD MEDAL GAME&rsquo;</blockquote><p>On the back of a point-per-NHL-game pace in 2005-06 and coupled with his performance in the worlds the year before, it was no wonder Team Canada and Canadians generally were expecting so much from Nash in Turin. It was not meant to be. But certainly the Canadian national team has learned during the years since Turin what a great international player Nash can be.</p><p>In 2007, he scored six goals and 11 points in nine games for Canada as it won the World Championship. Nash was named the tournament&rsquo;s most valuable player.</p><p>A year later, he scored six goals and 13 points in nine games for Canada&rsquo;s silver medal team and was named to the tournament all-star team.</p><p>Overall, Nash has played in three gold medal games for Canada at the World Championship level and one in the World Junior Championship and, while he has endured his share of disappointments, he has also been tested in high-pressure situations.</p><p>&ldquo;I definitely know what it&rsquo;s like to play in a gold medal game and to play in a tournament like that,&rdquo; Nash said.</p><p>&ldquo;Obviously, the stakes are a lot higher in the Olympics, especially with them being in your own country, but just having that experience, I&rsquo;m not going in a blind as I did last time.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0047-01

BETTER THAN EVER

<div class="byline">By Peter Kerzel</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0048-01362/9272405-1-eng-US/f0048-012.jpg" title="f0048-01" width="319" height="208"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>F</span>or all his dogged intensity &ndash; the steely staredowns of opposing goalies as he darts along the wing, the bone-rattling bodychecks he delights in delivering and the innate flair for heart-stopping highlight-reel goals &ndash; Alex Ovechkin exudes a childlike glee when speaking of his participation in the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.</p><p>That said, history and accomplishment are not lost on Ovechkin, something that belies his 24 years and relatively short NHL career. He fully comprehends the scope of the Games.</p><p>&ldquo;Just representing my country in such a big tournament is huge,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;This is a tournament you dream of. You dream to be in the Olympics. Some guys, they play for years and years and don&rsquo;t make the Olympic team. It&rsquo;s the most fun tournament I&rsquo;ve ever seen.&rdquo;</p><p>Ovechkin, the Washington Capitals&rsquo; wunderkind, is no stranger to international competition. In 2002, he led Russia to an under-18 world championship, racking up a dizzying 14 goals and 18 points in eight games. At 17, Ovechkin was selected to play on the national team for an event, becoming the youngest player ever to appear and score for the Russian men&rsquo;s team. He won a gold medal at the World Junior Championship in 2003 and another gold in 2008, when Russia claimed its first World Championship since 1993.</p><blockquote class="pullQuote">&lsquo; ONLY WINNING. THAT&rsquo;S ALL. THAT&rsquo;S WHAT MATTERS MOST&rsquo;</blockquote><p>But while the victories have been satisfying, especially those over Canada, they don&rsquo;t match the pursuit of Olympic gold.</p><p>Vancouver won&rsquo;t be his first Olympics &ndash; he scored five goals in eight games in 2006 &ndash; and he&rsquo;s bent on making sure it&rsquo;s not his last. Ovechkin was named to the all-tournament team in 2006, a competition that whetted merely his appetite.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s the Olympics, what can you say?&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s the tournament where the best players in all the countries in the whole world play in one tournament. You&rsquo;re going to play against the best players in the world, so it&rsquo;s great.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0048-02228/9272398-1-eng-US/f0048-022.jpg" title="f0048-02" width="1345" height="1504"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Superstar Alex Ovechkin gets revved up to wear Russia&rsquo;s colors.</b> <span class="photo-credit">(ELSA/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>When he talks about the Olympics, his eyes sparkle. But a serious determination burns in Ovechkin, who has one goal for Vancouver.</p><p>&ldquo;Only winning. That&rsquo;s all. That&rsquo;s what matters most,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;You win for your country.&rdquo;</p><p>Even the prospect of claiming Olympic gold and a Stanley Cup in the same season brings a pragmatic response.</p><p>&ldquo;The closest tournament is the Olympics, so right now, we&rsquo;ll worry about the Olympics,&rdquo; he said.</p><p>He smiles mischievously. &ldquo;Then we&rsquo;ll win the Stanley Cup.&rdquo;</p><p>Ovechkin is eager to return to his homeland in 2014, when Sochi, Russia, is the Olympic host. The NHL and the players are still weighing whether to shut down for two weeks, leaving Capitals owner Ted Leonsis squarely in the middle of the debate.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a players&rsquo; league, you know, and the players want to do it, and they should have a strong voice,&rdquo; Leonsis said. &ldquo;We will support them, but if I were a player, I would be asking, &lsquo;Where is all that money going?&rsquo; Somebody is getting paid billions and billions of dollars and the players aren&rsquo;t, the league is not&hellip;But Alex is one of my players and I want my players to be happy.&rdquo;</p><p>For his part, Ovechkin diplomatically tries to sidestep the brewing controversy. He points out that Sochi is more than four years in the future, but national ties run deep. So does his belief that the NHL&rsquo;s contributions help raise the sport&rsquo;s Olympic profile.</p><p>&ldquo;I feel like Olympics without (NHL players) is not a good tournament,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Everybody wants to see (NHL players) in the Olympic Games. We want to play there. I hope it&rsquo;s going to get done.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-01324/9272391-1-eng-US/f0049-012.jpg" title="f0049-01" width="1951" height="2810"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP/GETTY IMAG ES)</span></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0048-01

THE ALEX FACTOR

<div class="byline">By Bob Duff</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0050-01307/9272450-1-eng-US/f0050-012.jpg" title="f0050-01" width="319" height="208"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>Y</span>ou could say defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom has run the gauntlet of Olympic emotions. Like the old Wide World of Sports intro, he&rsquo;s lived both the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat. Leading up to the 2010 Games, whether or not he&rsquo;ll be adding to his five-ring legacy remains a mystery.</p><p>The Detroit Red Wings captain, an alternate captain for Sweden&rsquo;s gold medal-winning squad four years ago in Turin, wasn&rsquo;t certain he&rsquo;ll be willing to put his battered body through another Olympics.</p><p>At 39, those two weeks of mid-season rest look very appealing.</p><p>&ldquo;I wasn&rsquo;t healthy at the end of last year and I want to make sure I&rsquo;m feeling well before playing in a big tournament like that,&rdquo; said Lidstrom, who underwent testicle surgery after being speared by Chicago&rsquo;s Patrick Sharp in the Western Conference final last season.</p><blockquote class="pullQuote">&lsquo; BEING ABLE TO END UP ON TOP IN 2006 WAS A GREAT FEELING&rsquo;</blockquote><p>Lidstrom, who became the first European defenseman &ndash; and just the eighth blueliner in NHL history &ndash; to reach 1,000 points earlier this year, scored the deciding goal in Sweden&rsquo;s 3-2 win over Finland in the 2006 gold medal game.</p><p>It ended four years of frustration for the Swedes, who went unbeaten through round-robin play in 2002 at Salt Lake City only to lose in the quarterfinals to Belarus. The winning goal came on a long slapshot that banked into the net off the head of Swedish goalie Tommy Salo.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;d rank it up there with winning Stanley Cups because you only get a chance every four years,&rdquo; said Lidstrom, a four-time Stanley Cup winner, of his country&rsquo;s gold medal triumph.</p><p>&ldquo;We had our bumps in the road the previous couple of Olympics. Finally being able to end up on top was a great feeling, especially for the people back in Sweden.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0050-02212/9272443-1-eng-US/f0050-022.jpg" title="f0050-02" width="1181" height="1451"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Nicklas Lidstrom rates his Olympic gold right there with his Cups.</b> <span class="photo-credit">(BRIAN BAHR/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>It&rsquo;s already been a big season for Lidstrom on the international stage. He got to return home, leading the Wings into a pair of games against St. Louis in Stockholm to open the 2009-10 regular season.</p><p>&ldquo;It was like a dream for me, to return to Sweden during the fall,&rdquo; Lidstrom said. &ldquo;Having the Red Wings there and playing for a team that I have represented for 18 years, that was really big.&rdquo;</p><p>GM Ken Holland said it was out of respect for Lidstrom that the Wings accepted the NHL&rsquo;s proposal to go to Sweden.</p><p>&ldquo;It really was a trip of a lifetime for Nicklas Lidstrom, given his career, what he&rsquo;s meant to our team,&rdquo; Holland said.</p><p>Holland wouldn&rsquo;t mind should Lidstrom opt out of playing in Vancouver, but the Wings are in a precarious position. Holland&rsquo;s assistant Steve Yzerman is Canada&rsquo;s GM, while Wings coach Mike Babcock will coach Canada and Holland is aiding Yzerman in choosing the Canadian squad. To lobby Lidstrom to sit out might make it appear they were seeking to help Canada. In the final season of his NHL contract, it&rsquo;s also likely going to be Lidstrom&rsquo;s last chance at Olympic glory, which could play a role in his decision.</p><p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;ll see how things go,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m in no rush really to make a decision on how long I&rsquo;m going to be playing or what I&rsquo;m going to be doing after this season.&rdquo;</p><p>If he decides to suit up for Sweden one more time, Lidstrom doesn&rsquo;t view the defending champs as favorites, but believes they&rsquo;ll will be in the mix. &ldquo;Canada will be tough and Russia will be very good, too,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Sweden is in a bit of a transitional phase, but we should be in the medal hunt.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0051-01284/9272436-1-eng-US/f0051-012.jpg" title="f0051-01" width="1951" height="2813"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(STIGKENNE/WCOH VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0050-01

ONE FINAL SHOT?

<div class="byline">By Rich Chere</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0052-01280/9272495-1-eng-US/f0052-012.jpg" title="f0052-01" width="319" height="208"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>F</span>or a 25-year-old star with most of his hockey career still ahead of him, Zach Parise speaks with surprising urgency when the subject is the 2010 Olympics.</p><p>Partly it&rsquo;s because his father, J-P Parise, a star for Canada in the 1972 Summit Series, never got to play in an Olympics. Mostly it&rsquo;s because the New Jersey Devils right winger knows Vancouver could be his first and only chance in the Olympics if the NHL declines to participate in future tournaments.</p><p>&ldquo;I was kind of caught in that era where, when I was younger, they used NHL guys,&rdquo; Parise said. &ldquo;Now I get to the NHL and they want to go back to the younger guys. It&rsquo;s not good for me. I think it would be bad not using NHL guys. It doesn&rsquo;t make sense, but there is the possibility of that. You don&rsquo;t know if you&rsquo;ll get to go there again. So I want to enjoy it.&rdquo;</p><p>Make no mistake: The Minneapolis native isn&rsquo;t viewing Vancouver as a vacation, nor will he be satisfied with just soaking up the experience.</p><blockquote class="pullQuote">&lsquo; I DON&rsquo;T THINK ANYONE IS GOING THERE TO WIN SILVER&rsquo;</blockquote><p>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think anyone is going there to win a silver,&rdquo; Parise said. &ldquo;Everyone is going there to win it. You&rsquo;re not successful unless you win the whole thing.&rdquo;</p><p>For Team USA, poised at the beginning of a new era, Parise stands as perhaps the program&rsquo;s new go-to guy.</p><p>&ldquo;Without question that&rsquo;s true,&rdquo; said Lou Lamoriello, GM of the disappointing 1998 Olympic squad in Nagano as well as the U.S. side that won the 1996 World Cup. &ldquo;His habits, talents and character become infectious with other players.&rdquo;</p><p>It&rsquo;s a role Parise would welcome. &ldquo;Definitely,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;To be looked at as one of the key guys would be pretty cool. It&rsquo;s a young team and I think it&rsquo;ll be a lot of fun.&rdquo;</p><p>Team USA GM Brian Burke has promised to choose a well-balanced team rather than an all-star squad.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0052-02173/9272488-1-eng-US/f0052-022.jpg" title="f0052-02" width="1434" height="1417"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Young Zach Parise is one of the new faces of American hockey.</b> <span class="photo-credit">(RICHARD WOLOWICZ/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>&ldquo;We had six good scoring lines at the camp,&rdquo; Parise said. &ldquo;This time, more than in the past, we have the luxury of more different types of players depending on what kind of team you want. Do you want to go with nine skilled forwards? Do you want a checking line?&rdquo;</p><p>Parise believes Team USA will be deep and determined.</p><p>&ldquo;We have the potential to be very good,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Especially in a short tournament. There are probably seven teams that have a legitimate chance of winning&hellip;You run into a hot goalie like with Sweden (in Turin in 2006) and you just never know. You just want to be one of those six or seven teams with a chance to win. Skill-wise, I think we&rsquo;re very good. It&rsquo;s tough not to respect the Russian and Canadian teams, but I think we&rsquo;re going to be a very good team.</p><p>&ldquo;We talked about it this summer. We&rsquo;re not approaching it as, &lsquo;Let&rsquo;s go and have a good experience so that in 2014 we&rsquo;ll have that experience and be a better team.&rsquo; There are a lot of hard-working guys and there is the excitement of the first time for a lot of guys.&rdquo;</p><p>Parise has played in two World Championships as well as two world juniors. He was the junior tournament&rsquo;s leading scorer and MVP in 2004 while leading Team USA to the gold medal.</p><p>&ldquo;The World Championships are fun, but you don&rsquo;t have the best players, a lot of guys are still playing in the playoffs,&rdquo; Parise said. &ldquo;To me, the best international experience was when we won the under-20s. At that time we had to beat (Alex) Ovechkin and everybody. It was all the best players from my age group. That was definitely a highlight of international experience for me. It was all the guys who are here in the NHL now.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0053-01264/9272481-1-eng-US/f0053-012.jpg" title="f0053-01" width="1951" height="2814"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(JAMIE SQUIRE/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0052-01

HOME OF THE BRAVE

<div class="byline">By Mike Loftus</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0054-01270/9272540-1-eng-US/f0054-012.jpg" title="f0054-01" width="319" height="208"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>A</span> case can be made the 2010 Olympics won&rsquo;t be much different for Zdeno Chara than the NHL. The 2008-09 Norris Trophy winner, whose primary function with the Boston Bruins is to intimidate and shut down opponents&rsquo; top offensive lines, will simply take on that assignment in Vancouver for Slovakia.</p><p>Except in Vancouver, the request may be repeated.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s very much the same for me with the national team,&rdquo; said the 6-foot-9, 255-pound defenseman, who is set to make his second Olympic appearance. &ldquo;We always pick one line to match against, but sometimes we pick two. At the World Championship and the (2006) Olympics, I played on the first pair, then I&rsquo;d go back on the third pair, then I&rsquo;d go back with the first one again.&rdquo;</p><blockquote class="pullQuote">&lsquo; I WANT TO PLAY HARD. THAT&rsquo;S HOW YOU GET BETTER&rsquo;</blockquote><p>Whether coach Jan Filc double-shifts Chara remains to be seen, but the fact it&rsquo;s an option is a testament to multiple factors: Even if Slovakia&rsquo;s blueline was deeper, Chara&rsquo;s ability to chew up ice time (he has been among the NHL&rsquo;s top six for three years running) and his love of a challenge might make it impossible for Filc to keep him off the ice. The man hiked up Mount Kilimanjaro for charity in 2008, after all.</p><p>Some might suggest Slovakia&rsquo;s bid for a medal is akin to scaling a mountain, given its placement with Russia, the Czech Republic and Latvia in Group B. Chara knows it won&rsquo;t be easy, but points to top-end offensive talent (led by Marian Gaborik and Marian Hossa) and the Slovaks&rsquo; performance in the &rsquo;06 Games at Turin (5-0 in pool play before losing to the arch-rival Czechs in the quarterfinal) as evidence that Slovakia can put itself in a position to contend.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0054-02154/9272533-1-eng-US/f0054-022.jpg" title="f0054-02" width="942" height="1425"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Zdeno Chara relishes the beston-best Olympic challenge.</b> <span class="photo-credit">(ROBERT LABERGE/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>&ldquo;You have to believe that,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I think it&rsquo;ll come down to how quickly we can come together. It&rsquo;s going to be about how everybody buys into the system and accepts their responsibilities.&rdquo;</p><p>Chara knows &ndash; and relishes &ndash; his own responsibilities.</p><p>&ldquo;You have to love it,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s really the best, most challenging experience, knowing you&rsquo;re always playing against the best players a country has. Sometimes, at the World Championship (Chara has played in six worlds, earning his only medal &ndash; silver &ndash; in 2000), some of the good players are still in the NHL playoffs. But at the Olympics, everyone&rsquo;s on break. Only the best get to come.&rdquo;</p><p>Some of those opponents are bound to be Boston teammates, but Chara said he can look past that for a couple of weeks. He knows his fellow Bruins will and, besides, Chara has never cut anyone much slack on the ice.</p><p>&ldquo;I do the same thing in practice,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I want to play hard, like they&rsquo;re the opposition. Obviously I&rsquo;m not going to take someone&rsquo;s head off, but I want to play them hard. That&rsquo;s how you get better.&rdquo;</p><p>The second Olympian in his family (his father, Zdenek, wrestled for Czechoslovakia in Montreal in 1976, but a broken thumb resulted in early elimination), Chara hasn&rsquo;t suited up for Slovakia since the &rsquo;07 World Championship. He&rsquo;s excited about returning to the international stage and thinks every Olympian will feel the same.</p><p>&ldquo;Once we&rsquo;re there, it doesn&rsquo;t matter who we play,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;You have your job to do and that&rsquo;s to play hard for your country.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0055-01237/9272526-1-eng-US/f0055-012.jpg" title="f0055-01" width="1951" height="2814"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(ANDRE RINGUETTE/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0054-01

BIG GAMES HUNTER

<div class="byline">By Michael Russo</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0056-01207/9272585-1-eng-US/f0056-012.jpg" title="f0056-01" width="319" height="208"></div><p>Martin Havlat remembers like it was yesterday the first time he stepped onto the ice in real game action with his hero, Jaromir Jagr.</p><p>It was the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City and the Czechs were desperately trying to rally from a 2-1 deficit in the third period against Sweden. With a little more than 12 minutes left in the game, Havlat was told by Czech coach Josef Augusta to get ready to be bumped up from the fourth line to the first to play alongside Jagr and Robert Lang.</p><p>&ldquo;I was like, &lsquo;Oh, (expletive)!&rsquo; Finally, we&rsquo;re called. I jump on the ice, hit Michael Nylander, and got a five-minute major plus a game misconduct. That was it. That was my first and my last shift.</p><p>Of that game. Not of the tournament.</p><p>To Havlat&rsquo;s surprise, Jagr wanted to play with him again, so against Canada, Havlat got another chance &ndash; only this time for 60 minutes, not one measly shift. Havlat recalls Jagr telling him, &ldquo;When I get the puck, don&rsquo;t come anywhere near me. Just get open and I&rsquo;ll get you the puck.&rdquo;</p><blockquote class="pullQuote">&lsquo; NOBODY&rsquo;S EXPECTING ANYTHING FROM US &hellip;I THINK WE CAN SURPRISE&rsquo;</blockquote><p>As promised, three defenders converged on Jagr, but he kept putting the puck on Havlat&rsquo;s tape and Havlat scored twice in a 3-3 tie against the eventual gold medal champions. However, the Czechs finished a disappointing seventh four years after winning gold in Nagano behind Dominik Hasek&rsquo;s mastery.</p><p>But for Havlat, the &rsquo;02 Olympics were still a thrill. He was 20, wearing his native sweater on a team with Czech living legends &lsquo;Jags&rsquo; and &lsquo;The Dominator.&rsquo;</p><p>&ldquo;Jagr&rsquo;s the biggest name we had, the biggest name we have, but it was an honor just be on that team with so many guys that won in &rsquo;98&hellip;Jagr, Hasek, Martin Straka,&rdquo; Havlat said. &ldquo;To be in that one dressing room, then on the ice, it was amazing. So much fun.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0056-02137/9272578-1-eng-US/f0056-022.jpg" title="f0056-02" width="1049" height="1532"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Martin Havlat remembers watching the Czechs win gold in 1998.</b> <span class="photo-credit">(BRIAN BAHR/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>Havlat was 16 when the Czechs won in &rsquo;98 and remembers being at school listening on the radio.</p><p>&ldquo;It was big, it was huge, for sure,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s unbelievable what those guys did. Nobody expected that.&rdquo;</p><p>Havlat&rsquo;s now 28, playing for the Minnesota Wild, and if the Czechs are going to have any chance to medal again this winter &ndash; they won bronze in 2006, but Havlat missed the tournament with a shoulder injury &ndash; he must be an integral piece. While he had his struggles earlier this season for the Wild, the dynamic playmaker appeared in a career-high 81 games in 2008-09, scoring a personal-best 48 assists and 77 points to lead the Chicago Blackhawks.</p><p>&ldquo;Big shot, great speed, incredible skills,&rdquo; said Atlanta Thrashers associate GM Rick Dudley, who was GM in Ottawa and assistant GM in Chicago when Havlat played for those teams. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s not a lot missing there. If he&rsquo;s not the shooter, he can find somebody with a pass. He&rsquo;s a pretty complete player and he&rsquo;s got a lot more bite than people would imagine.&rdquo;</p><p>Jagr is expected to be on the 2010 Czech team again, as well as Havlat&rsquo;s friends Patrik Elias, Milan Michalek and Michael Frolik.</p><p>&ldquo;Nobody&rsquo;s expecting anything from us,&rdquo; Havlat said. &ldquo;I think it&rsquo;s good. No pressure. I think we can only surprise. Nobody expected us to win in &rsquo;98 and as Hasek showed, if you&rsquo;ve got a hot goalie, you can win whatever you want.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s going to be special, especially being in Canada. For the fans back home in the Czech Republic, you know everybody&rsquo;s watching. This is what you dream of.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0057-01192/9272571-1-eng-US/f0057-012.jpg" title="f0057-01" width="1951" height="2814"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(LUBOS LANG/WCOH VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0056-01

FROM FAN TO FAVE

<div class="byline">By Wayne Fish</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0058-01206/9272630-1-eng-US/f0058-012.jpg" title="f0058-01" width="319" height="208"></div><p>The top item on Kimmo Timonen&rsquo;s hockey wish list would be leading Finland to an Olympic gold medal.</p><p>Against hated rival Sweden in the final game.</p><p>In front of a hockey-crazed crowd such as the folks in Vancouver.</p><p>OK, that might be asking a lot. But think about it for a moment: A few years ago, that fantasy wasn&rsquo;t so far-fetched. The Finns came within a goal of defeating their Scandinavian neighbors in the 2006 Turin title tilt. Timonen believes Finland&rsquo;s 2010 entry features enough talent to duplicate its effort in Italy and perhaps finish the job. At the same time, the Philadelphia Flyers&rsquo; high-caliber defenseman knows his own personal puck clock is ticking. By the time the next Olympiad rolls around, he&rsquo;ll be nearly 39 and who knows if the NHL will be going to Russia in 2014.</p><p>Whatever the case, one gets the sense from Timonen there is some unfinished business for him and the rest of the Finnish team. It starts with settling a score with Sweden &ndash; but not at the expense of missing the big prize.</p><blockquote class="pullQuote">&lsquo; A GOLD FOR US IS REALISTIC &hellip;I THINK WE HAVE A GREAT CHANCE&rsquo;</blockquote><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s huge,&rdquo; said Timonen of Europe&rsquo;s version of the Canada-U.S. hockey feud. &ldquo;In the last Olympics we lost to them by a goal so obviously it was painful. But winning (the gold) is the most important thing.&rdquo;</p><p>Like the U.S., Finns make a big deal of it when they beat their hockey big brothers.</p><p>&ldquo;They (the Swedes) have been winning a lot of tournaments, a lot of gold medals,&rdquo; Timonen said. &ldquo;The rivalry is big&hellip;we lost that game, Sweden won, we came in second, but it&rsquo;s always nice to experience the Olympics and this time it&rsquo;s in Canada.&rdquo;</p><p>With Teppo Numminen retired, Timonen is the veteran presence on the Finnish blueline. But from his vantage point, there is enough international hockey experience in the way of Teemu Selanne, Saku Koivu and Jere Lehtinen to make Finland a serious contender.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0058-02134/9272623-1-eng-US/f0058-022.jpg" title="f0058-02" width="934" height="1557"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Kimmo Timonen and the Finns want to win gold &ndash; and beat Sweden.</b> <span class="photo-credit">(BRIAN BAHR/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>&ldquo;This is my fourth time there, starting with Nagano where we took the bronze,&rdquo; Timonen said. &ldquo;So I know what to expect. I&rsquo;m looking forward to it. A gold for us is realistic. Obviously Canada is going to be the favorite and Russia is going to have a good team. But I think we have a great chance, too.&rdquo;</p><p>On paper, the Flyers are contenders for a Stanley Cup. How cool would it be if Philadelphia and Finland won it all in the same year?</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s quite a year ahead of us, we have a good team here and a chance to win the Stanley Cup,&rdquo; Timonen said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s an interesting year coming up. A Cup and a gold, we have a chance to do that.&rdquo;</p><p>Timonen has seen how veteran defensemen such as Nicklas Lidstrom can maintain a high level of performance, so he believes he still has a lot of hockey to play. And yet&hellip;</p><p>&ldquo;I guess I am old,&rdquo; he said with a laugh. &ldquo;It might be my last Olympics, who knows?&rdquo;</p><p>Before he goes, which mission is more important: Winning against Sweden or winning the Olympic gold?</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m still missing the gold,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;So I guess I&rsquo;ll take that one. The only goal we (Finland) have is to win the gold. I&rsquo;m sure everyone is shooting for that.&rdquo;</p><p>Timonen said he was so focused on the NHL season that he hadn&rsquo;t given the Olympics much thought. But that will change.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll be pretty excited,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;For European hockey, nothing is bigger than the Olympics. It&rsquo;s a pretty cool experience.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0059-01176/9272616-1-eng-US/f0059-012.jpg" title="f0059-01" width="1950" height="2814"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(JUKKA RAUTIO/WCOH VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0058-01

FINNISH THE JOB

<div class="byline">By Adam Proteau</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0060-01169/9272773-1-eng-US/f0060-012.jpg" title="f0060-01" width="319" height="208"></div><p>When they talk about the pressure the Canadians will face in 2010, they&rsquo;re not just talking about the players.</p><p>Let&rsquo;s face it &ndash; nothing short of a gold medal-winning performance from Team Canada&rsquo;s Olympic men&rsquo;s hockey team is going to satisfy a sizeable contingent of diehard Canadian hockey fans who expect their boys to be biting on medals at the end.</p><p>And if that championship situation fails to materialize, Team Canada executive director Steve Yzerman is going to be second-guessed on each and every decision that was made along the road to the Vancouver Games, from the ratio of veterans to fresh-faced newcomers on the roster, to the role each player was asked to play, to the caliber of tiny chocolates left beneath pillows in the rooms players will stay in at the Olympic Village.</p><p>But the reality is Yzerman could have gone any number of ways on any number of fronts when picking the team.</p><p>No matter who he selected, the only certainty was that there were going to be players left off Canada&rsquo;s squad who could have made major contributions for most other Olympic teams.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0060-02102/9272766-1-eng-US/f0060-022.jpg" title="f0060-02" width="943" height="1341"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Joe Thornton began the season on the bubble for Team Canada.</b> <span class="photo-credit">(THORNTON: JEFF VINNICK/HOCKEY CANADA)</span></figcaption></div><p><b>STRENGTHS</b> Depth, depth and more depth. You&rsquo;ll hear the cliche about &ldquo;Canada icing two teams capable of winning gold&rdquo; a whole lot during the Vancouver Games, mostly because that cliche is true in this case. With veterans Martin Brodeur and Roberto Luongo as the top two netminders and a plethora of possible backups &ndash; 2009 Stanley Cup champion Marc-Andre Fleury, 2006 Conn Smythe Award winner Cam Ward, and any number of other hot stoppers &ndash; every nation wants Canada&rsquo;s conundrum in goal. The same abundance of choices is there at every other position, especially defense: Canadian assistant coach Ken Hitchcock has said there are 12 or more players capable of suiting up for Canada at the Games, but just seven slots.</p><p><b>WEAKNESSES</b> One challenge Canada tends to struggle with relative to its European competitors is finding team chemistry early on. Despite the fact many players have skated alongside each other at different levels in their career, Canadians don&rsquo;t seem to instantly jive with each other the way the Euros do. The goal, as with every other short-term event, will be to get better as the tournament progresses. Another potential issue could stem from the fact this team has so much talent. That sounds like an unconditionally good thing, but it requires guys accustomed to being front-liners in the NHL to not just perform, but embrace and thrive in roles that call for substantially less ice time.</p><p><b>OFFENSE</b> Considering the cast of offensively inclined characters Yzerman had to choose from &ndash; including Sidney Crosby, Joe Thornton, Ryan Getzlaf, Jarome Iginla, Rick Nash and Dany Heatley &ndash; Canada should have little problem putting pucks past goal lines. And with NHL scoring stars also being asked to play defense-first roles on the team, you&rsquo;ve got the most offensively potent collection of forwards this side of the Russian squad.</p><p><b>DEFENSE</b> It&rsquo;s a veteran-laden &ndash; but not old &ndash; all-star group that can do it all: start breakouts, score, hit and shut down opposing forwards. To put it simply, the Canadian defenders &ndash; Nos. 1 through 7 &ndash; intimidate with their skates, sticks and snarl both offensively and defensively, the archetypes being Chris Pronger and Shea Weber. With all of the firepower up front for Canada, scoring prowess is not necessarily the No. 1-needed ingredient from the team&rsquo;s back end; rather, all-around gamers will see the most action. More so than in any previous events, some very deserving players will be left off the blueline.</p><p><b>GOALTENDING</b> There was some consternation before the NHL&rsquo;s 2009-10 regular season began that the 37-year-old Brodeur may not have enough left in his competitive tank to make Team Canada. Injury woes and a spotty &ndash; for him &ndash; 2009 playoffs left some wondering if Father Time had finally caught up to the NHL&rsquo;s all-time winningest goalie. But Brodeur laid that thought to rest early in &rsquo;09-10, as he and New Jersey started Devilishly well. He and Luongo give the Canadians the stingiest 1-2 punch in net of any nation.</p><p><b>COACHING</b> Detroit Red Wings coach Mike Babcock takes over as Canada&rsquo;s bench boss. He&rsquo;ll be aided by assistants Hitchcock, Lindy Ruff and Jacques Lemaire. Besides the Stanley Cup he won with the Wings, Babcock coached Team Canada to gold medals at both the 1997 World Junior Championship and the 2004 World Championship; he is the only Canadian coach to lead teams to gold at both the world junior and the worlds.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0061-01163/9272759-1-eng-US/f0061-012.jpg" title="f0061-01" width="942" height="1092"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Rick Nash is expected to supply firepower from the wing.</b></figcaption></div><p><b>OUTLOOK</b> What else is there to say other than an Al Davis-like, &ldquo;Just win, baby&rdquo;? The Canadians will have a huge advantage in Vancouver; any opposing team that is down a goal will hear deafening cheers at Canada Hockey Place. But that sword has a second edge that won&rsquo;t be nearly so kind to Babcock&rsquo;s bunch if they fail to live up to expectations and come away with a silver or bronze. And if Team Canada turns up a seventh-place showing as they did at the 2006 Turin Games? Well, let&rsquo;s just say the aftermath will be ugly.</p><h2><b>THN PREDICTION</b></h2><p>1st</p><p><i>The home team wins gold for the first time since 1980 in Lake Placid, N.Y.</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0060-0369/9272752-1-eng-US/f0060-032.jpg" title="f0060-03" width="492" height="675"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(HEATLEY: ROBERT LABERGE/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><h2><b>PATRIOT GAME</b></h2><h3><b><i>Dany Heatley</i></b></h3><p><i>In nine games played at the 2008 World Championship, Heatley set the Canadian record for goals in a tournament with 12 and tied Steve Yzerman&rsquo;s record for points with 20.</i></p><p><b>INTERNATIONAL RECORD*</b></p><p>GP G A P</p><p><b>78 45 31 76</b></p><h2><b>TAKE NOTICE!</b></h2><h3><b><i>CANADA</i></b></h3><p><i>Here are three who stand on guard for thee</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0061-02112/9272745-1-eng-US/f0061-022.jpg" title="f0061-02" width="189" height="250"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>F</b></p><p><b>Sidney Crosby</b></p></figcaption></div><p><i>Canada&rsquo;s golden boy is suiting up for his first Olympics and after playing in the past two Stanley Cup finals, Crosby is primed to have as much of an impact as anyone wearing the maple leaf.</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0061-0380/9272738-1-eng-US/f0061-032.jpg" title="f0061-03" width="189" height="250"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>D</b></p><p><b>Shea Weber</b></p></figcaption></div><p><i>The grizzly blueliner with a cannon shot will be unloading bombs from the point this Olympics. If his performance at previous World Championships is any indication, Weber will shine for Canada.</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0061-0467/9272731-1-eng-US/f0061-042.jpg" title="f0061-04" width="189" height="250"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>G</b></p><p><b>Martin Brodeur</b></p> <span class="photo-credit">(ROBERT LABERGE/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p><i>Age is a state of mind for Brodeur. The 37-year-old is going into his fourth Olympics and his performance hasn&rsquo;t depreciated at all. After a seventh-place finish in Turin, you know he wants the job.</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0062-01167/9272724-1-eng-US/f0062-012.jpg" title="f0062-01" width="898" height="1129"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(LEMIEUX: ROBERT SULLIVAN/AFP/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><h2><b>COMMEMORATIVE STAMP COLLECTION</b></h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0062-0294/9272717-1-eng-US/f0062-022.jpg" title="f0062-02" width="112" height="74"></div><p><i>February 24, 2002 Salt Lake City, Utah</i></p><p>For a country that lives and breathes the game, it had become somewhat of a pressing matter that Canada had not taken Olympic gold in hockey for 50 years heading into Salt Lake City. And after a brutal 5-2 loss to Sweden in the opening game, things didn&rsquo;t look so hot in Utah. Fortunately, a certain superstar named Mario Lemieux was there to save a nation&rsquo;s spirit and drive his fellow Canucks into a final showdown against the American hosts. With the hockey world riveted, veteran Joe Sakic scored twice and set up linemate Jarome Iginla for two more tallies in a 5-2 victory and the Canadians finally found their place back at the top of the podium.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0062-0358/9272710-1-eng-US/f0062-032.jpg" title="f0062-03" width="513" height="717"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>TEAM CANADA</b> <span class="photo-credit">(CANADA: AL BELLO/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><h2><b>REWIND</b></h2><p><b>HOW THEY DID IN 2006</b></p><p>7th</p><p>Canada&rsquo;s worst-ever finish at an Olympics was made even more disappointing because it came on the heels of its first gold medal since 1952. Brad Richards led the team in scoring &ndash; with two goals and four points &ndash; as Canada stumbled to a 3-2 record in group play, finishing third. A 2-0 quarterfinal loss to Russia dropped the Canucks from the tournament. And a combination of goal differential and group placing left them in seventh place.</p><h2><b>OLYMPIC FAST FACTS</b></h2><p>Last Medal Gold (2002)</p><p>All-Time Olympic Record 93-26-7</p><p>Pre-Olympic World Rank 2nd</p><p>Host Country Calgary, 1988; Vancouver, 2010</p><h2><b>OLYMPIC HISTORY</b></h2><p><i>Canada has an illustrious Olympic history &ndash; no country has won more medals and only Russia has more golds. But there are also long stretches of disappointment in Canada&rsquo;s Olympic record. Most famously, there were 50 years between gold medals from 1952 to 2002. But there was also a 24-year stint without a medal from 1968 to 1992. That stretch included not even sending a team in 1972 and 1976 because of a dispute with the IIHF. But Canada captured gold in five of the first six Winter Games, only losing in 1936 to a Great Britain team that was stocked with Canadian-born players.</i></p><h3><b>MEDAL COUNT</b></h3><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0062-0442/9272703-1-eng-US/f0062-042.jpg" title="f0062-04" width="112" height="196"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2><b>ALL-TIME OLYMPIC TEAM</b></h2><p><i>Here are the five best Canadian performers in Games history</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0062-0524/9272696-1-eng-US/f0062-052.jpg" title="f0062-05" width="189" height="245"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>F</b></p><p><b><i>Eric Lindros</i></b></p></figcaption></div><p><b>1992</b></p><p><b>1998</b></p><p><b>2002</b></p><p><i>No Canadian in the past 40 years has more Olympic goals, assists or points than Lindros (8-9-17). He won a silver as an amateur (&rsquo;92) and gold as a pro (&rsquo;02).</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0062-0621/9272689-1-eng-US/f0062-062.jpg" title="f0062-06" width="189" height="243"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>F</b></p><p><b><i>Joe Sakic</i></b></p></figcaption></div><p><b>1998</b></p><p><b>2002</b></p><p><b>2006</b></p><p><i>Sakic was the tournament&rsquo;s top forward and most valuable player during Canada&rsquo;s 2002 run to gold. He had four points versus Team USA in the final.</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0062-0716/9272682-1-eng-US/f0062-072.jpg" title="f0062-07" width="189" height="241"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>F</b></p><p><b><i>Paul Kariya</i></b></p></figcaption></div><p><b>1994</b></p><p><b>2002</b></p><p><i>A Hobey Baker Award-winning NCAA scoring star his first Games and an NHL star his second, Kariya sits fourth on Canada&rsquo;s scoring list since 1960 (6-5-11).</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0062-0811/9272675-1-eng-US/f0062-082.jpg" title="f0062-08" width="189" height="241"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>D</b></p><p><b><i>Rob Blake</i></b></p></figcaption></div><p><b>1998</b></p><p><b>2002</b></p><p><b>2006</b></p><p><i>Canucks were stunned by Team Canada&rsquo;s fourth-place finish in &rsquo;98, but Blake was named top D-man. He has two goals and six points in three Games.</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0062-099/9272668-1-eng-US/f0062-092.jpg" title="f0062-09" width="189" height="237"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>D</b></p><p><b><i>Chris Pronger</i></b></p></figcaption></div><p><b>1998</b></p><p><b>2002</b></p><p><b>2006</b></p><p><i>His Olympic play has mirrored his NHL play &ndash; skilled and scary. Pronger has a goal and four points in the three Olympics he has played in.</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0062-109/9272661-1-eng-US/f0062-102.jpg" title="f0062-10" width="189" height="250"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>G</b></p><p><b><i>Martin Brodeur</i></b></p></figcaption></div><p><b>1998</b></p><p><b>2002</b></p><p><b>2006</b></p><p><i>Brodeur has been the stalwart between Canada&rsquo;s pipes the past two Olympics, leading the team to gold in 2002 with a 1.80 goals-against average.</i></p><p>* Includes Olympics, World Championship, World Cup and World Junior<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0060-01

TOUGH CHOICES TO MAKE

<div class="byline">By Adam Proteau</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0063-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0063-01131/9272811-1-eng-US/f0063-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(BRUCE BENNETT/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><span>S</span>cott Niedermayer is widely known within the NHL community for being one of the star players least likely to willingly inject himself into a fishbowl-type situation.</p><p>That&rsquo;s the reason why he felt so comfortable playing in New Jersey all those years. That&rsquo;s why, when he had a chance to decide his own destiny as an unrestricted free agent, he didn&rsquo;t choose to work in his home province of British Columbia and instead chose the anonymity of Anaheim.</p><p>Small wonder, then, that a media request to Niedermayer to discuss what likely will be his last international hockey hurrah at the 2010 Vancouver Games went unanswered. Odds are the publicity-averse star defenseman would rather perform invasive surgery on himself without any painkillers than speculate on his final attempt to secure his second Olympic gold medal.</p><p>&ldquo;The whole experience (in Vancouver) would be pretty special, pretty unique,&rdquo; Niedermayer told the Vancouver <i>Sun</i> in one of his rare comments on the possibility of playing in the 2010 Games. &ldquo;Obviously, there&rsquo;d be a lot of expectations&hellip;but that would make the experience what it is.&rdquo;</p><p>Just because he prefers actions over words doesn&rsquo;t mean Niedermayer will be any less crucial to Team Canada&rsquo;s chances of victory than he was in 2002 &ndash; or would have been 2006 if he wasn&rsquo;t injured. In fact, he may very well wind up serving as Canada&rsquo;s captain at the Games.</p><p>&ldquo;How are you going to go wrong with Niedermayer wearing the &lsquo;C&rsquo;?&rdquo; said one NHL coach who spoke on condition of anonymity. &ldquo;Of course you&rsquo;re not. You&rsquo;re getting the same thing you always get with him &ndash; a problem-free, ultimate professional who makes his defense partners even better. Look how (former Duck) Francois Beauchemin has struggled in Toronto this year without Niedermayer to depend on.</p><blockquote class="pullQuote">&lsquo;HE&rsquo;S AN ULTIMATE PRO WHO MAKES HIS DEFENSE PARTNER BETTER&rsquo;</blockquote><p>&ldquo;The best part of all is that he&rsquo;s got all that crucial situational experience and yet he hasn&rsquo;t lost anything off his game, even at 36 years of age. He&rsquo;s still the best skater in the game and still the best puck-mover in the league. In my mind, he&rsquo;s still the man.&rdquo;</p><p>Niedermayer has four Stanley Cup championships and a Norris Trophy to his credit, but his international success is just as impressive.</p><p>He has represented Canada at the 1991 and 1992 World Junior Championship and was named to the &lsquo;92 WJC all-star team; he wore the maple leaf at the 1996 and 2004 World Cup and at the 2002 Olympic Games; and, he was a member of the 2004 gold medal-winning World Championship team.</p><p>That wealth of experience has made him the lone player to win a Memorial Cup, World Championship, World Cup, Stanley Cup and Olympic gold medal.</p><p>The only real question about Niedermayer and the Olympics is with whom he&rsquo;ll be partnered.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;d imagine (Team Canada coach) Mike Babcock would put him with a Shea Weber- or Jay Bouwmeester-type of player,&rdquo; said the NHL coach. &ldquo;Somebody who is happy to stay back while Niedermayer jumps up into the rush.&rdquo;</p><p>Whomever he plays with, expect Niedermayer to be his dependable, future-lock-for-the-Hall-of-Fame self.</p><p>And you can bet he won&rsquo;t have much to say about it.</p><h2><b>INTERNATIONAL RECORD</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0063-0283/9272804-1-eng-US/f0063-022.jpg" title="f0063-02" width="498" height="330"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0063-01

SECRET AGENT MAN

<div class="byline">By Ken Campbell</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0064-01137/9272954-1-eng-US/f0064-012.jpg" title="f0064-01" width="320" height="208"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>Y</span>ou could certainly make the case that since NHL players began participating in the Olympics in 1998, no country has been as successful as the Czech Republic. With a gold medal in 1998 and a bronze in 2006, the Czechs have been a power indeed.</p><p>But the country has fallen on some hard hockey times recently and victories in big-time tournaments have been sparse. The Czechs have hit something of a dry spell in producing elite NHL players, too. Once the undisputed No. 1 hockey nation in the world, the Czech Republic no longer strikes near as much fear into its opponents.</p><p>Which is not to say the Czechs will flop in Vancouver, because they still have some top-flight talent that has a lot of experience and success in international competition. But where the Czechs could once rely on an array of skill, any success they may have in Vancouver will come from the results of a workmanlike effort and opportunistic play.</p><p>The Czechs should not be counted among the serious contenders for a medal in Vancouver, but if memory serves, nobody really envisioned them taking the gold medal in Nagano in 1998, either. They have the potential to sneak up on you.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0064-0284/9272947-1-eng-US/f0064-022.jpg" title="f0064-02" width="942" height="1341"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>The Czechs are counting on scorers like Milan Hejduk to step up.</b> <span class="photo-credit">(HEJDUK: CLIVE ROSE/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p><b>STRENGTHS</b> Perhaps the most striking strength of this team is the fact it is unspectacular, but very solid at every position. With the possible exception of Tomas Kaberle on defense, they don&rsquo;t have what most people would consider to be an elite NHLer at any position (and Kaberle&rsquo;s status as such is not exactly a permanent lock). But what they do have are very capable NHL players among their forwards, defensemen and goalies. They also have a sprinkling of Stanley Cups, along with several holdovers from the gold medal-winning entry in 1998. Recently, the Czechs have had a history of playing above their talent level.</p><p><b>WEAKNESSES</b> This squad would have been formidable 10 years ago, but much of the core of the Czech team is looking at its best hockey years in the rearview mirror. Milan Hejduk was having a renaissance this season in Colorado, but the team looks pretty weak down the middle, compounded by the fact young David Krejci of the Boston Bruins followed up a brilliant 2008-09 campaign with a miserable first segment of the &rsquo;09-10 season. You can never be totally certain of the kind of goaltending you&rsquo;re going to get from Tomas Vokoun and Czech teams traditionally have had a difficult time gaining traction if things don&rsquo;t go well early.</p><p><b>OFFENSE</b> The Czechs have the potential to create a lot of offense from both wings and it will be interesting to see how inspired former NHL superstar Jaromir Jagr will be to play against his peers after almost two full seasons in the Kontinental League. Still, the Czechs figure to have a difficult time scoring goals. Patrik Elias, who was injured for much of the first part of this season, was the only player on the Czech roster who scored 30 goals in the NHL last year. This team has a lot of good passers, but nobody who would be considered a pure finisher at the NHL level.</p><p><b>DEFENSE</b> This will, in all likelihood, be the strongest component to the Czech team in Vancouver. With the likes of Kaberle, Marek Zidlicky and Filip Kuba, creating offense certainly will not be a problem for this group, and it also has some veteran presence in Roman Hamrlik and Pavel Kubina and an emerging shutdown guy and a physical force in Zbynek Michalek. The power play has the potential to be devastating from the back end and the Czech defensemen have the skill set to get the puck up quickly to their forwards. That should help them get out of their own end and be able to stay in games.</p><p><b>GOALTENDING</b> It will be up to Vokoun and the surprising Ondrej Pavelec to decide which one will seize the No. 1 spot, but either is capable of supplying above-average goaltending during a short-term tournament. Vokoun has forged an NHL career as a very good goalie, but he tends to run hot and cold and the Czechs will be in trouble if late February falls in the middle of a chilly run for him. The goaltending isn&rsquo;t great, but it certainly has the potential to lead this team to a medal. However, this club doesn&rsquo;t have the firepower to overcome sub-par play in the nets.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0065-01147/9272940-1-eng-US/f0065-012.jpg" title="f0065-01" width="942" height="1092"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Will facing NHL-caliber players again fire up Jaromir Jagr?</b></figcaption></div><p><b>COACHING</b> The Czechs know they&rsquo;ll be in trouble if they start trading scoring chances with the more powerful teams in this tournament, so look for them to play a style that might have you wanting to poke your eyes out with knitting needles. The Czechs were defensive zealots when they were the best hockey country in the world and will be even more so with this lineup. Former NHLer Vladimir Ruzicka will need to extract the most from each of his players.</p><p><b>OUTLOOK</b> It would be a major surprise to see the Czechs in contention for a medal in Vancouver and a complete shock to see them compete for gold. But they do remain something of a wild card with the potential to pull off some upsets and make things interesting. Opponents will take this team lightly at their own peril.</p><h2><b>THN PREDICTION</b></h2><p>6th</p><p><i>Volatile goaltending and an overall lack of offense too much to overcome</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0064-0343/9272933-1-eng-US/f0064-032.jpg" title="f0064-03" width="732" height="647"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(KUBINA: ELSA/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><h2><b>PATRIOT GAME</b></h2><h3><b><i>Pavel Kubina</i></b></h3><p><i>A two-time gold medallist at the World Championship and two-time Olympian, Kubina&rsquo;s booming right-hand shot from the point and 6-foot-4, 245-pound frame have served the Czech blueline very well over the years.</i></p><p><b>INTERNATIONAL RECORD*</b></p><p>GP G A P</p><p><b>55 10 19 29</b></p><h2><b>TAKE NOTICE!</b></h2><h3><b><i>CZECH REPUBLIC</i></b></h3><p><i>Young veterans?! Czech them out&hellip;</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0065-02107/9272926-1-eng-US/f0065-022.jpg" title="f0065-02" width="189" height="250"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>F</b></p><p><b>Ales Hemsky</b></p></figcaption></div><p><i>The Czechs possess an experienced group of offensive talent, and Hemsky&rsquo;s ivory hands will assist the scoring effort even more. The returning player from &rsquo;06 in Turin has plenty of international expertise.</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0065-0379/9272919-1-eng-US/f0065-032.jpg" title="f0065-03" width="189" height="250"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>D</b></p><p><b>Marek Zidlicky</b></p></figcaption></div><p><i>Another returning player from the bronze medal-winning team of 2006, Zidlicky brings some grit and maybe even some goals. The Czech blueliner scored four times in seven games in &rsquo;06.</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0065-0457/9272912-1-eng-US/f0065-042.jpg" title="f0065-04" width="189" height="250"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>G</b></p><p><b>Tomas Vokoun</b></p> <span class="photo-credit">(ALEXANDER NEMENOV/AFP/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p><i>If Vokoun can get on a roll in this short tournament, he could provide some Dominik Hasek-like net-minding for the Czechs. If he struggles, look for NHL rookie Ondrej Pavelec to take over.</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0066-01134/9272905-1-eng-US/f0066-012.jpg" title="f0066-01" width="898" height="1129"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(HASEK: AL BELLO/ALLSPORT)</span></figcaption></div><h2><b>COMMEMORATIVE STAMP COLLECTION</b></h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0066-0283/9272898-1-eng-US/f0066-022.jpg" title="f0066-02" width="112" height="73"></div><p><i>February 21, 1998 Nagano, Japan</i></p><p>When they write an opera to commemorate a hockey game, you know something special has occurred. That&rsquo;s precisely what happened when the Czech Republic deflected all comers in the first Olympic Games to feature NHL talent at Nagano, Japan, in 1998. Goaltender Dominik Hasek cemented his status as one of the best netminders in history by denying Canada&rsquo;s best offensive players in the semifinal. &lsquo;The Dominator&rsquo; turned away all five shots in the shootout and got support from Robert Reichel, who scored on the Czechs&rsquo; first attempt, en route to a 2-1 victory. But Hasek didn&rsquo;t stop there; for an encore, he shut out the rival Russians 1-0 to claim gold.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0066-0333/9272891-1-eng-US/f0066-032.jpg" title="f0066-03" width="513" height="716"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>VACLAV PROSPAL</b> <span class="photo-credit">(PROSPAL: BRIAN BAHR/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><h2><b>REWIND</b></h2><p><b>HOW THEY DID IN 2006</b></p><p>3rd</p><p>The Czechs were just 2-3-0 during the preliminary round and finished fourth in their group to squeak into the quarterfinals. But sparked by top scorers Martin Straka, Jaromir Jagr and Vaclav Prospal, things changed in the medal round. The Czechs eliminated the favored Slovaks (who had gone 5-0 in prelim games); lost 7-3 to eventual gold medalist Sweden; and, shut out Russia 3-0 to clinch the bronze medal.</p><h2><b>OLYMPIC FAST FACTS</b></h2><p>Last Medal Bronze (2006)</p><p>All-Time Olympic Record 78-45-3</p><p>Pre-Olympic World Rank 6th</p><p>Host Country Never hosted</p><h2><b>OLYMPIC HISTORY</b></h2><p><i>Vladimir Zabrodsky was Czechoslovakia&rsquo;s first hockey superstar. He played hundreds of games for his country, captaining the Czechs to World Championships and their first Olympic medal, a silver, in 1948. Zabrodsky is the fourth-highest goal-scorer in Olympic history with 24 in just two tournaments, 1948 and &rsquo;56. It was not until the &rsquo;48 Games at St. Moritz, Switzerland, that European sides first challenged for gold. And at the head of the class were the Czechs, with Zabrodsky named the tournament&rsquo;s best forward. He scored 21 goals in eight games, failing to score in just one contest &ndash; a 0-0 tie against Canada.</i></p><h3><b>MEDAL COUNT</b></h3><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0066-0421/9272884-1-eng-US/f0066-042.jpg" title="f0066-04" width="112" height="196"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2><b>ALL-TIME OLYMPIC TEAM</b></h2><p><i>Here are the Czech Republic&rsquo;s six best performers at the Games</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0066-0512/9272877-1-eng-US/f0066-052.jpg" title="f0066-05" width="189" height="250"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>F</b></p><p><b><i>Jaromir Jagr</i></b></p></figcaption></div><p><b>1998</b></p><p><b>2002</b></p><p><b>2006</b></p><p><i>Five-time NHL scoring champion and 1998 gold medallist led Czechs in scoring in 2002 and placed second with the bronze medal winners in &rsquo;06.</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0066-068/9272870-1-eng-US/f0066-062.jpg" title="f0066-06" width="189" height="250"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>F</b></p><p><b><i>Vaclav Nedomansky</i></b></p> <span class="photo-credit">(NEDOMANSKY: STEVE BABINEAU/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES))</span></figcaption></div><p><b>1968</b></p><p><b>1972</b></p><p><i>Hockey legend with great moves and booming shot scored 11 goals in two Olympics before defecting to play for the WHA&rsquo;s Toronto Toros in 1974.</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0066-077/9272863-1-eng-US/f0066-072.jpg" title="f0066-07" width="189" height="250"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>F</b></p><p><b><i>Robert Lang</i></b></p></figcaption></div><p><b>1992</b></p><p><b>1998</b></p><p><b>2002</b></p><p><b>2006</b></p><p><i>Scoring leader at 1992 Olympics in France &ndash; with five goals and 13 points in eight games &ndash; as Czechoslovaks defeated the U.S. to win the bronze medal.</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0066-086/9272856-1-eng-US/f0066-082.jpg" title="f0066-08" width="189" height="250"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p>D</p><p><b><i>Bedrich Scerban</i></b></p></figcaption></div><p><b>1988</b></p><p><b>1992</b></p><p><b>1994</b></p><p><i>Unheralded defender had hearing impairment, but was plus-16 overall in three Games, earning a bronze with Czechoslovakia in 1992 at Albertville, France.</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0066-096/9272849-1-eng-US/f0066-092.jpg" title="f0066-09" width="189" height="250"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>D</b></p><p><b><i>Frantisek Pospisil</i></b></p></figcaption></div><p><b>1968</b></p><p><b>1972</b></p><p><b>1976</b></p><p><i>Poised defenseman controlled play from his end of the rink and made slick outlet passes. He was part of historic 5-4 upset of Soviets in 1968.</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0066-105/9272842-1-eng-US/f0066-102.jpg" title="f0066-10" width="189" height="250"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p>G</p><p><b><i>Dominik Hasek</i></b></p></figcaption></div><p><i>Six-time Vezina Trophy winner stoned Canada in 1998 semi-final shootout and blanked Russia 1-0 to deliver his country&rsquo;s first and only hockey gold.</i></p><p>* Includes Olympics, World Championship, World Cup and World Junior<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0064-01

LAST SHOT FOR THE OLD GUARD

<div class="byline">By Ken Campbell</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0067-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0067-01103/9272992-1-eng-US/f0067-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(CLAUS ANDERSEN/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>he temptation is to suggest that Tomas Kaberle hasn&rsquo;t played a meaningful game in more than five years. Not true. He has played in lots of them, just not any for the Toronto Maple Leafs.</p><p>And so it goes for Kaberle, a player whom team management has tried &ndash; and failed &ndash; to trade several times for everyone from Eric Lindros to Chris Pronger, but who chose to enforce his no-trade clause when he had the chance to move.</p><p>It looks as though &ndash; unless he leaves the only NHL team that he has ever known &ndash; Kaberle will once again be playing his meaningful contests this season on the international stage. Kaberle is sure to be one of the go-to defensemen for the Czech Republic at the 2010 Olympics. And he should feel extremely comfortable playing with the Czech sweater on his back.</p><p>Since the Leafs last played in the post-season in 2004, Kaberle has represented his country three times in the World Championship and once in the Olympics, highlighted by a gold medal in the worlds in 2005, followed by bronze medals in both the Olympics and World Championship in 2006. He also played for the Czechs in the &rsquo;08 worlds when they finished out of the medals in Quebec City.</p><p>&ldquo;We all know each other pretty well and we get along great,&rdquo; said Kaberle of his Czech mates. &ldquo;Guys are always joking around in the dressing room. It&rsquo;s a good bunch of guys.&rdquo;</p><p>It is unfortunate Kaberle&rsquo;s NHL moments haven&rsquo;t been that fond recently. He went to the Eastern Conference final with the Leafs in his rookie season of 1998-99 and returned in 2002, but the Leafs haven&rsquo;t seen a playoff game since 2004 and look destined to finish among the bottom feeders once again this season.</p><p>Kaberle, though, has not been a part of the problem in Toronto. He&rsquo;s a durable, low-maintenance player and one of the NHL&rsquo;s headier defensemen. And he&rsquo;s among the blueline scoring leaders this year, quite a feat on such a moribund team.</p><blockquote class="pullQuote">KABERLE IS SURE TO BE ONE OF THE GO-TO DEFENDERS FOR THE CZECHS</blockquote><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a bit frustrating for sure,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;but I still think we have a good team.&rdquo;</p><p>With the Czechs, Kaberle will be part of a dark horse-type club behind Canada, Russia and Sweden. But the Czechs have a way of bringing their best games to the Olympics and usually play as a cohesive unit. They have a veteran coach in former NHLer Vladimir Ruzicka and typically play a system that encourages collective success.</p><p>It will almost certainly also be Jaromir Jagr&rsquo;s last significant appearance in his Hall of Fame hockey career &ndash; no disrespect to the Kontinental League &ndash; and Kaberle is sure his countryman and friend will be ready to rise to the challenge. They are from the same area in the Czech Republic and both worked out this summer with their former Kladno team in the Czech League.</p><p>&ldquo;He looked really good this summer when I saw him,&rdquo; Kaberle said. &ldquo;And he loves playing for his country.&rdquo;</p><p>Kaberle remains non-committal about his future with the Leafs. He has one more year after this season on a contract with a limited no-trade clause and wants to stay in Toronto.</p><p>&ldquo;I think I made it clear how I feel when I signed here for five years,&rdquo; Kaberle said. &ldquo;If (Leafs GM Brian) Burke comes to me with something, I&rsquo;d look at it. But I think we have a good team here and I prefer to stay here.&rdquo;</p><h2><b>INTERNATIONAL RECORD</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0067-0251/9272985-1-eng-US/f0067-022.jpg" title="f0067-02" width="498" height="414"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0067-01

PLAYING IN GAMES THAT MATTER

<div class="byline">By Adam Proteau</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0068-01102/9273135-1-eng-US/f0068-012.jpg" title="f0068-01" width="319" height="208"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>A</span>t the most recent Olympic Winter Games in Turin, Italy, Finland&rsquo;s men&rsquo;s hockey team lost a close championship game to their chief rivals from Sweden.</p><p>Needless to say, improving on a silver medal at the 2010 Vancouver Games is going to be a tall order. But the perennially determined Finns are going to summon every bit of grit in their arsenal in an attempt to grab the gold medal and even things up with their Scandinavian nemesis.</p><p>However, they&rsquo;ll be attempting to do so in their typically understated manner.</p><p>&ldquo;I bumped into the former director of coaching of the Finnish Olympic Committee and he told me to forget about setting winning a gold medal in Vancouver as a goal for the team,&rdquo; said Finland coach Jukka Jalonen during the summer. &ldquo;Just say, &lsquo;A medal.&rsquo; Going for gold creates too much pressure.&rdquo;</p><p>Finnish leader Teppo Numminen retired last season, but there will be no shortage of veteran savvy on a roster with players such as Teemu Selanne, Saku Koivu and Kimmo Timonen.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0068-0254/9273128-1-eng-US/f0068-022.jpg" title="f0068-02" width="937" height="1342"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>The key Koivu in Vancouver may be Mikko, not older brother Saku.</b></figcaption></div><p><b>STRENGTHS</b> First and foremost, the Finns have a plethora of solid goaltenders to lean on. Calgary netminder Miikka Kiprusoff has the inside track on the starting job, but made it known he might take the two weeks off to rest up for the NHL stretch run if not named the No. 1. If that happens, Minnesota cornerstone Niklas Backstrom will supplant Kiprusoff. Otherwise, Finland&rsquo;s main strength will be its veteran defense corps. It will be led by Timonen, with ample assistance from NHLers Joni Pitkanen (Carolina), Toni Lydman (Buffalo), Sami Salo (Vancouver) and Ville Koistinen (Florida). Combined with their goaltending, the Finnish defense will be what carries them with goals hard to come by.</p><p><b>WEAKNESSES</b> Aside from Selanne and his legendary scoring skills, the Finns aren&rsquo;t exactly known for filling the opposition&rsquo;s net, either in the NHL or during international play. The other big issue for Finland could be their veterans&rsquo; inability to stay healthy. Already in the 2009-10 NHL season, Saku Koivu had missed games due to injury, as had Pitkanen, Salo and Detroit&rsquo;s Valtteri Filppula. If any or all of them bow out during the Games &ndash; or aren&rsquo;t healthy enough to play in the first place &ndash; Finland&rsquo;s chances will sustain a major blow.</p><p><b>OFFENSE</b> If Selanne and either Saku or Mikko Koivu aren&rsquo;t putting Finland on the scoreboard on a regular basis, they&rsquo;re going to need some of their other NHL-experienced mainstays to chip in with some offense. That group includes Olli Jokinen, Tuomo Ruutu, Jussi Jokinen, Niklas Hagman, Filppula and Sean Bergenheim. But a dark horse candidate to provide offense is former NHLer Niko Kapanen; the one-time member of the Dallas Stars is currently playing for Ak Bars Kazan of the Kontinental League, and had seven goals and 10 points in seven games at the 2009 World Championship.</p><p><b>DEFENSE</b> In addition to their collection of NHL defensemen, the Finns are likely to look to a pair of former NHLers to fill out the back end of their squad. The offensively inclined Petteri Nummelin spent a few years in North America with Columbus and Minnesota and now plies his trade for HC Lugano of the Swiss League, where he led the loop in blueliner assists last season; meanwhile, Ossi Vanaanen played 479 NHL games, but currently is employed by Minsk in the KHL. Both would provide a great deal of international experience. In terms of defensive forwards, there&rsquo;s little doubt Stars winger Jere Lehtinen will be assigned to contain the opposition&rsquo;s best offensive players.</p><p><b>GOALTENDING</b> If Kiprusoff doesn&rsquo;t live up to expectations &ndash; or attend the Games at all &ndash; Jalonen almost certainly will turn to Backstrom. Heck, Backstrom (who will turn 32 four days before Finland&rsquo;s first preliminary round game Feb. 17 against Belarus) might have taken over the starter&rsquo;s job by the time this magazine arrives before your eyes. The Helsinki native doesn&rsquo;t have a ton of international experience, but the experience he does have &ndash; a 36-save shutout of Sweden to lead Finland to the bronze medal at the 2008 World Championship &ndash; should put Backstrom&rsquo;s teammates&rsquo; minds at ease, whether he starts or steps in.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0069-0191/9273121-1-eng-US/f0069-012.jpg" title="f0069-01" width="942" height="1092"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Calgary&rsquo;s Olli Jokinen must provide offense for the Finns.</b></figcaption></div><p><b>COACHING</b> Jalonen took over Finland&rsquo;s coaching reins from former NHLer Doug Shedden after the 2008 World Championship. He has earned a reputation as a solid developer of young talent in the Finnish League, but there won&rsquo;t be an abundance of kids on his roster. He&rsquo;ll probably stick with a defensive style, but isn&rsquo;t above taking a risk like he did at the 2009 World Championship when, needing a round-robin win in regulation time, he pulled Rinne from the net with one minute remaining and the score tied. (The game went to a shootout anyway.)</p><p><b>OUTLOOK</b> As they demonstrated in 2006, gone are the days any team could take the Finns for granted. Nevertheless, it will take an outstanding effort from one of their goalies, as well as some timely infusions of offense, if they are to return to the level they reached four years ago.</p><h2><b>THN PREDICTION</b></h2><p><b>5</b>th</p><p><i>Firepower doesn&rsquo;t match up with other top dogs, even though goaltending does</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0068-0329/9273114-1-eng-US/f0068-032.jpg" title="f0068-03" width="598" height="727"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(BOTH: ELSA/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><h2><b>PATRIOT GAME</b></h2><h3><b><i>Tuomo Ruutu</i></b></h3><p><i>Despite a brutal stretch of injuries early in his career and a personally unsatisfying 2006 World Championship, Ruutu forged on. His two-way game and hard-nosed style of play will be relied upon heavily by his country.</i></p><p><b>INTERNATIONAL RECORD*</b></p><p>GP G A P</p><p><b>53 15 19 34</b></p><h2><b>TAKE NOTICE!</b></h2><h3><b><i>FINLAND</i></b></h3><p><i>From start to Finnish</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0069-0258/9273107-1-eng-US/f0069-022.jpg" title="f0069-02" width="189" height="250"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>F</b></p><p><b>Saku Koivu</b></p></figcaption></div><p><i>Wily veteran goes into his fourth Games hoping to click with sniper Teemu Selanne one more time. They tied for the Olympic scoring title in both 1998 and 2006; Koivu sat out in &rsquo;02 while battling cancer.</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0069-0334/9273100-1-eng-US/f0069-032.jpg" title="f0069-03" width="189" height="250"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>D</b></p><p><b>Kimmo Timonen</b></p></figcaption></div><p><i>With a bronze and silver medal on his Olympic resume, Timonen is one bauble short of a full collection. As a veteran with international experience, he&rsquo;ll be relied on to anchor the blueline.</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0069-0421/9273093-1-eng-US/f0069-042.jpg" title="f0069-04" width="189" height="250"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>G</b></p><p><b>Niklas Backstrom</b></p> <span class="photo-credit">(ELSA/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p><i>Whether he starts or steps in, Backstrom is sure to have the faith of his Finnish teammates. He&rsquo;s been one of the best goalies in the NHL since arriving in 2006 at age 28, and had a 6-2-0 record at &rsquo;08 worlds.</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0070-0186/9273086-1-eng-US/f0070-012.jpg" title="f0070-01" width="898" height="1129"></div><h2><b>COMMEMORATIVE STAMP COLLECTION</b></h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0070-0246/9273079-1-eng-US/f0070-022.jpg" title="f0070-02" width="111" height="73"></div><p><i>February 9, 1992 Albertville, France</i></p><p>The highest-scoring Finn in Olympic history debuts as a 21-year-old scoring sensation from Helsinki.</p><p>Before he was the NHL&rsquo;s &lsquo;Finnish Flash,&rsquo; he was just Teemu Selanne from Jokerit in Finland&rsquo;s SM-Liiga. But in 1992, Selanne offered a glimpse at what was to come by leading his country in scoring with seven goals and 11 points in eight games, good for fourth in the tournament. Team Finland disappoints with a seventh-place finish, but an international shooting star is born. Selanne appeared in four Olympics prior to 2010 and won two scoring titles. He is the offensive leader among all active NHLers and will be relied on again in his fifth Games to lead his country on and off the ice.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0070-0323/9273072-1-eng-US/f0070-032.jpg" title="f0070-03" width="513" height="717"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>TEAM FINLAND</b> <span class="photo-credit">(FINLAND: AL BELLO/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><h2><b>REWIND</b></h2><p><b>HOW THEY DID IN 2006</b></p><p><b>2</b>nd</p><p>The Finns went 5-0 in group play, scoring 19 goals and allowing just two. They then beat the U.S. 4-3 in the quarterfinals and Russia 4-0 in the semis to reach the gold medal game, a 4-3 loss to Sweden. Teemu Selanne and Saku Koivu led all scorers with 11 points and were named tournament all-stars along with teammates Kimmo Timonen and Antero Niittymaki. Selanne was named top forward, Niittymaki the tournament MVP.</p><h2><b>OLYMPIC FAST FACTS</b></h2><p>Last Medal Silver (2006)</p><p>All-Time Olympic Record 47-38-6</p><p>Pre-Olympic World Rank 4th</p><p>Host Country Never Hosted</p><h2><b>OLYMPIC HISTORY</b></h2><p><i>The &lsquo;Miracle on Ice&rsquo; is remembered as the Team USA&rsquo;s 1980 Olympic victory at Lake Placid, N.Y. But Finland played an often forgotten role in the outcome. Many assume the &lsquo;miracle&rsquo; was Team USA&rsquo;s defeat of the Soviet Union. But it wasn&rsquo;t. The &lsquo;Miracle on Ice&rsquo; was the medal round&rsquo;s nickname. And the gold medal was actually clinched against a Petri Skriko-led Finland squad two days after the USSR game. The Finns took a 2-1 lead into the third period, but collapsed under the pressure of playing in front of a partisan crowd and an emotionally charged U.S. team. The game ended in a 4-2 U.S. victory.</i></p><h3><b>MEDAL COUNT</b></h3><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0070-0413/9273065-1-eng-US/f0070-042.jpg" title="f0070-04" width="111" height="196"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2><b>ALL-TIME OLYMPIC TEAM</b></h2><p><i>Here are the five best Finnish performers in Games history</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0070-056/9273058-1-eng-US/f0070-052.jpg" title="f0070-05" width="189" height="250"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>F</b></p><p><b><i>Raimo Helminen</i></b></p></figcaption></div><p><b>1984</b></p><p><b>1988</b></p><p><b>1992</b></p><p><b>1994</b></p><p><b>1998</b></p><p><b>2002</b></p><p><i>The only player ever to appear in six Olympic hockey tournaments. He made his Olympic debut as a 19-year-old kid and his last appearance at a grizzled 37.</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0070-065/9273051-1-eng-US/f0070-062.jpg" title="f0070-06" width="189" height="250"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>F</b></p><p><b><i>Teemu Selanne</i></b></p> <span class="photo-credit">(SELANNE: BRIAN BAHR/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p><b>1992</b></p><p><b>1998</b></p><p><b>2002</b></p><p><b>2006</b></p><p><i>The one and only &lsquo;Finnish Flash&rsquo; tied for the overall scoring lead with teammate Saku Koivu in 1998 and &rsquo;06, collecting bronze and silver medals.</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0070-076/9273044-1-eng-US/f0070-072.jpg" title="f0070-07" width="189" height="250"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>F</b></p><p><b><i>Saku Koivu</i></b></p></figcaption></div><p><b>1994</b></p><p><b>1998</b></p><p><b>2006</b></p><p><i>Veteran leader has piled up 28 points in just 22 games over three Olympics, earning two silver medals and a bronze. Last chance to shine on big international stage.</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0070-086/9273037-1-eng-US/f0070-082.jpg" title="f0070-08" width="189" height="250"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>D</b></p><p><b><i>Teppo Numminen</i></b></p></figcaption></div><p><b>1988</b></p><p><b>1998</b></p><p><b>2002</b></p><p><b>2006</b></p><p><i>An Olympic career covering 18 years earned this all-time Finnish defensive great a pair of silvers and a bronze. Wasn&rsquo;t eligible in 1992 or &rsquo;94 as he was in NHL.</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0070-096/9273030-1-eng-US/f0070-092.jpg" title="f0070-09" width="189" height="250"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>D</b></p><p><b><i>Kimmo Timonen</i></b></p></figcaption></div><p><b>1998</b></p><p><b>2002</b></p><p><b>2006</b></p><p><i>A silver medallist in 2006 at Turin and bronzed at Nagano in 1998, this mobile blueliner has seven points in 18 games over three Olympics.</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0070-104/9273023-1-eng-US/f0070-102.jpg" title="f0070-10" width="189" height="250"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>G</b></p><p><b><i>Jarmo Myllys</i></b></p> <span class="photo-credit">(HEADSHOTS: GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p><b>1988</b></p><p><b>1994</b></p><p><b>1998</b></p><p><i>Diminutive stopper posted sparkling 1.83 GAA for 1988 silver medallists and 0.60 for 1994 bronze medallists, with save percentage of .966 in 1994.</i></p><p>* Includes Olympics, World Championship, World Cup and World Junior<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0068-01

LAST HURRAH FOR LEGENDS

<div class="byline">By Ken Campbell</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0071-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0071-0191/9273173-1-eng-US/f0071-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(JEFF GROSS/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><span>I</span>t seemed like the perfect ending. Teemu Selanne was having a beer, a couple of them actually, as he celebrated Finland&rsquo;s win in the bronze medal game of the World Championship.</p><p>That&rsquo;s a big deal in Finland. And it was a big deal for Selanne, who looked fully prepared to ride off into the sunset from Le Colisee in Quebec City in the spring of 2008.</p><p>At the time, Selanne sounded like a man who was headed for retirement. But he said even if he decided to play one more season in the NHL, his days of representing his country were definitely over.</p><p>&ldquo;I remember having a long discussion after the World Championship and he was saying, &lsquo;No chance guys, 2010, no chance,&rsquo; &rdquo; said Team Finland GM Jari Kurri. &ldquo;And we kept saying, &lsquo;Yeah, yeah, yeah.&rsquo; &rdquo;</p><p>But here he is two years later ready to once again serve his country on the international stage. Good thing, too, since Selanne will almost certainly be the Finns&rsquo; best offensive player. All of which begs the question, if NHLers play in 2014, will he suit up?</p><p>&ldquo;Not a chance,&rdquo; Selanne laughed. &ldquo;I might change my mind a lot of times, but that one is for sure.&rdquo;</p><p>Yeah, yeah, yeah. We&rsquo;ll believe it when we see it. After all, Selanne was on a 40-goal pace in the NHL this season and certainly didn&rsquo;t look to be missing many strides. He keeps himself in great shape and the new NHL has been very good to him. Since the league reconvened after the lockout, Selanne had 139 goals in 276 games.</p><p>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t feel 39&hellip;Actually, some days, I do,&rdquo; Selanne said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m lucky to play with great players and I&rsquo;m having fun. I feel I still have the tools to play in this league. I don&rsquo;t know about 40 goals, but I&rsquo;m having fun.&rdquo;</p><p>There&rsquo;s little doubt Selanne will be an enormous cog in the little Finnish engine that could in Vancouver. At the 2006 Games in Turin, Italy, he led all goal-scorers with six and tied teammate Saku Koivu for tops in points with 11 on a Finnish side that shocked the world by winning the silver medal. And while it goes nicely with the bronze that Selanne won in 1998, it leaves him one short of the trifecta.</p><blockquote class="pullQuote">&lsquo;I DON&rsquo;T FEEL 39&hellip; ACTUALLY, SOME DAYS, I DO&rsquo;</blockquote><p>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think it&rsquo;s impossible,&rdquo; said Selanne of the Finnish prospects for gold, &ldquo;but we&rsquo;re not the favorites. The last Olympics proved when we play our best, anything is possible. We like the underdog role and the gap between No. 1 and No. 5 is not that big.&rdquo;</p><p>Regardless of how Finland fares, one thing is certain. Even with a mediocre performance offensively, Selanne will forge a spot as one of the most productive players in Olympic history. In four Olympic Games, Selanne has scored 35 points, which is one behind Soviet legend Valery Kharlamov for the most all-time. (It should be pointed out assists were not recorded prior to 1960.) Selanne&rsquo;s 20 goals in the Olympics easily puts him first among contemporary players; in other words, he&rsquo;s tops among those who did not play in the early days when Canada would bomb teams 34-1 and some guy would score nine goals.</p><p>&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t know that,&rdquo; said Selanne about the prospect of passing Kharlamov. &ldquo;It makes me feel special, but it&rsquo;s not going to change my life.&rdquo;</p><h2><b>INTERNATIONAL RECORD</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0071-0245/9273166-1-eng-US/f0071-022.jpg" title="f0071-02" width="499" height="623"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0071-01

SELANNE’S SWAN SONG

<div class="byline">By Ryan Dixon</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0072-0188/9273316-1-eng-US/f0072-012.jpg" title="f0072-01" width="319" height="208"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>hat the Russians will send an incredibly skilled team to the Olympics doesn&rsquo;t exactly qualify as a revelation. That&rsquo;s what they&rsquo;ve been doing since 1956, when the Soviet Union struck gold in its Games debut.</p><p>But the high-end talent the Russians will show off in Vancouver &ndash; particularly on the top two lines &ndash; borders on the absurd. Just a tip to fans cheering for teams that aren&rsquo;t Russia; get the family doctor on call, because Alex Ovechkin, Ilya Kovalchuk and Evgeni Malkin are capable of causing heart-seizing moments every time they touch the puck.</p><p>The top-six forward crew will be filled out by the likes of Pavel Datsyuk, Alexander Semin, Alex Kovalev and Alexander Radulov.</p><p>Can somebody please pass the defibrillator?</p><p>The fact these games will take place on North American-sized ice as opposed to the larger international surface will have no adverse affect on the Russians. First off, the vast majority of the squad will be comprised of players from the NHL, so they should feel right at home on the smaller ice. Downsized dimensions also means a greater emphasis on making plays in tight spaces, an area in which the soft-handed Russians tend to excel.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0072-0244/9273309-1-eng-US/f0072-022.jpg" title="f0072-02" width="942" height="1342"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Evgeni Malkin joins a cast of scary-good Russian forwards.</b> <span class="photo-credit">(MALKIN: DOUG PENSINGER/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p><b>STRENGTHS</b> Scoring, plain and simple. The Russian snipers will come at teams in waves, with moves so smooth they&rsquo;ll make James Bond look like a schmuck. The Russians are also on a roll, having won the past two World Championships. In 2008, they won the worlds by beating Canada in its own backyard (Quebec City) in the gold medal game, proof they won&rsquo;t be intimidated by venturing into a hostile environment. The team also has three quality options in goal, with Evgeni Nabokov, Ilya Bryzgalov and Nikolai Khabibulin all capable of seeing a team through a short event.</p><p><b>WEAKNESSES</b> The Russians essentially enter the tournament as co-favorites with Canada, but if there&rsquo;s one place their lineup doesn&rsquo;t compare to the home country&rsquo;s, it is on the back end. Even assuming Andrei Markov has fully healed from the sliced tendon he sustained in the first game of the NHL season, the Russian blueline has some holes &ndash; or at the very least, isn&rsquo;t airtight. Markov, Sergei Gonchar and even 39-year-old Sergei Zubov are all very capable of moving the puck and running power plays, but you have to think they&rsquo;ll have trouble containing some of the skilled bangers that other nations boast up front. Basically, Anton Volchenkov will be expected to provide the bulk of the physical play.</p><p><b>OFFENSE</b> For all the red-light potential this Big Red Machine has, we&rsquo;d be remiss not to note the Russians were blanked in their last two contests at the 2006 Turin Games. That roster included many of the same players we&rsquo;ll see in Vancouver, though Ovechkin and Malkin have gained four years&rsquo; worth of maturity and maniacal offensive ability since then. Even if a team manages to mute the top two lines, the bottom half of the Russian forward crew is littered with guys such as Alexander Frolov and Alexei Morozov, the type of players who can blend into the background until they make that one game-changing dash.</p><p><b>DEFENSE</b> The health of Markov is key, as this group can ill afford to lose a player of his caliber. If all goes according to plan, Markov will be back with the Montreal Canadiens a few weeks prior to the Olympics, so he will be ready to go. Having puck-movers such as Markov, Zubov and Gonchar on the back end is crucial for Russia because their outlet passes will trigger the transition game and allow the forwards to work their magic. Where this blueline bunch will run into trouble is handling the down-low cycling game of teams such as Canada and the U.S.</p><p><b>GOALTENDING</b> Nabokov, 34, is the incumbent starter, but nobody&rsquo;s name is etched in stone. Questions about Nabokov&rsquo;s ability to win the big one in North America have floated around for years thanks to the San Jose Sharks&rsquo; consistent playoff failures. Khabibulin will be 37 when the tournament starts and hasn&rsquo;t played for Russia since the 2002 Games. However, unlike Nabokov, his career resume includes a Stanley Cup (with Tampa Bay in 2006). Bryzgalov put himself in the mix with strong play in Phoenix, while there&rsquo;s an outside chance 21-year-old Washington Capitals rookie Semyon Varlamov will get an invite.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0073-0191/9273302-1-eng-US/f0073-012.jpg" title="f0073-01" width="942" height="1092"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Pavel Datsyuk&rsquo;s playmaking is a good fit on a team filled with snipers.</b> <span class="photo-credit">(DATSYUK: JEFF GROSS/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p><b>COACHING</b> Vyacheslav Bykov has his mojo going against Canada, having coached Russia to gold medal wins over the Canucks at consecutive World Championships. Under his watch, Russia has risen to become the IIHF&rsquo;s No. 1-ranked team. Bykov will be trying to guide the Russians to their first Olympic gold since 1992, when he was a player on the Unified Team that won it all. He also stood atop the podium as a player with the 1988 Soviet squad that conquered Calgary.</p><p><b>OUTLOOK</b> Basically, look out &ndash; or at the very least, don&rsquo;t look away for a second, because that&rsquo;s all it will take for this team to strike. Russia will relish the chance to win gold on Canadian soil, but doing so will require the &lsquo;D&rsquo; playing above its collective head and some big, timely saves.</p><h2><b>THN PREDICTION</b></h2><p><b>2</b>nd</p><p><i>Scoring won&rsquo;t be an issue, but the blueline will result in a silver lining</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0072-0327/9273295-1-eng-US/f0072-032.jpg" title="f0072-03" width="503" height="688"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(KOVALEV: ELSA/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><h2><b>PATRIOT GAME</b></h2><h3><b><i>Alexei Kovalev</i></b></h3><p><i>Kovalev will be the only Russian player who has already won an Olympic gold medal. In 1992 as an 18-year-old, Kovalev suited up for the Unified Team and pitched in with a goal and three points en route to Games glory.</i></p><p><b>INTERNATIONAL RECORD*</b></p><p>GP G A P</p><p><b>59 25 19 44</b></p><h2><b>TAKE NOTICE</b></h2><h3><b><i>RUSSIA</i></b></h3><p><i>From Russia with goals</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0073-0254/9273288-1-eng-US/f0073-022.jpg" title="f0073-02" width="189" height="250"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>F</b></p><p><b>Ilya Kovalchuk</b></p></figcaption></div><p><i>Goals, goals, goals. That&rsquo;s what Kovalchuk brings to the table. And when you throw him onto a team with the likes of Malkin, Ovechkin and Datsyuk, expect an explosion of offense.</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0073-0330/9273281-1-eng-US/f0073-032.jpg" title="f0073-03" width="189" height="250"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>D</b></p><p><b>Sergei Gonchar</b></p></figcaption></div><p><i>Gonchar may be 35, but he is one of the best power play quarterbacks in the game. Need proof? Remember how the Penguins&rsquo; power play suffered when he was hurt? Look for big bombs from the point.</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0073-0414/9273274-1-eng-US/f0073-042.jpg" title="f0073-04" width="189" height="250"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>G</b></p><p><b>Ilya Bryzgalov</b></p></figcaption></div><p><i>Whatever role Bryzgalov finds himself in at the Games, he&rsquo;s capable of contributing excellent goaltending in any situation. His weakness is he has no Olympic experience in a pressure situation.</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0074-0180/9273267-1-eng-US/f0074-012.jpg" title="f0074-01" width="898" height="1129"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(RUSSIA: BOB THOMAS/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><h2><b>COMMEMORATIVE STAMP COLLECTION</b></h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0074-0235/9273260-1-eng-US/f0074-022.jpg" title="f0074-02" width="112" height="74"></div><p><i>February 23, 1992 Albertville, France</i></p><p>In the wake of massive political upheaval in Eastern Europe, a group of players from the old Soviet Union came together as the Unified Team and left with gold for the last time. Helmed by Russian coaching legend Viktor Tikhonov, a squad featuring future NHLers Alex Kovalev, Darius Kasparaitis and Nikolai Borschevsky defeated Canada 3-1 in the gold medal game, marking the second time the ex-Soviets would best the Eric Lindros-led Canucks in France. The famously grumpy Tikhonov, who exchanged trash talk with Lindros earlier in the tournament, was overjoyed by the victory and was even tossed in the air by his players in celebration.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0074-0317/9273253-1-eng-US/f0074-032.jpg" title="f0074-03" width="513" height="717"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>MAXIM AFINOGENOV</b> <span class="photo-credit">(AFINOGENOV: BRIAN BAHR/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><h2><b>REWIND</b></h2><p><b>HOW THEY DID IN 2006</b></p><p><b>4</b>th</p><p>Russia was the highest-scoring team in Turin, but, after riding the high of a victory over Canada in the quarterfinal, was shut out in the semifinal by Finland &ndash; and again in and the bronze medal game by the Czech Republic. Russia&rsquo;s leading scorer was center Pavel Datsyuk, who supplied a goal and eight points in eight games. Left winger Alex Ovechkin was the lone Russian named to the tournament all-star team.</p><h2><b>OLYMPIC FAST FACTS</b></h2><p>Last Medal Bronze (2002)</p><p>All-Time Olympic Record 77-16-3</p><p>Pre-Olympic World Rank 1st</p><p>Host Country Never hosted</p><h2><b>OLYMPIC HISTORY</b></h2><p><i>No other nation has dominated Olympic tournaments like Russia. Competing as the Soviet Union, the Unified Team and Russia, the hockey superpower has never gone back-to-back Games without a medal and has failed to medal just twice in 14 tournaments &ndash; in 1994 and 2006. The USSR first competed at the Games in 1956 at Cortina d&rsquo;Ampezzo, Italy. The team won gold with a 5-0 record, outscoring opponents by a 25-5 margin, including 4-0 and 2-0 wins over the U.S. (silver) and Canada (bronze). Russia has a pair of three-peats at the Olympics, winning six gold medals in seven Games from 1964 to 1992.</i></p><h3><b>MEDAL COUNT</b></h3><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0074-049/9273246-1-eng-US/f0074-042.jpg" title="f0074-04" width="111" height="196"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2><b>ALL-TIME OLYMPIC TEAM</b></h2><p><i>Here are the five best Russian performers in Games history</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0074-055/9273239-1-eng-US/f0074-052.jpg" title="f0074-05" width="189" height="240"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>F</b></p><p><b><i>Valery Kharlamov</i></b></p></figcaption></div><p><b>1972</b></p><p><b>1976</b></p><p><b>1980</b></p><p><i>Highly creative winger, who scored winning goal in 1976 showdown for gold medal against Czechoslovakia, tallied nine goals in just five games in 1972.</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0074-065/9273232-1-eng-US/f0074-062.jpg" title="f0074-06" width="189" height="240"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>F</b></p><p><b><i>Sergei Makarov</i></b></p></figcaption></div><p><b>1980</b></p><p><b>1984</b></p><p><b>1988</b></p><p><i>In 22 Olympic contests, the stocky, dynamic winger recorded 28 points and earned gold medals in 1984 and 1988 &ndash; which helped ease the pain of 1980.</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0074-074/9273225-1-eng-US/f0074-072.jpg" title="f0074-07" width="189" height="246"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>F</b></p><p><b><i>Anatoli Firsov</i></b></p></figcaption></div><p><b>1964</b></p><p><b>1968</b></p><p><b>1972</b></p><p><i>Explosive winger was one of Soviet Union&rsquo;s first stars. He scored 18 goals in only 15 Olympic matches, earning three gold medals along the way.</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0074-084/9273218-1-eng-US/f0074-082.jpg" title="f0074-08" width="189" height="243"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>D</b></p><p><b><i>Alexei Kasatonov</i></b></p></figcaption></div><p><b>1980</b></p><p><b>1984</b></p><p><b>1988</b></p><p><i>Fetisov&rsquo;s perennial blueline partner &ndash; in Soviet Union and NHL &ndash; averaged a point per game with 21 points in 21 games at three Olympics.</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0074-093/9273211-1-eng-US/f0074-092.jpg" title="f0074-09" width="166" height="241"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>D</b></p><p><b><i>Viacheslav Fetisov</i></b></p></figcaption></div><p><b>1980</b></p><p><b>1984</b></p><p><b>1988</b></p><p><i>In 22 Olympic matches, the Soviet captain in both 1984 and 1988 scored 12 goals and racked up 33 points. Few D-men in history can claim to be his peer.</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0074-102/9273204-1-eng-US/f0074-102.jpg" title="f0074-10" width="189" height="242"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>G</b></p><p><b><i>Vladislav Tretiak</i></b></p> <span class="photo-credit">(HEADSHOTS: GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p><b>1972</b></p><p><b>1976</b></p><p><b>1980</b></p><p><b>1984</b></p><p><i>Made his Olympic debut at 19 and earned three gold medals, posting a goals-against average of 0.67 in his Games farewell at Sarajevo in 1984.</i></p><p>* Includes Olympics, World Championship, World Cup and World Junior<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0072-01

LAUNCHING A MIGHTY OFFENSIVE

<div class="byline">By Adam Proteau</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0075-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0075-0170/9273354-1-eng-US/f0075-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(ANDRE RINGUETTE/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><span>W</span>hen Ottawa Senators GM Bryan Murray learned that Anton Volchenkov was named the NHL&rsquo;s best shot-blocking defenseman this year by a panel of expert league observers, he jokingly told The Hockey News he &ldquo;wished (Volchenkov) didn&rsquo;t finish first&rdquo; &ndash; the implication being that the salary demands for the soon-to-be unrestricted free agent would rise after he was bestowed with the honor.</p><p>If Murray actually was worried about his best blueliner&rsquo;s increasing value, a star showing from Volchenkov at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics &ndash; and a gold medal victory from him and his Russian compatriots &ndash; might push him out of Ottawa&rsquo;s payroll picture altogether.</p><p>That is, if Volchenkov makes it to the Games in one piece in the first place.</p><p>Thanks to his willingness to throw any body part in front of the puck, as well as his penchant for the type of huge hit that rocked Toronto Maple Leafs rookie Viktor Stalberg early in 2009-10, Volchenkov has missed an average of nearly 10 games per season due to myriad injuries that have affected his shoulder, finger, hand, ankle, neck, head and ribs.</p><p>Take this season, for example.</p><p>True to form, the 6-foot-1, 227-pound Volchenkov already was out of the Senators&rsquo; lineup for 10 games this season after dislocating his shoulder in late October. But Team Russia will be praying for his return to good health, because their defense corps will be comprised mostly of finesse players such as Sergei Gonchar and Andrei Markov and thus needs someone of Volchenkov&rsquo;s sandpaper quality to make life tough on the opposition&rsquo;s forwards.</p><blockquote class="pullQuote">&lsquo; HE IS ABOUT AS FEARLESS AS ANY PLAYER IN THE GAME TODAY&rsquo;</blockquote><p>&ldquo;He&rsquo;s about as fearless as anybody in the game today,&rdquo; said an Eastern Conference forward of the 27-year-old Moscow native known as &lsquo;The A-Train&rsquo;.</p><p>&ldquo;One of his bodychecks can hurt you about as much as one of his blocked shots that turns into an odd-man rush for Ottawa.&rdquo;</p><p>Volchenkov also is one of Russia&rsquo;s most positionally sound defenders, as evidenced by the fact that, in the three years prior last season &ndash; when Ottawa unexpectedly bottomed out and missed the playoffs two years removed from competing in the Stanley Cup final &ndash; his combined plus/minus rating was a stellar plus-72. That&rsquo;s especially impressive considering Volchenkov&rsquo;s offensive output is limited &ndash; the next time he has a five-goal season or collects 20 points will be his first time.</p><p>Then again, nobody&rsquo;s asking him to rush the puck up the ice and quarterback the power play.</p><p>&ldquo;Anton has been a very smart player for us over the years,&rdquo; Murray said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s never going to fill the net with goals, but that&rsquo;s not what we have him in the lineup to do.</p><p>&ldquo;He&rsquo;s in there to plug up shooting lanes, to make the opposition think twice before they head into our corners.</p><p>And Team Russia hopes he&rsquo;s available to do the same job for them when February rolls around. Because they know the feisty Volchenkov is willing and able to play the shutdown role when opposing stars are on the ice.</p><h2><b>INTERNATIONAL RECORD</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0075-0238/9273347-1-eng-US/f0075-022.jpg" title="f0075-02" width="498" height="330"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0075-01

RUSSIA HAS A BEAR BACK THERE

<div class="byline">By Ken Campbell</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0076-0173/9273497-1-eng-US/f0076-012.jpg" title="f0076-01" width="319" height="208"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>he first two times the best players in the world took part in the Olympics, the NHL treated Slovakia like the mail-room guy while the other hockey powers were given the keys to the executive washroom.</p><p>You&rsquo;ll remember that in 1998 and 2002, Slovakia was forced to qualify to play with the big boys prior to the Olympic tournament, without the luxury of using its best players for the qualifier because the NHL wouldn&rsquo;t release them early. But when Slovakia finally gained equal footing in 2006, it responded by sweeping the preliminary round with a 5-0-0 group record &ndash; which included wins over the U.S., Russia and Sweden &ndash; before losing to the Czech Republic in the quarterfinals.</p><p>Slovakia never enters these tournaments as one of the favorites and won&rsquo;t do so in Vancouver. But for a country so young, so small and with such a shallow pool of truly elite players, it has had a pretty impressive run of accomplishments. Despite competing in the A Pool of the World Championship only since 1996, Slovakia has won gold, silver and bronze medals, but nothing since 2003. There haven&rsquo;t been many things for Slovakia to celebrate in the past five years or so, but the fact it can even run with the big boys gives the team a chance in a short tournament.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0076-0236/9273490-1-eng-US/f0076-022.jpg" title="f0076-02" width="942" height="1342"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Undersized goalie Jaroslav Halak has the ability to come up big.</b> <span class="photo-credit">(HALAK: DAVE SANDFORD/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p><b>STRENGTHS</b> The Slovaks will go as far as the twin Marians can take them. When they&rsquo;re healthy, Marian Gaborik of the New York Rangers and Marian Hossa of the Chicago Blackhawks are two of the top game-changing talents in the NHL and they will almost certainly make up two-thirds of the No. 1 line. The defense corps is led by Zdeno Chara and has some very serviceable players. Jaroslav Halak has proved he can stare down shooters and win at the NHL level. In all areas of the ice, the Slovaks have a decent-to-very-high talent level.</p><p><b>WEAKNESSES</b> Largely because Slovakia has done such a poor job developing elite young players over the past decade or so, that talent has unfortunately been getting rather long in the tooth. Continuing to depend on major contributions from the likes of Pavol Demitra and Michal Handzus certainly handicaps Slovakia compared to other countries that produce dynamic young players. The Slovaks have good talent on the wings, but it drops off quickly and they are not particularly strong at the all-important center ice position. Any injuries to key men on this team cannot be filled by NHL-caliber players.</p><p><b>OFFENSE</b> With the exception of Gaborik and Hossa, the Slovaks figure to have a difficult time scoring in this tournament. They&rsquo;ll have to hope the Marians light it up for them and that their support players come through with some unexpected offensive production. In Chara and Lubomir Visnovsky, they have two experienced defensemen who can move the puck to the forwards and play the point on the power play. Miroslav Satan, Ladislav Nagy and Richard Zednik have seen their best offensive days already, but all three will be relied upon to help provide secondary scoring for the Slovaks.</p><p><b>DEFENSE</b> Although there is not a lot of depth at this position for Slovakia, it does have the defending Norris Trophy winner and one of the NHL&rsquo;s most prominent shutdown performers in Chara. The rest of the defensive cast is more than capable of playing at a high level and can certainly handle elite NHL competition. On a team that will have trouble producing offense, Chara will be bestowed with the enormous responsibility of keeping the best players on the planet at bay at one end of the ice, while also creating chances at the other.</p><p><b>GOALTENDING</b> Peter Budaj looked to be on track to be the Slovaks&rsquo; No. 1 man in goal, but his decline in Colorado combined with Halak&rsquo;s rise in Montreal means Halak will probably get the job by default. Halak is a capable NHL goalie and gives the Slovaks a chance to be in any game regardless of the opponent. Although a little small by North American standards, Halak does a good job of covering the net and is technically sound while doing so. Like many netminders, he struggles with consistency, but also has displayed a penchant for rising to the occasion in big games.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0077-0179/9273483-1-eng-US/f0077-012.jpg" title="f0077-01" width="942" height="1092"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Tampa Bay&rsquo;s Andrej Meszaros is part of a capable defense.</b></figcaption></div><p><b>COACHING</b> Not much is being expected of this team, so Slovakia will not be burdened by pressure and will have the luxury of simply being able to go out and play the game without worrying too much. Goals will be exceedingly difficult to score, so look for the Slovaks to focus on the back end and hope for a few breaks that can lead to offensive opportunities. The pure talent is no longer there for the Slovaks, so they&rsquo;ll have to rely on a total effort with no passengers along for the ride.</p><p><b>OUTLOOK</b> The Slovaks have surprised in international competition before, but expecting anything more than a top-eight showing will be a tall order for this team. If everything goes perfectly, they have a chance to contend, but if they falter in even one area, the task of seriously challenging becomes almost impossible.</p><h2><b>THN PREDICTION</b></h2><p><b>7</b>th</p><p><i>The smallest of international hockey&rsquo;s &lsquo;Big 7&rsquo; needs everyone clicking to move up</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0076-0322/9273476-1-eng-US/f0076-032.jpg" title="f0076-03" width="648" height="680"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(HOSSA: DOUG PENSINGER/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><h2><b>PATRIOT GAME</b></h2><h3><b><i>Marian Hossa</i></b></h3><p><i>A sublime talent who has answered his country&rsquo;s call for every major event, Hossa is nonetheless still seeking his first international medal at one of the big tournaments.</i></p><p><b>INTERNATIONAL RECORD*</b></p><p>GP G A P</p><p><b>71 34 37 71</b></p><h2><b>TAKE NOTICE</b></h2><h3><b><i>SLOVAKIA</i></b></h3><p><i>Support players need to step up</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0077-0242/9273469-1-eng-US/f0077-022.jpg" title="f0077-02" width="189" height="247"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>F</b></p><p><b>Marek Svatos</b></p></figcaption></div><p><i>Secondary scoring is going to be huge for the Slovaks if they have any plan of taking home a medal. Svatos has a tantalizing amount of skill and his country will need him to put all of it to use.</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0077-0330/9273462-1-eng-US/f0077-032.jpg" title="f0077-03" width="189" height="242"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>D</b></p><p><b>Lubomir Visnovsky</b></p></figcaption></div><p><i>Visnovsky is entering his fourth Olympic Games, which makes him an international veteran and a key aspect to the defense corps for Slovakia. His offensive touch from the back end will be welcomed.</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0077-0414/9273455-1-eng-US/f0077-042.jpg" title="f0077-04" width="189" height="250"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>G</b></p><p><b>Jaroslav Halak</b></p> <span class="photo-credit">(DOUG PENSINGER/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p><i>With a team lacking depth in front of him, Halak will see a lot of rubber at the Vancouver Games. Considering his performance for the Habs this season, Halak could steal a few contests.</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0077-059/9273448-1-eng-US/f0077-052.jpg" title="f0077-05" width="898" height="1129"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(STASTNY: HANNU LINDROOS/HOCKEY HALL OF FAME)</span></figcaption></div><h2><b>COMMEMORATIVE STAMP COLLECTION</b></h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0078-0168/9273441-1-eng-US/f0078-012.jpg" title="f0078-01" width="111" height="72"></div><p><i>February 21, 1994 Lillehammer, Norway</i></p><p>As a brand new nation wearing its own uniforms for the first time on the Olympic stage, the Slovaks were nonetheless touted as the &ldquo;best 12th seed ever&rdquo; when the Lillehammer Games began in 1994. With national hero Peter Stastny suiting up for the squad, the Slovaks secured early ties against Sweden and the United States before blowing out Italy and upsetting Canada in the round robin. But it was in the final game before the medal round where Slovakia would put its stamp on history, beating France 6-2 to secure the top spot in Group B. While Slovakia didn&rsquo;t go to win a medal, the upstart nation served notice that it couldn&rsquo;t be taken lightly.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0078-0229/9273434-1-eng-US/f0078-022.jpg" title="f0078-02" width="513" height="717"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>TEAM SLOVAKIA</b> <span class="photo-credit">(CLIVE ROSE/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><h2><b>REWIND</b></h2><p><b>HOW THEY DID IN 2006</b></p><p><b>5</b>th</p><p>Marian Hossa led the way offensively (5-5-10 in six games) with Marian Gaborik (3-4-7) and Pavol Demitra (2-5-7) providing secondary support. Defenseman Zdeno Chara and goaltender Peter Budaj anchored a defensive effort that allowed just 11 goals against. Slovakia dominated its group with a 5-0 record, besting Russia, Sweden and the U.S., but lost to the eventual bronze medalists from the Czech Republic in the quarterfinal.</p><h2><b>OLYMPIC FAST FACTS</b></h2><p>Last Medal No medals</p><p>All-Time Olympic Record 11-7-4</p><p>Pre-Olympic World Rank 10th</p><p>Host Country Never hosted</p><h2><b>OLYMPIC HISTORY</b></h2><p><i>Slovakia may be a small, young nation, but its sublime individual talents have delivered many highs and lows at the Olympics. Twice in four Games the Slovaks have won their group, then flamed out with quarter final losses, finishing fifth and sixth. Twice also, Slovakia has failed to even qualify for the main draw and finished 10th and 13th. The country&rsquo;s best showing came in its debut Olympic appearance in 1994, when Ziggy Palffy, Miro Satan and legend Peter Stastny finished 1-2-3 in scoring and Slovakia won its group over Canada, Sweden and the U.S. A quarter final loss to Russia ended the Slovaks&rsquo; run.</i></p><h3><b>MEDAL COUNT</b></h3><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0078-0314/9273427-1-eng-US/f0078-032.jpg" title="f0078-03" width="111" height="196"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2><b>ALL-TIME OLYMPIC TEAM</b></h2><p><i>The six best performers in Slovakia&rsquo;s Olympic history</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0078-047/9273420-1-eng-US/f0078-042.jpg" title="f0078-04" width="189" height="250"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>F</b></p><p><b><i>Ziggy Palffy</i></b></p></figcaption></div><p><b>1994</b></p><p><b>2002</b></p><p><i>At the 1994 Olympics in Lillehammer, Palffy led a Slovak sweep in the tournament scoring race with three goals and 10 points in eight games.</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0078-055/9273413-1-eng-US/f0078-052.jpg" title="f0078-05" width="189" height="250"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>F</b></p><p><b><i>Miroslav Satan</i></b></p></figcaption></div><p><b>1994</b></p><p><b>2002</b></p><p><b>2006</b></p><p><i>Scored nine goals in just eight games in his country&rsquo;s Olympic debut in 1994. In three Olympics, he has nine goals and 12 points in 16 games.</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0078-063/9273406-1-eng-US/f0078-062.jpg" title="f0078-06" width="189" height="250"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>F</b></p><p><b><i>Marian Hossa</i></b></p></figcaption></div><p><b>2002</b></p><p><b>2006</b></p><p><i>Has averaged two points per Olympic game with nine goals and 16 points in eight contests. In &rsquo;02, he had four goals and six points in two games.</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0078-073/9273399-1-eng-US/f0078-072.jpg" title="f0078-07" width="189" height="250"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>D</b></p><p><b><i>Lubomir Visnovsky</i></b></p></figcaption></div><p><b>1998</b></p><p><b>2002</b></p><p><b>2006</b></p><p><i>The small, but very skilled defender was a point-per-game player in 2002. In three Olympics, he has two goals and five points in 12 games.</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0078-083/9273392-1-eng-US/f0078-082.jpg" title="f0078-08" width="189" height="250"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>D</b></p><p><b><i>Robert Svehla</i></b></p></figcaption></div><p><b>1994</b></p><p><b>1998</b></p><p><i>Two-way blueliner helped Slovakia finish first in its preliminary round group in 1994. Also earned a bronze medal with Czechoslovakia in 1992.</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0078-093/9273385-1-eng-US/f0078-092.jpg" title="f0078-09" width="189" height="250"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>G</b></p><p><b><i>Peter Budaj</i></b></p></figcaption></div><p><b>2006</b></p><p><i>Made his only Olympic experience in 2006 memorable, beating both Russia and the U.S. and finishing with a 2.01 GAA and .924 SP in three games.</i></p><p>* Includes Olympics, World Championship, World Cup and World Junior<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0076-01

IT’S FEAST OR FAMINE FOR SLOVAKS

<div class="byline">By Ryan Dixon</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0079-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0079-0168/9273535-1-eng-US/f0079-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(SCOTT LEVY/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>The dazzling Marian Gaborik is the kind of player who seems much more suited to a sprint than a marathon.</p><p>For a good portion of his NHL career, Gaborik has been a Ferrari on blocks, a docked destroyer, immobilized by injury.</p><p>At times, it just seemed like he wasn&rsquo;t designed for a season that stretched from October to April.</p><p>But if you were making a list of game-breakers to take to a two-week event full of do-or-die matchups, you&rsquo;d want the Slovakian Streak right near the top.</p><p>&ldquo;He&rsquo;s one of the top few players in the world,&rdquo; said Chris Drury, Gaborik&rsquo;s teammate with the New York Rangers and a past Olympian with Team USA. &ldquo;You get in a short tournament and if he&rsquo;s going and the pucks are going in, he could be deadly.&rdquo;</p><p>Slovakia may not be considered a top contender in Vancouver, but simply having the high-end talent Gaborik that brings to the team means opponents can&rsquo;t fall asleep for a second.</p><p>&ldquo;He can shoot it as quick as anyone I&rsquo;ve ever seen,&rdquo; Drury said. &ldquo;He doesn&rsquo;t need a lot of room, doesn&rsquo;t need a lot of time &ndash; it&rsquo;s on his stick, it&rsquo;s off his stick.&rdquo;</p><p>Things certainly can happen fast at the Olympics, as Gaborik and his Slovak teammates found out at the 2006 event in Italy. Slovakia was a perfect 5-0 at the end of round-robin play, but was promptly brushed aside in the quarterfinals by their rivals from the Czech Republic. Gaborik, who had three goals and seven points in six games in Turin, is hoping for better results this time around.</p><p>&ldquo;We should have a good team,&rdquo; said the Rangers sniper. &ldquo;Hopefully we can be healthy and if we can get on the same page, have some chemistry, and hopefully we can do some damage.&rdquo;</p><blockquote class="pullQuote">&lsquo; IF HE&rsquo;S GOING AND THE PUCKS ARE GOING IN, HE COULD BE DEADLY&rsquo;</blockquote><p>Slovak coach Jan Filc is very familiar with Gaborik and his game, as the two first worked together at the 1999 World Junior Championship where Slovakia won its first medal at a major event after splitting with the Czech Republic.</p><p>While Filc doesn&rsquo;t expect Gaborik to be a one-man show, the coach knows nobody on his team will be more valuable in those close games where capitalizing on one chance can mean the difference between a win and a loss.</p><p>&ldquo;For sure, in every important game, Marian is one of the assets you can use just for the deciding moment,&rdquo; Filc said. &ldquo;He has that capability to win the game, not alone, but the majority of the win can be put on his shoulders that way.&rdquo;</p><p>In a twist that impartial observers would call ironic and Slovaks would call cruel, the player Gaborik has been most able to graft his game with, Pavol Demitra, has also had a hard time staying healthy. The two men played together in Minnesota before Demitra split for the Vancouver Canucks in 2008. Demitra had off-season shoulder surgery last summer, but Filc is still optimistic about the potential makeup of his No. 1 line.</p><p>&ldquo;I hope Pavol will recover from his injury so I can put them together and maybe even with Marian Hossa, who is the third man &ndash; not the third in quality, but one of the three &ndash; who can play with them,&rdquo; Filc said.</p><h2><b>INTERNATIONAL RECORD</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0079-0229/9273528-1-eng-US/f0079-022.jpg" title="f0079-02" width="498" height="414"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0079-01

GABORIK: HE SHOOTS, HE SCORES

<div class="byline">By Ken Campbell</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0083-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0083-0159/9273723-1-eng-US/f0083-012.jpg"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>I</span>f there&rsquo;s anyone who&rsquo;s familiar with the atmosphere in GM Place &ndash; a.k.a. Canada Hockey Place &ndash; and Vancouver during a major international hockey event, it&rsquo;s Nicklas Backstrom.</p><p>The 22-year-old with the sublime playmaking skills was a member of the Swedish team in the 2006 World Junior Championship, which was held in Vancouver. Even though the tournament was a major disappointment for the Swedes &ndash; they lost 1-0 in the quarterfinals to Finland on a power play goal in the last minute and ultimately finished fifth &ndash; Backstrom did not disappoint. He led the Swedish team and finished sixth in tournament scoring with four goals and seven points in six games in an event that also featured the likes of Evgeni Malkin, Phil Kessel, Bobby Ryan and David Krejci.</p><p>Backstrom will once again have the chance to prove himself on the world stage in Vancouver with a Swedish team that boasts a dazzling array of talent and is among the favorites to win the gold medal. But lest anyone think Backstrom goes into the 2010 Games with stars in his eyes, think again.</p><p>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think you can go there and be in awe of all the great players that are there,&rdquo; Backstrom said. &ldquo;We have lots of good players, but I think I can play with them.&rdquo;</p><p>Backstrom&rsquo;s coach with the Washington Capitals, Bruce Boudreau, thinks so, too. For the better part of three seasons, Backstrom has developed into one of the finest young playmakers in the NHL. Of course, it helps that Alex Ovechkin is on the other end of his passes, but who&rsquo;s to say Ovechkin would be as productive as he has been with a less talented center feeding him the puck?</p><p>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think Nick has anything to worry about, because I think he&rsquo;ll be the best centerman they have,&rdquo; Boudreau said. &ldquo;I think he&rsquo;s every bit as good as (Henrik) Sedin and (Henrik) Zetterberg. If they put him on a line with (Tomas) Holmstrom and put Zetterberg on the wing, watch out.&rdquo;</p><blockquote class="pullQuote">&lsquo; I DON&rsquo;T THINK YOU CAN GO AND BE IN AWE OF ALL THE GREAT PLAYERS&rsquo;</blockquote><p>Capitals defenseman Mike Green also marvels at Backstrom&rsquo;s playmaking ability, particularly his penchant for putting pucks through the maze of traffic you find in front of most NHL nets.</p><p>&ldquo;He&rsquo;s just an incredible player,&rdquo; Green said.</p><p>&ldquo;The vision he has and the patience and the calmness he brings to the game is incredible. Honestly, I have never played with a player like him before. The way he sees the ice, it&rsquo;s beyond some of the players in this league for sure.&rdquo;</p><p>In his third NHL season, Backstrom still struggles sometimes with the consistency issues that face all young players. He&rsquo;s weak on faceoffs, which is why it would probably be a good idea to play him with a natural center such as Zetterberg, who can take the important draws.</p><p>But there is little doubt Backstrom belongs with the best Sweden has to offer. He&rsquo;ll certainly be among the youngest and least internationally experienced of the Swedish players, but the only one who soaked in the atmosphere at the WJC in 2006.</p><p>&ldquo;To see the way the people here were during that tournament was amazing,&rdquo; Backstrom said. &ldquo;Even for the games Canada wasn&rsquo;t playing, the arena was full.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s great to play in a hockey atmosphere like that and I think we&rsquo;re looking forward to it. It&rsquo;s going to be a lot of fun.&rdquo;</p><h2><b>INTERNATIONAL RECORD</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0083-0231/9273716-1-eng-US/f0083-022.jpg" title="f0083-02" width="498" height="289"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0083-01

SWEDEN’S CENTER OF ATTENTION

<div class="byline">By Ken Campbell</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0084-0152/9273866-1-eng-US/f0084-012.jpg" title="f0084-01" width="319" height="208"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>he plucky, underdog&hellip;Americans? Well, you have to admit, the tag sort of fits. In fact, the 2010 entry from Team USA in the Olympic hockey tournament draws some intriguing parallels to the 1980 team and not only because Ryan Suter&rsquo;s father, Bob, played for the &lsquo;Miracle on Ice&rsquo; squad 30 years ago.</p><p>Like the team that won in Lake Placid, the Americans are not a favorite to even win a medal. They&rsquo;re young, untested and relatively inexperienced at this level of competition and, at least from the outside, not a lot is expected of them.</p><p>&ldquo;There will not be a penny bet on our team in Vegas, not a penny,&rdquo; said American GM Brian Burke, in what has become a rather familiar refrain. &ldquo;We know that. All the money is going to be on Canada, the Russians and the Swedes. But that doesn&rsquo;t change our mission. We&rsquo;re going there to win.&rdquo;</p><p>The us-against-the-world mentality could play well for an American team that might accomplish something very special if it overachieves. At the top end, the Americans have as much talent as any other hockey power at the key positions, albeit lacking in veteran star quality, but their success may lie in what kind of tournament their support players have and how they&rsquo;ll contribute to the overall effort.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0084-0223/9273859-1-eng-US/f0084-022.jpg" title="f0084-02" width="942" height="1342"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Patrick Kane is one of the world&rsquo;s most dangerous young scorers.</b> <span class="photo-credit">(KANE: JAMIE SQUIRE/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p><b>STRENGTHS</b> Regardless of who occupies the crease, the Americans will have all-world goaltending, the kind that is capable of carrying a team to a championship. Ryan Miller was among the NHL&rsquo;s best goalies in the first months of the season and even though there was some inconsistency, Tim Thomas is the defending Vezina Trophy winner. Even though they&rsquo;re a little on the small side, the U.S. has some of the most dynamic young players in the league up front in the likes of Zach Parise, Patrick Kane and Phil Kessel. Others such as the two Dustins &ndash; Byfuglien and Brown &ndash; and Ryan Kesler will provide a good amount of grunt work and checking.</p><p><b>WEAKNESSES</b> Only five players who attended the Team USA orientation camp over the summer have participated in the Olympics, so you have a very inexperienced team that might cower at the level of competition it faces. There are depth issues both at forward and defense and there are real concerns whether the blueline corps will be big enough and nasty enough to stop some of the world&rsquo;s most talented forwards. For a team that is being put together by Burke, it looks a little thin on the truculence, belligerence, pugnaciousness and testosterone fronts.</p><p><b>OFFENSE</b> Although there wasn&rsquo;t a ton of American content among the top 30 scorers through the first part of the NHL season, the U.S. does possess a number of players up front capable of making eye-popping plays and providing game-changing offense. Parise and Kane will almost certainly make up two-thirds of the top line and their combination of speed and skill will make them difficult to shut down. But if other teams are successful in doing that, it will be a big problem. The U.S. also has some very good puck-movers among their defensemen and several rear-guards who can be dangerous at the point on the power play.</p><p><b>DEFENSE</b> This is most surely the weakest link in the chain, not because of the individual talent that will be employed by the Americans, but the sum of its parts. There doesn&rsquo;t appear to be a single U.S. blueliner who would be considered a top-flight defensive defenseman in the NHL, with perhaps the possible exception of Brooks Orpik. And teams with size up front will almost certainly enter their game against the U.S. with the plan to punish the American blueline corps. The group will be mobile and quick, but might have trouble in its own end.</p><p><b>GOALTENDING</b> Miller has the inside line on the No. 1 job and he gives the Americans a stopper who will be solid at worst and spectacular at best. Miller is one of the best technical goaltenders in the game and is accustomed to having to shoulder much of the load for a Buffalo Sabres team that relies heavily upon him. He has matured as a netminder and, at age 29, is in the prime of his career. The veteran Thomas has a ton of international experience and provides the Americans with a very capable backup. Both Miller and Thomas have the ability to carry the team a long way.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0085-0154/9273852-1-eng-US/f0085-012.jpg" title="f0085-01" width="942" height="1092"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Veteran Brian Rafalski leads Team USA&rsquo;s defense corps into battle.</b> <span class="photo-credit">(RAFALSKI: ELSA/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p><b>COACHING</b> With Burke leading the management team, expect the Americans to load up on skill on the top two lines and gather as much size and physicality as they can find for the bottom two units. The U.S. will approach every game with the attitude it will have to outwork its opponent in all three zones in order to win. Look for coach Ron Wilson to give his top-end players a ton of ice time.</p><p><b>OUTLOOK</b> The U.S. doesn&rsquo;t have the brand-name recognition it has had with past teams, but it&rsquo;s not as though the Americans have been wildly successful since NHLers began playing in the Olympics, anyway. For all of the bluster about being a huge underdog, the Americans have medal potential if they can get off to a good start and get on a roll.</p><h2><b>THN PREDICTION</b></h2><p><b>4</b>th</p><p><i>This team cannot be taken lightly, but will need breaks to reach the podium</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0084-0312/9273845-1-eng-US/f0084-032.jpg" title="f0084-03" width="684" height="662"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(SUTER: MARTIN ROSE/BONGARTS/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><h2><b>PATRIOT GAME</b></h2><h3><b><i>Ryan Suter</i></b></h3><p><i>Suter, son of Olympic gold medallist Bob and nephew of silver medallist Gary, has won three golds for the U.S. in international play. They came at the 2004 World Junior Championship and the U-17 and U-18 tourneys in 2002.</i></p><p><b>INTERNATIONAL RECORD*</b></p><p>GP G A P</p><p><b>35 5 13 18</b></p><h2><b>TAKE NOTICE</b></h2><h3><b><i>USA</i></b></h3><p><i>Secondary star spangled skaters</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0085-0229/9273838-1-eng-US/f0085-022.jpg" title="f0085-02" width="189" height="250"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>F</b></p><p><b>Ryan Kesler</b></p></figcaption></div><p><i>Kesler&rsquo;s scrappy, physical style should be a big factor for the Americans. As a Vancouver Canuck in his day job, Kesler is playing in his own backyard in his first experience as an Olympian.</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0085-0319/9273831-1-eng-US/f0085-032.jpg" title="f0085-03" width="189" height="250"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>D</b></p><p><b>Erik Johnson</b></p></figcaption></div><p><i>After missing last year&rsquo;s entire NHL season, Johnson has jumped right back into action for St. Louis in 2009-10 and is one of many talented American youngsters primed to make a run in Vancouver.</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0085-0410/9273824-1-eng-US/f0085-042.jpg" title="f0085-04" width="189" height="250"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>G</b></p><p><b>Tim Thomas</b></p></figcaption></div><p><i>With Ryan Miller pegged to be the starter for Team USA, Thomas &ndash; the NHL&rsquo;s 2008-09 Vezina Trophy winner &ndash; will be a more than capable backup. It&rsquo;s the first Olympics for the 35-year-old.</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0086-0152/9273817-1-eng-US/f0086-012.jpg" title="f0086-01" width="898" height="1129"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(USA: ROBERT RIGER/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><h2><b>COMMEMORATIVE STAMP COLLECTION</b></h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0086-0224/9273810-1-eng-US/f0086-022.jpg" title="f0086-02" width="111" height="72"></div><p><i>February 22, 1980 Lake Placid, N.Y.</i></p><p>They were a scrappy bunch of college kids from Minnesota and Massachusetts, with a legendary coach who would not give up. The story of the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team has become such a defining moment in all of sports, how could it not be a stamp? With Jim Craig in net and Mike Eruzione providing the heroics on the scoresheet, the Herb Brooks-coached Americans stunned the heavily favored Soviet Union 4-3 in the second-last game of the final round before clinching the gold medal by rallying in the third period to beat Finland 4-2. But it was the besting of the Big Red Machine that immortalized the &lsquo;Miracle on Ice,&rsquo; done on home soil, no less.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0086-0312/9273803-1-eng-US/f0086-032.jpg" title="f0086-03" width="513" height="712"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>RICK DIPIETRO</b> <span class="photo-credit">(DIPIETRO: BRIAN BAHR/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><h2><b>REWIND</b></h2><p><b>HOW THEY DID IN 2006</b></p><p><b>8</b>th</p><p>The U.S. had finished as low as eighth place just once before (1994), but never when sending NHLers to the Olympics. But that&rsquo;s what happened in 2006, when the Americans finished fourth in their group and lost 4-3 to Finland in the quarterfinals. Team USA tied Latvia 3-3 and beat Kazakhstan 4-1, then lost four games in a row: 2-1 to Slovakia and Sweden and 5-1 to Russia before falling to the Finns in the quarterfinals.</p><h2><b>OLYMPIC FAST FACTS</b></h2><p>Last Medal Silver (2002)</p><p>All-Time Olympic Record 71-43-13</p><p>Pre-Olympic World Rank 5th</p><p>Host Country Lake Placid, &rsquo;32, &rsquo;80; Squaw Valley, &rsquo;60; Salt Lake, &rsquo;02</p><h2><b>OLYMPIC HISTORY</b></h2><p><i>Team USA has competed officially in every Olympic tournament except two, 1928 and 1948. The 1948 tournament in St. Moritz, Switzerland, was marred by controversy when the U.S. sent two teams, one backed by the IIHF, the other by the IOC. Eventually the IIHF-backed team competed, but the IOC has never recognized that American squad; its fourth-place results are not counted in the official standings. But the 1948 team did play a role in the medal standings. Canada beat the U.S. 12-3 while Czechoslovakia, widely considered superior, only managed a 4-3 win and lost the gold on goal differential by two.</i></p><h3><b>MEDAL COUNT</b></h3><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0086-046/9273796-1-eng-US/f0086-042.jpg" title="f0086-04" width="111" height="196"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2><b>ALL-TIME OLYMPIC TEAM</b></h2><p><i>Here are the five best American performers in Games history</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0086-053/9273789-1-eng-US/f0086-052.jpg" title="f0086-05" width="189" height="250"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>F</b></p><p><b><i>Mark Johnson</i></b></p> <span class="photo-credit">(JOHNSON: BRUCE BENNETT STUDIOS/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p><b>1980</b></p><p><i>One of the few from &rsquo;80 who went on to the NHL, Johnson led Team USA in scoring (5-6-11). He scored twice against the USSR and again versus Finland.</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0086-063/9273782-1-eng-US/f0086-062.jpg" title="f0086-06" width="189" height="250"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>F</b></p><p><b><i>Mike Modano</i></b></p></figcaption></div><p><b>1998</b></p><p><b>2002</b></p><p><b>2006</b></p><p><i>In 16 Olympic contests, Modano has four goals, 10 points and a silver medal. He&rsquo;s been the top-line center at three Games and led the &rsquo;02 tournament in assists.</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0086-073/9273775-1-eng-US/f0086-072.jpg" title="f0086-07" width="189" height="250"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>F</b></p><p><b><i>Brett Hull</i></b></p></figcaption></div><p><b>1998</b></p><p><b>2002</b></p><p><i>Hull averaged more than a point per Olympic game. He finished second in tournament scoring in &rsquo;02 (3-5-8) and proved he could do more than just score.</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0086-083/9273768-1-eng-US/f0086-082.jpg" title="f0086-08" width="189" height="250"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>D</b></p><p><b><i>Brian Leetch</i></b></p></figcaption></div><p><b>1988</b></p><p><b>1998</b></p><p><b>2002</b></p><p><i>Only one American since 1960 has more assists than Leetch&rsquo;s 11 and no U.S. blueliner has more points than his 13. Leetch played as an amateur and a pro.</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0086-093/9273761-1-eng-US/f0086-092.jpg" title="f0086-09" width="189" height="250"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>D</b></p><p><b><i>Chris Chelios</i></b></p></figcaption></div><p><b>1984</b></p><p><b>1998</b></p><p><b>2002</b></p><p><b>2006</b></p><p><i>Chelios began his Games career at 22 and played his final Olympics 22 years later. He was a tournament all-star and the top defenseman in &rsquo;02.</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0086-103/9273754-1-eng-US/f0086-102.jpg" title="f0086-10" width="189" height="250"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>G</b></p><p><b><i>Mike Richter</i></b></p></figcaption></div><p><b>1988</b></p><p><b>1998</b></p><p><b>2002</b></p><p><i>Richter played in three Olympics and helped the U.S. to a silver in &rsquo;02, when he was an all-star with a 2.25 GAA and .932 SP. His Games record is 5-6-1.</i></p><p>* Includes Olympics, World Championship, World Cup and World Junior<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0084-01

THE KIDS ARE MORE THAN ALL RIGHT

<div class="byline">By Ken Campbell</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0087-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0087-0154/9273904-1-eng-US/f0087-012.jpg"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>F</span>or the first time in his hockey career, Ryan Miller&rsquo;s ascendency to the top of his craft has finally coincided with Team USA&rsquo;s need for a world-class goaltender.</p><p>It hasn&rsquo;t always been that way. When USA Hockey started hot-housing its best and brightest under-17 and under-18 players in the national team development program in 1997, Miller was even smaller and skinnier than he is now.</p><p>Miller was invited to the summer camp for the 2000 world junior team, but lost out to Rick DiPietro and Philippe Sauve on an American team that lost the bronze medal game to Canada in a shootout. And even though he has been on three World Championship teams, leading all goalies in save percentage in 2002, Miller has never represented the U.S. in a best-on-best tournament.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve kind of been on the outside looking in for a lot of USA Hockey things,&rdquo; Miller said. &ldquo;World juniors, I was outside looking in and (the 2006) Olympics I was an alternate. I&rsquo;ve always been on the edge, but I feel like I&rsquo;ve put myself in a good position and I&rsquo;m happy about that.&rdquo;</p><p>We&rsquo;d love to say that it&rsquo;s Miller&hellip;nope, not going to do it. Let&rsquo;s just say the time has come for Miller to shine for his country on the international stage. Goaltending will be key to America&rsquo;s hopes to contend for a gold medal and Miller is just the man to provide the kind of puck-stopping that can win a championship in a short, intense tournament.</p><p>Although he has not won a Stanley Cup &ndash; not a single U.S.-born goalie has led his team to the Cup since Mike Richter in 1994 &ndash; Miller has participated in several long playoff runs and plays for a team where he is counted upon to be a difference-maker almost every game he plays.</p><p>Miller is on the fringes of USA Hockey no more. Although he&rsquo;s not a shoo-in for the No. 1 job, his play with the Buffalo Sabres through the first months of the NHL season was helping him make an excellent case to be the top man in goal. Of course, he never should&rsquo;ve been snubbed by the U.S. Olympic team four years ago when it went with DiPietro, Robert Esche and John Grahame, a decision that looks even more ridiculous now than it did then.</p><blockquote class="pullQuote">&lsquo;I &rsquo;VE BEEN ON THE OUTSIDE LOOKING IN FOR A LOT OF TEAM USA THINGS&rsquo;</blockquote><p>Miller was an NHL rookie that season, albeit one who was putting together a great first year after arriving with impeccable college and minor pro credentials. As it turned out, goaltending was just one of an array of shortcomings the U.S. team had in Turin.</p><p>&ldquo;I wasn&rsquo;t in the position at the time to make the team, I wasn&rsquo;t considered one of the top players,&rdquo; Miller said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve worked hard with my team to compete at the NHL level and I&rsquo;ve had some small amounts of success in the past four years and I think I&rsquo;ve worked my way into a position where I should be in the running. I go about my business the same way and it&rsquo;s not going to affect me. It&rsquo;s never affected me before and it won&rsquo;t affect me moving forward.&rdquo;</p><p>But a positive showing would certainly give Miller a measure of satisfaction. The Miller clan is a hockey institution at Michigan State and one of America&rsquo;s foremost hockey families. His uncle Kevin was an Olympian in 1988 and his younger brother, Drew, won a Stanley Cup in 2007 with Anaheim.</p><p>&ldquo;To be on the Olympic team with a strong chance to get a medal would be a badge of honor,&rdquo; he said.</p><h2><b>INTERNATIONAL RECORD</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0087-0223/9273897-1-eng-US/f0087-022.jpg" title="f0087-02" width="499" height="165"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0087-01

MILLER GETS HIS CHANCE

<div class="byline">By Rory Boylen</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0089-0157/9273949-1-eng-US/f0089-012.jpg" title="f0089-01" width="319" height="208"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>G</span>len Hanlon stepped down as coach of the Belarussian national team in early November, just days after he had been let go by Dynamo Minsk of the Kontinental League.</p><p>The two moves were related, of course, because Minsk effectively serves as the club team for the national squad &ndash; about half of Belarus&rsquo; Olympic roster will draw from the KHL team and its farm affiliate, Shakhtar Soligorsk.</p><p>For all of the smaller nations hoping an upset can carry them further in the tournament than anyone expects, Belarus is certainly an inspiration. Joining the IIHF in 1992 after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Belarus has qualified for three Olympic Games and finished fourth in Salt Lake City in 2002 on the back of an unforgettable upset of Sweden.</p><p>The most dynamic players on the Belarussian squad &ndash; and the ones who will be relied upon to provide a large chunk of the offense &ndash; are the Kostitsyn brothers, Andrei and Sergei, who are in the Montreal Canadiens system, and Toronto Maple Leafs center Mikhail Grabovski. If that trio can produce up front, the Belarussians hope their internationally-proven netminder can power them to another upset.</p><p>Andrei Mezin, who was in net for the shocking win over Sweden in &rsquo;02, has been a staple in the Belarussian crease for international competitions and stood out at the 2006 and &rsquo;09 World Championships, where he was named the tournament&rsquo;s top goalie, despite his team finishing no higher than sixth.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0089-0229/9273942-1-eng-US/f0089-022.jpg" title="f0089-02" width="942" height="592"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Mikhail Grabovski will get all the ice time he can handle.</b></figcaption></div><p>An average-sized goalie with a good glove hand, Mezin is a team leader &ndash; one person involved with the Belarussian Ice Hockey Federation called him the &ldquo;top goaltender outside the NHL.&rdquo; A biased opinion, perhaps? Sure, but it does speak to the faith the Belarussian side will have in its netminder.</p><p>Another KHLer to watch is Alexei Kalyuzhny, who is one of the Russian League&rsquo;s all-time leading scorers with 392 points in 652 games prior to the 2009-10 campaign.</p><p>Considered a long shot because they lack world-class talent, Belarus is nonetheless generally recognized as the prime suspect to pull a Cinderella run. Ranked eighth in the world heading into the Games, the progression of hockey in the country has been rapid and continues to grow. There were a mere three arenas in the entire nation when Belarus joined the IIHF 18 years ago, but there are now 20 to choose from, with the government approving the construction of another 28 rinks over the next five years.</p><h2><b>THN PREDICTION</b></h2><p><b>10</b>th</p><p><i>The team that stunned Sweden in 2002 returns to reality after missing &rsquo;06 Games</i></p><h2><b>TAKE NOTICE!</b></h2><h3><b><i>BELARUS</i></b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0089-0321/9273935-1-eng-US/f0089-032.jpg" title="f0089-03" width="189" height="250"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(MIKE HEWITT/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p><b>F</b></p><p><b>Andrei Kostitsyn</b></p><p><i>Most of the offense will have to come from the Kostitsyn camp of Andrei and Sergei, along with Mikhail Grabovski.</i></p><p><b>D</b></p><p><b>Vladimir Denisov</b></p><p><i>Hard-nosed defender knows the North American game from two years in the minors before a recent return to home soil.</i></p><p><b>G</b></p><p><b>Andrei Mezin</b></p><p><i>Few players are more integral to their team&rsquo;s chances than Mezin, who&rsquo;s been-there-done-that in international competition.</i><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0089-01

UNDERDOGS LOOK TO PAST

<div class="byline">By Rory Boylen</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0090-0153/9273994-1-eng-US/f0090-012.jpg" title="f0090-01" width="319" height="208"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>W</span>ith a team made up largely of non-NHLers in a tournament that&rsquo;s full of players from the world&rsquo;s best league, it&rsquo;s clear the Germans will just be trying to hang in games as long as possible and perhaps snag an upset in the final stages.</p><p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;re a young team, so hopefully we can use that and play with speed and fire and just staying compact no matter what happens,&rdquo; said Marco Sturm, a Deutschland native and left winger with the Boston Bruins this season. &ldquo;We aren&rsquo;t an experienced team so we just have to battle through and just play 0-0 as long as we can.&rdquo;</p><p>Besides the obvious NHL players to watch such as Sturm, Jochen Hecht, Marcel Goc, Christian Ehrhoff, Christoph Schubert and even Thomas Greiss in net, the Germans have a few youngsters itching to make their marks on the Olympic stage.</p><p>&ldquo;Florian Busch, he&rsquo;s a young kid, his last World Championship was really good, he&rsquo;s a shifty little forward,&rdquo; said Sturm of the 24-year-old. &ldquo;I played with him the last few times. He&rsquo;s a pretty good player.&rdquo;</p><p>Busch has played for the Berlin Polar Bears in Germany&rsquo;s top league since 2003 when he was 18 and has developed into a point-per-game player. Teammtes of Busch&rsquo;s who are likely to join him in Vancouver include Canadian-born Travis Mulock and diminutive, but experienced forward Sven Felski.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0090-0223/9273987-1-eng-US/f0090-022.jpg" title="f0090-02" width="935" height="589"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Christian Ehrhoff stands out as Germany&rsquo;s most dynamic blueliner.</b></figcaption></div><p>With the game plan being all about playing tight, patient and defensively sound hockey, you might think the North American-sized ice being used in Vancouver would bene fit the Germans, but Sturm suggests the adjustment will be more difficult for players who are used to skating on international-sized ice in Europe.</p><p>&ldquo;For us the big ice is better because most of the guys are used to it,&rdquo; Sturm said. &ldquo;On smaller ice, (opponents) will be more aggressive. I think it&rsquo;ll be harder for us.&rdquo;</p><p>Of course, gold is the goal for anyone participating in an Olympic event, but sometimes goals have to be based in reality and it would take a few monumental upsets and a breakdown of the hockey power structure for the Germans to medal, let alone win the whole tournament.</p><p>So what kind of result is Sturm hoping for in February, when Germany faces off in a pool that includes Sweden, Finland and Belarus?</p><p>&ldquo;If we win two games, it&rsquo;d be unbelievable,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;You always hope for a surprise and I think that&rsquo;s what we have to look forward to.&rdquo;</p><h2><b>THN PREDICTION</b></h2><p><b>9</b>th</p><p><i>Aspires to break into &lsquo;Big 7,&rsquo; but more likely to end up as the best of the also-rans</i></p><h2><b>TAKE NOTICE!</b></h2><h3><b><i>GERMANY</i></b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0090-0310/9273980-1-eng-US/f0090-032.jpg" title="f0090-03" width="189" height="250"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(DON EMMERT/AFP/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p><b>F</b></p><p><b>Marco Sturm</b></p><p><i>Would-be captain of 2006 team didn&rsquo;t go to Turin due to injury, so longtime NHL veteran will be plenty motivated.</i></p><p><b>D</b></p><p><b>Christoph Schubert</b></p><p><i>Versatile blueliner can play on the wing, too, but look for him in the back end as Germans focus on defensive diligence.</i></p><p><b>G</b></p><p><b>Thomas Greiss</b></p><p><i>NHL rookie has Olympic experience &ndash; he stopped 35 of 40 shots against Canada as a 20-year-old in 2006.</i><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0090-01

HOPING FOR A SURPRISE

<div class="byline">By Edward Fraser</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0091-0146/9274039-1-eng-US/f0091-012.jpg" title="f0091-01" width="319" height="208"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>D</span>espite Latvia&rsquo;s recent success on the world stage &ndash; they finished seventh at the 2009 World Championship and went undefeated in the final round of Olympic qualifying &ndash; they&rsquo;ll be in tough to win a game in Vancouver as they received an unfortunate &ldquo;Group of Death&rdquo; draw along with Russia, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.</p><p>If the Latvians are to pull off an upset, it&rsquo;ll be on the back of strong team play.</p><p>&ldquo;We have a lot of young guys and some older guys with a lot of experience, so I think it makes for a good connection between young and old,&rdquo; said Dallas Stars defenseman Karlis Skrastins, set to play in his third Olympics. &ldquo;Our biggest thing is the team game.&rdquo;</p><p>What Latvia lacks in high-end talent, they make up for in familiarity; 13 members of their qualifying roster either play for Dynamo Riga or are in the KHL team&rsquo;s system.</p><p>&ldquo;The KHL, in my opinion, is the second-best league in the world,&rdquo; Skrastins said. &ldquo;So that&rsquo;s a big help to us, having a lot of guys who play there.&rdquo;</p><p>A pair of familiar names will figure prominently up front. Riga center Janis Sprukts, who played 14 games for the Florida Panthers over the past couple of seasons, and Norfolk (AHL) right winger Martins Karsums, a veteran of 24 games with the Tampa Bay Lightning and Boston Bruins, were 1-2 in scoring for the Latvians during February&rsquo;s qualifying.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0091-0222/9274032-1-eng-US/f0091-022.jpg" title="f0091-02" width="942" height="592"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Karlis Skrastins is the only Latvian with a proven NHL pedigree.</b></figcaption></div><p>A key for Latvia, which entered the Olympics sitting 10th in the IIHF world rankings, has been its ability to assimilate the style of other countries.</p><p>&ldquo;We play a Russia-Canada style of hockey with some European tendencies in it,&rdquo; said Kaspars Daugavins, a left winger with Binghamton (AHL). &ldquo;We play more defensive hockey because we don&rsquo;t have great offense like some other teams do, so we think more about defense and then just try to counter-attack.&rdquo;</p><p>Like all teams, much of Latvia&rsquo;s fate will rest with the masked man in the crease. The safe bet to shoulder the load is 29-year-old Edgars Masalskis, who has struggled in KHL action with Riga this year, but has been outstanding on the world stage, as evidenced by his 2.53 goals-against average and .928 save percentage in qualifying.</p><p>&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a good guy, works really hard on the ice, every game, every morning, every moment he&rsquo;s in a game,&rdquo; Daugavins said. &ldquo;He reads the game, the play really well. That&rsquo;s one of his biggest strengths. He&rsquo;s a quick, small goalie so it&rsquo;s hard to beat him.&rdquo;</p><h2><b>THN PREDICTION</b></h2><p><b>12</b>th</p><p><i>Underdog has good chemistry, but overall talent level is lacking</i></p><h2><b>TAKE NOTICE!</b></h2><h3><b><i>LATVIA</i></b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0091-0316/9274025-1-eng-US/f0091-032.jpg" title="f0091-03" width="189" height="250"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(AL BELLO/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p><b>F</b></p><p><b>Janis Sprukts</b></p><p><i>Sprukts sparked Latvia&rsquo;s offense during Olympic qualifying and he&rsquo;ll be asked to do the same in February.</i></p><p><b>D</b></p><p><b>Karlis Skrastins</b></p><p><i>Most accomplished player on the team heads into his third Olympics charged with taking care of the back end.</i></p><p><b>G</b></p><p><b>Edgars Masalskis</b></p><p><i>Veteran of the Czech and German Leagues isn&rsquo;t blowing anyone away in the KHL this year, but he starred for national team.</i><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0091-01

ONE GAMES AT A TIME

<div class="byline">By Josh Ferguson</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0093-0151/9274129-1-eng-US/f0093-012.jpg" title="f0093-01" width="319" height="208"></div><p>No country has taken their game to the next level like the Swiss.</p><p>Since 1997, the country has climbed up the world rankings from 18th to seventh. Much of that success can be attributed to more participation at the youth level, but coach Ralph Krueger &ndash; who, ironically enough, has been a part of the program since 1997 &ndash; also deserves a good portion of the credit.</p><p>&ldquo;He&rsquo;s the guy that brought Swiss hockey to the next level,&rdquo; said defenseman Yannick Weber, a Montreal Canadiens prospect who has spent most of this season with the American League&rsquo;s Hamilton Bulldogs. &ldquo;I think he knows his hockey and he&rsquo;s good with all of the guys. He&rsquo;s a big part of the reason Switzerland has had success in the past couple of years.&rdquo;</p><p>Encapsulating this improvement was the performance of the scrappy Swiss squad at the 2006 Olympic Games in Turin, which included an improbable shutout of the powerhouse Canadians. The Swiss advanced to the quarterfinals, but lost out to eventual gold medal-winning Sweden.</p><p>&ldquo;We just have to believe in our chances, that&rsquo;s our thing,&rdquo; Weber said. &ldquo;A country like Switzerland is always good for a surprise.&rdquo;</p><p>Like in Turin, the Swiss will rely heavily on their defense corps if they expect to have another surprise party in Vancouver. Anaheim Ducks goaltender Jonas Hiller is expected to make his Olympic debut and the Swiss team can only hope he is the shutdown backstop that Martin Gerber was in 2006.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0093-0225/9274122-1-eng-US/f0093-022.jpg" title="f0093-02" width="942" height="592"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Mark Streit is the blueline anchor for the defense-minded Swiss.</b></figcaption></div><p>Mark Streit of the New York Islanders will be relied on to be a force at both ends of the ice. The offense-minded defenseman with a cannon for a shot will be crucial to the Swiss team&rsquo;s chances of reaching the quarterfinals again.</p><p>&ldquo;Play well defensively and then wait for our scoring opportunities, that&rsquo;s been our game lately,&rdquo; Streit said. &ldquo;If we have a great day, we can surprise a good team.&rdquo;</p><p>After the likes of Streit, Weber and Hiller, the Swiss team gets a litte thin in the talent department. Apart from those three, only Anaheim Ducks prospect Luca Sbisa is playing in North America &ndash; and he&rsquo;s with the WHL&rsquo;s Lethbridge Hurricanes. In order to be successful against high-powered nations such as Canada and the U.S., who accompany the Swiss in Group A of the 12-team tournament, Switzerland is going to need some help.</p><p>&ldquo;To compete on that level, we just need more guys in North America playing in the NHL,&rdquo; Streit said. &ldquo;We just have a handful of guys right now&hellip; we need 20 guys over here to compete with the big nations.&rdquo;</p><h2><b>THN PREDICTION</b></h2><p><b>8</b>th</p><p><i>Still not on par with the big boys, but they&rsquo;re inching closer and closer</i></p><h2><b>TAKE NOTICE!</b></h2><h3><b><i>SWITZERLAND</i></b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0093-0312/9274115-1-eng-US/f0093-032.jpg" title="f0093-03" width="189" height="250"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(AL BELLO/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p><b>G</b></p><p><b>Jonas Hiller</b></p><p><i>If he can duplicate his performance in the 2009 playoffs, Switzerland has the potential to upset a top-seeded country.</i></p><p><b>D</b></p><p><b>Mark Streit</b></p><p><i>As the only NHL skater on the Swiss side, Streit&rsquo;s experience and offensive touch will be key to the team&rsquo;s attack.</i></p><p><b>F</b></p><p><b>Paul DiPietro</b></p><p><i>The Canadian-born &ndash; and ex-Canadien &ndash; DiPietro scored two goals in a pivotal game against Canada in the 2006 Olympics.</i><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0093-01

NEUTRAL NO MORE

<div class="byline">BY KEN CAMPBELL</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0094-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0094-0146/9274230-1-eng-US/f0094-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(BRUCE BENNETT/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0096-0158/9274223-1-eng-US/f0096-012.jpg" title="f0096-01" width="1961" height="1324"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Sweden rocked the status quo at the 2006 Games in Turin.</b> <span class="photo-credit">(BRIAN BAHR/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>hose who criticize the women&rsquo;s game at the international level have a common lament &ndash; that the chasm between Canada and the United States and the remainder of the field is too large to make the game compelling enough on a global level.</p><p>And they have a valid point. With a few notable exceptions, every major tournament comes down to the two countries on either side of the 49th parallel and that scenario will likely play out again in the gold medal game Feb. 25 in Vancouver.</p><p>Ho-hum, another Canada-U.S. final. Sure, they&rsquo;re good, but is anything ever going to change? Isn&rsquo;t the International Olympic Committee starting to get weary of the one-sidedness of this thing?</p><p>Well, there are signs the global axis might be tilting slowly to the east and with International Ice Hockey Federation president Rene Fasel a member of the IOC&rsquo;s executive board, there&rsquo;s a good chance women&rsquo;s hockey isn&rsquo;t going anywhere for the foreseeable future.</p><p>And when you compare the progress of the women through the first three Olympic Games with the men over the same time period, you&rsquo;ll see the ice was tilted to Canada and the U.S. by a ridiculous margin when it came to the men&rsquo;s game. In fact, the domination of Canada and the U.S. early in the men&rsquo;s game makes the disparity in the women&rsquo;s game look miniscule by comparison.</p><p>Women have participated in three Olympics so far and when you remove the games Canada and the U.S. have played against each other, they have a combined record of 23-1-0 and have outscored their opponents by a 168-17 margin, which is an average of seven goals for and 0.71 against per game.</p><p>By contrast, the first three Olympics involving men were played in 1920 (unofficial), &rsquo;24 and &rsquo;28, and when you toss out the games between Canada and the U.S., the results are embarrassing. Over the course of 16 games, the two teams went 16-0-0 and outscored their opponents by&hellip;wait for it&hellip;293-3. That&rsquo;s an average of 18.3 to 0.19 for those of you keeping score at home.</p><p>Through its first seven Olympics, prior to the former Soviet Union getting serious about the game in 1956, Canada lost one game and that was in 1936 to a Great Britain team that was filled with transplanted Canadians. And once the Soviets took control, they won eight of the next 10 gold medals themselves (including the Unified Team in 1992). In fact, it took Sweden 15 Olympics to beat Canada in a single game.</p><p>Julie Healy has been making this point for years now and &ldquo;everyone looks at me like I have two heads.&rdquo; Healy, director of female hockey for Hockey Canada, is a former player and coach who is passionate about the women&rsquo;s game and where it is headed.</p><p>&ldquo;We are miles ahead of the curve here in terms of how quickly we became competitive,&rdquo; Healy said. &ldquo;Every time we play someone and we hammer them by more than five goals, that question gets asked. And I always say, &lsquo;Go back and look. We&rsquo;re moving along at quite a clip here.&rsquo; &rdquo;</p><p>Perhaps not as quickly as some would like, but there is progress. The most significant was made in Turin in 2006 when Sweden shocked the U.S. 3-2 in a semifinal shootout behind the spectacular goaltending of Kim Martin before losing 6-0 to Canada in the final. In &rsquo;02, Canada was trailing Finland by a goal in the semifinal after two periods before rallying. Canada lost to Sweden at the Four Nations Tournament in 2008; at the recent Canada Cup in Vancouver, Finland beat the U.S.</p><p>Russia is beginning to come on and Healy is encouraged by the fact that in Finland, Sweden and Russia, girls and women&rsquo;s programs have been taken over by the club program, which is providing much-needed resources and funding. The IIHF introduced a European Women&rsquo;s Club Championship in 2005 and AIK Solna from Sweden won it each of the first four years, but last season it was won by Nizhny Novogorod from Russia. The IIHF has had two under-18 World Championships and that has helped level the playing field by exposing more young players to top international competition at an earlier age.</p><p>But the fact remains that when a European country gives Canada or the U.S. even a close game, it remains a superhuman effort and an isolated incident. When can we expect other countries to compete with the two powers on a consistent basis rather than stealing games here and there?</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0097-0163/9274216-1-eng-US/f0097-012.jpg" title="f0097-01" width="1269" height="1246"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Developing women&rsquo;s hockey nations are closing the gap.</b> <span class="photo-credit">(GEORGE FREY/AFP/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>&ldquo;I think in 2014 we&rsquo;ll see less of a gap between No. 8 and No. 1,&rdquo; Healy said. &ldquo;I think there&rsquo;ll still only be four or five at the top, but there will be less of a gap. By 2018, I think the geography will look just like it does on the men&rsquo;s side. We&rsquo;re seeing the numbers increasing in countries that have had women&rsquo;s hockey in place for a while.&rdquo;</p><p>Finland, which is currently ensconced in fourth place in the world, has a program called &lsquo;The Lion Pups&rsquo; in which players under 14 are recruited for national camps. And having the support of the federations and club teams has been a huge boon for those countries.</p><p>&ldquo;In all honesty, the European countries, especially the Scandinavian countries, the way they set up hockey, are in a better position to support the growth of women&rsquo;s hockey than we do in our own country,&rdquo; Healy said. &ldquo;Sweden has an eight-team elite women&rsquo;s league that is tied into their men&rsquo;s club system. You look on our side of the equation and we&rsquo;ve got the Western Women&rsquo;s Hockey League and the Canadian Women&rsquo;s Hockey League that struggles for money and support year in and year out.&rdquo;</p><p>Certainly, a domestic league with global talent, the way the WNBA has in basketball, would go a long way toward progressing the women&rsquo;s game. Established in 1996 by the NBA, the WNBA operates with private owners, but its losses are covered by the NBA. When the league was established, all the teams were owned by the NBA. There doesn&rsquo;t appear to be a hockey equivalent on the horizon, which leaves women&rsquo;s hockey in something of a black hole. Players continue to subsidize their teams out of their own pockets and through fundraising and have to hold down full-time jobs outside hockey to survive.</p><p>Healy estimates that, not including player salaries, it would probably cost the NHL $500,000 a year to operate a women&rsquo;s league. So let&rsquo;s start with women&rsquo;s teams in the Original Six cities. With a roster of 23 players per team and each player earning an average of $50,000 a year, the league would have to spend $6.9 million on salaries, which is just a little more than the Anaheim Ducks are paying Scott Niedermayer this season.</p><p>So let&rsquo;s say it would cost the NHL $10 million per season for an elite women&rsquo;s league. That might sound like a lot of money, but that would amount to about $333,000 per team in a league that has revenues of more than $2 billion.</p><p>&ldquo;I think you need somebody to demonstrate to the NHL why this would be a good investment in the game,&rdquo; Healy said. &ldquo;It has to go beyond just funding a women&rsquo;s team. The NHL has to see some value in it in their product as well.&rdquo;</p><h2><b>THN PREDICTIONS</b></h2><p><b>1</b>st</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0097-0233/9274209-1-eng-US/f0097-022.jpg" title="f0097-02" width="160" height="105"></div><p><b>UNITED STATES</b>&nbsp;<i>The rebuilt, young squad is hungry to prove it is the best team in the world, on the biggest stage.</i></p><p><b>2</b>nd</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0097-0320/9274202-1-eng-US/f0097-032.jpg" title="f0097-03" width="160" height="105"></div><p><b>CANADA</b>&nbsp;<i>The same core has been at the forefront for a decade. Still excellent, but maybe a notch below the U.S.</i></p><p><b>3</b>rd</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0097-043/9274195-1-eng-US/f0097-042.jpg" title="f0097-04" width="160" height="105"></div><p><b>SWEDEN</b>&nbsp;<i>Led by goalie Kim Martin, Sweden is only team that can consistently trouble Canada and the U.S.</i></p><p><b>4</b>th</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0097-052/9274188-1-eng-US/f0097-052.jpg" title="f0097-05" width="160" height="105"></div><p><b>FINLAND</b>&nbsp;<i>19-year-old goalie Noora Raty is already an Olympic veteran and has a strong blueline in front of her.</i></p><p><b>5</b>th</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0097-062/9274181-1-eng-US/f0097-062.jpg" title="f0097-06" width="160" height="105"></div><p><b>CHINA</b>&nbsp;<i>An experienced coach, top players developing in North American pro leagues are boons to progress.</i></p><p><b>6</b>th</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0097-072/9274174-1-eng-US/f0097-072.jpg" title="f0097-07" width="160" height="105"></div><p><b>SLOVAKIA</b>&nbsp;<i>It&rsquo;ll take an upset to get neophyte to No. 6, but goalie Zuzana Tomcikova has the skill to provide it.</i></p><p><b>7</b>th</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0097-082/9274167-1-eng-US/f0097-082.jpg" title="f0097-08" width="160" height="105"></div><p><b>RUSSIA</b>&nbsp;<i>Lost its best player ever to football in Manchester, N.H., and will rely too heavily on just a few players.</i></p><p><b>8</b>th</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0097-092/9274160-1-eng-US/f0097-092.jpg" title="f0097-09" width="160" height="105"></div><p><b>SWITZERLAND</b>&nbsp;<i>World-class goalie will keep team competitive with lower-tier teams, but little depth overall.</i><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0094-01

THE FUTURE OF WOMEN’S HOCKEY

<div class="byline">By Ken Campbell</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0098-0168/9274310-1-eng-US/f0098-012.jpg" title="f0098-01" width="319" height="208"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>I</span>t&rsquo;s probably safe to say the Canadian women&rsquo;s national team will face more scrutiny and external pressure in 2010 than it ever has in its history.</p><p>That&rsquo;s because with the Olympics being held on Canadian soil, the pressure to win a gold medal is just as heavy on the women&rsquo;s team as it is on the men&rsquo;s squad, perhaps even more so because of the fact the women are expected to be in the gold medal game against the U.S. and anything less than that would be considered an unmitigated disaster.</p><p>To be sure, the Canadian team has prepared for these Olympics like never before. Not only did the team play a regular schedule against the best midget boys&rsquo; teams in Alberta, but the results from those games counted in the standings in the Alberta AAA Midget League.</p><p>Even though Sweden shocked Team USA in the semifinal game in 2006, most are expecting a Canada-U.S. collision course to the gold medal game, so measuring the Canadian team, in many ways, requires one to stack it up against the Americans.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0098-0227/9274303-1-eng-US/f0098-022.jpg" title="f0098-02" width="942" height="1342"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Hayley Wickenheiser is the face of tdhe Canadian women&rsquo;s team.</b> <span class="photo-credit">(WICKENHEISER: JEFF VINNICK/HOCKEY CANADA)</span></figcaption></div><p><b>STRENGTHS</b> The Canadian team has a good mix of veteran experience and youthful talent spread throughout its lineup. This team has been through the pressure cooker before and that will help immensely during the intense two weeks of the tournament. Veteran forwards Jayna Hefford and Hayley Wickenheiser continue to be two of the best offensive players in the world. Canada is a little bigger and more aggressive than the American team and has exploited those attributes as this season has progressed.</p><p><b>WEAKNESSES</b> Canada simply doesn&rsquo;t have the speed to keep up with the American team and if the referees call it really close, they may find themselves in a conga line to the penalty box. There is a lot of skill on the back end, but the defense corps sometimes has trouble defending in its own zone. If the Canadian women get into a game where they&rsquo;re trading chances with the Americans, the home side is likely to come out on the short end.</p><p><b>OFFENSE</b> Hefford has been Canada&rsquo;s pre-eminent offensive force for more than a decade and she remains the country&rsquo;s best goal producer into her early 30s. The Canadians are not as explosive as they are opportunistic, which means they tend to be more patient in waiting for their chances. If those chances don&rsquo;t come, Canada has a more difficult time creating opportunities than the Americans. Wickenheiser, the team captain and longtime face of Canadian women&rsquo;s hockey, is still one of the game&rsquo;s hardest shooters.</p><p><b>DEFENSE</b> Canada has always been sound defensively from an overall team standpoint and this edition will be no different. The defense corps is big and experienced in international competition, but coach Melody Davidson has always been a big proponent of creating offense from the back end. So you can look for the Canadian defense corps to be mobile, adept at moving the puck and not be afraid to jump into the rush when the chances present themselves.</p><p><b>GOALTENDING</b> Canada had not settled on its No. 1 goalie in the months leading up to the Olympics. However, the team feels pretty good about its chances with any one of the three netminders that made the final roster in Shannon Szabados, Charline Labonte and Kim St-Pierre, who backstopped Canada to Olympic gold in 2002 and &rsquo;06. One thing Canada has done better than any country in the world is produce elite female goalies and there is not much to worry about when it comes to Canada&rsquo;s fortunes between the pipes.</p><p><b>COACHING</b> It will be tempting for Canada&rsquo;s players to look beyond all of the other competition to a gold medal showdown with the Americans, but Davidson and her staff will have to keep the players focused on each game. They must take care of business before playing in the final by exploiting their physical advantages and abilities on both sides of special teams.</p><p><b>OUTLOOK</b> Barring something completely off the map, Canada will meet the U.S. in the final again. Which means that for all of the preparation, it will come down to which side plays better on the afternoon of Feb. 25. Chances are it will come down to special teams, as it often does.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0099-0144/9274296-1-eng-US/f0099-012.jpg" title="f0099-01" width="942" height="1634"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>With two Olympic golds already, Kim St-Pierre is a proven stopper.</b> <span class="photo-credit">(ST-PIERRE: HARRY HOW/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><h2><b>THN PREDICTION</b></h2><p><b>2</b>nd</p><p><i>A three-peat is tough to pull off, tougher with Team USA to go through</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0098-0314/9274289-1-eng-US/f0098-032.jpg" title="f0098-03" width="632" height="688"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(KELLAR: JEFF GROSS/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><h2><b>OLYMPIC HISTORY</b></h2><p><i>After the stinging disappointment of losing the gold medal to archrival Team USA in 1998, Canada is the two-time defending Olympic champion, finishing first in 2002 and &rsquo;06 &ndash; including a perfect 10-0 record during the past two Games.</i></p><h3><b>MEDAL COUNT</b></h3><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0098-046/9274282-1-eng-US/f0098-042.jpg" title="f0098-04" width="91" height="176"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2><b>TAKE NOTICE</b></h2><h3><b><i>CANADA</i></b></h3><p><i>Longtime vets steer the way</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0099-0217/9274275-1-eng-US/f0099-022.jpg" title="f0099-02" width="198" height="258"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>F</b></p><p><b>Jayna Hefford</b></p> <span class="photo-credit">(HEFFORD: JOHN MORRISON)</span></figcaption></div><p><i>The veteran of three Olympics and nine world championships will once again be expected to spark the offense, along with Hayley Wickenheiser, Jennifer Botterill, Cherie Piper and Caroline Ouellette.</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0099-0312/9274268-1-eng-US/f0099-032.jpg" title="f0099-03" width="196" height="254"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>D</b></p><p><b>Becky Kellar</b></p> <span class="photo-credit">(KELLAR: HOCKEY CANADA)</span></figcaption></div><p><i>While Canada&rsquo;s blueline features puck-movers such as Tessa Bonhomme, Kellar will be charged with keeping opponents at bay in the defensive end. It&rsquo;s a task she&rsquo;s performed many times before.</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0099-045/9274261-1-eng-US/f0099-042.jpg" title="f0099-04" width="198" height="251"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>G</b></p><p><b>Charline Labonte</b></p> <span class="photo-credit">(LABONTE: MCGILL ATHLETICS & RECREATION)</span></figcaption></div><p><i>Canada is loaded at every position, but perhaps it is in goal where the team is the strongest. If Kim St-Pierre falters, Labonte and Shannon Szabados are ready and able to take over the crease duties.</i><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0098-01

LEAVING NOTHING TO CHANCE

<div class="byline">By Adam Proteau</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0100-0146/9274390-1-eng-US/f0100-012.jpg" title="f0100-01" width="319" height="208"></div><p>Once again, the toughest competition for the Olympic gold medal in women&rsquo;s hockey is going to come from the United States and Canada.</p><p>And once again, there&rsquo;s not much you can point to that would make you pick one team to win over another at the 2010 Games.</p><p>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think there&rsquo;s a clear favorite,&rdquo; said American cornerstone defenseman Angela Ruggiero, who has played in three previous Olympics.</p><p>&ldquo;We didn&rsquo;t make it to the final of the 2006 Turin Games, but since then it has been very interesting,&rdquo; said the 30-year-old, &ldquo;because after Canada won the World Championship in &rsquo;07, we&rsquo;ve been on a pretty good streak of beating them at pretty much every major tournament up until the 2009 Four Nations Cup in November. So we&rsquo;ve been winning some and Canada has been winning some. I think it basically is going to come down to that final game in Vancouver.&rdquo;</p><p>And that&rsquo;s the one thing both the American and Canadian sides can agree on.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0100-0221/9274383-1-eng-US/f0100-022.jpg" title="f0100-02" width="977" height="1366"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Julie Chu is one of just six Americans who played at the 2006 Turin Games.</b> <span class="photo-credit">(CHU: TOM DAHLIN/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p><b>STRENGTHS</b> The NHL has become a younger player&rsquo;s league &ndash; and the women&rsquo;s game has as well. That shows in the youth of the U.S. side, which has just six returning members from its 2006 Turin roster. &ldquo;Fans who haven&rsquo;t followed us the past few years will probably say, &lsquo;who&rsquo;s that?&rsquo; a lot, but there&rsquo;s a lot of young talent here,&rdquo; Ruggiero said. &ldquo;We have some key veterans, but the younger talent is what we&rsquo;re riding on right now.&rdquo; That and a ton of speed. &ldquo;When we&rsquo;re moving on all cylinders, we&rsquo;re really hard to catch,&rdquo; Ruggiero said.</p><p><b>WEAKNESSES</b> Youth is on the Americans&rsquo; side, but Olympic experience isn&rsquo;t. Only veterans such as Julie Chu, Natalie Darwitz, Jenny Potter and Ruggiero will understand the rigors of the all-out tournament &ndash; and that&rsquo;s to say nothing of the heat they&rsquo;ll face from a hostile Canadian crowd. &ldquo;I can&rsquo;t imagine how much energy is going to be in Vancouver, with the Canadians in front of their home fans,&rdquo; Ruggiero said.</p><p><b>OFFENSE</b> Most fans of women&rsquo;s hockey are familiar with Chu, Darwitz and Potter as the chief catalysts behind Team USA&rsquo;s offensive attack. Not nearly as many know the name Hilary Knight, but after the Vancouver Games are over, that likely will have changed. &ldquo;Hilary is our youngest player, but she&rsquo;s a big, strong forward who can shoot like the guys,&rdquo; said Ruggiero of the 5-foot-10 Knight, who turned 20 in July. &ldquo;She works really well with Jenny Potter, our oldest player. She&rsquo;s going to be very important for us.&rdquo; Another set of 20-year-old rookie U.S. forwards are twin sisters Monique and Jocelyne Lamoureux, who transferred to the University of North Dakota this year after spending their freshman season at the University of Minnesota.</p><p><b>DEFENSE</b> Ruggiero, Molly Engstrom and Caitlin Cahow anchor the defense corps, but they&rsquo;ll be spreading their veteran know-how among a group that includes newcomers Rachael Drazan, Kacey Bellamy and Lisa Chesson. Bellamy, a University of New Hampshire product, finished third in the NCAA in scoring by a defenseman and was a Hockey East first-team all-star last year; the team needs a solid showing from her to ease the pressure on the vets.</p><p><b>GOALTENDING</b> A few eyebrows raised when Team USA coach Mark Johnson cut mainstay goalie and Turin starter Chanda Gunn. However, the off-the-charts play of 24-year-old Jessie Vetter made the decision easier. Vetter, who won the Patty Kazmaier Award as the top player in women&rsquo;s college hockey last year, led the University of Wisconsin to three NCAA titles in four years and was between Team USA&rsquo;s pipes as they won back-to-back world titles.</p><p><b>COACHING</b> This will be the first Olympics (at least, as a coach) for Johnson, the man who replaced Ben Smith &ndash; and a member of the &lsquo;Miracle on Ice&rsquo; gold medal-winning squad in 1980 at Lake Placid. &ldquo;Under Ben, we were more technical, whereas with Mark, there&rsquo;s a real emphasis on scoring,&rdquo; Ruggiero said.</p><p><b>OUTLOOK</b> With Canada and the U.S. so closely matched in virtually every respect, the first lapse may provide one side all the edge it needs. &ldquo;If we can get our energy up and score early, we&rsquo;ve always been successful,&rdquo; Ruggiero said.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0101-0148/9274376-1-eng-US/f0101-012.jpg" title="f0101-01" width="942" height="1633"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Angela Ruggiero has been in three Olympic Games, but is only 30.</b> <span class="photo-credit">(RUGGIERO: BRIAN BAHR/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><h2><b>THN PREDICTION</b></h2><p><b>1</b>st</p><p><i>A young, talented roster will be hungry to avenge a bronze medal showing in 2006</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0100-0310/9274369-1-eng-US/f0100-032.jpg" title="f0100-03" width="519" height="657"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(POTTER: AL BELLO/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><h2><b>OLYMPIC HISTORY</b></h2><p><i>Gold in 1998, silver in 2002 and bronze in &rsquo;06. Team USA appears to be trending in the wrong direction at the Games, but its success against Canada over the past four years indicates the team is ready to reverse its Olympic fortunes.</i></p><h3><b>MEDAL COUNT</b></h3><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0100-042/9274362-1-eng-US/f0100-042.jpg" title="f0100-04" width="110" height="196"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2><b>TAKE NOTICE</b></h2><h3><b><i>USA</i></b></h3><p><i>Proven players &ndash; and promise, too</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0101-0224/9274355-1-eng-US/f0101-022.jpg" title="f0101-02" width="189" height="250"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>F</b></p><p><b>Hilary Knight</b></p></figcaption></div><p><i>The youngest player on the American squad, Knight likely will play on a line with veteran Jenny Potter. Her cousin, Chip Knight, is a slalom skier who competed in three Olympics.</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0101-0316/9274348-1-eng-US/f0101-032.jpg" title="f0101-03" width="189" height="250"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>D</b></p><p><b>Molly Engstrom</b></p></figcaption></div><p><i>This will be Engstrom&rsquo;s second appearance at the Olympics. Along with her friend Angela Ruggiero, the 26-year-old University of Wisconsin alumnus is the tallest defenseman on the team at 5-foot-9.</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0101-047/9274341-1-eng-US/f0101-042.jpg" title="f0101-04" width="189" height="250"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>G</b></p><p><b>Jessie Vetter</b></p> <span class="photo-credit">(ALL HEADSHOTS: TOM DAHLIN/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p><i>The former Badger&rsquo;s college career was superb: She was the first goalie ever to start four consecutive NCAA championship games and holds the mark for most shutouts (14) in one season.</i><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

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Chasing Glory 2010

BURNING SPEED, SKILL TO KILL

NATIONAL FLAME

USA

DEFENSIVE VIKINGS