Olympic ice hockey thread

So the men's ice hockey tournament at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games begins on Wednesday, February 12. All of the 12 teams have at least one current NHL player on their roster.

Teams are split into three groups of four, which play a round-robin against one another. Teams then are seeded in an elimination round, meaning a team must play either 6 or 7 games to win a medal.

For those in the US, all games will be aired live on either NBC, NBC Sports Network or the USA Network. Many of the games will be played (and shown) in the early morning hours.

 

I think all Canadian games will be on CBC. But I need confirmation
Is Elliotte Friedman around here?

 

The format makes this so tricky to pick. It's three preliminary games and then single elimination. One injury, one bounce, one bad call and you can be toast.

On paper, I think Canada, Russia and Sweden have the best rosters. But because of the format, I think depth is not a huge issue. Goaltending and special teams should be huge.

Several countries may be missing key players because of injuries. Still not clear who will start who will start in goal for Canada, USA or Russia.

Haven't had anyone repeat in the Olympics since the Soviet Union/Unified Team in 1988-1992. Going to wait a couple more days to make my picks.

 

Depth will absolutely be a huge issue.

 

Wait a minute. T

Ice Hockey? ICE hockey??? Huh?

As opposed to what: ball hockey, floor hockey, road hockey, kitchen hockey, pond hockey?

I didn't realise Mark came from Great Britain

 

Broom hockey. Big in the States.

 

You watch your hockey, I'll watch mine.

 

Field hockey (or just plain "hockey" in Olympic lingo) has been part of the summer Games for a long time.

 

I'm going to start calling the Super Bowl the "American Football Championship Game" Canadian lingo.

 

I like it. It's like all those pretentious Americans who call the British Open "The Open Championship."

 

For those who may not know, there is also a women's ICE hockey tournament included in the Olympics. Canada has won the past three gold medals. This year, picking the US to beat Canada in the final. Saw a couple of exhibitions, teams looked pretty evenly matched. Canada changed coaches in December, hiring former NHL player Kevin Deneen.