Olympic Hockey Roundup: Day 6

What an excellent showcase day for the sport of hockey. The Czechs, Russians, Americans, Canadians, Finns, and Swedes all took the ice. All three games to determine Group winners and receivers of that coveted bye to the quarterfinals.

RUSSIA 4, CZECH REPUBLIC 2

If Crosby and Ovechkin are the Peyton Manning and Tom Brady of the NHL, Evgeni Malkin is the Drew Brees. He doesn't get as much hype, but he delivers almost as much on the ice. He scored twice, with an assist on the game-sealing emptynetter. Oh yeah, the Ruskies have Alexander Ovechkin who had two assists. And another slightly underappreciated quality player in Pavel Datsyuk, who had a goal and an assist. Evgeni Nabokov remains undefeated as Russia wins Group B.

U.S.A. 5, CANADA 3

Four words to describe this contest: Sixty minute highlight reel. Every second of this was sheer genius. This was as hard fought as the Norway/Switzerland match over the weekend, but only on a much higher stratosphere of talent.

Ryan Miller made 42 saves in this game. He stayed poised under blizzards of pressure, and looked chill even when in desperation mode. He's Team USA's biggest weapon, as he's arguably the best goalie in the tournament.

Brian Rafalski had the big night on the score sheet with 2 goals and an assist.

Sidney Crosby had a goal, but was -3 on the night. Too bad.



The US's goals were a bit on the "lucky" side, but in hockey, good luck tends to follow guys who put themselves in good positions. The US was smart with the puck, and strong without the puck. They fought for every millimeter of ice with a zealous determination. They had an underdog's attitude with a starving dog's tenacity, and emerged as top dogs, winning Group A and going undefeated in the preliminary round.



SWEDEN 3, FINLAND 0

Watch out for the Swedes, the other undefeated team in preliminary play. They started off a bit slow, but now they're really rolling. 25 year old Loui Eriksson of the Dallas Stars scored a pair of power play goals, and Nicklas Backstrom had a goal with 2 assists as the Swedes dominated their rematch of the '06 Gold Medal Game.



As an American, it's difficult not to be proudly optimistic this morning, but the watching utterly stacked teams like Sweden fills me with dread. Thankfully, the US can only meet Sweden in the Gold Medal Game.

Now on to the Elimination Stage.

The late goals the US netted against Norway, as well as Ryan Kesler's empty-netter helped give the US the #1 seed thanks to goal differential (+9, Sweden's was +7). The US won Group A, Russia won Group B, and Sweden won Group C. Finland finished with 6 points and a better GD (goal differential) than the Czechs, so Finland also earned a bye to the quarterfinals. Here are the full standings from the Group Stage:

1. USA
2. Sweden
3. Russia
4. Finland
----------------
5. Czech Republic
6. Canada
7. Slovakia
8. Switzerland
9. Belarus
10. Norway
11. Germany
12. Latvia

Here's the schedule for Tuesday (Eastern start time - network - game):

3pm - USA - Belarus vs. Switzerland (winner plays USA)
8pm - CNBC - Canada vs. Germany (winner plays Russia)
10pm - CNBC - Latvia vs. Czech Republic (winner plays Finland)
12am - CNBC - Norway vs. Slovakia (winner plays Sweden)

We'll have a preview of these games tomorrow.

-The Commodore

USA's Overtime Goal

Where to Eat This Weekend

Montreal French Fries - West Bridgewater, MA

I actually went to this place the other day, and it was ridiculously good. Sure, I was a little skeeved out by all the Canadian flare, but the guy that runs the place is out of his tree and totally cool. His name is Gino, and he is off his rocker. He gave more food out for free in the half hour I was there then I think people actually paid for. I had Handcut French Fries covered with some sort of gravy, Cheese Curds, and a mound Seasoned Beef. It was "Crunk" for lack of a better term, and the atmosphere is really cool too. The guy has the place completely decked out in nostalgic NHL souvenirs and relics and also regularly plays NHL games on the TV he has inside. Great atmosphere, great food. If you're a Bridgewater State student or just passing through Southern Massachusetts check this place out.

Canadian Baby Shower

Canada

What a place.

They say you learn something new everyday and today is no exception as I got me some education on our friends to the North. You see, Canada is not all that different than Russia or China. They give off this vibe like they are totally free (decriminalizing weed, graciously hosting draft dodgers and military AWOLs, etc..) but it's a bunch of bullshit. Don't believe me? Try moving up there and starting a radio station focused on 1990's American Hip Hop. Can't do it.

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has these silly laws in place that require all radio stations to play 35% Canadian content. That guarantees that every third song you hear on the radio will be either by Broken Social Scene or Nickelback. It's really hit or miss up there and even Bryan Adams once complained that Can-con promoted mediocre content. Coming from Bryan Adams, that's saying a lot.

Naturally, these China-esque laws don't stop with radio waves. They extend right on through to television and the internet which is where things start to get interesting. From today's National Post:

An Edmonton-based adult film producer has won federal government approval for a new pornography channel with an unusual twist: half of the content is to be Canadian.

Shaun Donnelly's Real Productions received the OK from the CRTC on Wednesday to operate a digital cable channel -- called Northern Peaks -- that is billed as "Canada's first adult video channel programming significant Canadian content."

At first this might seem like a bad thing - you know with the whole government telling you what you can air and what you cannot thing - but for Donnelly, when life gives you lemons...

"I've always found there's a real turn-on to watching and knowing it's people you could run into in the grocery store,"

So there you have it. Although, I'm still a little confused as to the intent of the law. Toronto has an enormous Asian population, more than a couple probably nationalized. Which side of the 50% would some girl on girl Torontasion content fall on? This is something that will need to be cleared up, pronto.