*Updated tournament bracket HERE

 

It is known in Olympic Winter Games that competition is fierce and the margin upon error is not easily overcome. Such is the plight of Gold Medal favourite Team Canada, a super hockey power that would grin mischievously if you had mentioned adversity before this critical and high-powered tournament.

 

The metallic road for Canada is an arduous one at this point, with a qualifier set for Tuesday against Germany before one could even imagine advancing to what many expected would be the ultimate Final, a match between Canada and Russia. The Russian Federation won their group, thus assured a berth in the Quarter-Final round, but questions swirled around the club coming together on the ice thus far; the Czech Republic and Slovakia have ascent laid before them also, if they wish to ensnare honour in men's hockey. The results have a way of acting against the paper layout so many thought probable. Perhaps the stories have a few more twists ahead.

 

With an immense amount of talent and the inclusion of cockle-warming ballads surrounding honoured players such as Sergei Fedorov of Russia, Peter Forsberg for Sweden and Jaromir Jagr of the Czech Republic, much can be made about how the tournament has brought together the most elite fabric that hockey could muster. Young stars Zach Parise, Loui Eriksson, Drew Doughty, and David Krejci have all earned their places and yet can be tested on such a stage against some of the best names hockey has provided over recent decades. It is a spectacle and we are fortunate to be witness to it, perhaps for the final time in its current format.

 

Two major events shaped hockey and debate for all time last night. The lack of a fight after Alexander Ovechkin's incredible and momentum-swinging hit on Jagr early in the Sunday showdown game between the Czechs and Russians - proves that physicality should not be eradicated and yet embraced when in a pure and lofty form. However, the penalties assessed to Finland's Joni Pitkanen after a clear head-shot to Swedish forward Patric Hornqvist, show that international hockey has established a clear line in the proverbial sand and is willing to act upon it from a position of authority - beforehand.

 

Hockey can rely on speed and pure athleticism's sturdy trestle so well with so much on the line; thuggery could fade easily if drawn out like poison from a wound, from the dingy side of a beautiful game. The physical play and absolute thrill should be hallmarks (not reference points) without the influx of senseless pugilism that accompanies it too often.

 

Let us get back to the positive aspects of play so far. The rally cries behind the spectacular play of elite goaltender Ryan Miller for the U.S.A., the cohesive nature of a team from Switzerland, and the steadfast and calculated effort from Sweden has brought much more to the tournaments' profile. Desire and cerebral play can account for so much in a team's performance and serve to offset the belly-aching from the talent-heavy teams that suppose formal results.

 

Even greater stories will be cast without a doubt over the next few days. Perhaps if Canada begins to import industrial glue to its dressing room, or the Finnish efforts truly galvanize behind Miikka Kiprusoff, or perhaps the Cinderella attachment inspires the Swiss or Belarussians to even greater heights, we will be chatting in coffee houses and with friends and neighbors about steely nature and resolution from below. More likely, those same conversations will detail how Nicklas Lidstrom and Brian Rafalski proved to all that their grasp has not faltered on what really matters most, winning.

 

 

See an updated tournament bracket HERE

 

22 February 2010

 

Robin Keith Thompson