‘Canes trade for Jared Staal

Jared Staal was aquired by the Hurricanes Thursday

The Carolina Hurricanes have acquired the rights to right-wing Jared Staal from Phoenix in exchange for a fifth-round draft pick. The move unites two brothers from one of hockey’s most talented families.

Jared is the youngest brother of the Hurricanes current captain Eric Staal. The move marks the first time that any of the Staal brothers could call themselves teammates since beginning their respective junior careers. This also means that all four Staals will now be property of the NHL’s Eastern Confrence, as Jordan plays for the Pittsburgh Penguins and Marc suits up for the New York Rangers.

Jared was the only Staal brother to wait until the second round of the NHL Entry Draft to hear his name called. He was drafted 49th overall by the Coyotes in 2008. Since that time, Jared has spent his time with the Sudbury Wolves in the Ontario Hockey League registering 12 goals and 37 assists (49 points) in 59 games in his most recent season. He has also played in 10 games with Phoenix’s American Hockey League affiliate, the San Antonio Rampage, totaling an assist.

The team still has to sign the 19-year-old to an entry-level contract, but that seems inevitable as the youngest Staal is very familiar with the organization. Should Jared not sign with the Hurricanes, e would have to re-enter the draft.

According to the team’s official website, Jared will attend the Hurricanes’ conditioning camp in July and play with other top ‘Canes prospects at their annual tournament in Traverse City in September. After that, he could very well end up playing for the Charlotte Checkers next year.

The draft pick sent to Phoenix was one that originally belong to the Nashville Predators. The Hurricane s acquired that pick along with Darcy Hordichuk in 2008 for their own fifth-round pick in 2009.

10 Bold Playoff Predictions

After watching one of the best nights of hockey I’ve seen in recent memory last night, I felt compelled to foolishly make predictions on one of the most unpredictable tournaments in sports. In case you missed it, the Senators, Flyers, Coyotes and Avalanche all won tight, one-goal games over the Penguins, Devils, Red Wings and Sharks respectively. Most experts have predicted last night’s losers to win their series but as I said before, the NHL Playoffs just cannot be predicted (but here’s my attempt).

10. Sidney Crosby will NOT lead the Penguins in points.

Yes you read correctly, Sid the Kid will finish second or lower in points for the Penguins. Seeing Evgeni Malkin tear up the Senator defense last night made me realize that he is the cog that keeps the Penguins’ gears turning. Crosby has a knack for being in the right place at the right time and has scored some very big goals in his career (see Vancouver Olympics) but Malkin is the man who strikes fear in the heart of opposing defencemen.

9. The San Jose Sharks will not make it past the second round.

The Sharks have a sickness of crumbling come playoff time. San Jose perennially has good regular seasons and this year was no different. The Sharks are the top seed in a competitive Western Conference and face the plucky Avalanche in the first round. If they can manage to avoid a second straight postseason first-round exit then I have a tough time believing they would have what it takes to get through another series. The Western Conference is very good this year and there are a number of teams who appear hungry for a championship. What the Sharks have in talent, they always seem to lack in hunger.

8. Neither the Red Wings nor the Penguins will be in the Cup final… again

The Red Wings struggled mightily this season and used a late run to secure the fifth seed in the West. The experience is there for the proven Red Wings but as mentioned before, the West is very good this year and I believe that age and fatigue will be the downfall. Not to say that they will be pushovers in any round of the tournament, but a certain team in Phoenix seems to be playing some very good hockey right now. The Penguins have had tough times as well during the season. Their power play was ranked near the bottom of the league at times and their goaltending has been questionable (see last night’s game against Ottawa). Plus, let’s be honest, these two teams have played a staggering 290 games apiece since the beginning of the 2007-08 season. That makes me tired just thinking about it.

7. The Cup goes to… an American team

Sorry Vancouver, Montreal and Ottawa fans but it’s obvious that your team will not capture Lord Stanley this year. A Canadian team hasn’t won the Cup since the 1993. That’s a 17-year drought for the country that hockey was born in. Montreal will be lucky to win a game against the Capitals in the first round. The Canucks and Senators will be so bruised if they come out of the quarterfinals that neither of them will make much noise. There just isn’t enough depth on any of these three teams to compete with some of the teams that aren’t afraid to roll four lines throughout the game.

6. There will be at least two series that go the distance in the first round

Yes, I have a sneaky feeling that there will be some compelling match-ups in these quarterfinals. First of all, the New Jersey Devils and the Philadelphia Flyers have the goods to deliver on a seven-game series. Brain Boucher carried the Flyers to a win in Game 1, but I would have to think that he cannot keep that pace up for a full series. He’s a good goalie – but the guy on the other end is pretty decent too. Martin Brodeur has stolen his share of playoffs games and has three Cup rings to show for it. He won’t let his Devils be stunned like they were after their series with the Carolina Hurricanes last year. Also, the Phoenix Coyotes might just take the Detroit Red Wings to a seventh game. The Red Wings would appear to be the better team, but the Coyotes have a playoff-proven goaltender and a spunky group of guys that work well together and work for each other.

5. There will only be one sweep throughout all of the playoffs this year!

Yes, that’s right. One four game sweep this year. This group of teams seems fairly well-matched with no real favorites to steamroll the competition. The West is as competitive and balanced as ever and the East could produce any number of teams to compete for the Cup. You might ask yourself… “Who’s getting swept?” Well, I don’t want to offend anyone out there but I just don’t see Montreal winning any game against the powerful Capitals. If people thought the Caps had goaltending issues then they haven’t seen Montreal’s netminders. Carey Price was replaced by Jaroslav Halak during the season and neither goalie could produce the kind of consistent effort Habs fans were looking for. Also, the team never seem to gel as management thought it might with so many new faces on the team.

4. An unlikely goal scorer will score to end a multiple-overtime game.

With the games being as close as they have been, it seems obvious that some of them will go to overtime, and some of those will go to another overtime, and some of them will go to ANOTHER overtime. Multiple overtimes make games more and more dramatic as they go on and it seems as if big-name goal scorers never seem to be the ones to score the winners. Look for people like Craig Adams of Pittsburgh, Patrick Kaleta of Buffalo or Jannik Hansen in Vancouver to end a dramatic game at some point.

3. Jose Theodore will start every game for the Capitals

I like Semyon Varlamov just fine, but Theodore has already been named as the starter for the top-seeded Capitals and appears to be ready for the postseason. Goaltending isn’t the strongest point for the Caps and hasn’t been since Olaf Kolzig was in his prime. Fortunately for Bruce Boudreau’s team, it doesn’t need to be. The Caps have the firepower to win games on offense alone and they have proven that. Washington has no problem with winning games 6-4 instead of 3-1 because of that key word… winning.

2. The Buffalo Sabres will beat the Washington Capitals in the Eastern Conference Finals and the Chicago Blackhawks will eliminate the Los Angeles Kings in the West.

Wow.. that was a lot of information to handle all at once. In the East, Buffalo’s goaltending will shine over the Capitals high-octane offensive attack. Ryan Miller almost led the US to a gold medal and he will carry the Sabres into the Cup Finals the same way. Alex Ovechkin and Co. will have to settle for just another step in maturity in the playoffs (first-round exit in ’08, second-round exit in ’09). The Caps have all the tools to win it all but you cannot deny the Sabres goaltending and desire to get to the Cup Finals for the first time since 1999.

In the West, the youthful Blackhawks are one year older and one year wiser. Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews will lead Chicago past the upstart LA Kings in what should be an exciting matchup of two fast-paced teams. Jonathan Quick is a great goaltender and he will shine in the spotlight of the playoffs. The Kings are an underestimated team will good talent such as Anze Kopitar, Drew Doughty, Ryan Smyth, Jack Johnson and numerous others. Former sniper Justin Williams came back from injury to post 10 goals and 19 assists (29 points) in just 49 games. Chicago will have their hands full but will move on to play Buffalo for the 2010 Stanley Cup.

1. The Blackhawks will win the Stanley Cup

For the first time since 1961, the Stanley Cup will call Chicago home. The Blackhawks will defeat the Buffalo Sabres in six or seven games in what should be a very exciting Finals matchup. Ryan Miller’s magic will eventually run out and he will have to settle for second place for a second time since losing in the Olympics. He will, however, win the Conn Smythe trophy awarded to the playoffs MVP. The talent of the Blackhawks will come through and they will skate around competition until the clock clicks down to zero and they call themselves champions.

Then again… I could be wrong

Wait is Over, Raleigh to Host 2011 NHL All-Star Game

Eric Staal scores a goal on Detriot's Chris Osgood during the 2008 All-StarGame

Promises eventually do come true.

The Carolina Hurricanes and National Hockey League Commissioner Gary Bettman announced Thursday that the RBC Center will be the host site for the 2011 NHL All-Star Game. The announcement brings forth the realization of a promise by Bettman years ago that the ‘Canes would indeed host the annual event.

In 2004 the team hosted the NHL Entry Draft and drew a crowd that was said to be the largest opening-day audience in over a decade. The event sparked interest in the area and, combined with the recent success of the team, made North Carolina’scapital city an appealing choice to host the NHL’s finest players.

The Hurricanes appeared to be doomed to a lingering wait for eligibility to host an All-Star game, but with the financial struggles suffered by the Phoenix Coyotes organization and the possibility of relocation, a door opened for Raleigh to step in to.

The announcement came a mere hour into the Caniac Cookout, a lawn party for the Hurricanes fans at the RBC Center in honor of the last home game of the season, marking a very special day for the organization.

While the ‘Canes will not be participating in the Stanley Cup Playoffs this post-season, the realization of hockey on a national scale in Raleigh will no doubt put a grin on even some of the most disheartened fans.

Injuries continue to mount against ‘Canes

It seems as if nothing else could go wrong this season.

Actually, that probably shouldn’t be said… hockey players are very superstitious.

Adding to the Hurricanes recent string of unfortunate luck, Tuomo Ruutu will undergo a season-ending surgery Thursday for an injury that has been nagging him for most of the season’s second half.

Despite Ruutu’s effectiveness in recent weeks, he has not been at 100% since leaving a game against the Colorado Avalanche back on January 8. He returned after missing 15 games but apparently never fully healed.

His injury comes at a time in which fan favorites Tim Gleason and Cam Ward, and newcomer Alex Picard are all down with injuries. Out of the three only Ward seems to have a chance to play in the team’s final nine games. Also, the injury comes during a season which has seen only one Hurricanes player, Tom Kostopoulos, appear in all 73 games so far. Even Eric Staal missed considerable time this season, breaking his streak of 349 consecutive games played.

The ‘Canes will return to action Thursday night when they face the Eastern-Confrence leading Washington Capitals in a Southeast Division showdown. It is unclear of who will be called up to replace Ruutu in the Hurricanes lineup but it is assumed to be Drayson Bowman, Jerome Samson, or Oskar Osala.

Youth serves Canes

As the Carolina Hurricanes continue to make a push toward the Stanley Cup playoffs this season, one thing is clearly noticeable. The rookies and other “young guns” for this team continue to shine among the brightest of NHL stars.

Let’s take a look on a player by player basis:

1. Justin Peters – Peters has not done much of anything at the NHL level this year.. unless you consider that he won in his first NHL game against Johnathan Tavares and the Islanders, ousted Martin Brodeur and the Devils, won in the arena he grew up around in Toronto, beat the best team in the league and out dueled both goaltenders for the defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins. Doesn’t seem like a bad resume for the Hurricanes second-round draft pick in the 2004 Entry Draft. Peters is getting his first shot in the NHL this season due to Cam Ward’s back injury and the release on Michael Leighton on waivers.

Peters has posted a 6-2-0 record so far and his .916 save percentage ranks him ahead of the likes of Olympians Brodeur, Tim Thomas and Jonathan Quick his consistent play has given the Canes a solid one-two punch in the net despite having their franchise goalie on the injured reserve list.

2. Brett Carson – The 24 year-old defenseman has been one of the most dependable blueliners for the Hurricanes this season. Since his December 7th call up to the Canes, Carson has been regularly used during a season in which defenseman seem to depart via trade or injury at a regular basis. He plays between 15 and 20 minutes every game including some time on the power play and the killing penalties. Carson is one of the few players on Carolina’s roster that has a plus statistic. His +4 rating ranks him tied for first with fellow youngster Zach Boychuk for first on the team and it’s easy to tell why.

His two goals this season have both been important ones as well. His first career goal happened to be the game-winner against the Ottawa Senators and his tally against the Capitals tied the game in the third period.

3. Zach Boychuk – Boychuk got a taste on the NHL last season as he had a cameo in two games for the Hurricanes registering no statistics. This season he had to be ready for a larger role. In his 20 games this year, Boychuk has registered three goals and five assists while playing limited minutes on the third and fourth lines. Boychuk has seemingly taken steps toward improving his chances of playing a full season in the big league next year as the Canes try to prepare for the future.

Boychuk has had high expectations on his shoulders ever since the Hurricanes used the 14th overall pick on him in the 2008 Entry Draft. As his duration with the Hurricanes has increased this season, Boychuk has looked more comfortable, even dominating at some points. The Hurricanes hope this is a good sign of things to come from the young 20 year-old as he progresses with his career.

4. Brandon Sutter – Some might think he shouldn’t even be on this list of “young guns.” Those same some forget that Sutter is only 21 and still has many years in front of him. During a horrid 14-game losing streak early in the season, Sutter consistently stuck out as a lone bright spot for the Canes. He has done nothing but score hard-working goals, as well as dazzling scores that leave some thinking he could be considered to be a third “franchise man.” Sutter has worked his way up to a starting spot as centerman on the second line. Impressive for a player who started the season in the AHL playing in Albany.

Sutter has scored 17 goals so far this year and is on pace to crack the 20-goal plateau in just his second season in the league. His first year was cut short due to concussion problems after a hit by the New York Islanders (and former Hurricane) Doug Weight. He struggled through 50 games last year, scoring one goal and totaling six points. This year he has come back a different man. The Valentine’s Day baby has received nothing but love and adoration from both the fan base and his teammates.

5. Jamie McBain – McBain has only played three games in the NHL this year but he is already turning heads. His consistent offensive play and responsible defensive behavior has earned him a spot on the first defensive pairing with Joni Pitkanen. In fact only Pitkanen averages more ice time per game than the young McBain, who is listed as playing 25 minutes each contest. McBain has played up to expectations so far and looks to be a bright spot for the Canes in seasons to come.

His defensive abilities are sound, but his offensive instincts are what everyone seems to be talking about, and for good reason. His defensive hustle and booming slapshot created the opportunity for Ray Whitney to beat the Capitals in overtime and his presence of mind and that same slapshot gave the Canes a thrilling OT win over the Penguins with less than one second remaining in the contest.

These players are just five of the highlights of a young group of extremely talented players that give the Hurricanes reason to be optimistic looking forward. That group could possibly be expanded to give players like Jerome Samson, Oskar Osala, Drayson Bowman, Juri Tlusty, and recent signee Zac Dalpe. Fans also might forget that captain Eric Staal is only 25 and that players such as Bryan Rodney, Alexandre Picard, Jussi Jokinen, and Joni Pitkanen are all 26 or younger. With the young talent that the Canes have and the veteran leadership provided by Ray Whitney (37), Rod Brind’amour (39) and newcomer Brian Pothier (32) it is easy to see a promising future for the Hurricanes and the game of hockey.

Hurricanes offer change, hopes for this season

When the 3 pm trade deadline passed Wednesday afternoon, it appeared that the Hurricanes 2009-2010 team would remain relatively intact. Two hours later, the promises of a day filled with trades had come true.

There was one thing missing however.

Over the past two months, Ray Whitney’s name had surfaced in several trade rumors and his picture was featured on the NHL’s website under the trade deadline section. However, at the end of the day Ray Whitney will remain a Carolina Hurricane.

Whitney’s name was rumored with several different teams, but as the day progressed the possibility of him getting traded seem to dwindle. He was rumored to go anywhere from Boston, to Pittsburgh (nixed late Tuesday night when they acquired Alex Ponikarovsky from the Toronto Maple Leafs), and most likely to Los Angles to play for the Kings. Whitney exercised his no-trade clause for a deal to the Kings in early February and reportedly nothing came in GM Jim Rutherford Wednesday that was worth considering.

While Whitney will get ready to lace up against the Ottawa Senators Thursday night at the RBC Center, five of his teammates will not.

Early in the day Rutherford got his feet wet by sending veteran defenseman Aaron Ward to the Anaheim Ducks for goaltending prospect Justin Pogge as well as a fourth-round pick in either the 2010 or the 2011 NHL Entry Draft (it’s the Hurricanes choice of when to use it). Ward admitted to not playing well in the first part of the season, but said he felt his play had turned around when the new year came in. Pogge, 23, played in seven NHL games with the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2008-09, and has a career NHL record of 1-4-1 with a 4.35 goals-against average. He has spent the 2009-10 season with San Antonio of the American Hockey League (AHL), posting a 12-7-3 record with a 2.57 goals-against average and .920 save percentage. In 165 career AHL games with Toronto and San Antonio, Pogge has earned a record of 83-63-14, with a 2.69 goals-against average.

Minutes later the Canes sent gritty forward Scott Walker to the Washington Capitals for a seventh round pick in the upcoming draft. While this may not seem like much for a player as proven as Walker, it makes sense as the fan favorite has dealt with numerous injuries this season. The Capitals feature proven scorers but have lacked a player as hard nosed as Walker for many years.

Then the deadline came to an end. 3 pm passed and all was quiet.

Hurricanes fans might remember last season when the deadline passed, yet the Canes dealt Justin Williams in exchange for Erik Cole in a three-team trade. As long as the paperwork is passed through to the NHL office before 3:00 the trades still count, so numerous trades get announced after the actual deadline all the time.

Around 4:15 pm rumors began to surface regarding defenseman Joe Corvo. Shortly after, Corvo was gone to the join Walker in Washington. The return for the valuable, hard-shooting player was profitable. The Canes received veteran defenseman Brian Pothier, Finnish prospect Oskar Osala, and a second round pick in 2011. Pothier, 32, has played in 41 games for the Capitals this season, totaling four goals and seven assists. His plus-12 plus/minus rating currantly ranks him first on the time in that category. Osala, 22, has scored 15 goals and earned 14 assists in 53 games this season with the American Hockey League-leading Hershey Bears. The Vaasa, Finland, native began his North American professional career last season, registering 23 goals and 14 assists (37 points) in 75 regular-season games with Hershey. He has appeared in two games with the Capitals, both coming last season.

The rumors then turned toward fellow defenseman Andrew Alberts and future unrestricted free agent Stephane Yelle. Alberts quickly went to the Vancouver Canucks for a third round draft pick and Yelle quickly followed suit. The surprising Colorado Avalanche offered prospect Cedric LaLonde-McNicoll and their sixth round pick for Yelle and Canes prospect Harrison Reed. LaLonde-McNicoll, 21, is in his first full professional season, spending most of the season with Lake Erie of the AHL. He has totaled five goals and eight assists in 45 games with the Monsters on the AHL level, and has also played four games with Charlotte of the ECHL, totaling four points (1g, 3a).

Then the day was done. Rutherford left his office having just accomplished the busiest trading day of his long career as general manager. His deals give Hurricanes fans hope for, not only the future, but for the present as well. He managed to avoid trading a pivotal piece of the team and still received four 2010 draft picks and another pick for 2011. Along with the picks the Hurricanes received three promising prospects and an NHL-ready defenseman.

While time will tell on the draft picks and prospects, one thing is for sure. The Hurricanes have good reason to hold their heads up high based on a promising future and a realistic chance to make a strong run at the playoffs this season still.

US ready for much different Canada team

The United States mens hockey team has to be prepared for a different Canadian team if they want to return home with Olympic gold.

It all begins in goal where hometown hero Roberto Luongo will attempt to stop the American attack. Martin Brodeur was shaky in allowing four goals the last time the two teams squared off. He was replaced as the starter after that game and ever since the Canadians haven’t shown much of a weakness in goal.

The Canadians have been one of the top teams ever since they lost to the US squad back on February 21st. They have beaten Germany, Russia and Slovakia throughout the elimination round of the tournament. They outscored their opponents 18-7 during that span as well.

The United States, on the other hand, earned a bye in the first round by shocking the world and landing the top seed in the tournament. They out-toughed a gritty Swiss team 2-0 and cruised past Finland 6-1 to earn a chance to win gold for their country.

Canada survived a major scare in the semifinals against the Slovaks; as the US squad scored six goals in the first period and rested their stars (including starting goalie Ryan Miller) during the rest of the game.

The day the US thumped Finland to move into the gold medal game, the Canadians built a 3-0 lead on Slovakia only to require a desperate Luongo save in the final seconds to hang on to a 3-2 win.

If it’s any sign of the quality of competition, Finland then beat Slovakia to claim the bronze medal 5-3.

The Americans have every reason in the world to be confident, but it will take more than an ego boost to take down the Canadians on their own ice.

USA outwills Switzerland 2-0

It was around 4:40 in the afternoon on Wednesday, February 24th. The third period of the quarterfinal game between the United States men’s hockey team and the countering team from Switzerland was just beginning. It was also the defining moment for Ron Wilson and his US team in the 2010 Olympics.

The first two periods were played to a 0-0 deadlock. Swiss goalie Jonas Hiller had turned aside 32 American shots and was single-handedly responsible for his team being remotely close to being competitive. The Americans had thrown everything at Hiller and the Swiss net with nothing to show for it.

This would be frustrating for any team, but the way the second period ended could have broken the backs of a team that no one expected to be playing in the top position.

In the waning moments of the middle period, USA’s Ryan Kesler threw the puck on goal in a desperate attempt to find some offense. For the next two seconds the entire arena seemed to hold it’s breathe as the puck fluttered into the air. Hiller tried to swat the puck out of harms way to let the period expire, but instead the shaft of his stick nicked the edge of the puck, causing it to tumble towards the open Swiss net. The pucks path included a bounce off of Hiller’s shoulder as it careened backward.

As the puck crossed the goal line and nestled into the back of the net, the Americans celebrated and the arena’s goal horn sounded, seemingly ending the long search for offense on the United States’ bench. There was just one problem; there was no time left on the clock.

As the referees conferred and the benches pleaded their cases, videos were shown in the arena and on network television. As the arena crowd watched the video and corresponding clock, both cheers and jeers were loudly heard. The puck sat directly on the thin red line as the clock ticked down to 0.0 seconds. Evidence showed that the puck was around one tenth of a second away from crossing the goal line in time to count, marking another disappointing result for Team USA.

This is where the game could have turned.

The United States could have traveled down two different roads. They could have been deflated, feeling that there was just nothing they could do to score a goal that would actually count. However, they chose a different road, a road that included a never say die attitude implemented by Wilson and carried out by top-line forward Zach Parise.

Parise scored two third period goals to give the United States a less than comfortable win and a birth into the semifinals to face the winner of the game between Finland and the Czech Republic.

With the US on an early third period power play, the Americans showed their resolve and stuck with their game plan of simply continuing to try to crack the armor Hiller seemed to be hiding under his chest protector. Brain Rafalski, whose two goals helped the US defeat Canada earlier this week, fired a wrist shot from just inside the blueline. His shot was strategically tipped on goal by Parise, up and over Hiller for the first goal of the game and the first sigh of relief for the US players. The puck barely avoided being cleared away by Switzerland’s Thierry Paterlini as it slowly trickled into the goal past an outstretched Hiller.

Perhaps both teams seemed to relax a bit too much as the game really seemed to open up from there.

Just over a minute after the US took it’s much-deserved lead, Sandy Jeannin of the Swiss team took a pretty pass into the US zone and out waited a challenging Ryan Miller. He slid the puck past Miller’s pad and appeared to have tied the game. However, the puck grazed off the post and Kesler was there to save the day, sweeping the puck off the vacant goal line.

A mere 29 seconds after the Swiss scoring scare, the Americans came blasting into the Swiss zone. Patrick Kane grabbed the puck from a hustling Kesler and fed it back to defenseman Ryan Suter. Suter fired a snap shot which found the side of the net off to Hiller’s stick side. The horn again sounded, but referee Paul Devorski immediately waved the goal off saying Kesler, who just played hero at one side of the rink, interfered with Mathias Seger in front of the net. Instead of the 2-0 lead, the Americans were forced to kill a penalty.

They killed that penalty and held off any other Swiss attack that was formulated, resulting in Hiller having to be pulled for an extra attacker in the final seconds. Parise poked the puck off a Swiss stick and hurried to wrist a shot into a wide open net for his second goal of the period and an insurmountable 2-0 lead.

Ryan Miller recorded a 19-save shutout, the first since Mike Richter did it against Germany in 2002.

The Americans celebrated as if the gold medal was theirs after the game, but in order to capture something the US hasn’t claimed in 30 years they will need to continue their strong effort into the next game, staying focused and maintaining their hungry attitude as the hopes of a nation rest on their starred shoulders.

US Hockey proves it belongs

For all the talk about how young of a team USA hockey has, I suppose someone forgot to tell the Canadians to show some respect for the old guns.

The Red Wings Brian Rafalski scored two goals for the second straight game and Sabres goaltender Ryan Miller recorded 42 saves as the underdog American team beat Canada 5-3 Sunday night in Vancouver.

Much has been noted about the Americans being the youngest team in the tournament, but it was the likes of Rafalski, Jamie Langenbrunner, and Chris Drury (all Olympic veterans) who helped seal USA’s win over the favored Canadians. Ryan Kesler added an empty-net goal for the Americans, marking the lone Olympic rookie to tally for the red, white, and blue.

The Americans are now 3-0 and have done it in convincing fashion. They have scored the most goals in the tournament (one that includes a team featuring Alexander Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin, Ilya Kovalchuck and Pavel Datsyuk; and another one that features Sidney Crosby, Joe Thornton, and Jarome Iginla) and have gotten solid goaltending out of Miller – making this team one of the favorites to medal in this years Olympic Games.

On the other side, the Canadians looked as if they were lost.

One point that will stick out in many minds as a defining moment was when Carolina Hurricanes captain Eric Staal , who arguably was one of the better players in a Canadian jersey on the night, almost knocked out teammate Corey Perry with an accidental hit. Those two were joined by defenseman Chris Pronger who skated into them, falling over the two bodies. As the three high-profile NHL stars sat on the ice in a pile of red one could only wonder if maybe this was the Americans night.

Canada looked to have the strongest roster of any team going into the Olympics, including the goaltending position. With hometown hero Roberto Luongo, Stanley Cup Champion Marc-Andre Fluery, and Olympic hero Martain Brodeur it looked as if any team was going to have trouble putting pucks into the Canadian net. This, all of a sudden, doesn’t seem to be the case.

While Luongo looked solid against Norway to open the tournament, Brodeur has looked only like a shell of his former self. In his last NHL game before the Olympic Break Brodeur looked shaky and was eventually yanked in a 5-2 loss to the streaking Carolina Hurricanes. This tournament has looked no different for the former gold medal winner.

Brodeur showed his athleticism midway through the first period by batting the puck out of midair on a dump-in but he turned the puck over to Rafalski and tried to slide into a two pad stack to stop the defenseman’s wrist shot but was off his mark and fell awkwardly to the ice as the American’s scored.

Every time it appeared the Canadians were taking strides to looking like the team hyped to win the gold medal, they took a step back and the Americans were taking advantage of any mistake they could find.

Staal tied the game at one in the first on a brilliant deflection off a shot by Chicago’s Brent Seabrook, but Brodeur’s miscue allowed the Americans to take the lead again just twenty-three seconds later. USA carried a 2-1 lead into the first intermission.

Midway through the second period it appeared as if Canada was finally hitting it’s stride. Dany Heatley eluded USA’s defense and slammed in an easy rebound of a Jonathan Toews shot past Miller to tie the game at two. Canada then began to carry the play as Miller was forced to make big save after big save, keeping the Americans in the game. The Americans stuck to their game plan and were forced to weather numerous waves of Canadian offense.

Then it was Brodeur…

With the Americans surrounding the net and creating havoc in the crease for Brodeur, Chris Drury tucked home a rebound after Brodeur foolishly dove after a Bobby Ryan shot. He missed the puck as Ryan chipped it into the crease to a wide-open Drury. This time the Americans were not looking back.

The 3-2 lead lasted into the third period until Rafalski let a booming slapshot go on the powerplay. The shot clicked off of former Devils teammate, and team USA captain Langenbrunner and between Brodeur’s pads for a two goal advantage.

It appeared as if the Americans would nurse that lead until the end, but penalty trouble began to catch up with them as they took two late-game penalties to allow Canada a chance to get back into the game. Team USA showed poise and patience in killing off a Patrick Kane hooking call but two minutes later St. Louis Blues defenseman Erik Johnson was whistled for tripping and the Canadians knew this powerplay was do or die for them.

Duncan Keith held in a USA clearing attempt with under four minutes to go in the game and swept the put down low to Rick Nash. Nash then centered the puck in front of Miller. The puck glanced off Sidney Crosby and through Miller to make this much anticipated game even more suspenseful.

With the game in doubt, Ryan Miller proves his worth to the team by standing on his head stopping Canadian shot after shot to preserve the lead. His excellance in goal led to Zach Parise flipping the puck out to center ice to a rushing Kelser who beat Perry to the puck and flipped it into the empty net sealing one of the most improbable American victories since their 1980 gold medal run.

While it may not count in the end, the victory gives American hockey high hopes for the elimination portion of the tournament and for future World Championships and Olympic Games.

Local Notes:

Finnish players Tuomo Ruutu and Joni Pitkanen followed their first goals against Germany with a dissappointing 3-0 loss to defending gold medalists Sweden. Pitkanen received a five minute major penalty and a game misconduct for elbowing Sweden’s Patric Hornqvist on the head. As a result he will be suspended for Finland’s quarterfinal-round game.