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.