A look at Groups A, B, and C for Round 1 of Ice Hockey at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver:
At first glance, Group A looks as though it was constructed solely to ensure favorable North American TV ratings! As with the recently concluded World Junior Championships, home nation favorite Canada and USA should advance to the medal rounds with 3-0/2-1 records after trouncing weak sisters Norway and Switzerland. How convenient for NBC and its sponsors!
Group B boasts the trendy gold medal favorite in star-studded Russia. Though the defending World Champions count four of the world’s top scoring talents (Ovechkin, Malkin, Datsyuk, Kovalchuk) among their top 6 forwards, the Russian program still has to prove that it’s premier talents can gel and work together to achieve a common goal. With a little luck, either rival nation of Slovakia or the Czech Republic could emerge undefeated from Group B. ANYTHING can happen in a short tournament with inadequate preparation time (anything EXCEPT Latvia winning Group B, of course). For all we know, Tomas Vokoun could get hot and just might steal the show in Vancouver.
Gold and silver medalists from 2006, Sweden and Finland headline Group C ahead of Germany and the ‘02 Cinderella darlings of Belarus. A mixed bag of wild cards here; tons of European parity. ANY team could go undefeated. Some streaky “lightning in a bottle” goaltending could create an unlikely medal contender (lookin’ RIGHT at you, Miikka Kiprusoff). Think Group C is full of medal pretenders? Think again. Since 1976, there have only been two Olympiads (count ‘em TWO) in which either Sweden or Finland failed to medal. Food for thought…
So, as they ask at the track: “who do ya’ like?” Follow the Twitter hashtag #medals2010 and weigh in with your prediction for the Gold, Silver, and Bronze medalists. If you’re correct, you’ll have a chance to win a FREE Team Russia Alex Ovechkin Prize Pack including #8’s 2004 Rookie Card (see below)! Also, be sure to follow the hashtag #van2010 on Twitter for daily coverage of Vancouver’s 2010 Winter Olympics! It all starts on February 12th!
