Olympic Hockey

Unlike most Americans, I'm a huge fan of hockey. When I was in high school, our greatest rivalry and most favorite sport was hockey. If you aren't a fan of hockey, just know that you can't judge it by how it looks on television; hockey is the greatest spectator sport in the world, live. The speed and physicality of it is amazing; so too is the never-ending action that happens on the ice you don't see on TV, like line changes and how the players position themselves. Hockey rules! In retrospect, I wish I had played hockey as a child rather than football, though its doubtful my health would have permitted me to.

Ever since the NHL entered the Olympics, eight years ago, the games have been the stage for the greatest hockey tournament you will ever see. Watching all the best talents in the world playing for their respective countries on the large international ice is a sight to behold. For those of you who haven't been exposed to international hockey, the rink is approximately fifteen feet wider on both sides. The difference in total size really affects the game. With the extra space, less attention is played to forechecking, there are no game-slowing traps in the middle of the ice, and fighting is strictly prohibited. The result is a game that is much faster, allowing the individual skills of the players to shine through. And it is great to watch.

Today, I watched the Slovaks take on the Russians and the Americans play Latvia. The US game ended up in an "upset" 3-3 tie, as the US was expected to win the game handily. But that's no matter; the game was incredibly exciting to watch. So many scoring opportunites that the big ice allowed for. Amazing stuff.

I've also been watching the women play hockey. Even though I've only seen the American team play, I've been really, really impressed at their speed, passing, and puck-handling abilities. There is no checking allowed in the women's game, which makes it all the more fluid and exciting. It looks like these Olympics are heading down a path where the final will be a repeat of the last two Olympics between the US and Canada. I haven't seen the Canadian team play yet, but I'll bet they are freaking amazing.

In any event, from the first day of men's hockey, here are some general observations about the teams I've seen:

1) Canada. The Canucks are freaking incredible. What a load of talent, and they really play well together. At this point, I would put them in the favorite's role to repeat as Olympic champions.

2) Czech Republic. Again, an amazing team with talent up the yazoo. It will be interesting to see how they play if Hasek cannot continue. They got a really tough game today, surprisingly, from the Germans, but you cannot deny their talent and potential.

3) Slovak Republic. The Slovaks really took it to the Russians today, even though it was a close game. I was very impressed. Imagine the team that could have been had Czechoslovakia never split up.

4) Russia. Dangerous team, but they got outplayed.

5) US. Shouldn't have been tied by Latvia today. They are better than that. Have a tendency to get too fancy and check too much when things get tight. That will kill them on the big ice. Need more consistent goalie play, though he did well today. An exciting finish to today's game that was shut down because Irbe was playing out of his skull in net for Latvia.

This is going to be so much fun over the next two weeks. Hockey Night Olympics!