Sweden Defeats Switzerland 1-0
In the early games on Friday, the Blackhawks players in Sochi were all winners.
The second game on Friday morning was a goaltending duel between Sweden’s Henrik Lundqvist and Switzerland’s Reto Berra. Daniel Alfredsson scored the game’s only goal for Sweden, which stayed undefeated in Olympic play.
Niklas Hjalmarsson led the three Hawks players on Sweden’s roster with 17:40 on the ice and two shots on net. Johnny Oduya skated 14:47 and Marcus Kruger saw 9:55 of action in the game; neither was credited with a shot on net. Kruger won only two of seven faceoffs.
Before the game, Sweden announced that their captain, Detroit’s Henrik Zetterberg, is out for the remainder of the Olympics. He has been struggling through a herniated disc.
Michal Rozsival skated 19:34 as the Czech Republic defeated Latvia 4-2 in the first game of the day.
Sweden is going to medal in these games. Even without Zetterberg. That team is good. Lundquist in goal is a major advantage.
But beware Russia. They want that gold medal very badly. To the point where Putin probably lines them up against a wall and shoots them if they fail to get the gold.
Something also tells me that the US will struggle to get a medal. My head says that it’s Russia, Canada and Sweden in that mix.
It will be interesting to see how this unfolds. Russia has only home ice advantage as far as I can see. They also have strong goaltending. Defense looks average and of course they have some firepower up front. They didn’t exactly dominate Slovenia which is a pretty bad team.
Sweden can play. They have good team defense and Hank to clean up between the pipes. I don’t see them as having good team speed. They barely beat Swiss today. The Swiss are underrated and can beat any team in this tourney.
Canada will find their stride I am sure today. They were tentative in their first match. Those guys are stacked and should score lots of goals. Playing on the wider ice surface takes some adjustment. Canada will no doubt get that solved and should be gold or silver. I was impressed with Norway playing a strong physical game against Canada. No fear from those guys of the Maple Leaf sweaters. Other teams should keep their heads up when playing Norwegians.
USA is I think the most dynamic team in the mix. They have team speed, toughness, and decent keepers. I see USA better than Sweden, but that’s just my opinion. As long as Brown and Backes don’t take stupid pills they should be tough to beat. Kaner was the most dangerous guy on the ice so far in ALL the games I have watched.
By the way, the women’s USA vs Canada game a few days ago was very entertaining. US girls need to use their speed as an asset by spreading out the ice more. Canada team d was very strong, but when they play again I think US girls win. will be fun to watch either way. For a “no bodychecking” rule the refs sure let em play. This was for sure to Canada’s benefit. My God that Swiss ref was terrible in that game.
Expect the refs to be really bad and miss lots of calls in this tournament which will probably decide some close games.
It’s good to be watching hockey again!
I don’t trust those Soviets!
I don’t expect USA to medal. They looked incredible in the first game, but I don’t like the lines that Bylsma is using and starting Quick over Miller is a real head scratcher.
My guess is the medals end up being…
Gold – Russia (which will make me sad)
Silver – Canada
Bronze – Sweden
The field is very tough. I don’t like the US roster enough. That could change if Quick goes on one of his patented shutdown streaks. He can be an outstanding elite level goalie. That to me would be the hope for the US team that has to happen.