Olympic Hockey Blog
With Brian Burke opting not to participate in the opening ceremonies for Team USA, LA Kings defenceman will march on behalf of the US men's hockey team. At the time of writing this, Johnson is currently playing a game against the Oilers in Edmonton tonight. With his family, he will charter a plane from LA to Bellingham, WA at 6am Friday morning and then drive to Vancouver to participate, then return to Los Angeles to play against the Avalanche on Saturday. He was originally supposed to march with Brian Burke, but with the passing of Brenden Burke, he has opted not to participate.
Interesting to note, Jack Johnson will become the first American born player that is active on an NHL roster to march in the opening ceremonies.
Team Canada does not have a representative marching in the opening ceremonies, but five teams have hockey players to carry the flag: Jaromir Jagr for the Czech Republic, Ziggy Palfy for Slovakia, Tommy Jakobsen for Norway, Ville Peltonen for Finland and Oleg Antonenko for Belarus.
no commentsAs per Darren Dreger of TSN, sources say that defenceman Stephane Robidas of the Dallas Stars and goalie Steve Mason of the Columbus Blue Jackets have been told that if an injury should happen they are to be ready to fly in to Vancouver to join Team Canada. On February 1st, Team Canada submitted it's 23 man roster as well as eight alternates including four forwards, three defencemen and one goalie.
Sportsnet reports that Tampa Bay Lightning's Steven Stamkos and Martin St. Louis are next on the list after Jeff Carter as far as forwards go for Team Canada's stand by list. As Jay Bouwmeester was the eighth defenceman when roster was chosen, he is also expected to be one of the reserve defencemen.
Update on Feb 14, 2010:
USA Today's Kevin Allen reported that it is not Steve Mason, that told to be on stand by for Team Canada but Chris Mason of the St. Louis Blues
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Ryan Getzlaf is currently day-to-day with an ankle sprain, but Jeff Carter has been told that he'll be the replacement for Team Canada if Getzlaf can't go.
Steven Yzerman issued a statement today confirming that he has contacted Carter:
"Earlier today, I contacted Jeff Carter of the Philadelphia Flyers and advised him that in the event that Ryan Getzlaf is unable to take part in the 2010 Olympic Winter Games due to injury, he will take his spot on the roster. I asked him to be ready and prepare in case he has to join us in Vancouver later this week."
"In the meantime, we will give ourselves, Ryan and the Anaheim Ducks as much time this week as necessary to determine if he will be able to play for Canada in Vancouver."
Getzlaf is no longer walking around on crutches and plans to skate on Friday and Saturday, with hopes of playing for the Ducks on Sunday.
Right after Getzlaf's injury occurred, there was discussion about whether Steven Stamkos should slot in instead of Carter, but as Carter was considered the 14th forward during the selection process it doesn't come as a surprise that he got the call.
Each one of the Olympic teams must submit their final rosters on Monday night
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Alright, Hexy. Let's do this. Team Switzerland Preview Go Time.
EINS...ZWEI...DREI...
Switzerland, a sovereign state located in Western Europe is a landlocked country whose territory is divided between the Alps and the Jura Mountain range. Its population of 7.7 million people are most centrally located in the cities of Zurich and Geneva, and enjoy high rankings in both quality of life and gross domestic product. In the winter of 2010, this nation, whose motto is Unus pro omnibus, omnes pro uno, has chosen to send a delegation of hockey players to the Olympic Games in Vancouver, British Columbia. This preview will rationally evaluate the pros and cons of the team and hope to ascertain an-
Sanka Coffie: Ah, will you shut up about the damn Swiss!
Hextall454: It is coming off a bit stiff, isn't it?
Sanka: It was all that eins zwei drei nonsense that got you all nervous in the first place.
Hextall454: I was just trying to get this Olympic Hockey Blog preview off on the right foot.
Sanka: Well the right foot for you is not the Swiss foot. You can't be copying anyone else's style. You have your own style.
Hextall454: While kissing an egg is no kind of style, let's try this again after the jump.
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Depending on your hockey knowledge, when I ask you who is on the men's German Olympic Hockey roster, you may tell me Marco Sturm or Thomas Greiss. If you were to do that, it would actually blow my mind because most people would just shrug their shoulders and tell me they don't know. Well what I plan on doing is changing that for you.
Ranked 13th in the world, Team Germany will be overlooked by many as a squad that has very little talent to compete on the international level, especially with the more known countries like USA and Canada being able to fortify their rosters with NHL superstars. Unlike those clubs, the German team is comprised mostly of players from the DEL (15) with a sprinkling of NHL talent (6) and one AHL player. no commentsWhether the Czech Team will win the hockey tournament or not will depend on how good their goaltending is and whether Vokoun can channel Hasek circa 1998. For now what we have is Tomas Vokoun's goalie mask. His mask, like Ryan Miller's, was designed by Ray Bishop of Bishop Designs. The design of the mask is based on the Czech Republic's coat of arms:
We've already seen the right side of Ryan Miller's Olympic mask, and here is the left side of his mask:
The mask was designed by Ray Bishop of Bishop Designs. Thanks to Bishop for posting a comment on our last post pointing to his website and letting us know that in addition to designing the mask for Miller, he also designed Tomas Vokoun's mask for the Czech Team.
And here are goalie masks for Tim Thomas and Jonathan Quick:
Both masks are designed by a Canadian artist named Steve Nash (not the basketball player Steve Nash, although he is Canadian) of Eye Candy Air. Quick's mask displays a message of support for the troops overseas on the helmet backplate.
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Injuries have dimmed the once bright star of Belarus' national team. As eager as they are to again play spoiler as they did in 2002 when they bumped the Swedes from the Olympics during the quarters, they'll have to overcome injuries to key players to do so. Ruslan Salei, Captain of that squad, commented of that big win:
It was amazing the excitement in our country after that; it's obviously going to be difficult to match.Salei has been limited to one game this season for the Avalanche, leaving Belarus without their former captain.But Salei's injury is hardly the most damaging. Click read more to continue reading about the challenges facing the Belarusian squad in the Olympic men's ice hockey tournament set to begin in one week. no comments
Team Norway may be a true underdog. They have exactly one NHL player on their roster and he has had a rough year with injuries this season. They have struggled in years past. But does Norway take this as a defeat or do they use this as a stepping stone to the future?
Norway wants to continue to play at the elite level. This is their first Olympic appearance since 1994, which was before NHL players were allowed. They want to make sure they can come back to the Olympics in four more years. They are the underdog with a heck of a lot of pluck. Just ask 39 year old defenseman Tommy Jakobsen (who made an appearance in the 1994 Olympics too):
"I can find myself awake at night thinking about the Olympics, or that when I'm going to bed, my dreams take me to the games. And just the games, but everything around the event, just to walk around in Olympic uniform will be a new experience"
"In my dreams, I score the game winning goal against Canada. Everybody knows that we'll be the underdogs, but in my dreams, I've scored a 3-2 go-ahead goal."
Click "Read More" to find out some interesting facts about Team Norway and what their plans for the future are!
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Starting off the Team Previews for the 2010 Olympic Hockey Blog is the proud nation of Latvia. Usually known for... well, they're not really usually known. They're not one of hockey's superpowers, nor are they big players on the international political stage. I became aware of the nation through the goaltending of Arturs Irbe in the 1990's (and his sexy sexy equipment). Since then I've always paid a little special attention to the maroon and white underdogs each Olympic year. What they lack in star power, they make up for in passion and chemistry.
Defensemen Karlis Skrastins (Dallas) and Oskars Bartulis (Philadelphia) are the only NHL players on the roster that is mostly rounded out by players from the KHL. Captained by the Dallas Stars defensive specialist, the majority of the team's core has played together in many tournaments for years. The bulk of the roster actually plays together at the club level as well, with Dynamo Riga. In fact, 15 of the 23 players on the roster play for Riga's entry in the KHL. This familiarity lends itself to a team that is very capable of pulling off an upset or two in Vancouver... but it will be difficult, as they drew the group of Russia, Czech Republic, and Slovakia for 2010.
Key Players:
Skrastins headlines the roster as their premier shutdown defenseman. While he has very limited offensive capabilities, he's known for a trendous work ethic and dedication to doing the little things that help teams win. His personality and leadership abilities are why he's been given the captain's C, while he just block more shots than Naumovs, Mustukovs, and Masalskis put together.
The only other NHLer on the roster, Oskars Bartulis, plays a slightly more offensive game. While he should still be considered a defensive defenseman at heart, he possesses a shot that can be dangerous from the point on the powerplay. He and Skrastins should be expected to log a lot of minutes for this Latvian team, as they try to keep up with the heavyweights of the tournament.
Martins Karsums is an up and comer for the Latvian roster. Originally drafted by the Boston Bruins, and having played sparingly for the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 2008-09 season, he's currently part of the massive Dynamo Riga contingent on the Latvian national team. He plays more of an in-your-face North American style of game, and has the ability to put the puck in the net, as well as contribute to the team's physical play.
Aleksandrs Nizivjs is arguable the top offensive weapon for the Latvians, contributing creativity and playmaking ability that the Latvian roster is lacking. He's not overly big, and he can be physically overwhelmed at times, but when he's on top of his game, he generates much needed offense for his team. He led the team in scoring at the Torino Olympics in 2006.
The Latvian team is one to keep an eye on in Vancouver. While they're unlikely to make too much noise in the medal hunt, they're your prototypical scrappy underdogs. I used to tell people to watch Latvia just to cheer for Irbe (who has since retired, and is now coaching in the Capitals system), now I tell people to watch for the fans. The team spirit is definitely there for these road warriors. Much has been said about the dedication of Latvian hockey fans, but to truly appreciate it you have to watch their games. They say that a picture is worth a thousand words, so a video must be even better than that. Rather than tell you about these world-class hockey fans, I'll just attach a quick video from the Torino games.
That's the stuff that makes Olympic hockey great, folks. That's why I'm proud to be covering the Latvians for the Bloguin Olympic Hockey Blog. Stay tuned. We're only a few days away.
Cole Jones covers the Dallas Stars at The Other 6 Seconds in addition to his work on Bloguin's Olympic Hockey Blog.
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