Olympic Hockey

Sorry folks for not writing more in the last month, but there aren't enough hours in the day to keep up with med school, let alone writing about sports on a blog.

But, it is the winter olympics, and they do only come around every 4 years. The only event that matters to me is the hockey. No disrespect to curling, but if your sport requires a broom, i'm not overly interested.

The hockey in the olympics never disappoints. All-star squads from 12 nations competing at the highest level for national pride. Pretty sweat if you ask me. With the rosters being announced several weeks ago, it is not hard to handicap who are the favorites and who is short on talent.

United States: For those of you hoping for a "Miracle on Ice" repeat this year, keep waiting. It's pretty shocking just how short on talent the American team is. The roster favors the younger players, with legends like Mike Modono and Jeremy Roneick being left off the roster. The majority of the roster is made up of "solid" players who bring great leadership and intangibles to the team, but not the elite talent. The most tangible players are Kane, Parise, and Perry, but once you get past those few the talent gets short and the defensemen are undersized

Canada: Canada is the favorite to take the gold, and anything short of top place will be a disappointment to the home town nation. The Canadians can put together 2 full squads that could contend for the gold, thats how stacked they are. Crosby, Heatley, Iginla, Nash, and Thornton are all top 15 players in the NHL, and even the reserves would rank as top players on any other nations roster. The defensemen are giants who can skate led by Pronger, Weber, and Seabrooke. I would give them the gold, but I believe there is one nation that will dominate these olympics and get the gold...

Russia: The Russian team may not have the incredible line depth of the Canadians, but the top tier talent on the team is undeniable. To say these guys can score would be an understatement. Ovechkin, Kovalchuck, Malkin, Semin, Datsyuk. You have to be kidding me how sick that is. The top 2 lines are unmatched on this team with Malkin and Datsyuk centering the 2 lines with the worlds greatest snipers on either side. The defense is the weakest point on this team, but if they are able to put up 5-6 goals per game that may not matter in the end. I'm rooting for the Russians to take back the gold!

The best of the rest:
Sweden has the talent to compete for a medal, even goals if things go their way. Alfredsson, Backstrom, Forsberg, and the Sedin twins up front providing way more talent than the American squad. They may also have the best blue line in the olympics being led by the great Nick Lindstron. They did take the gold in Turino 2006 so I wouldnt overlook this squad

Slovakia has top tier level on the top line but very little depth from the rest of the team. Having both Hossa brothers to go along with Demitra and Gaborick will provide instant offense, but the rest of the team will bring them down

Fun Fact: When one of the members of the Miracle on Ice American team from 1980 was asked how many times the US of A would have won if they played the Russian team again 30 times. His response "Honestly, zero"