Russia-Czech Republic: The Czechs played one of the softest and least inspired games any team has played in the tournament on Friday against Sweden. If they bring that same lack of effort to the game against Russia, they'll get blown out again. The Russians were locked up by the excellence of excution in Finland. Datsyuk is nursing the broken finger and they will have Malkin back for the game on Saturday. I expect the Russians to rebound and post a pretty easy win against the Czechs to win bronze.
My pick: Russia 5, Czech Republic 2
Finland-Sweden: I think we'll be seeing the two best teams of the tournament playing for gold on Sunday morning. The Swedes now have 3 strong offensive lines rolling (Forsberg-Sundin-Modin, Axelsson-Pahlsson-Alfredsson, and the Red Wings trio of Holmstrom-Zetterberg-Samuelsson). You can't forget about the play of the Sedin twins either. You can argue, they have the deepest forward lines of any team in the field. Forsberg is healthy and making an impact but Sundin was the best player for Sweden on Friday. As for the Finns, they picked apart Russia like they have done against everyone else so far. I still wonder how they're doing it but when you've got an entire 20-man unit playing one system and playing for one another, they're much harder to play against then just a group of talented individuals. Both squads have great chemistry right now and I'd like to see if the Finns can slow down the Swedish attack that is only getting better at the right time. Both teams are lethal on the power play so staying out of the box will be important...but it is in every game. I want to say the Swedes solve the Finnish puzzle but I just think Finland is on a mission and will complete one of the most dominant runs in recent Olympic history.
My pick: Finland 4, Sweden 3
Gold/Bronze Medal Games: Call 'Em!
Moderator: Shoalzie
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tough love
- Iron Mike
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- Eternal Scobode
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Bronze: Russia 4 Czechs 2 Russia has played great this tourney save for their game against the Finns.
Gold: Finland 3 Sweden 2, the Finns have stunned the hockey world with their play this year, and they will not stumble this opportunity to win their first hockey gold. GM Jari Kurri has done an amazing job.
Gold: Finland 3 Sweden 2, the Finns have stunned the hockey world with their play this year, and they will not stumble this opportunity to win their first hockey gold. GM Jari Kurri has done an amazing job.
Setting for an awesome third period...
The first 15 minutes of the game was a snoozer...neither team was going to go out of their way to make a play. They laid back and waited for the other team to make a mistake. The Finns drew first blood on a shot that Lundqvist probably should've sqeezed off. The Swedes really looked strong in the second...drawing penalties and controlling the puck down low on the power play. Their first goal...they played below the goal line and drew the defense away from the net to go an opening to score. The second goal...Kronwall walks in from the blueline and shoots the puck past the screened netminder. Watching both goals makes me excited for when the Wings' season resumes and you can see why they have such a great power play. It's ironic that Krownall goes from hero to zero when he gets beat by Peltonen on the tying. The game has opened up but I have a feeling we'll see more of what we saw in the first period than the second...neither team will take too many risks. I like the Swedes in the game going forward but you never know what the Finns have up their sleaves.
The first 15 minutes of the game was a snoozer...neither team was going to go out of their way to make a play. They laid back and waited for the other team to make a mistake. The Finns drew first blood on a shot that Lundqvist probably should've sqeezed off. The Swedes really looked strong in the second...drawing penalties and controlling the puck down low on the power play. Their first goal...they played below the goal line and drew the defense away from the net to go an opening to score. The second goal...Kronwall walks in from the blueline and shoots the puck past the screened netminder. Watching both goals makes me excited for when the Wings' season resumes and you can see why they have such a great power play. It's ironic that Krownall goes from hero to zero when he gets beat by Peltonen on the tying. The game has opened up but I have a feeling we'll see more of what we saw in the first period than the second...neither team will take too many risks. I like the Swedes in the game going forward but you never know what the Finns have up their sleaves.
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tough love
- Iron Mike
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We'll see...haven't seen Kronwall play a full season yet. He's shown flashes of brilliance. The talk has always been that he's in the mold of Lidstrom but only with a mean streak. He was throwing the body around against Finland and you saw his offensive ability with the goal he scored. He's capable of taking the puck coast-to-coast by himself. Lidstrom is more content with hanging around the blueline and not joining the rush. Kronwall will do that but I doubt he'd ever be as good as Lidstrom in the defensive zone. That guy is effortless and does it without playing physically. He's the thinking man's defenseman.