Canada VS Russia

We're going to try something special! We're going to try something like live blogging, editing this a lot more than usual. Also, we would love it if a conversation got going and comments on the go as well! Comment Below! :)

Russia Key To Victory: Break down the Defense, Go pick up garbage goals.
Canada Key To Victory: Keep the Russians moving, they've played 2 games in two days and will be tired.

Notes:
Pre Game:
Winner gets Sweden, Loser gets Finland
The Saddledome looks electric right now
Scott Wedgewood leading the pack tonight, starting in net.
Canada looks more energized getting out of the tunnel
Scott Wedgewood is FLEXIBLE.

1st Period
Russian defender down, unable to see the last name, injuries are adding up for Russians.
Russia will be playing with three lines.
Nesterov is injured, however the stick looks like a Russian players' . Tough break for Canada.
Tough Break for Canada, Murray takes out Wedgewood and Russia scores, 1-0
SO CLOSE!
Naumenkov does a stupid play and decides to push a player over.
It could have been called so many things, Cross Checking, Unsportsmalike, interference..
ALMOST A GOAL!
Great save by the goalie of the Russians. (sorry for the lack of names. They're so confusing..)
A hook? I didn't see that...
Playing Illmerica at the intermission? oh yeah!
2-0. Canada needs to calm down.
Ryan Murray must feel horrible right now.
Five on Three, Canada must convert.
four on three, Clear dive..
Keep the pressure on Russian goalie
Great Way to end the period,  Dougie Hamilton destroying a Russian player.

Second Period:
Canada starting off with a sense of urgency.
Few bad breaks for Canada.
Lots of pressure
Delayed penalty on Russia
GOAAAAAL BRETT CONNOLLY! 2-1
Huge hit. Russian Injury. Another one.
Another quick goal by Russia, good hustle. 3-1
Another injury to Russia. 4th already.
Russia comes in and it's 4-1.
Wedgewood is down.
5th injury, this is getting ridiculous
Another goal for Russia 5-1
Timeout Canada

Well Alson is done for the night! Welcome to the newbie Wexler!
5-1 Russia and their power play is pressuring right now
The canadians kill off the power play till the half
Right at the end of the 2nd period the crowd loudly jeers the Canadians for their disappointing effort
Overall Canada's play in this period was mediocre and they should been less physical and should of held back on penalties. They should also deny many odd- man rushes by the defense playing more conservatively instead of the defense playing aggressively.
5-1 for the Russians and look to be the opponents of Sweden but we all remember last year when the Russians had a 3 goal deficit going into the 3rd period so Canada may repeat history to obtain this miracle!!!

3rd Period:
Canada has just killed off their 1st penalty
Brett Connolly shoves down a Russian player with no penalty...  Nice
Nice breakout by Connolly's line to start a 3 on 2 rush
Bad play by the Canadian defense after they could not hold in the puck during a high-pressure shift
Dougie Hamilton at it again with another huge hit!
Visintin knocked down behind the net and the Russians could not convert on the open net
Penalty coming to Russia for Tripping
I am really waiting for Canada to have a power play opportunity
Canada's power play is a shooting power play where the point is to get more shots than to pass but they failed to score during it
Canada allows another odd man rush letting the Russians to score another :( 6-1 Russia
Mini scrum in front of the Russian goal...  Canada is getting pissed
Right after the commercial, Canada's Dougie Hamilton scores his 2nd on the power play 6-2 Russia
That was the first power play goal the Russians allowed in the whole tournament
Canada scores another quick goal off of a Russian defender!!! 6-3 Russia
Russia calls a timeout
Many opportunities by both Russia and Canada with fast breaks and surpassingly no penalty on Canada during Russia's break
Dougie Hamilton another goal making it a close game!!!!!! 6-4 Russia  I have hope!!!!
Canada's aggressive offense draws a hooking penalty at the side of the Russian goal
Canada's power play is taking shots from the point with traffic
CANADA another power play goal!!!!!!!!!! 6-5 Russia
Canada's momentum is going to carry them to victory in this game!!!!
Russia's starting goaltender is pulled after giving up 4 goals in 5 minutes!!!
1:03 left in the 3rd, Faceoff in the Russian's side, empty net, lets see what happens!!!

Post Game:
Nice effort by Canada but they have failed to defeat the Russian in the Semi Finals
Canada will now compete against Finland for the bronze medal
As for Russia they are going to have to face the always tough Swedish team
My thoughts on the gold medal game is that Sweden will beat Russia because of their speed
But as always the IIHF Gold Medal Game is never the same without Canada

Canada VS USA WJHC Irrelevant?

Tonight's game Canada vs USA, has never been more irrelevant. Canada has already won Group B and will be getting a bye into the semifinals while USA has been eliminated from the tournament. The traditional rivalry is usually the most intresting and the funnest (is that a word? I guess we're making up words here as well..) game of the tournament. You want a few examples?
Jordan Eberle 2010 IIHF World Juniors:

That was thrilling no? Want another example? This is absolutely amazing to watch:

So Canada and USA have had their fair share of amazing-ness ,but this time it won't be a medal. It will be just for the rivalry. Nevertheless, it should still be a fun game to watch.

USA v Czech Republic: Three Stars Of The Game

Our top three players of the game were:

Third Star: Petr Holik - I mean when you score the game winning goal you're important so he's pretty much automatically on the list.

Second Star: Bill Arnold - He was pretty much the only reason why the game was close. He scored one and assisted on the other.

First Star: Is it even close? Petr Mrazek. When you stop 50+ shots its pretty much unanimous. Except for the people who judged it apparently... He was amazing. I don't remember a better goalie performance than today. Saves, celebrations, ALMOST A GOAL. What else could you expect?

Side Note: Just had a quick chat with a source, they say the injury that caused Coyle to be out for most of the game was most likely either a concussion or that he was just knocked confused.  Hope it's neither and can get back soon.

USA vs Czech Republic Preview

What are the keys to success for Team USA at the WJHC?
Team USA: Jack Campbell needs to play like the player he played like versus Canada two years ago. Jack Campbell has the potential and has shown that he is capable of doing such a thing. Whether he does it or not is up to him. His country depends on him. He can be like the one he was versus Canada two years ago where he just dominated or the one against Denmark before. His team bailed him out though. 3 goals on 24 shots against a  weak Denmark team isn't good at all.

Keys to Success for the Czech Republic:
 Break down Jack Campbell. He does not work very well against a lot of rebounds. They need to push him to his limits on shots and finish him when the rebounds go off.

Hockey Related Videos

We had some extra time so we spent some time Youtubing and we found these amazing videos that just blew our mind. The first one, The Chicago Blackhawks Sing A Long record. I actually looked online if there's such a thing.. I looked on Amazon and couldn't find it. Too bad...

This second one is amazing. It's a Team Canada commercial and it's so well done. Just watch it no words can describe my amazement.

Team Canada: Most Impressed

So far after two games who impressed the staff the most?

Scott Wedgewood: Shutout plus an assist after two periods? Yes. Drafted in the 3rd Round? Even better.
Ryan Strome: 11 Points in a game and two periods? He's something special. The Islanders have something special going.
Scott Harrington: He's not the flashiest player or the player who gets the points but he's hardworking. You won't see him that often unless you focus on him. If I were a new GM and I need to draft a team, he's definitely on it. Not that he's the guy who will get you points ,but the character leader of the team.

Who's impressed you the most? COMMENT BELOW!