Larry Fisher

That’s more like it, more like the Canada everybody — or at least Canadians — expected to see in these Olympics.

After a slow start and somewhat unsettling 3-1 win over Norway in Thursday’s opener, Canada made amends and restored confidence — for fans and themselves — with a dominant 6-0 victory over Austria on Friday morning.

Larry Fisher

In following up on yesterday’s theme, I live tweeted today’s game and here is that mash-up of thoughts courtesy my Twitter feed (LarryFisher_KDC):

9:01 a.m. = I’m up and at ‘er on time, albeit barely, for Canada-Austria. Your starting goalies: Roberto Luongo and some guy named Bernhard Starkbaum.

9:03 a.m. = So what do we know about Starkbaum? I know nothing. My friends Google and Wikipedia know he’s 27 and plays for Brynäs IF in Swedish League.

9:05 a.m. = Canada debuting its black jerseys today and looking every bit as sharp as yesterday’s reds in an opening 3-1 win over Norway.

9:06 a.m. = The puck has dropped with Canada promoting Martin St. Louis to the top line alongside Sidney Crosby and his wingman Chris Kunitz.

9:08 a.m. = Jeff Carter drops down depth chart, while Patrick Sharp-Dan Hamhuis serve as healthy scratches to make room for Matt Duchene-P.K. Subban.

9:09 a.m. = Luongo just made a real solid stop off Philadelphia Flyers rookie Michael Raffl, staying square to the shooter on quick developing rush.

9:10 a.m. = In comparison to Norway, there’s a lot of familiar names on Austria’s roster, led by Islanders tandem of Thomas Vanek and Michael Grabner.

9:11 a.m. = Grabner had hat trick in Austria’s tournament-opening 8-4 loss to Finland on Thursday, so he’s hot hand and their offence can be dangerous.

9:13 a.m. = Drew Doughty again! 1-0 Canada. Bit of a stinker there for Starkbaum who lost puck through traffic but credit Doughty for getting shot off and on net.

9:14 a.m. = Just prior to that, Starkbaum robbed John Tavares on a one-timer, but now Canada is on the board early and should get into their groove.

9:16 a.m. = Colour commentator Glenn Healy had this gem prior to goal: “Austria has 3 NHL players and everybody else would ask Crosby for an autograph.”

9:18 a.m. = Crosby just won that neutral-zone faceoff with authority…something tells me he’ll be on the board before end of 1st. 11 mins left.

9:20 a.m. = Former Rangers D-man Thomas Pöck has been very noticeable for Austria, activates into rush on reg basis. Might be auditioning for NHL job?

9:22 a.m. = Boom! Shea Weber the sniper! He just teed one up from top of circle and blasted puck past a stunned Starkbaum to give Canada 2-0 lead.

9:24 a.m. = The best offence is good defence, they say, but not sure this is actual meaning: 4 of Canada’s 5 goals scored by Dmen (2 for Doughty+Weber).

9:26 a.m. = That Weber goal was an absolute rocket! The former @Kelowna_Rockets really leaned into that shot, which was teed up for him by Corey Perry.

9:29 a.m. = Canada’s power play has ended (according to clock), but Austria remains under siege in defensive zone. Lots of pressure, chances.

9:31 a.m. = I’ve liked what we’ve seen from Matt Duchene so far, he was factor in Weber goal and has had lots of jump. But can’t see Sharp staying out.

9:33 a.m. = Then again if this holds up as dominant win, not sure if Babcock will tweak the winning lineup much for Finland even with rest/practice off.

9:35 a.m. = Grabner just pinged the post behind Luongo on a shot from the slot. Close call there, but Canada leads Austria 2-0 after 1st period.

9:37 a.m. = Thomas Vanek and P.K. Subban were 2 players I expected more from in that opening frame. Both were underwhelming, but Subban barely played.

9:38 a.m. = On the goalie front, just wondering out loud here, but did Babcock give Luongo the tougher game as a test/tune-up for Finland?

9:38 a.m. = Or did Babcock give Price the 1st start as a means of informally named him No. 1? What can we read into that — if anything?

9:39 a.m. = Personally, I think if Luongo could, umm, not allow any goals against Austria (don’t say the jinx word) then he’ll be the guy going forward.

9:42 a.m. = What does Don Cherry have on his head? It’s not real fur, some sort of toy/costume? Memo to Grapes: It’s Valentine’s Day not Halloween!

9:51 a.m. = Jeff Carter might have found new home in lineup, starting 2nd flanking Jonathan Toews and Rick Nash. This was Sharp’s spot. Time will tell.

9:52 a.m. = Hold that thought…Carter just took a penalty on opening shift of 2nd, which might not help his chances of holding down that spot.

9:54 a.m. = Oddly, Austria isn’t starting their NHL trio on this power play. Announcer Jim Hughson references that as well — why no Vanek-Grabner-Raffl?

9:55 a.m. = Carter comes out of penalty box and scores! 3-0 Canada, as Carter cleans up Patrick Marleau shot off post after Crosby made it all happen.

9:57 a.m. = That was Crosby’s 1st point of tournament, took him almost 83 minutes…but he’s been much better today as well and points will pile up now!

9:58 a.m. = Jeff Carter again! This time on a wraparound to make it 4-0 for Canada. Austrian goaltender looked like a fish out of water on that one.

9:58 a.m. = @sportsfanspeaks I think we both spoke too soon haha (in reply to comment “Can’t say Carter’s doing a lot so far to justify what he’s even doing in Sochi… Wait, I think I hear Ed Snider…” after I insinuated Carter’s penalty may hurt chances of staying in lineup over Sharp … to which @sportsfanspeaks concluded: “That sound you now hear in the background is Ed Snider shutting up…”).

10:00 a.m. = These black jerseys — as eye-appealing as they are — really show who the spilly drinkers are! Glaring water stains. Looking at you, Sid! (to which @linsiechev commented: “It’s actually a decal that is a maple leaf motif haha”).

10:03 a.m. = Goal differential is 1st tiebreaker after group stage so don’t expect Canada to lighten up or take it easy on Austria in 2nd half.

10:05 a.m. = Canada also doesn’t want to go Globetrotter or develop any bad habits, so expect more of the same. 8-0 not out of question at this point.

10:14 a.m. = Highlight of career for Starkbaum right there, stopped Crosby on a 2-on-1 after he took pass from St. Louis and fired into chest.

10:15 a.m. = Hat trick for Jeff Carter, 5-0 for Canada! Right place right time for Carter a couple times. Cleans up another rebound for 3rd goal of game!

10:16 a.m. = That’s a natural hat trick for Carter who has 3 straight goals in 2nd period to blow this game open!

10:16 a.m. = Shootout practice now for Corey Perry…marginal call, not likely a penalty shot in the NHL but here we go!

10:17 a.m. = Starkbaum with new career highlight! Makes glove save off half-hearted effort by Perry…didn’t exactly bear down to bury that one!

10:19 a.m. = It’s all Canada now. No wind left in Austrian sails or so it appears. Getting another power play here with Jamie Benn off for high-sticking.

10:22 a.m. = Ryan Gelzlaf makes it 6-0 with SH goal, dangles through Austrian defence and backhands puck past Starkbaum. Carter on doorstep waiting for another gift.

10:28 a.m. = Second period in books with Canada leading Austria 6-0. This is what most expected against Norway, but Canada’s now firing on all cylinders!

10:30 a.m. = Trivia time: Carter becomes first Canadian to get a natural hat trick in Olympics since 1956. The last player? Paul Knox, also vs Austria.

10:32 a.m. = FYI: Paul Knox, who turned 80 in November, was a right winger who played one NHL game for the Toronto Maple Leafs during the 1954–55 season.

10:33 a.m. = From Wikipedia, Knox was a member of the Kitchener-Waterloo Dutchmen who won the bronze medal for Canada at the 1956 Winter Olympics.

10:34 a.m. = And to answer the obvious question: No, I have never heard of Paul Knox…until now! #learnsomethingneweveryday

10:43 a.m. = 3rd period underway…with a split screen of Patrick Chan’s figure-skating performance. #goodthingitsbigscreen

10:45 a.m. = Not to take anything away from Patrick Chan or figure-skating fans. I hope he doesn’t fall and wins gold, but still, this is hockey country!

10:47 a.m. = That said, with Canada blowing out Austria 6-0, I might actually be paying more attention to Chan right now…and he’s looking good! #Ithink

10:48 a.m. = More impressive, Carter’s hat trick came in less than 6 minutes of ice time. Talk about making most of minutes. #thatsproductive

10:49 a.m. = Hughson just echoed my earlier sentiment regarding Luongo: “If he goes clean rest of way, better chance of starting vs Finland as incumbent.”

10:50 a.m. = Luongo just made a breakaway save as we return to full screen…that might cement his starting role on Sunday!

10:51 a.m. = The split screen was looking pretty small for Chan’s scores and I didn’t feel like pausing game to investigate but think I saw 2nd place!

10:53 a.m. = Love him or loathe him, Luongo’s been good today and has had former Vancouver teammate Grabner’s number! I bet he’s Babcock’s go-to guy now!

10:56 a.m. = 2 Canadian players I’ve rarely heard mentioned so far in Sochi: Chris Kunitz and Marc-Edouard Vlasic. Ironically, or not, my 2 non-Olympians (on predicted roster).

10:57 a.m. = That said, I’m sure Kunitz will chisel couple points off Crosby sooner or later. And as defensive Dman, no mention is good thing for Vlasic!

11:00 a.m. = Poor reporting on my part, but Starkbaum’s day was done after 2 periods, replaced by Mathias Lange who is making Olympic debut in clean-up!

11:02 a.m. = And Lange has looked pretty good in his defence so far, no pressure whatsoever but keeping Canada scoreless in 3rd, with 6 mins left.

11:08 a.m. = 2 minutes to go…both Luongo and Lange trying to keep puck out for goose eggs now. The difference? Luongo’s played 60 mins to Lange’s 20.

11:09 a.m. = Granted, Lange almost has as many shots (and/or scoring chances) against as Luongo in his one period of action.

11:10 a.m. = Have to think both those goalies are their country’s starters going forward. Luongo finishes off 23-save shutout in 6-0 win for Canada over Austria!

11:11 a.m. = They just showed Carter collecting game puck from Lange’s glove…for himself I would assume? #selfishplay? #thatsakeeper #hattrick #1ststar

11:12 a.m. = (retweet: Cody Nickolet ‏@WHLFromAbove “Changes I’d make: Sharp in for Kunitz. Price in for Smith, backing up Luongo.”) to which I replied: “I completely concur on all fronts. Duchene deserves to stay and Subban brings more than Hamhuis IMO. Leave Carter with Toews!”

11:13 a.m. = (retweet: Bob McKenzie ‏@TSNBobMcKenzie “So who starts in G for CAN on Sun vs. FIN? Sure looks like table is set for Luongo. Coming off shutout, Babcock’s schedule rotation in 2010.”) to which I responded: “looks rather obvious at this point…time for Canadians from far and wide to get back on the Bobby Luo bandwagon!”

That’s all for now, folks. I may or may not be back to elaborate in greater depth later tonight or tomorrow in advance of Sunday’s showdown with Finland — the real start to the Sochi Games for Team Canada!

Larry Fisher is a sports reporter for The Daily Courier in Kelowna, B.C. Follow him on Twitter: @LarryFisher_KDC.

OK, I know it’s Valentines Day and this isn’t the romantic choice, but here it goes.

In 2002, I watched every Team Canada game in person. I remember the games like they were yesterday. Curtis Joseph’s struggles against Sweden in Game 1 stood out — well that, and the guy from Montreal beside me who was drunk on Smirnoff from a pre-game street hockey game in the E-Centre parking lot, but I digress.

Mark Payne

Today, I listened to the constant babble of fans in Canada about a 3-1 win over Norway on sports radio. So while my days of chasing hockey players are behind me, I couldn’t help myself. Relax, it’s one game! This is the first Olympics I’ve been home since 2002. It reminded me: Wow, do we love hockey!

The one thing we like more than the “puck” is dumping on Team Canada only to ride the bandwagon to gold.

I won’t do that — I’ll leave it to Ty Rattie, who broke bantam scoring records only to sit at home and watch the World Juniors, or why it took two years to put Ryan Nugent-Hopkins in the lineup. Morgan Klimchuk was not even at camp this year because they only invited 25 players — good call when they needed goals to win a short tournament. Stupid.

Internal development is not our thing, with an embarrassment of riches in terms of players to select on national teams. We screw it up every year.

Another moment I will never forget in Salt Lake was watching a kid from my hometown, Jarome Iginla, play like a champion in a gold-medal game that will never be matched. It was the greatest hockey game I’ve ever seen — the Canadian fans singing the anthem as time ticked down and watching an All-Star team of NHL players end a 50-year drought.

Good thing Gretzky invited Iginla to camp — better late than never. Thanks for bailing the brass out Wayne, we owe you, especially after the Nagano shootout fiasco.

Believe it or not, I am Canadian and will be devastated if they don’t win gold this year. But I’m also a hockey fan who sees some great teams in this tournament — and one deserves your attention.

I ran into Team USA assistant coach Tony Granato last summer and shared my thoughts: “You have the best team to upset Russia.” Period. They weren’t afraid to make tough choices like leaving Bobby Ryan at home.

Meanwhile, Canada forgot that then-injured Corey Crawford has one thing on Bobby Lou — a Stanley Cup. Vancouver fans like to remind us that Luongo won gold in 2010. No, Sidney won gold. Luongo forced overtime.

You will also find Tuukka Rask and Jonathan Quick on Lord Stanley. Here’s hoping Carey Price holds up.

Beware of the Americans — they have nothing to lose. This is a group of players that deserve gold.

Patrick Kane has the best hands in hockey.

They have a solid, mobile young defence.

And the best big-game goalie in Quick, with a stellar backup in Ryan Miller. Nobody battles harder than Quick — and to be fair to Miller, Goodyear hasn’t seen as much rubber as he has in Buffalo this season.

In 2006, I travelled to Torino to cover the Games. Canada finished 7th and I saw them lose to Martin Gerber and the Swiss national team. I’m not going to sugarcoat this, I was so disgusted I can’t even use a Swiss Army knife to this day.

If Miikka Kiprusoff is in the Finns’ goal, they win gold. I couldn’t even bring myself to go to the gold-medal game after I walked by a 19-year-old Rick Nash on the streets of Torino a day after they were knocked out by Russia in the quarter-finals. He never saw me, but I could feel his disappointment. Losing sucks.

Between 2009 and 2011, I coached three midget teams in Calgary — and all won short tournaments in the U.S. They have a tremendous development system. No, this wasn’t the Olympics, but I saw some great high school teams. We never had the best players, but we always had a prepared group and we were the best team.

If Canada pulls this out, it’s not because of the players, it’s because of the best coach — there is nobody better than Mike Babcock.

I wasn’t the best coach, but we always had a player that was the “glue” in the room. If Babcock can find this and ride Shea Weber, Drew Doughty and Duncan Keith, then Canada is in good shape. They will need John Tavares and the young forwards like Jonathan Toews and Matt Duchene to step up. Logan Couture would have been a nice addition but, trust me, the best team will win, so it’s not about who is not in Sochi.

Back to the Americans. Ryan Kesler is a great defensive player. David Backes and Dustin Brown will do anything to win. Ask any Rangers fan and they will tell you that Ryan Callahan is a leader by example. And say what you want about the Leafs, but James van Riemsdyk and Phil Kessel are the real deal. These guys want to win, and they came so close it hurts (in 2010). Think of being that close to your dream, only to see it pass you by.

Who better to remind the group than Dan Bylsma, whose Penguins came close in 2008 only to pull it out a year later in the 2009 Stanley Cup Final. A “glue” player, Max Talbot, scored two that day. And if that’s not enough, have Brian Burke roll out of a single bed in Russia to add some motivation.

Fine, the Russians have more talent. Pavel Datsyuk is injured, and hopefully Semyon Varlamov left his girlfriend in the U.S. to avoid further confrontation — yes, I said it.

The Swedes have Henrik Lundqvist and a great group of players, but they just lost Henrik Zetterberg for the tournament and were already without Henrik Sedin, Johan Franzen and, for reasons unknown, Victor Hedman.

Finland has the best goalies — Rask, Kari Lehtonen and Antti Niemi. Please send Team Canada your goalie coach.

And even Slovenia has the Seattle Seahawks’ championship jerseys — sorry, I couldn’t help myself. Lime green was the only way to increase sales of Nashville Predators’ apparel. NHL Shop thanks you, because those are brutal. Thankfully nobody owns one in North America — of course, nobody will ever buy a Sabres’ third jersey, either.

Do you believe in miracles? I do. I’ve seen it twice.

Once in Salt Lake, and again when a kid from Cole Harbour screamed “Iggy!” in 2010. I also can still hear Chris Cuthbert’s call of “Zach Parise!!” in the dying seconds of the gold-medal game.

Parise is the “glue”. This time, the Americans beat Canada, and Herb Brooks and Badger Bob celebrate another great day for hockey from high above.

The one thing I do know after watching all these Games over the years and spending far too much time inside rinks: This is the best sport, with the best athletes, and this is the best showcase of talent.

There’s no money in it for the NHL, so Gary go ahead and screw it up like you do with the Stanley Cup presentation every spring. Nobody goes to the games to watch Ed Snider or listen to Bettman. They watch to see players play for pride!

This is the only tournament outside the World Juniors that Europeans play for pride. Money comes and goes — you will always be an Olympic champion.

My prediction . . . 

GOLD: USA

SILVER: Canada

BRONZE: Russia

Mark Payne is a freelance sports journalist in Calgary, Alta. He studied broadcast journalism in Lethbridge, Alta. He has worked for CBC Sports, TSN and NewCap Radio. This is the first Olympics he hasn’t been to the men’s hockey tournament since 2002. He is happily watching closely from his couch.

So, what was it?

TSN’s headline read “A Solid Start”.

My future father-in-law, who watched in spurts as the Canadian men’s hockey team defeated Norway 3-1 to open the Olympic tournament in Sochi, Russia, called it “a shaky start.”

Larry Fisher

Reality is, Thursday’s effort and outcome rank somewhere in between.

To the casual fan — especially of Canadian descent — who only caught wind of the final score, this result would appear “shaky” at best.

Canada and its NHL-powered roster should destroy Norway on its worst day.

By a five-goal spread bare minimum.

Aside from Mats Zuccarello — not a household name, but leading the New York Rangers in scoring this season — Norway had a bunch of nobodies. No other NHLers to speak of.

That this was a one-goal game early in the third period — and scoreless after the first — had to be considered “shaky” by Canadian standards. Right?

Not necessarily.

Those who tuned in from start to finish can attest that this game was one-sided — as expected — with Canada carrying the play for 40-plus minutes, even if the result didn’t reflect that dominance.

Based on the shot-clock (almost double at 38-20), time of possession and territorial control, this was a “solid” performance.

A fairly strong, if unspectacular, debut is how I’d categorize it upon further review.

Is there room for improvement heading into Friday’s game against Austria? Absolutely.

Should we get our hopes up for another blowout after being “disappointed” in that sense against Norway? Probably not.

A win is a win at the international level, and we must remember that these are the 12 best countries in the sport competing for everything from gold, silver and bronze to pride, respectability and bragging rights.

There are no easy games here. Not even for the defending Olympic champions.

Austria, in my opinion, is more talented than Norway, so a similar score could be in store.

It will certainly be a bigger test for Roberto Luongo than Norway was for Carey Price. Luongo will need to be just as sharp — or sharper — in facing the likes of Thomas Vanek and Michael Grabner, who netted a hat trick on Tuukka Rask in Austria’s 8-4 opening loss to Finland.

At the other end, goaltenders from these perceived “lesser” nations often rise to the occasion and manage to keep things close — as Lars Haugen did for Norway. The floodgates never opened, and there’s no guarantee they will against Austria, either.

My hunch tells me they will, however, and quite a few more Canadian players will find the scoresheet, including Sidney Crosby and John Tavares. For all those betters who lost money on the “over” against Norway, they should win it back against Austria.

My prediction: Canada 6, Austria 2.

Meanwhile, I watched Thursday’s opener in its entirety at the inlaws’ place in Sicamous, B.C., and was live tweeting when the opportunity presented itself. Here is the mash-up of my tweets for those interested:

9:34 a.m. = Almost slept in then had to take bathroom break to start the day but didn’t miss much in first 5 mins! @HockeyCanada #stillscoreless #Sochi

9:36 a.m. = This ice isn’t as tilted as I anticipated…and Canada’s matching lines against Norway? Say whaaat! Babcock’s all business. #plays4keeps

9:37 a.m. = Canada takes game’s first penalty and @sarahalyssa86 pipes up: “It’s rigged, it’s Russia” … she’s still rattled about the orca debacle!

9:38 a.m. = (upon being informed that Norway had already taken a penalty, possibly during aforementioned bathroom break) @shawn_w_smith aggh that’ll learn me for sleeping in ever-so-slightly and not checking the boxscore before settling into the couch. #rookiemove

9:44 a.m. = That was a pretty “meh” first period, or at least a “meh” start for @HockeyCanada. Feel bad for betters who took the over if this keeps up!

9:46 a.m. = @shawn_w_smith I’ve definitely seen better periods, but I’ve seen worse too. Like Grapes just said: “Don’t panic, we’re playing terrific.”

9:47 a.m. = That said, when Canada plays Norway to a scoreless draw in a period, it’s tough to call that terrific from a Canadian standpoint.

9:53 a.m. = This should have been a blowout, likely Canada’s most lopsided result of the tournament, but still lots of time left to pull away. I see 5-1.

9:57 a.m. = This Lars Haugen character deserves some credit, standing pretty tall in Norway net. Canada is getting chances and he’s turning them away!

10:00 a.m. = The announcer’s keep saying the book on Haugen is to shoot high (blocker), but Canada keeps trying to shoot through him. No weak spot in middle of chest. #backtoschool #getitup

10:02 a.m. = Canada is on the board, Shea Weber finds a hole with a high rocket from the point on delayed penalty to lead Norway 1-0. Took 26 minutes to open scoring.

10:04 a.m. = The inlaws aren’t the biggest hockey family but they are very passionate about Olympics and prideful. Weber is their home boy from Sicamous!

10:09 a.m. = Close call there as Toews tips point shot off post and then puck somehow stays out of Norway net on ensuing goal-mouth melee.

10:12 a.m. = Ole Kristian-Tollefsen’s favourite song? Wrecking Ball…one can only assume. He’s head-hunting and almost has a few souvenirs/victims!

10:14 a.m. = Pretty difficult to evaluate Carey Price in a game like this…has faced ZERO shots through 13 minutes of second period, yet still only 1-0.

10:17 a.m. = What a snipe from Jamie Benn to make it 2-0. That’s an all-world shot, an Olympic-calibre shot! #earninghiskeep

10:19 a.m. = Canada’s two goals scored by two B.C. boys — Shea Weber from Sicamous and Jamie Benn from Victoria — and two former @Kelowna_Rockets!

10:24 a.m. = Well, that was better period for Canada, up 2-0 over Norway after two. Maybe not dominant on scoreboard, but certainly on ice. #notevenclose

10:37 a.m. = Thunderstruck in Sochi…gotta love it! #ACDC

10:40 a.m. = Yikes…Norway is on the board with an ugly one on PP to start 3rd and suddenly we have a game again, with Canada only leading 2-1.

10:41 a.m. = Thoresen’s shot through a screen changed direction and beat Price, who had misplayed puck to start sequence that led to the goal. #boredomblunder #halfasleep

10:43 a.m. = Fear not Canada, Drew Doughty makes it 3-1 with a quick reply by dangling through offensive zone and roofing backhand shot over blocker!

10:48 a.m. = Oh, we just got a glimpse of Roberto Luongo on the bench. Future mother-in-law enjoys this part. He’s her fav! But will that be a familiar view for Nucks netminder in Sochi? #cheapseat

10:50 a.m. = Canadian coach Mike Babcock “We can make one goaltending change and win gold. We can’t make two and win gold.” #truerwordsneverbeenspoken #PriceorLuongo

10:52 a.m. = Not much happening in this third period since Canada restored its two-goal cushion at 3-1, but have to think they’d like to run it up a bit.

10:55 a.m. = Yet again, announcers bring up Haugen’s “left ear” weakness…leave the poor guy alone, he’s having game of his life against world’s best!

10:59 a.m. = Canada back on the power play now, still waiting for Crosby to do something special. He’s been near invisible in opener!

11:02 a.m. = Crosby is a big-game player and this isn’t exactly the biggest game…but he should try to pad the stats if he’s going to be MVP!

11:07 a.m. = Don’t get me wrong, Canada is dominating this game, but I expected more, umm, “finish” against a team like Norway. #whynofillnet #wewantgoals

11:11 a.m. = Norwegians going on PP to end game…worth noting @sarahalyssa86 predicted “close, like 3-2” result. I had 6-1. #shemightberight #Iwaswayoff

11:13 a.m. = Price makes routine save in dying seconds and future father-in-law blurts out: “If Luongo was in net…” Hilarity ensues — except from his wife, who keeps pumping Luooo’s tires and raving about his “dreamy eyes”!

11:15 a.m. = Luongo will get his chance to make impression and win over his critics Friday morning against Austria. Then whoever gets Finland is starter!

11:17 a.m. = Canada “hangs on” for 3-1 win over Norway. Not as close as score indicates but effort still being described as “shaky start” here.

11:18 a.m. = 3 stars of this game on CBC: Shea Weber, Drew Doughty and Patrice Bergeron. Canadian sweep. No love for Lars Haugen (Norway goalie). #homers

11:22 a.m. = (@Sletten_C “need some time to get their bearings” in reply to “shaky start” comment): probably true and we shall see what tomorrow brings…definitely needs to be a marked improvement (with more goals)!

Larry Fisher is a sports reporter for The Daily Courier in Kelowna, B.C. Follow him on Twitter: @LarryFisher_KDC.

We call ourselves the best in the world at this sport but, the truth is, Canada is ranked two places outside of a bronze medal in the world. Fifth place, that is.

As Canada only rounds out the top five in IIHF World Rankings with 2,940 points, an Olympic gold medal would give them an additional 1,200, and vault them to the head of the class with 4,140. That point injection would leapfrog them well past Sweden (first – 3,105), Finland (second – 3,065), Russia (third – 3,040) and the Czech Republic (fourth – 2,975), and reassert Canada’s hockey dominance — not only in the Olympic tournament, but on the world stage.

Dave Cunning

Canada needs those 1,200 points because, quite frankly, they only send their national best to compete as an intact unit against the world every four years. The IIHF’s other major measuring stick in international competition and rankings is the World Championships. It’s a well-known fact that NHL content is limited every year at that tournament, with the showdown conflicting with Stanley Cup playoff scheduling every year. Many players who are invited to play in the World Championships after their NHL team either does not make the playoffs or is eliminated early from them still opt not to attend, opting to stay home to either heal injuries, or just because they know the tournament does not truly reflect any participating country’s full capacity. While that is entirely their prerogative, it also means Canada misses out on 1,200 points every year, instead of just quadrennially. When the 2014 World Championships are hosted by Belarus from May 9-25 – only three months removed from the Olympic tournament – you can bet that the rosters will again be compromised, and the results will be contentious at best. But though that affects all competing teams, it generally means Canada does not win, and thus plummets further down the ranking ladder.

One intriguing scenario would be for Canada to win both the Olympic and World Championship tournaments, and induce a 2,400-point swing on their standing status. An extraordinary possibility, albeit an unlikely one. The last time the Olympics were held and Canada won the men’s hockey tournament, the only player to reprise his role as a Canadian representative at the 2010 World Championships was Corey Perry. Canada did not medal that year. Further, they have not medaled at the tournament since 2009, nor won since 2007. They did, however, pull off a dual Olympic and World Championship once — 20 years ago in 1994.

Further, both tournaments are held on internationally-sized ice this year. While Canada’s winning percentage on North American-sized ice is impeccable, it would be generous to say they traditionally struggle on the bigger sheet. In fact, Canada has not won an Olympic gold medal in men’s ice hockey outside of North America since 1952, when they struck gold in Oslo, Norway.

While every NHL player transitioning from the smaller sheet is on the same learning curve when it comes to adjusting to the additional 15 feet of rink width, it will be the European club-based players from the KHL and Elite Leagues that will have the advantage over the their visiting teammates and opponents. The question will be whether that factor will be advantageous enough to those already familiar, or whether a week of practice prior to games is enough time to adjust and catch up.

Russia is not projected to win, but a team nearly full of KHL players used to big ice — and competing in their home country — may do better than people expect.

And further still, from Hockey Canada’s standpoint, it would be a crushing blow for Canada’s international rankings for the NHL not to send its players back to the Olympics in 2018. Their world seeding would suffer tremendously after likely dropping their best chance at a quadrennial point spike, while instead likely being represented by amateur players.

So considering that Canada needs to win in order to prove that: 1) 2010 was no fluke; 2) they’re better than fifth; and 3) they can indeed win on big ice, I am picking Canada to win gold.

If we really want to walk around calling ourselves the best hockey nation in the world, and if we want it to actually be true, we have to do more than just want to win — we have to win. That’s a game-changer.

Additionally, silver to Sweden and bronze to Russia. The Swedes are just too good to ignore, and Russia’s home-ice advantage and desire to win at home should not be overlooked.

Dave Cunning is a freelance writer from Kelowna, B.C., Canada, currently residing in Jeju, South Korea. Read his blog: http://davecunning.wordpress.com, follow him on Twitter @davecunning and listen to his podcast: http://xppsp.podbean.com.

Hockey has begun, and for many, NOW the Olympics have begun.

Well, enjoy it. Because it appears this will be the last time we’ll see players from the National Hockey League at the Winter Olympiad.

At least, for the foreseeable future.

Jared Waldo

Numerous reports over the past year have stated that the 2014 Games in Sochi, Russia, will be the last time the NHL would agree to send players to the Olympics to compete in men’s ice hockey. An article published by TSN last Tuesday claims that decision could come within the next six months.

It would appear that the NHL and its owners are concerned about injuries to their ‘investments’, and it’s no secret that they’re unhappy with shutting down the league for two weeks to accommodate the commitment to the Olympic tournament.

If Sochi is the last time the NHL agrees to shut down to allow players to compete, what happens then?

From a Canadian standpoint, it’s hard to think that Hockey Canada would travel back in time and reinstate a national club program whose sole purpose would be to represent Canada at international competitions. If so, you’d likely see the same group of players wearing the maple leaf (or some iteration thereof) at the Spengler Cup, World Hockey Championship or any other competition over the course of the year that featured players over the age of 20.

In reality, that’s not really an option given today’s hockey landscape. Canada (and likely the United States) would have to build a team specifically for the Games. Much like they did for the 1988 Olympics in Calgary, these teams would have to be formed in advance, and their sole purpose would be to compete in the Olympics.

The players would then practice together like any pro team would, but would compete in a series of exhibition contests over the course of a ‘season’, playing other national programs, or even club teams in North America and Europe.

Ideal? Hardly.

With today’s state of the game, it probably wouldn’t be an overly strong team. Plus, there’s the financial aspect of having to pay the player, which wouldn’t be much. Yes, these players are (and were) supposed to be amateurs at the Olympics, so paying them seems a little backwards.

Unless you want players like myself on the blue-line and Larry Fisher in between the pipes, you need to pony up some dough. So now add in the difficult task of having to pay players in order to attract any semblance of talent.

But if there were no NHLers at the Olympic Games, who would make up the national team?

Looking at this from a Hockey Canada standpoint, any suggestion of ‘junior’ hockey is out of the question. There are a lot of logistical reasons why it wouldn’t work, and any prospect with NHL rights . . . well, forget about it.

Also, Canada (and likely the International Ice Hockey Federation), wouldn’t be interested in taking allure away from the World Junior Championship each Christmas — that close to a potential Olympics. Especially when Canada is hosting and the cash cow that comes along with it.

Another option may be skaters playing in the American Hockey League (or any other North American/European pro team, including the Kontinental Hockey League). Again, if there’s any players whose rights belong to NHL clubs, that’s probably not an option.

From an AHL point-of-view, available players would have to be on AHL-only deals, or two-way AHL contracts. Players would then have to be granted permission by their club teams to play in the Games, and there may not be a lot of interest in that for the same concerns NHL owners currently have.

Is there anything else left? Sure, but the calibre of hockey player starts to drop off after that.

College and university hockey is always an option from which to draw players from, and that could be a possibility for Canada. If you want to dig deeper, look no further than the Senior AAA ranks in our country.

Those that compete for the Allan Cup each season could be available for Canada at the Olympics, but now you’re dealing with men who could be anywhere from 25 to 45 years old with varying degrees of talent and experience, which means you’re REALLY starting to scrape the bottom of the barrel.

While there are a couple of options as to who could make up the future of Team Canada at the 2018 Winter Games in South Korea, none of them seem very palatable.

Keep in mind, European entries would still be able to draw from their usual club teams as well as the KHL in Russia. There may be the odd player to come over from North America (AHL) but, for the most part, they would draw from European pro clubs, and they’d definitely have the edge in terms of talent — especially the Russians.

And that’s the concerning part of all of this. While the Russians, Swedes and other European countries wouldn’t have access to NHL talent, they’d still have a lot of options on home soil to assemble a team. For Canada and the United States, those options dwindle substantially.

Suffice to say, if the NHL and its players decide to opt out of the Olympics in favour of reigniting the World Cup of Hockey (as is expected), then I wouldn’t expect too many podium finishes from North America in the years to come.

Jared (Wally) Waldo is former sports anchor/reporter turned radio marketing professional for Newcap Radio in Red Deer, Alta., but his passion for sports still exists. His experience covering local sports in Central Alberta includes the WHL’s Red Deer Rebels as a reporter for the online hockey program Rebels This Week. Follow him on Twitter: @OdlawDeraj.

Who knew we’d have such high quality hockey at Sochi — before the men’s games started?

Today’s matchup — most likely a preview of the gold-medal game  — between the Canadian and American women’s teams was a high-paced, competitive, entertaining game.

Unfortunately, many more of the women’s games at these Olympics won’t be.

That’s why — just three days ago — I would have told you that I was OK with the possibility of women’s hockey being removed from the Olympics. It’s a two-nation sport right now, with Canada and the U.S. head and shoulders above the rest. This is not the level of rivalry that serves the competitive spirit of the Games.

But then, I watched the Canadian women take on Finland. You know what? That was a darn good hockey game.

No, it doesn’t compare to the calibre of play put forth by the men’s hockey teams. I won’t even try to argue that. But if you sit back for a minute, think about what women’s hockey should be — and just enjoy the sport for what it is — that was a great hockey game. And it was even better because the team wearing red was given a run for its money by the team wearing light blue — instead of red, white and blue.

Now is not the time to remove women’s hockey from the Olympics. Finally, other countries are starting to be able to compete with Canada and the U.S. That is because it is an Olympic sport. This gives little girls around the world something to look up to — something to strive for.

Little boys will always have those examples at the professional level. The NHL, KHL and many different leagues of elite hockey are what little boys’ dreams are made of.

How many of you played on that frozen pond when you were little, raising the Stanley Cup above your head at the end of the day? Little girls don’t get to raise that Cup, but with women’s hockey in the Olympics, they can dream about that gold medal being placed around their neck, hearing their national anthem and celebrating with their team.

We are finally to the stage where little girls have hockey heroes they can look up to from the time they are just learning to skate — in countries across the world.

It will take a few more Olympics before the competition reaches the parity you see in men’s hockey — and that’s exactly why we need to keep women’s hockey in the Olympics.

Jenna Wood is a former sports broadcaster, spending time on radio and television in Calgary, Saskatoon, Fort McMurray and Peace River. She is now a mother of two, a land agent and still a lover of all things sports. Bringing a unique perspective of the crossover between family life and professional sports, Jenna hopes to share with readers how sports combines with real life to inspire people on a daily basis.

Less than 12 hours away from the opening puck-drop for the 2014 Olympic men’s hockey tournament in Sochi, Russia, it seems everybody has their opinion on who will emerge medallists or end up missing the podium. However, not everybody has the same opinion.

Guest blogger Jesse Gill took the time to rank the 12 countries vying for gold, while breaking down each individual roster with statistical and historical analysis.

Five other contributors, including myself, also weighed in with our medal and award predictions.

When the dust settled, four of the six pundits had Canada penciled in for gold, yet two others had Sweden taking home top honours. Read on for the compilation of those efforts and have your say in the poll below:

Jesse Gill

GOLD: Canada (Group B)

Analysis: Canada has lots of prolific scoring on its team with the likes of Sidney Crosby, Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry, John Tavares and Jonathan Toews. Its defensive core anchored by Shea Weber, Duncan Keith and Drew Doughty looks to be solid. If there is one weakness with Team Canada, it may be between the pipes. Roberto Luongo and Carey Price both need to play to the level they are capable of for Canada to secure gold, because when they do, they are two of the best in the world. When they are off their games, though, it’s ugly and both have been subjected to torment from their NHL fan bases because of it. On paper, Canada is arguably the best team and as defending gold medallists should be the favourites. Something has to go terribly wrong for this team to not at least bring home a medal. With gold medals in 2002 and 2010, they just have to avoid having a bad Olympics following a gold medal and not repeat the 2006 performance that landed Canada in seventh — its worst ever Olympic finish.

Olympics competed in: 21

Medal Count: 8 Gold, 4 Silver, 2 Bronze (14 Total)

Best Finish: 1st

Worst Finish: 7th

Last Medal: Gold in 2010

Current IIHF World Ranking: 5th

Number of current NHLers on Roster: 25

Number of Returning Players from 2010: 11

Expected Top Performer: Sidney Crosby

Pos – Name – Team – 2013-14 Season Stats GP-G-A-PTS-PIM

*D Duncan Keith (Chicago Blackhawks) 59-3-45-48-8

D Alex Pietrangelo (St. Louis Blues) 57-6-35-41-16

D PK Subban (Montreal Canadiens) 59-8-31-39-61

*D Shea Weber (Nashville Predators) 56-15-23-38-32

D Jay Bouwmeester (St. Louis Blues) 57-4-28-32-16

*D Drew Doughty (Los Angeles Kings) 59-8-22-30-54

D Marc-Édouard Vlasic (San Jose Sharks) 59-4-14-18-20

D Dan Hamhuis (Vancouver Canucks) 58-4-11-15-24

*F Sidney Crosby (Pittsburgh Penguins) 58-28-50-78-34

*F Ryan Getzlaf (Anaheim Ducks) 56-29-38-67-22

F John Tavares (New York Islanders) 59-24-42-66-40

*F Corey Perry (Anaheim Ducks) 60-30-30-60-50

F Patrick Sharp (Chicago Blackhawks) 60-28-30-58-34

F Martin St. Louis (Tampa Bay Lightning) 58-25-31-56-6

*F Jonathan Toews (Chicago Blackhawks) 60-19-36-55-28

*F Patrick Marleau (San Jose Sharks) 59-23-27-50-16

F Matt Duchene (Colorado Avalanche) 55-19-31-50-17

F Chris Kunitz (Pittsburgh Penguins) 58-27-28-55-48

F Jamie Benn (Dallas Stars) 58-22-29-51-34

*F Patrice Bergeron (Boston Bruins) 57-16-22-38-31

F Jeff Carter (Los Angeles Kings) 49-20-17-37-22

*F Rick Nash (New York Rangers) 42-18-9-27-25

Pos – Name – Team – 2013-14 Season Stats GP-W-L-T-GAA-SP%-SO

G Carey Price (Montreal Canadiens) 48-26-17-5-2.33-.925-4

*G Roberto Luongo (Vancouver Canucks) 42-19-16-6-2.38-.917-3

G Mike Smith (Phoenix Coyotes) 49-20-17-9-2.77-.913-2

SILVER: Sweden (Group C)

Analysis: The best team after Canada is Sweden, in my opinion. The Swedes look to be one of the other most complete teams in the tournament with (King) Henrik Lundqvist in net, Erik Karlsson and Niklas Kronwall anchoring the D, solid offensive performers in Nicklas Backstrom, Daniel Sedin, Gabriel Landeskog, Henrik Zetterberg and this year’s NHL breakout performer Alexander Steen, along with veteran Daniel Alfredsson providing the needed leadership. This makes it hard to believe this team would finish without a medal, and I wouldn’t be shocked if they found a way to upset Canada. The Swedes have lots of top-end talent on their team, but their bottom lines see a drop in talent compared to Canada or even the United States, which could also make their likelihood of earning a medal a little less sure. And with Henrik Sedin injured prior to the tournament, it doesn’t help their chances either. Since the 1992 Olympics, Sweden has ironically always placed either 5th or won gold every time with 1994 and 2006 being their medal years. I expect that trend to change in the gold-medal game, with Sweden getting its first silver medal since 1964.

Olympics competed in: 21

Medal Count: 2 Gold, 2 Silver, 4 Bronze (8 Total)

Best Finish: 1st

Worst Finish: 5th

Last Medal: Gold in 2006

Current IIHF World Ranking: 1st

Number of current NHLers on Roster: 24

Number of Returning Players from 2010: 10

Expected Top Performer: Erik Karlsson

Pos – Name – Team – 2013-14 Season Stats GP-G-A-PTS-PIM

D Erik Karlsson (Ottawa Senators) 59-15-40-55-24

*D Niklas Kronwall (Detroit Red Wings) 56-6-30-36-38

D Oliver Ekman-Larsson (Phoenix Coyotes) 56-8-21-29-36

D Niklas Hjalmarsson (Chicago Blackhawks) 60-4-19-23-30

D Alexander Edler (Vancouver Canucks) 41-5-10-15-24

*D Johnny Oduya (Chicago Blackhawks) 58-3-10-13-24

D Jonathan Ericsson (Detroit Red Wings) 38-1-8-9-30

*D Henrik Tallinder (Buffalo Sabres) 44-2-5-7-24

*F Nicklas Backstrom (Washington Capitals) 59-11-45-56-38

F Gabriel Landeskog (Colorado Avalanche) 57-18-30-48-45

*F Henrik Zetterberg (Detroit Red Wings) 45-16-32-48-20

F Alexander Steen (St. Louis Blues) 46-28-16-46-30

*F Daniel Sedin (Vancouver Canucks) 60-13-27-40-36

F Marcus Johansson (Washington Capitals) 59-7-29-36-4

*F Daniel Alfredsson (Detroit Red Wings) 46-14-21-35-10

F Gustav Nyquist (Detroit Red Wings) 33-14-10-24-8

F Patrik Berglund (St. Louis Blues) 54-8-16-24-28

F Marcus Kruger (Chicago Blackhawks) 60-6-18-24-24

F Carl Hagelin (New York Rangers) 49-12-11-23-32

*F Loui Eriksson (Boston Bruins) 37-6-14-20-4

F Jakob Silfverberg (Anaheim Ducks) 32-6-9-15-8

Pos – Name – Team – 2013-14 Season Stats GP-W-L-T-GAA-SP%-SO

*G Henrik Lundqvist (New York Rangers) 44-22-18-3-2.41-.918-3

*G Jonas Gustavsson (Detroit Red Wings) 22-13-4-3-2.55-.911-0

G Jhonas Enroth (Buffalo Sabres) 20-1-12-5-2.89-.905-0

BRONZE: Russia (Group A)

Analysis: The host team will be under pressure to perform and bring a men’s hockey Olympic medal to Russia for the first time since 2002. The team has lots of firepower, making it hard not to look at them as one of the favourites. The NHL’s leading goal-scorer Alex Ovechkin, along with some of the game’s best in Evgeni Malkin, Ilya Kovalchuk and Pavel Datsyuk (if healthy) gives Russia an abundance of top-end skill up front. Its defence is fairly average compared to the other top teams. In net, last year’s Vezina winner Sergei Bobrovsky and Semyon Varlamov are two of the game’s elite goaltenders. The one mistake I believe the Russians made when they assembled the team was the abundance of KHL players added to try and showcase a lower quality league, instead of putting better NHL players on the squad. News of a groin injury to Datsyuk will hurt this team if he can’t play — or isn’t at 100 per cent. I can’t see them competing with the likes of Canada and Sweden, who both have a bit more depth throughout their lineups. I fully expect a repeat of their 2002 bronze-medal finish, which should still make their country proud.

Olympics competed in: 15 (9 as Soviet Union)

Medal Count: 7 gold, 2 Bronze, 2 Silver (11 Total)

Best Finish: 1st

Worst Finish: 6th

Last Medal: Bronze in 2002

Current IIHF World Ranking: 3rd

Number of current NHLers on Roster: 16

Number of Returning Players from 2010: 9

Expected Top Performer: Alex Ovechkin

Pos – Name – Team – 2013-14 Season Stats GP-G-A-PTS-PIM

*D Andrei Markov (Montreal Canadiens) 59-5-26-31-26

*D Fedor Tyutin (Columbus Blue Jackets) 53-4-20-24-30

D Slava Voynov (Los Angeles Kings) 59-3-19-22-32

D Nikita Nikitin (Columbus Blue Jackets) 51-2-12-14-18

D Alexei Emelin (Montreal Canadiens) 37-1-7-8-37

D Anton Belov (Edmonton Oilers) 47-1-5-6-32

*F Alexander Ovechkin (Washington Capitals) 55-40-20-60-36

*F Evgeni Malkin (Pittsburgh Penguins) 47-18-40-58-50

F Vladimir Tarasenko (St. Louis Blues) 54-18-16-34-12

*F Pavel Datsyuk (Detroit Red Wings) 37-15-18-33-6

*F Alexander Semin (Carolina Hurricanes) 45-14-15-29-34

F Valeri Nichushkin (Dallas Stars) 55-13-15-28-6

F Artem Anisimov (Columbus Blue Jackets) 58-13-13-26-14

F Nikolai Kulemin (Toronto Maple Leafs) 48-8-10-18-12

Pos – Name – Team – 2013-14 Season Stats GP-W-L-T-GAA-SP%-SO

*G Semyon Varlamov (Colorado Avalanche) 46-28-11-5-2.48-.924-1

G Sergei Bobrovsky (Columbus Blue Jackets) 37-20-14-3-2.52-.918-2

4TH: United States (Group A)

Analysis: They are good, they are young, I think Team USA management has this team set up to provide experience for the 2018 games if NHL players participate. Sniper Phil Kessel has been one of the NHL’s hottest players going into the Olympic break, and if he and Leafs linemate James van Riemsdyk can continue their strong play together in Sochi, they will be hard to stop. There is also the very talented Patrick Kane, who is one of the game’s best offensive players and is sure to produce at these Games. Goaltending should be of no concern with Jonathan Quick and Ryan Miller likely shouldering the load. The D core anchored by Kevin Shattenkirk and Ryan Suter, along with a lot of young defencemen and the veteran Paul Martin should be interesting to watch. But it’s hard to read how they will perform with lots of inexperience on the Olympic stage. I’m predicting a 4th-place finish, but I wouldn’t be shocked to see them take home a medal. In the past three Olympics, the Americans have played against Canada for gold and finished with silver twice. Like the Canadians, the 2006 Winter Games were also a disaster when the Americans finished 8th — again behind a 7th-place Canadian finish. Expect the U.S. to compete, but finish just outside the medals — likely losing to Russia.

Olympics competed in: 22

Medal Count: 2 Gold, 8 Silver, 1 Bronze (11 Total)

Best Finish: 1st

Worst Finish: 8th / Also Disqualified in 1948 (Brought 2 teams, one with pros)

Last Medal: Silver in 2010

Current IIHF World Ranking: 6th

Number of current NHLers on Roster: 25

Number of Returning Players from 2010: 12

Expected Top Performer: Phil Kessel

Pos – Name – Team – 2013-14 Season Stats GP-G-A-PTS-PIM

D Kevin Shattenkirk (St. Louis Blues) 56-8-28-36-20

*D Ryan Suter (Minnesota Wild) 59-6-27-33-24

D Cam Fowler (Anaheim Ducks) 60-6-25-31-12

D Ryan McDonagh (New York Rangers) 59-8-22-30-18

D John Carlson (Washington Capitals) 59-10-13-23-16

D Justin Faulk (Carolina Hurricanes) 57-3-19-22-31

D Paul Martin (Pittsburgh Penguins) 33-2-10-12-8

*D Brooks Orpik (Pittsburgh Penguins) 50-1-11-12-42

*F Phil Kessel (Toronto Maple Leafs) 60-31-34-65-19

*F Patrick Kane (Chicago Blackhawks) 59-27-36-63-18

*F Joe Pavelski (San Jose Sharks) 59-29-25-54-26

F Blake Wheeler (Winnipeg Jets) 60-22-26-48-42

F James van Riemsdyk (Toronto Maple Leafs) 58-24-23-47-34

F T.J. Oshie (St. Louis Blues) 57-14-32-46-30

*F David Backes (St. Louis Blues) 52-20-22-42-78

*F Paul Stastny (Colorado Avalanche) 52-17-24-41-20

*F Ryan Kesler (Vancouver Canucks) 60-20-18-38-63

F Max Pacioretty (Montreal Canadiens) 50-26-11-37-24

*F Zach Parise (Minnesota Wild) 44-19-17-36-20

F Derek Stepan (New York Rangers) 59-10-25-35-12

*F Ryan Callahan (New York Rangers) 42-11-13-24-14

*F Dustin Brown (Los Angeles Kings) 58-10-6-16-56

Pos – Name – Team – 2013-14 Season Stats GP-W-L-T-GAA-SP%-SO

*G Ryan Miller (Buffalo Sabres) 39-14-22-3-2.74-.923-0

G Jimmy Howard (Detroit Red Wings) 34-12-13-9-2.65-.914-2

*G Jonathan Quick (Los Angeles Kings) 32-16-13-2-2.18-.911-3

5TH: Finland (Group B)

Analysis: Goaltending will spur this team into the top 5, and I fully expect Tuukka Rask to be the best goalie in the tournament. Along with Antti Niemi and Kari Lehtonen, the Finns have without a doubt the best goaltending trio at these Olympics. Both Rask and Niemi have Stanley Cups to their credit and should provide the big-game goaltending Finland needs to compete, making up for a defence that includes four fairly average NHLers. Offence will likely be a challenge as Jussi Jokinen is the only one putting up decent NHL numbers this year, and Teemu Selanne’s days of putting up lots of points are behind him at the age of 43, although his veteran presence should be a benefit. Injuries to skilled NHL forwards Valtteri Filppula and Mikko Koivu are not going to help Finland’s chances, nor is having a veteran like Saku Koivu opting to sit these Games out. The Finns have been impressive over the last five Olympics, making it to the podium four times, including three bronze and one silver. I just don’t see this squad placing higher than 5th.

Olympics competed in: 16

Medal Count: 2 Silver, 3 Bronze

Best Finish: 2nd

Worst Finish: 7th

Last Medal: Bronze in 2010

Current IIHF World Ranking: 2nd

Number of current NHLers on Roster: 14

Number of Returning Players from 2010: 5

Expected Top Performer: Tuukka Rask

Pos – Name – Team – 2013-14 Season Stats GP-G-A-PTS-PIM

D Olli Maatta (Pittsburgh Penguins) 57-6-17-23-12

*D Kimmo Timonen (Philadelphia Flyers) 57-2-17-19-28

D Sami Vatanen (Anaheim Ducks) 41-6-8-14-20

*D Sami Salo (Tampa Bay Lightning) 49-1-9-10-10

F Jussi Jokinen (Pittsburgh Penguins) 58-16-26-42-6

*F Olli Jokinen (Winnipeg Jets) 60-13-19-32-36

F Mikael Granlund (Minnesota Wild) 46-5-23-28-18

F Aleksander Barkov (Florida Panthers) 54-8-16-24-10

F Lauri Korpikoski (Phoenix Coyotes) 42-7-13-20-18

*F Teemu Selanne (Anaheim Ducks) 47-7-13-20-12

*F Tuomo Ruutu (Carolina Hurricanes) 52-5-11-16-32

Pos – Name – Team – 2013-14 Season Stats GP-W-L-T-GAA-SP%-SO

G Tuukka Rask (Boston Bruins) 25-13-4-2.11-.928-5

G Kari Lehtonen (Dallas Stars) 22-15-10-2.48-.916-3

G Antti Niemi (San Jose Sharks) 29-12-6-2.39-.912-2

6TH: Czech Republic (Group C)

Analysis: David Krejci and Jaromir Jagr are both having productive years in the NHL and I expect them to lead the Czech offence, with the likes of Jakub Voracek, Martin Hanzal, Ondrej Palat, Patrik Elias, Tomas Plekanec and Michael Frolik providing some decent secondary scoring. With four current NHLers and former NHLer Tomas Kaberle on the back end, they should be competitive. In net, Ondrej Pavelec will have to provide solid goaltending and should — though he’ll oddly be a healthy scratch for the tournament opener against Sweden, with KHLer Jakub Kovar getting the first start. The Czechs have talent, but not enough star power to move this team into the medals. I think leaving Calgary Flames leading scorer Jiri Hudler off the team was a very poor decision, and his 43 points in 58 games — 14 more than anyone else on a horrible Flames team — shows Hudler is used to being the go-to guy for offence. Krejci and Jagr are the only two players on this team producing more points than Hudler this season and his much-needed extra offence will be missed. Petr Nedved provides size compared to Hudler, but he is probably one of the most interesting picks on the squad at 42 years old and having not played a game in the NHL since the 2006-07 season — even if he’s still putting up decent numbers in the Czech league. The gold-medal finish in 1998 and bronze-medal victory in 2006 aren’t likely to be repeated any time soon, but an improvement to 6th after a 7th-place showing in Vancouver sounds about right.

Olympics competed in: 6 (Czechoslovakia 16 others)

Medal Count: 1 Gold, 1 Bronze (2 Total) / Czechoslovakia 4 Silver, 4 Bronze (8 Total)

Best Finish: 1st

Worst Finish: 7th

Last Medal: Bronze in 2006

Current IIHF World Ranking: 4th

Number of current NHLers on Roster: 17

Number of Returning Players from 2010: 10

Expected Top Performer: David Krejci

Pos – Name – Team – 2013-14 Season Stats GP-G-A-PTS-PIM

*D Marek Zidlicky (New Jersey Devils) 58-8-21-29-48

D Radko Gudas (Tampa Bay Lightning) 53-2-14-16-122

*D Zbynek Michalek (Phoenix Coyotes) 36-1-5-6-20

D Michal Rozsival (Chicago Blackhawks) 33-1-5-6-28

D Ladislav Smid (Calgary Flames) 57-1-3-4-64

*F David Krejci (Boston Bruins) 57-13-37-50-26

*F Jaromir Jagr (New Jersey Devils) 59-17-32-49-32

F Jakub Voracek        (Philadelphia Flyers) 59-15-25-40-8

F Martin Hanzal (Phoenix Coyotes) 52-14-22-36-71

F Ondrej Palat (Tampa Bay Lightning) 58-14-20-34-18

*F Patrik Elias (New Jersey Devils) 44-11-22-33-10

*F Tomas Plekanec (Montreal Canadiens) 59-17-16-33-24

F Michael Frolik (Winnipeg Jets) 59-12-18-30-12

*F Milan Michalek (Ottawa Senators) 59-10-15-25-22

F Ales Hemsky (Edmonton Oilers) 52-7-17-24-20

*F Martin Erat (Washington Capitals) 51-1-21-22-20

Pos – Name – Team – 2013-14 Season Stats GP-W-L-T-GAA-SP%-SO

*G Ondrej Pavelec (Winnipeg Jets) 45-18-22-4-2.97-.901-1

7TH: Slovakia (Group A)

Analysis: This team’s chances rest on the huge shoulders of Zdeno Chara, who definitely makes his 6-foot-9, 255-pound presence known when he steps on the ice. Chara will have to lead this team, along with the highly skilled Marian Hossa, who’s really the only star player up front. Another player to watch is Andrej Sekera, who should have a solid tournament as he’s been having quite the productive NHL season with the Hurricanes — putting up 32 points in 55 games. Goaltending should be decent with Jaroslav Halak and Peter Budaj on the squad. They just don’t have enough elite talent to compete with the other hockey powerhouses. Slovakia has never brought home a medal since Czechoslovakia split, finishing 4th in 2010 and 5th in 2006. I see a step back in the standings to 7th.

Olympics competed in: 6 (Czechoslovakia 16 others)

Medal Count: None / Czechoslovakia 4 Silver, 4 Bronze (8 Total)

Best Finish: 4th (Silver as Czechkoslovakia)

Worst Finish: 13th

Last Medal: None (Bronze in 1993 as Czechoslovakia)

Current IIHF World Ranking: 8th

Number of current NHLers on Roster: 12

Number of Returning Players from 2010: 12

Expected Top Performer: Marian Hossa

Pos – Name – Team – 2013-14 Season Stats GP-G-A-PTS-PIM

*D Andrej Sekera (Carolina Hurricanes) 55-9-23-32-18

*D Zdeno Chara (Boston Bruins) 54-13-13-26-44

*D Andrej Meszaros (Philadelphia Flyers) 35-4-12-16-34

D Martin Marincin (Edmonton Oilers) 22-0-2-2-12

*F Marian Hossa (Chicago Blackhawks) 55-24-26-50-16

F Tomas Tatar (Detroit Red Wings) 49-13-11-24-12

*F Tomas Kopecky (Florida Panthers) 49-4-8-12-18

F Michal Handzus (Chicago Blackhawks) 41-4-7-11-10

F Richard Panik (Tampa Bay Lightning) 39-2-9-11-15

F Tomas Jurco (Detroit Red Wings) 19-3-4-7-10

Pos – Name – Team – 2013-14 Season Stats GP-W-L-T-GAA-SP%-SO

*G Peter Budaj (Montreal Canadiens) 14-6-4-1-1.97-.926

*G Jaroslav Halak (St. Louis Blues) 39-24-8-4-2.26-.915-4

8TH: Switzerland (Group C)

Analysis: It’s hard to ignore the fact that Switzerland always performs well on the Olympic stage and gives fits to teams with a lot more talent. Jonas Hiller is a great goaltender, Roman Josi and Mark Streit are above-average NHL defenders, and Raphael Diaz and Yannick Weber are average NHL defencemen. Damien Brunner and Nino Niederreiter are the only current NHLers up front and neither are anything too special at this point in their careers. Roman Wick, who played 7 games with the Senators a few years back and has been a Swiss League standout the past few years, will be relied on heavily to help spur this team’s offence. The Swiss finished 8th in Vancouver, and I’d expect the same this year.

Olympics competed in: 16

Medal Count: 2 Bronze

Best Finish: 3rd

Worst Finish: 11th

Last Medal: Bronze in 1948

Current IIHF World Ranking: 7th

Number of current NHLers on Roster: 8

Number of Returning Players from 2010: 11

Pos – Name – Team – 2013-14 Season Stats GP-G-A-PTS-PIM

*D Mark Streit (Philadelphia Flyers) 59-8-21-29-32

D Roman Josi (Nashville Predators) 49-8-17-25-14

*D Raphael Diaz (Vancouver Canucks) 49-1-12-13-12

*D Yannick Weber (Vancouver Canucks) 32-2-3-5-8

F Nino Niederreiter (Minnesota Wild) 59-11-18-29-32

F Damien Brunner (New Jersey Devils) 41-9-8-17-24

Pos – Name – Team – 2013-14 Season Stats GP-W-L-T-GAA-SP%-SO

*G Jonas Hiller (Anaheim Ducks) 39-25-9-4-2.34-.917-4

G Reto Berra (Calgary Flames) 27-4-3-1-2.66-.908-0

9TH: Austria (Group B)

Analysis: Thomas Vanek and Islanders teammate Michael Grabner will have the chance to show what Austria can do on the Olympic stage for the first time since 2002 and should be motivated, but will also be relied upon heavily for offensive production. Michael Raffl is the only other NHLer on the roster and should be equally enthused, but also in demand of a strong performance. I feel Austria will place 9th, its highest showing since 1988 when it did the same with the team’s enthusiasm guiding the way despite their lack of NHL depth. I can see a lopsided loss against fellow Group B member Canada. But Austria should stay close against an offensively challenged Finland squad and beat a comparable Norway squad in the round robin.

Olympics competed in: 13

Medal Count: None

Best Finish: 5th

Worst Finish: 14th

Last Medal: None

Current IIHF World Ranking: 15th

Number of current NHLers on Roster: 3

Number of Returning Players from 2010: Did Not Qualify

Pos – Name – Team – 2013-14 Season Stats GP-G-A-PTS-PIM

F Thomas Vanek (New York Islanders) 57-19-30-49-36

F Micahel Grabner (New York Islanders) 56-9-11-20-12

F Michal Raffl (Philadelphia Flyers) 46-7-11-18-16

10TH: Norway (Group B)

Analysis: Would you pick a nation known for vikings to finish last in a battle? I wouldn’t either, but I do believe Norway should place higher than last and possibly as high as 8th. After the last Olympics helped Mats Zuccarello land an NHL gig with the New York Rangers — where he is thriving as the team’s leading scorer this year — he also finds himself as the lone current NHLer on the squad. There’s also former NHLers like Patrick Thoresen and Ole-Kristian Tollefsen in the lineup, but Norway shouldn’t be expected to place high. It ended up 10th in Vancouver, and I would expect the same this tournament. The Norwegians hadn’t played in the Olympics since they hosted the 1994 Games prior to their appearance in the 2010 Vancouver Games, but with 13 returning players, there should be some familiarity. Norway may be a long way from matching its Scandinavian neighbours Finland and Sweden, but it is definitely on the way to being competitive.

Olympics competed in: 11

Medal Count: None

Best Finish: 8th

Worst Finish: 12th

Last Medal: None

Current IIHF World Ranking: 9th

Number of current NHLers on Roster: 1

Number of Returning Players from 2010: 13

Pos – Name – Team – 2013-14 Season Stats GP-G-A-PTS-PIM

*F Mats Zuccarello (New York Rangers) 58-15-28-43-24

11TH: Slovenia (Group A)

Analysis: If this team was full of Anze Kopitar-calibre players, we’d be talking about medals. But I don’t think even the most knowledgeable (North American) hockey fan could name anybody else on the team without sneaking a peek at the roster. However, I do believe the strong play of Kopitar and the enthusiasm of making the country’s first ever Olympic hockey appearance may be enough to keep this team out of last place.

Olympics competed in: 1st

Medal Count: None

Best Finish: None

Worst Finish: None

Last Medal: None

Current IIHF World Ranking: 17th

Number of current NHLers on Roster: 1

Number of Returning Players from 2010: Did Not Play

Pos – Name – Team – 2013-14 Season Stats GP-G-A-PTS-PIM

F Anze Kopitar (Los Angeles Kings) 59-17-30-47-16

12TH: Latvia (Group C)

Analysis: Latvia has finished 12th the past two Olympics and I’d expect that trend to continue. Zemgus Girgensons of the Buffalo Sabres is their lone NHLer and he’s not exactly a household name yet, in this his rookie season. Former NHLers on the squad include defenceman Oskars Bartulis (Philadelphia) and forward Kaspars Daugavins (Ottawa, Boston). Then there’s a name more familiar to most hockey fans — Sandis Ozolinsh. The 41-year-old former San Jose Sharks blue-liner cracked Latvia’s roster, but he is no longer the highly offensive defenceman he was back in the 1990s. Speaking of the 1990s, Latvians and San Jose Sharks, what this team needs is for its goaltenders to perform similar to how Arturs Irbe did for Latvia back in 2002, when he helped his country to its best finish ever, which was 9th. Of course, Irbe — at 47 years old and having retired shortly after the 2006 Olympics — would not be a solution for the Latvian net these days. But a repeat performance of Irbe’s heroics may be the only thing that could keep Latvia out of the tournament basement. That challenge will fall to 21-year-old Tampa Bay Lightning goaltending prospect Kristers Gudlevskis or 29-year-old Ervins Mustkovs, who is performing well in Denmark and also played well in Sweden last year.

Olympics competed in: 5

Medal Count: None

Best Finish: 9th

Worst Finish: 12th

Last Medal: None

Current IIHF World Ranking: 11th

Number of current NHLers on Roster: 1

Number of Returning Players from 2010: 13

Pos – Name – Team – 2013-14 Season Stats GP-G-A-PTS-PIM

F Zemgus Girgensons (Buffalo Sabres) 56-5-12-17-6

NOTE: NHL players with an asterisk (*) also played in the 2010 Olympics.

Individual Awards

MVP: Sidney Crosby (Canada)

TOP FORWARD: Sidney Crosby (Canada)

TOP DEFENCEMAN: Erik Karlsson (Sweden)

TOP GOALTENDER: Tuukka Rask (Finland)

Top Performer for other countries:

Alexander Ovechkin (Russia)

Phil Kessel (USA)

David Krejci (Czech Republic)

Marian Hossa (Slovakia)

Jonas Hiller (Switzerland)

Thomas Vanek (Austria)

Mats Zuccarello (Norway)

Anze Kopitar (Slovenia)

Zergus Girgensons (Latvia)

Next Olympic player to perform well enough to land an NHL job:

Roman Wick (Switzerland)

IIHF World Rankings courtesy of: http://www.iihf.com/home-of-hockey/championships/world-ranking/mens-world-ranking/2013-ranking.html

Olympic Medal Information courtesy of: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_hockey_at_the_Olympic_Games

Jesse Gill is a former radio broadcaster and colour commentator who dreamed of anchoring TSN, but has since changed careers and now calls Medicine Hat, Alta., home. His passion for hockey has remained strong, as a lifelong Toronto Maple Leafs fan who also enjoys the junior ranks and the rougher side of the sport. Follow him on Twitter: @JesseGill3.

Dan Nadeau

GOLD: Sweden. Too much depth for anyone to overcome, especially on the back end. King Henrik For MVP!

SILVER: Russia. Russians are almost as prideful as Canadians when its comes to hockey, and Sergei Bobrovsky has proven he can be an elite ‘tender.

BRONZE: Finland. Tuukka Rask steals the bronze from Canada.

4TH: Canada. Can’t overcome the lack of scoring with Stamkos missing, and the big ice will be a factor, plus the goaltending will falter in the medal round.

5TH: Czech Republic. Solid team, but don’t think Petr Nedved and the old boys’ club will do much. Missing Jiri Hudler and a few others.

6TH: USA. Will be a strong contender in four years if the NHL still sends its players to the Olympics, but the lack of experience on the defence will show strongly in this tourney.

7TH: Switzerland. Up-and-coming hockey country will surprise a few teams, but still not quite there.

8TH: Slovakia. Just don’t see them competing this year for some reason.

9TH: Austria. Solid hockey nation, but too small to compete with the major players.

10TH: Latvia. Arturs Irbe still playing for them? If so, have a shot at 9th?

11TH: Slovenia. Kopitar > Zuccarello.

12TH: Norway. See Above.

TOP GOALTENDER: King Henrik (Sweden, MVP)

TOP FORWARD: Evgeni Malkin (Russia)

TOP DEFENCEMAN: Erik Karlsson (Sweden)

DARKHORSE MVP: Sergei Bobrovsky (Russia)

Dan Nadeau is a retired hockey player living the dream through coaching and beer leagues. Good at hockey, better at drinking beers! Follow him on Twitter: @dan_nadeau.

Scott Lepp

GOLD: Canada. Plain and simply, they’re sending the best team to Sochi. P.K. Subban is going to shine offensively and Carey Price will be the X-Factor.

SILVER: U.S.A. Goaltending is going to keep ‘Merica in this one. They managed with a non-elite D corps in Vancouver and I expect they’ll do the same. Look out for TJ Oshie.

BRONZE: Sweden. With Russia wallowing after semifinal loss, the Swedes will dominate start to finish with their typical execution and great netminding. Gabriel Landeskog cements himself as a stud.

DARKHORSE: Really isn’t one. Swiss aren’t good enough. The rest of the top 7 could all win and I don’t think it would be a huge surprise.

MVP: Sidney Crosby (Canada). Best player on gold-medal-winning team.

DARKHORSE MVP: Patrick Sharp (Canada).

STAR FORWARD: Duh. Crosby (Canada), the greatest player on the planet.

STAR DEFENCEMAN: Erik Karlsson (Sweden). Canada has too much depth and D will be American’s Achilles heel while Karlsson always shines.

STAR GOALTENDER: Tuukka Rask (Finland). The Fins are going to be trouble, but lack of scoring will lead to their demise. Rask will nearly carry them to the semis.

Scott Lepp is an Independent Film/TV Producer from Okotoks, Alta. Lifelong Calgary Flames fan turned critic and contributor to SBNation blog Matchsticks & Gasoline. Follow him on Twitter: @WestmountWailer.

Matt Gunn

GOLD: Canada. It may be a bit of a homer pick, but from top to bottom, no other team comes close to Canada.

SILVER: Sweden. A lot of big-game players on this team, a great defence and arguably the best goalie in the NHL.

BRONZE: Russia. Will this be considered a disappointment for Russian fans? It shouldn’t be. They have a good team, but not a great team, and bronze should be considered a success.

DARKHORSE: Finland. They dont have much for offence and their defence doesn’t match the other top teams, but their goaltending depth is No. 1 in my opinion. They always play a great team game at IIHF events and seem to come together quickly in these short tournaments, which is something Canada often does not do.

MVP: John Tavares. The easy pick (and likely eventual winner) is Sidney Crosby. But I’ll go a little off the board and say Tavares comes through with some timely big goals and ends up the tournament MVP.

ALL-STARS: I’ll have to go with my predictions above in order to pick who my all-stars will be. The three forwards being Alex Ovechkin, Crosby and Tavares. Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Shea Weber as the top two defencemen and Henrik Lundqvist as top goaltender.

Matt Gunn is a Kelowna resident with a lifelong passion for hockey, and a self-professed master of fantasy hockey. Follow him on Twitter: @mattgunn18.

Josh Aldrich

GOLD: Sweden. The best combo of goaltending and defence in the tournament, especially with Lundqvist back in world-class form. Biggest question is their ability to replace Henrik Sedin and Johan Franzen up front.

SILVER: Russia. Their firepower, competent goaltending from red-hot Sergei Bobrovsky and home crowd get them to the final. But when your D includes Anton Belov, I see heartbreak for the Russians.

BRONZE: Canada. I do want to be able to remain in the country. I just can’t trust Canada’s goalies and Canada has always struggled in non-North American Olympics. Something will go wrong.

DARKHORSE: Czech Republic. Tons of offensive talent, but a questionable back end. If Ondrej Pavelec continues his strong recent play, they could make a push for the podium. And let’s not forget, this is likely Jagr’s last time on the world stage. He’ll want to go out with a bang. Can he turn back the clock for a week?

MVP: Alex Ovechkin (Russia). This tournament means more to him than anything else in his career, more so than winning a Cup (remember the rhetoric during the lockout if the NHL opted out of Sochi?). We’ll see a new side of the reigning NHL MVP.

TOP FORWARD: Patrick Kane (U.S.A.). He’ll be one North American player that can take advantage of the big ice surface with his elite speed and skill, has knack of coming up huge when it matters most and it doesn’t get any bigger than the Olympics.

TOP DEFENCEMAN: Erik Karlsson (Sweden). Lost in the shadows in Ottawa, his playmaking ability, awareness, first pass and comfort level on the big ice will be on full display. He will be huge for Sweden as they march to gold.

TOP GOALTENDER: Henrik Lundqvist (Sweden). After a shaky start to the season, he has played much better of late, and he will rise to the occasion, leading Sweden to gold while proving all over again that he’s the best goalie in the world.

Josh Aldrich is an award-winning sports editor at the Nanaimo Daily News with more than a decade in the newspaper business. In March, he will be joining the staff at the Red Deer Advocate. Follow him on Twitter: @JoshAldrich03.

Larry Fisher

GOLD: Canada. Team to beat on paper, led by the NHL’s top 3 scorers at Olympic break. Goaltending is wild-card, but I think it is in good, capable hands either way.

SILVER: Russia. Hosts have the offensive firepower to come out on top, but their depth and defence is a little suspect and could cost them in the end.

BRONZE: Sweden. Losing Henrik Sedin will hurt, but their other Hank (King Lundqvist) will get them into the medals, most likely beating the Americans for bronze.

DARKHORSE: None. The five also-rans will be non-factors again. The seven medal contenders shouldn’t come as a surprise however it plays out.

MVP: Sidney Crosby (Canada). The best player in the sport will once again be the best player on the biggest stage, outshining Alex Ovechkin and Co. in the gold-medal game.

DARKHORSE MVP: Ilya Kovalchuk (Russia). Nobody knows what to expect from him, but I’m expecting a determined performance that rivals any player in the tournament. Could outscore Ovechkin.

STAR FORWARD: John Tavares (Canada). He’s already broke out by NHL standards, but I think this will be his real coming-out party — especially if he plays with Crosby. I foresee Tavares leading the tournament in scoring (points).

STAR DEFENCEMAN: Erik Karlsson (Sweden). Silky smooth and fully recovered from his Anchilles injury, much of Sweden’s offence will run through this dynamic defender. Would be surprised if Karlsson doesn’t lead defence scoring.

STAR GOALTENDER: Semyon Varlamov (Russia). Will need to first win the role of starter, but I think he ends up backstopping Russia within a goal or two of gold. If they end up winning, this guy is your MVP (… or Sergei Bobrovsky if he starts instead).

Larry Fisher is a sports reporter for The Daily Courier in Kelowna, B.C. Follow him on Twitter: @LarryFisher_KDC.

Hmm, what to guarantee?

I could shave my head — that’s always a classic.

I could purchase a Russian hockey jersey and post the proof in a new Facebook profile picture if they prevail. Those sweaters are pretty snazzy, after all.

Or I could eat nothing but Swedish meatballs for a week straight if their creators come out on top. That is, assuming they actually come from Sweden.

What the heck, let’s go big or go home, yell out YOLO and guarantee ALL of the above.

No . . . no, let’s not. But in all seriousness, that’s how confident I am that Canada will walk over the competition and capture gold in men’s hockey at the Sochi Olympics.

Yes, this is shaping up to be a cakewalk — in my opinion. That’s right, I’m guaranteeing GOLD!

Sure, any number of teams — eight by my count; that’s counting Switzerland — could upset Canada in this one-game elimination format. That’s entirely within the realm of possibility. Stranger things have happened.

But, in a seven-game series, I honestly don’t believe any of these 11 other countries could win more than twice — at least not with their current Sochi rosters, some of which have been depleted by key injuries and, therefore, no longer pose as much of a threat.

That’s how good this Canadian team is — even without Steven Stamkos, who had to be left at home, still recovering from a broken leg.

There will be more than enough firepower in Sochi, with the NHL’s three leading scorers — Sidney Crosby, Ryan Getzlaf and John Tavares — all playing for Canada, the top two among 11 returnees from the 2010 championship team in Vancouver.

Crosby, of course, scored the ‘Golden Goal’ there, in overtime to edge the Americans.

Flashing back to this year, I wasn’t enamoured with Canada’s selections of Chris Kunitz or Marc-Edouard Vlasic. I felt (and still feel) there were better options at both forward and defence. Claude Giroux and Brent Seabrook, to name two.

I also don’t have enormous faith in goaltender Roberto Luongo, especially in a one-game, winner-takes-all situation. This, despite Luongo being between the pipes for the 2010 final.

Overall, though, Canada is built to win again in 2014 — significantly better, on paper, than everybody else.

Take a minute to go through the respective depth charts and directly compare individual players — you will find that there is no comparison. This should be no contest, providing Canada plays to its potential on an every-game basis.

That’s easier said than done — and there’s always the luck factor. But smart money, for the betting types, is on Canada. The bookies tend to agree, with most making Canada an odds-on favourite ahead of Wednesday’s tournament-opening puck-drop.

Canada has everything to lose as the defending Olympic champion, but I would contend that Russia has even more pressure playing at home.

The bigger-ice debate is overblown by my estimation, and Canada has contracted former Edmonton Oilers and Swiss national team coach Ralph Krueger to offset that perceived European advantage. Canada’s players will have a couple practices to get accustomed upon arriving in Sochi — remember, this ice size isn’t new or totally foreign to most of them. That will be followed by a couple easy — very easy — games to start against Norway and Austria, so by the time Canada faces Finland on Sunday, this shouldn’t be an overbearing or insurmountable issue. It should, by and large, be a non-issue.

For everything critics and pessimists can dig up to deny Canada the gold or diminish its chances of topping the podium — and there’s plenty of fodder there for the taking — the fact remains that Canada is the team to beat in Sochi. And for good reason. Lots of good reasons.

If — and it’s a big IF — Canada’s goaltending holds up, with Luongo or perhaps Carey Price playing above average, then gold should be there for the taking. I say above average because that should be enough to get the job done.

If the goaltending is good or great, gold should be a foregone conclusion. They may as well just play O’ Canada before the games — as they do in the NHL — rather than wait until after, because the results will never be in doubt.

That might be pushing it. I might be exaggerating Canada’s dominance as a not-so-partial pundit. Call it arrogance or ignorance, but that’s how I see these Games playing out.

And, rest assured, these aren’t patriotic feelings, but a gut feeling — that there will be no stopping Canada in Sochi.

Larry Fisher is a sports reporter for The Daily Courier in Kelowna, B.C. Follow him on Twitter: @LarryFisher_KDC.

We’ve all heard it before — heck, most of us have probably said it: Canada is so deep in hockey talent, we could likely put two teams on the Olympic podium.

Maybe the brain trust at Hockey Canada should just continue to concentrate their efforts on getting one team there.

Canada has not won gold in back-to-back Olympics since 1952 in Oslo, Norway. That was also the last time the Maple Leaf earned gold in a country other than our own or the U.S.

Check that. That first place even predates the maple leaf as our national symbol.

It’s been a long time.

The big shift? Russia started sending teams to the Games.

Now this blog could get bogged down in the legitimacy of those tournaments — Russian and European pseudo-professionals against North American amateurs — but the trend has continued on since NHLers were given the green light to participate at the Olympics in 1998 in Nagano, Japan.

In fact, Canada has failed to even medal at both Games on the other side of the pond.

For the sake of the modern pro-Olympic Games, I’ll focus more on what went wrong then and why it can happen again in Sochi when the puck drops on the men’s tournament early Wednesday morning.

The first thing to remember is Canada — according to just about every pundit then as they are this year — was the overwhelming favourite heading in, even in 1998 despite losing to the United States in the World Cup in 1996.

Nagano was Canada’s chance at redemption.

But a couple of things went terribly wrong.

Most glaringly, some of Canada’s best players were left at home because the collective brain trust got too cute.

Rob Zamuner is remembered for one thing, and one thing only: Shocking the hockey world by being selected to Team Canada as a defensive forward instead of Mark Messier.

One can argue that the Moose was over the hill and would not be able to perform on the larger Olympic ice surface, and I think there is definitely some merit to that. But his leadership attributes cannot be denied, nor can the fact he had just scored 80 points the previous season and had a long-storied career with the national team.

Zamuner never played in an all-star game and was never a finalist for the Selke trophy as the NHL’s top defensive forward.

Despite all of that, Canada rolled along to the semifinal where it skated smack dab into arguably the greatest goalie of the generation playing at the top of his game, Dominik Hasek and the Czech Republic.

In a one-game elimination, any team can win.

But it was no fluke for the Czech’s either, who went on to beat Russia for the gold — 1998 marked their high watermark in international hockey.

They were more than just Hasek. They had players like Jaromir Jagr — who will play in his fifth Olympics this year — Robert Reichel, Martin Rucinsky, a young Milan Hejduk, Roman Hamrlik, Martin Straka, Peter Svoboda and a few others who carved out solid NHL careers. Not all of them were future Hall-of-Famers, but they were not pushovers either. And Hasek gave them a puncher’s chance.

Much has been made about leaving Wayne Gretzky on the bench for the shootout, but the Great One was never great in the 1-on-1 showdown. Though one has to believe he had a better chance than defenceman Ray Bourque or Joe Nieuwendyk or Brendan Shanahan.

Again, Canada got too cute. They out-thought themselves.

In Turin in 2006, as defending Olympic champions, Canada had several problems.

Instead of taking budding superstar Sidney Crosby, who was in the midst of a 102-point rookie season, Team Canada’s brass out-thought themselves again. This time, taking not one but two defensive specialists: Kirk Maltby and Kris Draper.

Russia, for example, did not worry about putting their young future NHL MVP, Alex Ovechkin, in the spotlight and they led the round-robin portion of the tournament in scoring. Ovechkin ended up leading the Russians with five goals in Turin.

This flows into Canada’s next big issue: Its inability to score.

Canada managed just 15 goals in six games — finishing seventh in the 2006 tournament in terms of putting the puck in the net, which is also where Canada finished overall.

Well out of medal contention. Way off the podium.

Some of Canada’s offensive woes were due to, once again, leaving some of their best weapons on the shelf. And some of it was due to a difficulty in adjusting to everything from time changes to each other.

For one reason or another, Canada flopped.

In 2002 in Salt Lake, they didn’t pussyfoot around. They took the best of what was available, even their defensive forward — Michael Peca — was an all-star calibre player and a multiple Selke trophy winner. They didn’t worry about Mario Lemieux being too old or being able to withstand the grind. They didn’t worry about a lack of experience among their young stars like Simon Gagne, Jarome Iginla and Eric Brewer, who at the time was a top up-and-coming defenceman.

In 2010, same thing — and that Vancouver result is still fresh in everybody’s mind. Who could forget Crosby’s Golden Goal?

Arguments can always be made due to Canada’s depth in regards to omissions, but looking at the 2002 and 2010 rosters, there were no purple sheep.

Everybody belonged.

Another big issue, is the size of ice.

Olympic ice is, of course, much bigger than what North Americans are used to. And absolutely, most of the international teams’ stars have spent almost all of their professional careers playing in small boxes in the NHL.

Where the difference comes in is style of coaching. Bigger ice does not necessarily translate into more room to skate. It is defended completely differently than in North America. Pro hockey in Europe is not wide-open, firewagon hockey.

Instead of defending players 1-on-1, they defend zones.

Think trap hockey.

Like any other sport, there are different styles with different countries, but coaches in those countries spend their entire career figuring out the strategy involved in defending that ice. Generally, these are the coaches that get tabbed to lead their national teams at the Olympics.

Canadian coaches, for the most part, haven’t spent their careers devising plans and gaining experience in defending big ice surfaces.

It’s a precision-based, strategic game, as opposed to one dominated by brute force with glimpses of high-end skill and finesse.

The size of the ice has not shrunk for Sochi as it did in Vancouver.

It’s just one issue facing Canada this year.

As always, there are roster issues. The injury to Steven Stamkos (broken leg) will be difficult to absorb, as was Paul Kariya’s in Nagano. But so is the omission of Claude Giroux in favour of Jamie Benn, Patrick Marleau and Rick Nash, who has started playing well again since being named to Team Canada but had been slumping for the last few years since Vancouver.

Still, it’s easy to look at the Canadian roster and proclaim them prohibitive favourites. However, like in 1998 and 2006, they’ve got to remember they are not alone in the hockey world.

Regardless of how much stock you want to put in the IIHF world rankings, Canada still only sits fifth.

Sweden is No. 1, followed by Finland, Russia and the Czech Republic in that order. The U.S. is behind Canada in sixth.

It is easy to make arguments for a few of those teams — like Sweden and Russia, or even the Americans — to pull an upset. All it takes is one off-game, or a red-hot goalie, or for the offence to dry up for Canada to come home empty-handed again.

They will once again have to deal with the time change, being away from family and interesting living conditions in the Olympic Village, to say the least.

But there is one added element that Canada will be forced to weather that it did not have to deal with in Japan or Italy: Russian nationalism.

Canadian pride undeniably played a huge role in Canada’s rise to gold in Vancouver, but now the shoe will be on the other foot. Canada’s ability to deal with this wave of emotion against them will go a long way to even finding a spot on the podium.

So, there you have it. Am I guaranteeing no gold for Canada? No. But you may want to wait before you start counting on any colour of medal for our home-and-native land in men’s hockey.

Josh Aldrich is an award-winning sports editor at the Nanaimo Daily News with more than a decade in the newspaper business. In March, he will be joining the staff at the Red Deer Advocate. Follow him on Twitter: @JoshAldrich03.

Seeing Cory Schneider between the pipes for the New Jersey Devils on Friday night was something of a revelation.

Could teams finally be taking the Edmonton Oilers seriously? Maybe, but more on that later.

Winners of five of their last six games, the Oilers were streaking — in a positive way for once — heading into the Olympic break. Had they prevailed again Friday, it would have been their third three-game winning streak of the season and second in as many weeks.

It wasn’t meant to be, however, as rookie defenceman John Merrill netted his first career NHL goal in overtime, lifting the Devils to a 2-1 victory.

Yet, even though the Oilers couldn’t extend their season-best run to six of seven, they earned a loser point that was very deserving. And they proved, at least to me, that they haven’t given up on this season.

The odds of catching up over their final 22 games following the Olympics are slim to none, but don’t tell Dallas Eakins or his players that. They are looking like a team very much in the fight these days, despite being 17 points behind the Phoenix Coyotes, who leapfrogged the Vancouver Canucks on Friday night for the Western Conference’s final wild-card playoff berth.

Perhaps the poster boy for Edmonton’s improved efforts (and results) as of late: Nail Yakupov.

The 20-year-old sophomore forward has been hitting his stride over the last couple weeks after struggling in the early stages of his second season and even serving as a healthy scratch on a few occasions. Now, the 2012 first overall pick has points in three straight and six points in seven games. It’s no coincidence that the Oilers also have points in six of seven.

That’s not to say Yakupov is suddenly the straw that’s stirring Edmonton’s offensive drink, but he’s certainly having a hand in that success and becoming more dependable at both ends of the ice.

Look no further than the third period of Friday’s game. Tied 1-1, Yakupov made one of the plays that really stood out on the night, recovering to strip the puck off Jaromir Jagr after getting dangled by the sure-fire Hall-of-Famer just inside the defensive blue-line.

Of course, Yakupov’s perfect pass to Taylor Hall on a give-and-go rush in the first period — resulting in Edmonton’s only goal of the game — was also a thing of beauty. It was an unselfish play by the shoot-first kid who has been doing his best to be a team player and complement his linemates. Yakupov’s doing exactly what the coaches are asking of him, and it’s paid off in a promotion to play alongside Hall and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, the two No. 1 picks before him.

If that trio can keep clicking when the NHL schedule resumes, with the Oilers home to the Minnesota Wild on Feb. 27, then Edmonton just might make a move in the standings.

The perfect storm would need to occur in order to make the post-season, including the Oilers essentially running the table, but it’s not out of the realm of possibility that Edmonton could climb out of the West basement and potentially out of the draft lottery.

Some fans don’t want that. They are already resigned to missing the playoffs for an eighth straight spring and would rather take another top-5 pick. That mentality has its merits, but I’d personally much prefer to be entertained down the stretch and I can only assume Edmonton’s season-ticket holders would share that sentiment.

This team needs to win sooner than later, and the sooner it starts winning, the better in my opinion.

Revisiting that initial thought, it’s no secret that several opponents opt to start their backup goaltender against the Oilers.

Since Christmas, which is about the time most considered Edmonton to be mathematically out of the playoff equation, the Oilers have played 21 games and faced 9 backups — albeit, some of those because of injuries to regular starters.

That’s still an alarming rate of second-stringers — 43 per cent to be exact. And since Jan. 7 when Brian Elliott backstopped the St. Louis Blues to a 5-2 win at Rexall Place, that percentage rises to 53 (8 of 15).

Without taking the time to fact-check this, it’s hard to fathom any other team seeing that many backups over the same span. Not even the last-place overall Buffalo Sabres, simply because points are at more of a premium in the Eastern Conference and clubs can’t risk an off-night by a backup. And the Sabres also have Ryan Miller, one of the league’s elite starters, so it’s often a low-scoring goaltender’s duel against Buffalo.

That wasn’t the case on Monday, when Buffalo started seldom-used Jhonas Enroth, and Edmonton won 3-2 thanks to a shorthanded breakaway goal by Matt Hendricks.

This, after the Oilers were blanked 4-0 last Saturday morning by Boston’s bench-warmer Chad Johnson, who earned just his second career NHL shutout.

It was during Thursday’s 2-1 victory over the New York Rangers, in which Yakupov scored the winner, that a received a text from a friend: Does a team ever start a first-string goalie against the Oilers?

That got me thinking, with the Rangers also giving Henrik Lundqvist the night off in favour of Cameron Talbot, a rookie with surprisingly impressive statistics. But Talbot is no Lundqvist, a perennial contender for the Vezina Trophy awarded to the league’s top goalie.

It made me contemplate: Were the Oilers actually in the (winning) zone. Or were their opponents just zoning out when they saw Edmonton on the schedule.

The truth probably lies somewhere in between, a combination of these extremes.

To some extent — and the aforementioned numbers back up this statement — the Oilers are surely being overlooked, underestimated and-or brushed off as incompetent bottom feeders.

Even with Edmonton’s reputation as a talented offensive team full of firepower in its top-six forwards, roughly half its opponents were using the Oilers as an opportunity to rest their starter. Or as a chance to ‘ease’ their backup into action, gaining valuable experience in what should be an ‘easy’ win.

Not anymore. And not on Friday night.

Granted, Peter DeBoer’s thought process for starting Schneider might not have had much to do with Edmonton’s recent turnaround. It may well have been more about Schneider’s familiarity with the Oilers, having spent the past few seasons playing in the same division with the Vancouver Canucks.

Or it could have revolved around the fact that Martin Brodeur, another Hall-of-Famer in waiting, hasn’t been at the top of his game lately and hasn’t played since being yanked at Yankee Stadium in New Jersey’s 7-3 outdoor loss to the Rangers on Jan. 26.

Brodeur surrendered six goals on only 21 shots that day before being replaced by Schneider for the third period. Since then, Schneider had made four straight starts prior to facing the Oilers on Friday.

Had Edmonton not been on fire (by Edmonton standards), one has to wonder whether Brodeur would have got the starting assignment instead. After all, this should have been the perfect setting to boost Brodeur’s confidence, especially considering Edmonton had still been outshot in six straight contests coming in. But the Devils played it safe — or perhaps smart — by sticking with Schneider, who turned aside 19 of 20 shots in New Jersey’s fourth straight game that extended beyond regulation.

That has amounted to six points — two overtime wins and two OT losses — and the Devils, like more than a half-dozen teams in the East, are desperate for points in the ultra-competitive standings.

New Jersey closes out its pre-Olympic schedule on Saturday in Washington against 40-goal man Alex Ovechkin and the Capitals. It will be interesting to see who gets the start there, tasked with stopping the league’s most lethal sniper.

Every bit as intriguing will be watching to see who gets the bulk of starts for the Oilers after the Olympics.

Ben Scrivens and Ilya Bryzgalov have been sharing the crease since Scrivens was acquired from the Los Angeles Kings on Jan. 15.

Both are unrestricted free agents after this season, and at least one could be signing an extension to stay in Edmonton.

Most would bet on that being Scrivens, a local product from Spruce Grove, rather than Bryzgalov, an enigmatic Russian who has openly expressed his distaste for cold climates in years past but was left out in the cold to start this season with essentially no other option besides Edmonton.

Nobody has really discussed the potential for both to return and continue platooning next fall.

With Bryzgalov turning 34 in June and Scrivens turning 28 in September, that might be an option worth exploring for rookie general manager Craig MacTavish, providing they both keep playing above expectations and both want to make Edmonton their future home.

Time will tell on that front, but goaltending has been the least of Edmonton’s concerns since Scrivens’ arrival. He’s been great and Bryzgalov has been almost as good, including his 22-save performance in a losing cause on Friday.

Edmonton fans can only hope that tandem picks up where they left off, but it’s also possible that one or the other gets in a groove and Eakins goes with the hot hand for an extended portion of the remaining schedule.

Stay tuned as we all turn our attention to the Olympic tournament for the next two weeks.