26 November: Olympic hockey games preview

If you still haven't heard about it you have to be living on another planet; The Olympic Games 2002 are coming up and the NHL players are going to participate in them. For the first time in 4 years the NHL players will proudly be able to dress up in their national team jerseys and show their teammates it's THEIR homecountry that is the best country in the world at playing hockey. In Nagano 1998 the European countries showed the world that European hockey is much more effective than the North American one when playing in a international rink, as all three medals went to Europe. Just to refresh your memory; Russia played the Czechs in the final, but had to settle for silver. Finland beat Canada in the bronze game. Of course there's a lot of special things about the Olympics. But there's one thing that's unique about the Olympics when it comes to broadcasting the games. The NHL has sold the rights to broadcast NHL games to various Pay-Channels in the few European countries interested in NHL hockey. England is probably the only place where regular people get to see NHL games for free. But the NHL can't sell the rights for watching something they don't own! That means millions of people that othervise never see the best players in the world play will get to see a glimse of the players that year after year dissapear to the other side of the Atlantic. (Believe me, here in Scandinavia many big hockey fans haven't seen a single full NHL game) So if once the NHL players are able to show the world how good they are, and surely even drag more people into the NHL hockey it's at the Olympics! With the player material and the fairly wide open game that will be played it shouldn't be much of a problem anyway... A funny thing I've noticed is that every country seems to think they are going to get the gold! In North America the Americans seemed to have forgotten how it went in Nagano, and won't be pleased with anything else than a medal. The Canadians are even more ambitious: They aren't going to be happy for anything except the gold if you're to believe the press and the fans! Here in Europe the Finnish and the Swedish teams seems to have more realistic goals. However the fans surely won't be happy with anything below a medal. But on the same time (just like the USA) they are good enough to compete for the gold! The Russians don't seem to be as bold as the Canadians, even if their goal surely is, or at least should be the same one as the Canadians'. The Czechs have won everything you can win in international ice-hockey since their triumph in Nagano, and a defending gold medalist's goal is always to do the same thing over again, right? What I'm trying to say is that no matter how bad YOUR homecountry will finish, remember that there's 6 teams all with the same goal, but only three medals! So if your team finishes fifth or something, remember that there are super stars in the NHL that "never" will be able to get an Olympic gold with their current home countries! Ozolinsh and Kolzig, just to mention two. Not to mention the NHL fans from those countries who won't even have a team to cheer for! Let's take a look at the top teams' weaknesses and strengths: Russia: "The giant in the east" Amazing skill, speed and agility -- There's no doubt that the Russians have enough firepower to set whole Salt Lake city on fire! But there's always a risk that the Russians will get it all wrong, making it all end up as a disaster. They've got "too many" "always pass me the puck guys" like Pavel Bure, Sergei Fedorov and Alexei Kovalev, which isn't good when basically the whole team is used to having the puck a lot. The defense is solid and offensive, but the goalie situation could be better. But if they manage to team up the right guys with each other to get the right chemistry the Russians will be extremly hard to stop on an ice-surface where it isn't as easy to stop skilled players as it is in today's NHL. Canada: "The team without any visible weaknesses" They've got lots of good players - Almost enough to make two competitive teams! They've got several of the NHL's elite goalies: Roy, Joseph and Brodeur just to mention three. (If Roy really won't participate Brodeur will surely be the starter.) The only big thing you can point out is their lack of European hockey size experience, and there's a risk they are over-estimating themselves. The Czech-Republic: "The team to do it" If Jagr and Hasek won't be playing at their average or better the Czechs won't stand much chance of getting the gold again. Straka would have been the work horse on their team, but we all know he's injured and won't be able to participiate. The defense could be much better, but they make up for it with two great goaltenders. Will the Czechs pull it off again? Finland: "The team that will fight to the bitter end!!! :)" With Koivu so sadly out for the NHL-season it will be a hard tournament for the Finns. Selänne and Kapanen won't be able to single handedly make up for the Finnish offense. The second- and third line will probably have to play at it's maximum if they want to go all the way. The goaltending situation isn't very good for the Finns either. Goalies like Fredrik Norrena or Miika Kiprusoff will have to step up to get the work done if Hurme won't stand the pressure. Finland is a team that will be choosing players playing first team in the Finnish top league rather than guys playing 5 minutes a game in the NHL, so there might be a lot of new faces to get to know for some of us. When looking at the rosters the Finns might look weak, but beware: The Finns have got an outstanding balance between intensity, speed and skill which is extremly frustrating for any team that challanges them. They're allways on top of international team tournaments and an underrated team by some. USA: "The tough guys team with the right attitude! :-)" Tons of muscles and players who are ready to give their life (!) to be able to win that gold medal in front of the home crowd! But remember that physical style of playing is a lot harder in the European sized rinks. You just can't shut down start players as easily as in the NHL. The defense is good, but the Americans' weakness will be their lack of offensive talented super stars. Modano, Tkachuk and Roenick aren't like Jagr, Sakic and Bure... Sweden: "Talented but a bit soft" They've got the best defenseman of the 00/01 season (Lidström), as well as a pack of other talanted guys with Forsberg in the lead... Yes. I do think Forsberg will return in time for the Olympics. Forsberg's hunger for the tournament is too big. He has been frequently saying that he would love to participate in the Olympics. He hasn't started skating yet, but is physically practicing already. If he'll be able to play just a few games for the Avalanche before the Olympics you bet he'll play for team Sweden too! In goal Tommy Salo should be a safe card. Hedberg or a maybe the young but promising goalie from the Swedish Elite League, Stefan Liv, will get the chance in case Salo isn't playing the way he should. Both Salo and Sundin came to help their national teams in the 2001 World Cup after their teams had fallen out of the playoffs, but neither of them impressed me that much. But keep an eye on Kristian Huselius. The Olympic hockey games haven't been closer. I promise you many dazzling, exciting and fun games! 4 years of waiting is over now.