Heavenly Hockey

By Ken Daneyko
VANCOUVER, British Columbia

"You have to hand it to Team USA – they fought hard and, against big odds, beat the home nation’s team. The crowd at Canada Hockey Place was 98 percent against them. They had a huge hill to climb by beating the incredibly strong Team Canada. Mission accomplished.

Ron Wilson, the head coach of Team USA and the Toronto Maple Leafs, played a game he would rather avoid as a rule. He’s always said that he prefers putting pressure on his opponents, forechecking hard in the attacking zone and pursuing the puck aggressively at all times. He switched gears on Sunday night, ordering his players to clog the neutral zone and, as a result, play a very conservative game. And it worked, although the superb net-minding of Ryan Miller also had something to do with it.

I still say that Canada has the better team and that was shown by the lopsided shots-on-goal total. Despite the loss (and I acknowledge that’s the only thing that counts), or even leading the game, I felt that Canada played its best game yet. The puck movement and physical play was much better than its previous two games, and they dominated the Americans throughout the majority of the 60 minutes.

Yet Team USA skated off the ice with a win and an automatic berth in the quarterfinals of an Olympic hockey tournament that is earning rave reviews. Here’s a look at the Super Sunday showdown game and what I saw as the keys to the game.

The Goalies

It’s not a cliché, it’s a fact – teams need their goaltenders to steal wins. Behind any championship hockey team sits a goaltender who has played the hero’s role on more than one occasion.

On Sunday night, it was Miller’s time to shine although that comes as no surprise who’s watched him carry the Buffalo Sabres on his slim shoulders so many times this season.

There’s no question that Canada’s forwards found their stride in front of an incredibly partisan crowd. And it took someone like Miller to stop the 42 shots the Canadians directed his way. He did everything on the night to keep Team USA in the game and he did his job fantastically well. All credit for the Americans’ win must go to Miller, who made the key saves when he was called upon to make them.

But I will stick up for my man, Martin Brodeur. I must admit it was a night when the younger and newer New Jersey Devils out-Devilled the ultimate Devil as Jamie Langenbrunner put the puck past Brodeur and Zach Parise assisted on Ryan Kesler’s empty-net goal.

Marty will surely be criticized for his play on Sunday. He made a few mistakes with some of his plays. But that’s how Marty rolls – he plays the puck and sometimes he gets burned for it. It’s a risk that Brodeur takes and when he does it well (and that’s often), he gets praise for it. On Sunday, he had a few rough patches with his puck-handling and it cost the team dearly. No one feels worse about that than Brodeur.

There’s no doubt that Roberto Luongo will be back in net on Tuesday as Canada takes on the Germans to qualify for the quarterfinals. But I don’t think we’ve seen the last of Brodeur in these Olympics.

The D-men

Sharing center stage with Miller on the Americans’ wonderful night was Detroit Red Wings’ blueliner Brian Rafalski.

Playing against his current NHL coach Mike Babcock, Rafalski had himself a game to remember. The veteran defenseman scored against his former New Jersey teammate Brodeur, collected his third and fourth goals of the tournament, and set up Langenbrunner’s goal. As the oldest player for the Americans, he showed great leadership on the ice. He showed that a veteran player can have a huge impact on a young team, not only in the dressing room but on the ice. There’s no doubt that Rafalski was the best defenseman for both teams.

Although I still contend that Canada has the better D-men, you have to give credit to the American defensive corps for the way it dealt with the constant wave of Canadian forwards. Despite the shots on goal, the Canadians’ top skaters were given a rough time around the American goal. This was a case where there wasn’t just one single person that stood out for USA. The team worked hard at trying to stop the Canadians and, although they used some fairly conservative tactics, they got the job done.

For Team Canada, someone who didn’t have his best night was Chris Pronger, who appeared sluggish and unable to keep up with the up-tempo pace of the game. If there’s a weak link with the Canadian team, it’s their play in the defensive zone and that’s something that Babcock will undoubtedly address before the game with Germany.

Luckily the good news for Canada is that Drew Doughty and Shea Weber shone, and for that reason, earned a lot of ice time. Doughty was all over the ice creating havoc for the American forwards. And Shea Weber was a work horse on the back end.

Doughty recently admitted to feeling awestruck when he first arrived in Vancouver. But he hasn’t shown that in the three games as a first-time Olympian, showing a lot of poise and he delivered another solid performance against the Americans.

The Forwards

How do you create a line around Sidney Crosby? Babcock has almost tried everyone in an attempt to find linemates for Sidney. The Pittsburgh captain looked frustrated at times Sunday, despite scoring a goal and having several good scoring chances, and it appears that the always important chemistry is still being worked out.

The San Jose Sharks’ line of Joe Thornton-Dany Heatley-Patrick Marleau continues to work really well. They were bullish and around the USA net all night long, but aside from Heatley’s second-period goal, came up a little short against Miller.

I really enjoyed watching Ryan Getzlaf. The hulking forward and Ryan Kesler were at each other for most of the night. It was great to watch Getzlaf and Kesler mouthing off right out of the gate. The side antics and little games the two played to get into each other’s heads was good to see. It’s these little things that add a little extra spice to a game that already has lots of emotion and tension.

The two forwards who really impressed me were New York Rangers’ teammates Chris Drury and Ryan Callahan. They have great defensive minds, which is why the carried a heavy load on the penalty kill and were on the ice for a large chunk of the final minutes as the American hung on to the lead.

The night belonged to the Team USA. They came out and played a smart game, and they did what they had to do. On paper, it shouldn’t have happened. On paper, Canada is far and away a better team. But with the fantastic performance Miller delivered, combined with the conservative defensive strategy Wilson employed, you take that paper, roll into a ball and toss it into the recycling bin.

Emotions of the game

Being inside Canada Hockey Place was just fantastic. Yes the crowd left a little quieter than they entered the building. Emotions for this rivalry are always going to run high. But with the Olympic Games in Canada, and Team USA looking for revenge after being unable to win gold on home ice during the 2002 Salt Lake Games, the rivalry is amplified as both teams have a great amount of pride on the line."

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