Vancouver, days 2-4

Day 2

FIN-BLR

A great start for Finland! So far, out of the big countries, we think Finland got off to the best start. As we guessed, Belarus scored off a Finnish defensive bungle, and Finland didn't turn it into a blowout even though they could have. The power play was firing nicely, Kiprusoff was himself, and the only problem we really saw with Finland was what we figured: the defense. Pairing up Lasse Kukkonen and Joni Pitkänen doesn't exactly give us faith.

We said: 5-2 to Finland.

The score: 5-1 Finland. It turned out pretty much like we thought it would, so we say close.


SWE-GER

As we predicted, a difficult game for Sweden, and actually a surprisingly good effort from Germany, even though they got shut out. They did beat Lundqvist twice, but only got posts, and frankly, Sweden's opening goal should have been disallowed for blatant goaltender interference. It's also going to be fascinating to see how many more crosschecks to the face Doug Murray can get away with. If anything, this was even closer than we thought.

We said: These teams are really in different leagues, so the difference will swing to Sweden, but only at 3-1.

The score: 2-0 Sweden. We're happy with this one; it turned out to be a sticky game like we thought, and hey, we had the goal differential right. We're calling this one close.


CZE-SVK

Our first proper miss of the tournament, in the first game whose outcome was seriously in question. Slovakia has a fair chance at winning this, but what killed their game was a failure to score, but much more importantly, penalties. The Czechs scored the winner on a giveaway, and the third goal on the power play at the very end of the third, after a string of monumentally stupid penalties by the Slovaks, including two dumb penalties by Chára, who played one of the worst games we've ever seen him play. The Slovaks frittered away their good rally in the second on dumb penalties, and in the third, they were just plain bad. A big disappointment, especially since the Czechs didn't look very impressive. Jágr wins the Old Guy From Europe sweepstakes, playing a much more impressive game than either Ziggy Palffy or Peter Forsberg.

We said: Realistically speaking, 3-2 Slovakia.

The score: 3-1 Czech Republic. Miss. To be more precise, fail. This is the first game where we got the winner wrong.


So, Day 2 was over, and our scenario was in the trash because Slovakia let us down. Our record was 1-3-2, and it was about to get worse.

**

Day FAIL

USA-NOR

It isn't getting any better. The Americans sucked. The score is as high as it is only because of the endearing North American habit of beating up their opponent when they're down. The game was 3-1 coming into the third. It's a real shame for Norway, who put up a gallant fight against practically impossible odds, and came out of it with a score that doesn't reflect the game at all. The Americans are going to be in serious trouble against Canada if their offense and power play are this bad.

We said: This should be the highest-scoring game in the tournament. 12-1.

The score: 6-1 USA. Fail.


SUI - CAN

This is one we really don't mind being wrong on. Just like four years ago in Torino, the Canadians came into the game with a serious attitude problem, and ran headfirst into the tenacious Swiss defence. The Swiss played an excellent, physical forechecking game, and for our money, they're the best-playing team in the whole tournament so far, and certainly our favorites. Canada was absolutely rubbish; the only line that worked at all was the San José trio. After the Swiss tied the game at 2-2, the entire Canadian team seemed to panic. In the end, what decided the game was the inability of any Swiss player to get the puck past Brodeur in the shootout; just one goal from any of the first three shooters would have put Canada away. For that matter, though, had Brodeur not played a superb game, Canada would almost certainly have lost in regulation. Not that Hiller wasn't good, too, but in fact, it was Brodeur who stole the game for his team, not Hiller.

We said: 5-2 Canada.

The score: 3-2 SO Canada. Fail.


SVK - RUS

If Slovakia was a huge disappointment in their game against the Czechs, that was nothing compared to the way Team Russia failed to show up for this game. Today was a day of total offensive failure, and nothing exemplifies it better that the fact that Russia only managed a single goal against Slovakia. Russia was incredibly confused and disorganized; they played far better against Latvia. At this rate, they'll lose the deciding game for the group win against the Czechs and completely junk our predictions.

We said: 5-3 to Russia, if not even higher.


The score: 2-1 SO Slovakia. EPIC FAIL.


A dismal day for our predictions, with two out of three results just plain wrong. Our record now stands at 1-3-5. Ouch. Both of the grand favorites for the gold medal were major disappointments today, with both going to overtime in games that they should easily have won in regulation. In fact, the only team that consistently played well today, in our opinion, was Switzerland. Even they failed in the scoring department in the shootout, making today the worst day in the history of the offense since the First World War.

**

Day 4


BLR - SWE

We said: Despite less than 24 hours of downtime, this will be the biggest-scoring game in Group C, with Sweden winning 8-1.

The score: 4-2 Sweden. Miss.


CZE - LAT

We said: 8-1 to the Czechs.

The score: 5-2 Czechs. Miss.


FIN - GER

We said: Finland takes this 3-0.

The score: 5-0 Finland. Miss.


Apart from Team Finland, the failure of the offensive continues. Neither the Czechs or the Swedes were able to convincingly put their opponents away; the Czechs scored their fifth goal after the Latvians optimistically pulled their goalie. The only game we thought would be low-scoring was scuppered by the Germans' strange insistence on taking epicly stupid penalties, and the marvelous efficacy of the Finnish power play.

**

This is our second Olympic update, and our record stands at an unfortunate 1-3-8. We've only managed to call one score exactly, three were close, and eight missed altogether. On the other hand, though, we got the final outcome right in nine out of twelve games; Canada only beat Switzerland in overtime, not regulation like we thought, and Slovakia surprised us both times, first be being worse than the Czechs and then somehow making the Russians even worse than them. So in terms of winners and losers, we're 10-2. And apart from the Czechs and Slovaks switching places, so far our scenario has survived surprisingly intact.

Given that our predictions were laid down before any games were played, we're quite happy with our dismal-looking record. We're also very happy with Team Finland's play, especially after the power play onslaught on Germany. Also, Teemu Selänne is now the all-time points leader in modern-era Olympic hockey! Go Teemu.

The decisive games are next! Now it starts getting really interesting.