Ice hockey Olympics is wrapping up and some seriously good hockey is to come. Your Washington Capitals will not be part of any medal round.
In a shocking defeat, the Russians were blown out of Vancouver by a suddenly resurgent Team Canada. Canada came into the Olympics with a 'favored' status to win the gold, loaded on each Line. After a shocking loss to Team USA, the Canadians have been on a mission to reassert their dominant status and have done just that. Yesterday, the Canadians thumped the Russians 7-3, knowing Alex Ovechkin and Alexander Semin out of the Olympics and sending them back to Washington. The head scratching thing to me about the Russian teams was two things. One, why was there no goalie change at all during the 7-3 blowout? Two, defense wins Olympic hockey and the Russians simply didn't have any. We all had high hopes for the Russians because of the fire power of Ovechkin, Semin, Evgeni Malkin, and Pavel Datysuk, but the fact is, the Russian defense was porous and Canada exposed it badly. Team Canada put up 42 shots on goal in a much anticipated match up. In the end, the Russians went out with nothing short of a whimper.
My feeling is, this hurt for Great 8. Let's hope Ovechkin channels that frustration going forward toward the ultimate prize, the Stanley Cup.
In another shocker, defending Gold Medal champs Sweden were defeated by the Slovaks 4-3. It wasn't as big of an upset given the quality of hockey played by the Slovaks throughout the Winter Olympics thus far. Nicklas Backstrom will join his fellow Caps in the flight out of Vancouver into Washington. He exits leading the Swedes in scoring with 1 goal and 4 assist, 5 points.
Finally, Tomas Fleischmann can catch up to Backy, Ovie, and Semin for the flight home as the Czech Republic, another medal favorite exits after getting shutout by Finland 2-0. What a great game by Calgary goalie Mikka Kiprusoff, stopping all 21 Swede shots for the win.
Your Capitals final stats:
Nicklas Backstrom (SWE), 1 goal, 5 assists (2nd in overall), 6 points (2nd overall), +1, 68.97 face off percentage (2nd overall)
Alex Ovechkin (RUS), 2 goals, 2 assists, 4 points, +1
Alexander Semin (RUS), 0 goals, 2 assists, 2 points, 0
Tomas Fleischmann (CZE)
Congrats to Nicklas Backstrom on a fine Olympic performance, finishing 2nd overall in Assists, Points, and Faceoff percentage,


In the opening salvos of Winter Olympics Hockey, the expected winners, USA, Canada, and Russian all held true, and posted opening wins.




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