Olympic Update

The first week of the Olympics has passed, and there has definitely been some exciting hockey to watch.

First and foremost, of course, is Team USA, which beat Switzerland 3-1 on Monday. They then beat Norway 6-1 on Wednesday. Tim Gleason unfortunately didn't make it on the scoresheet at all.

The interesting games so far have been the same Swiss team which USA beat forcing Canada into overtime and a shootout, although ultimately losing 3-2. Sidney Crosby scored the winning shootout attempt, although it is obviously that any team can be carried by a hot goaltender - Jonas Hiller obviously held his own extremely well.

Another team who ran into a hot goaltender was the favorite Team Russia - they lost to Slovakia and Jaroslav Halak 2-1 in another shootout.

Let's just say that either of these teams having trouble in these rounds is extremely surprising, as they were both expected to be head and shoulders above anyone else.

For Caniacs, Tuomo Ruutu and Joni Pitkanen both scored goals in the 5-0 Finnish victory over Germany. Pitkanen also had a point in the 5-1 win over Belarus. Eric Staal made it on the Team Canada scoresheet in the 8-0 victory over Norway.

Tomorrow is the game of games, USA v. Canada. Believe it or not, the USA is currently on top of the Group A standings, due to winning both of their games outright (the Olympic standings give 3 points for regulation wins and 2 for OT/SO wins). This game will be important to determine who may get a first-round bye for the quarterfinals.