2010 Winter Olympics: U.S. Men's Hockey Opens Play Against the Swiss

Game One of the 2010 Olympic Hockey Tournament may not have the same meaning as a medal round tilt would. But nonetheless, the United States will be looking to kick off their run at the gold in the correct way with a win over Switzerland this afternoon in Vancouver.

The tournament has been greatly hyped since August, when the team training camps were held. Expectations are especially high from a U.S. perspective. Team USA enters the tournament with a young and hopeful roster. The path to a gold medal is littered with threatening competition along the way, which is why America knows very well that they will have to overachieve this time around.

GM Brian Burke went with a young but skilled approach with this team. But like I stated in my Olympic Preview yesterday, the question is whether that skill is enough to overcome teams like Canada and Russia, who are stacked from top to bottom.

Now, obviously when you are going up against a team like Switzerland, you should have a rather easy time winning the game with a lineup full of NHL players. But at the same time, do not expect any of these countries to just roll over for the favored squads.

Switzerland is made up of a few NHLers: the Islanders' Mark Streit (defense), the Ducks' Jonas Hiller (goaltending), the Habs' Yannick Weber (defense), and Luca Sbisa (defense), who currently plays with the Winterhawks of the AHL. In addition, Rangers prospect Andres Ambuhl will be among the Swiss forwards. Ambuhl was acquired by the Blueshirts last summer as a free agent and currently plays with the Hartford Wolf Pack of the AHL.

While they may not have a plethora of big names in the lineup, Switzerland is still a team that can be considered somewhat dangerous. After all, they were able to shutout Team Canada four years ago in Torino, where they finished the tournament sixth overall.

Hiller, who was recently signed to an extension with Anaheim, is a solid goaltender. If the United States cannot gel on offense in this game, they could possibly be outskated and out-goaltended. You look at the odds of that actually happening and yes, they are slim to none, but the Swiss have been known to pull out upsets in the past as detailed above.

The United States runs into problems with their depth compared to the competition in this tournament, but they certainly have a solid top six. With Zach Parise, Dustin Brown, and Patrick Kane leading the way, the Americans should have no problem finding the back of the net. Complimenting the scorers will be the bottom six, who are offensively capable but more of a grinding-type group.

On defense, you have a solid core in veterans: Scott Niedermayer and Ryan Whitney, followed by young guns Ryan Suter and Jack Johnson. I do not foresee defense being a problem for the United States; if anything, it will be the strongest area of their lineup. Head coach Ron Wilson enjoys playing a more upbeat system, so do not expect the defense to only be focused on their own zone, but rather to jump into the rush as often as possible.

Ryan Miller will get the start in goal for the United States this afternoon. Usually in the preliminary rounds, teams tend to alternate goaltenders. Expect Tim Thomas to get the nod in the near future and maybe even Jonathan Quick as well. But for now, it is the Sabres' Miller who will be between the pipes, even though he has struggled as of late in the NHL. However, Olympic hockey is a whole different game, as we are well aware.

I will have postgame analysis of this contest up at the conclusion of the game, and then it is off to Canada Place to catch the Canadians play the Norwegians. In the meantime, follow my in-game updates at twitter.com/RangersTribune.

USA Roster

Switzerland Roster