Team USA Defeats Canada; What Now?

Mark RitterFeb 22, 2010

Written By: Mark “The Hard Hitter” Ritter

If you asked any American citizen if they thought Team USA was going to beat Canada on Sunday night this Monday morning, you’d likely get 100 percent of them saying “yes”.

It’s easy to boast when your country just defeated a hockey power like Canada on their home turf, but the reality is, there were more than a few American fans and experts alike that were looking for Canada to beat Team USA.

Coming into the game the Internet was cluttered with hundreds of blogs talking about why Canada would win—many of which pointed to Canada’s superior size, experience, goaltending, and the fact that Canada would have the benefit of playing on their own soil.

As it turns out, the biggest factor in the match between Team USA and Canada was the goaltending of American Ryan Miller— well, that and a terrible performance from Canada’s own goaltender, Martin Brodeur, who was out of position on several occasions and struggled to handle the puck all night, something nobody saw coming.

Make no mistake about it, Team USA was full-value for the win on Sunday night—they took advantage of their opportunities where Canada failed and, in the process, frustrated the Canadian players and fans.

Despite Canada’s loss, I would be remiss if I didn’t state the obvious—it’s not over for Team Canada; in fact, this tournament has just begun.

As a result of Canada’s loss to the United States they will now have to beat Germany just to get the chance to play Russia for the right to be in the gold medal game. On the surface, it may appear as if Canada’s loss to the United States puts Canada behind the eight ball, but I happen to think it’s a good thing.

The Canadian squad has failed to gel the way Steve Yzerman and Co. had hoped. As such, an extra game against the Germans may very well accomplish two things.

First, if Canada does defeat Germany they may find their confidence again—if they lose it won’t matter. Second, the tilt against the Germans gives Canada another chance to find that elusive chemistry, without which, Canada will fail miserably against the talented Russian squad.

Would Canada have liked to have beaten the Americans? Sure—the benefit of which would have been to take the road less travelled to the medal round, which obviously has its advantages.

The reality is, if Canada beats Germany they are right back in the mix for the gold medal, which is why Canada is here in the first place.

Think back to the World Junior Championships...Team USA lost a close match against the Canadians in the preliminary round, only to beat both the Russians and Canadians en route to a gold medal victory. Why can’t Canada do the same?

Stranger things have happened and, while I would be foolish to dismiss the likes of Sweden, Finland, and the Czech Republic as gold medal contenders, I will be rooting for another USA vs. Canada showdown.

While a chance at redemption would be sweet for Canadians, we Canadians must be careful what we wish for.

Like the legendary Dominic Hasek at the 1998 Olympics in Nagano, America’s Ryan Miller has been putting on a goaltending clinic at these Olympics—especially in his 42 save effort against Canada Sunday evening.

Miller is the quagmire in this years Olympics and perhaps the biggest obstacle in the way of Canada's—or any other country's for that matter, chances of winning a gold medal in Vancouver.

Canada out-shot the American’s by a count of 19-6 in the first period and 14-4 in the third, yet both times the American’s scored twice while Canada scored just once in the first and third, respectively.

At this point, rather than looking for revenge against our neighbors from the South, Team Canada would be better off taking it one game at a time, first focusing their efforts on beating Germany—a team that will be no pushover and then trying to tackle the ultra-tough Russians, who, led by Alex Ovechkin, will be amped to oust the Canadians from the medals.

I am no coach, but I will offer some advice to Canada’s coaching staff:

First, Leave the lines alone. The constant tweaking of lines—especially the Sidney Crosby/Rick Nash line, has caused more harm than good and, in my opinion, has been a factor in Canada’s struggles and their inability to find chemistry.

Looking at the stat sheet from last night’s game I was more than a little disappointed to find Nash led Canada in hits. That’s not why we brought Nash to the dance, he needs to concentrate on scoring goals and setting up the big plays.

Second, cut back Joe Thornton’s ice time. Let’s face it, Jumbo Joe isn’t exactly the poster boy for big game success, as such, it’s time to relegate him to third and fourth line duties. To put it mildly, Thornton’s efforts have been sub-par, something that is all too familiar with San Jose Sharks fans.

It’s time for Canada to shorten the bench and ask their better players to step up. Forget about trying to roll four lines—let the big guns decide the games, in the end I’d rather win with my best players on the ice, not the likes of Thornton.

There is still a lot of hockey to be played at these Olympics and, if Canada plays it’s cards right, they still have a chance at a gold medal—the odds are a lot slimmer today, then again, that’s what we all said about Team USA’s junior squad...and we all know how that turned out, don’t we?

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