2010 Winter Olympics: Canada vs. Russia Highlights and Analysis

It’s been a long time since Canada and Russia faced off in arguably the greatest hockey tournament ever played. Never one to overstate the obvious—Canada came out on top in that tournament, albeit by a nose.

Throughout the Olympic Hockey Tournament many experts have stated that this year's installment may, in fact, be the greatest assembly of hockey players ever assembled and, given the play by the likes of Team USA, Sweden and underdog Switzerland, perhaps the greatest tournament ever, eclipsing the 1972 Summit Series.

Tonight’s game between Canada and Russia will be as much about pride in country as it will be about Sidney Crosby versus Alex Ovechkin.

Fierce rivals on the ice, both Crosby and Ovechkin have a great amount of respect for one another’s abilities, but make no mistake about it, they will be bitter rivals tonight, in fact, you can count on a war.

During the summer I had an opportunity to spend a few moments interviewing Ovechkin  at an event at Hockey Life in Vaughan, Ontario.

During the interview I asked Alex, if you had your choice, which one would you most want to win this year, an Olympic gold medal or the Stanley Cup?

Without hesitation, Ovechkin answered back, “first I win the gold medal, then I win the Stanley Cup, both”.

While no one can argue with his optimism, Ovechkin’s statement seemed a little arrogant at the time. Since then Ovechkin has his Washington Capitals sitting in first place overall in the NHL standings and a game away from playing for a medal at the Olympics—no guarantee it will be gold yet, but he is close nonetheless.

Sidney Crosby already has his Stanley Cup ring—some may even say it came at the expense of Ovechkin and his Washington Capitals (even though Crosby’s Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Detroit Red Wings in the Finals), what he doesn’t have is that coveted Olympic gold medal.

A victory over Russia in tonight’s tilt would not only get Crosby and Canada one step further to their gold medal dreams, it would also supplant Crosby as the games most dynamic player—especially if he was to derail Ovechkin for the second time.

(Game Highlights and Analysis)

Seconds before the puck dropped, you could hear the passion from the fans and feel the tension of the players. Canada/Russia is a time-tested tradition, one that trumps just about any rivalry in hockey history.

Canada starts the game off with a big hit from defenseman Shea Weber on Maxim Afinogenov that echoed throughout the arena, Canada will have to expose Russia to lots of physical punishment if they are to be successful, that first hit is a solid start.

Moments later, Canada broke out of their own zone, Dan Boyle skated through the neutral zone with great confidence, fed Ryan Getzlaf—a pass Getlaf would deposit into the back of the gaping Russian net, 1-0 Canada, a perfect start.

Russian goaltender Evgeni Nabokov was caught way out of position on the play, fact is, he looked very amateurish and gave his doubters more ammunition for their “Nabokov always chokes argument”.

Give Nabby the early “Goat”.

Canada continually took the body in the early going, something we haven’t seen a lot of from Canada this tournament. By the looks of things Russia was going to need the smelling salts tonight, something that has Canadian fans grinning from ear-to-ear.

Brent Seabrook took the first penalty of the game—a bad call from the American referee. Canada did a good job of keeping the puck away from Ovechkin, continually hitting him at every opportunity, limiting his effectiveness and nullifying Russia’s power play opportunity in the process.

Under extreme pressure form Sidney Crosby and Jarome Iginla, the Russian’s took their first penalty of the game, Anton Volchenkov for tripping.

Canada came out fast and furious on the ensuing power play, netting numerous chances, culminating in the San Jose Shark combination of Dany Heatley and Patrick Marleau feeding teammate Dan Boyle in front of the net, 2-0 Canada.

Canada scored 46 second later, when Rick Nash put another one past the Russian goaltender, assisted by Jonathan Toews and Mike Richards, 3-0 Canada— Canada’s fans were “losing it”, and deservedly so.

Russia would push back, establishing pressure in Canada’s zone, but Roberto Luongo stood tall in the net, keeping the Russians at bay and off the scoreboard with just under six minutes to go in the period.

Then, with 5:21 left to play, Dmitri Kalinin scored for Russia, a shot that Luongo never saw—and just like that, Russia was back in the game.

Canada and Russia would exchange scoring chances for the rest of the period, until Canada scored it’s fourth goal of the period when Brendan Morrow slide a puck past Nabokov after all but walking in uncontested from the corner; 4-1 Canada.

Canada out shot the Russians 21-12, dominated the period and looked to be on their way to a very convincing victory to say the least.

Pressure? What pressure?

Or, in other words, Canada pounded Russia like a “new fish” in prison...it wasn’t pretty and it’s something the Russians never want to go through again. Pass the Vaseline, Russia just got screwed!

In an attempt to get things going for Russia, you might have expected the coaching staff to pull Evgeni Nabokov in favor of Phoenix Coyote’s goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov to start the second period of play—to the surprise of everyone, it didn’t happen, Nabokov was back, undoubtedly leaving many Russian fans scratching their heads.

The fact is, Russia had not pulled a goaltender since 1998 and, on this night anyways, that would be a mistake.

Canada started the second period right where they left off—dominating the Russian’s down low, establishing strong pressure and creating scoring chances, seemingly at will.

Then, coming off a turnover, Ryan Getzlaf exploded through the neutral zone and threaded a nice pass to Anaheim Ducks teammate Corey Perry, who immediately launched the puck past the over matched Nabokov, 5-1 Canada—this game was getting uglier than Oprah Winfrey at a Vegas buffet, and that’s pretty U-G-L-Y!

Moments later, Jarome Iginla took the puck up the boards, getting the puck to Toews, who, in turn, fed the puck to Shea Weber, who quickly deposited the puck into the Russian net with authority, 6-1 Canada...It was all over but the crying.

The Russians responded quickly, when Ilya Kovalchuk fed a nice pass to Maxim Afinogenov who blasted the puck past Canada’s Roberto Luongo.

With the score now 6-2 Canada, the Russian’s tried to assert some control over Canada, but the Canadian squad was have none of that, standing tall and fighting back in all areas of the game.

Thus far the “game within the game” had not developed, Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby had been non-factors, nullifying the anticipated battle of the games two best players.

Canada got it’s first goal past Bryzgalov, when Corey Perry netted his second goal on the night, assisted by Eric Staal and Ryan Getzlaf—it would be Canada’s third goal on five shots in the period, 7-2 Canada.

The goal also gave Canada five players with two points on the night (and they said Russia had assembled “the best offensive lineup ever”), yeah, right!

Shortly after, Canada was caught with too many men on the ice. Russia took advantage of their power play opportunity when, with Alex Ovechkin in front of the net, Sergei Gonchar blasted a puck from the point past Luongo, a puck he never saw coming.

With the score now 7-3 Canada, it was time for the Canadians to settle things down. Russia took an interference penalty when Canada’s Dany Heatley was driven into Ilya Bryzgalov by a Russian player.

Canada failed to score on their opportunity as Russia did a nice job of shutting them down...for once!

Canada took a late penalty in the period, but once again, Russia was unable to score. The Russians left the ice with a look of disbelief on their faces. Canada dominated them in every facet of the game and the scoreboard backed that statement up, 7-3 Canada—medal round, here we come?

In a twist a faith, the “Beaver” (a symbol of Canadian pride) was eating the “Bear” (a symbol synonymous with Russia)—not the Bear eating the Beaver!
Russia started the third period on the power play, but neglected to score.

Possibly in a fit of frustration, Anton Volchenkov (who toils for the Ottawa Senators in the NHL) drilled Canada’s Eric Staal into the boards—no call on the play, which was just disgusting! There is no room in the game for this crap!

Russia took a penalty moments later when Sergei Gonchar took a hooking minor on Jonathan Toews.

Canada failed to score, but they did extract of measure of revenge for the dirty hit on Staal when Ryan Getzlaf nailed Volchenkov on the ensuing power play—shoulda kept your head up Anton! That’s Karma for ya!

Inexplicably, Russia was caught with too many men on the ice, leaving them shorthanded yet again. Canada failed to capitalize on their opportunity, but they did get a number of good chances.

Canada played out the rest of the third period with confidence, truculence and poise, continually winning battles along the boards and, in the process, keeping the Russians at bay.

Russia was awarded another shot on the power play when, with just over five minutes to go, Canadian defenseman Chris Pronger took a holding penalty. Roberto Luongo made an awesome save on a tough shot from Evgeni Malkin—his 24th save of the night, negating the power play and sending a message that he is ready for the spotlight.

It was Canada’s best game of the tournament, perhaps the best game any nation has played thus far, final score, Canada 7, Russia 3.....Russia is eliminated, Canada is back on track!

In the end, Russia defense and poor goaltending was the difference, but you also can’t sell Canada’s forwards short, they were full value for the win, a dominant performance for sure.

My Three/four Stars:

Dan Boyle: Three points in the first period alone, quite possibly his best game, ever.
Corey Perry/Ryan Getzlaf: can’t have one without the other, both players were dynamite, scoring goals, creating chances and dominating Russia all night long.
Shea Weber: inspired play, big hits, he was Canada’s best D-man tonight.

Canada will now face the winner of the Sweden/Slovakia game, a game that will undoubtedly be tough, regardless of Canada’s opponent.

That said, if Canada plays the way they did tonight, their opponent won’t matter, they will win handily....

I have a message for all the doubters out there, “Canada’s back”, spread the word!

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