Olympic Hockey: Expect the Unexpected

That’s it. I am done with predictions when it comes to this Olympic men’s hockey tournament.  Before the Games started, I said Russia would beat Canada in the gold medal game. Then, I emphatically said the Canadians would outplay the U.S. in pool play. Not content with myself after the first week of action proved those predictions laughable, I sided with the Russians over Canada in last night’s quarterfinal game. Finally, I went on record saying Sweden would defeat the U.S. for the gold medal.

Let’s get in the 4 Sport Boston time machine and see how I am doing so far …

Russia over Canada for the gold medal: Um, they met in the quarterfinals in a loser leaves town match.

Canada would outplay Team USA in pool play: We can debate which team played the better game, but the Americans capitalized on chances and played much better than I ever anticipated. They won the game and the pool.

Russia would follow Alex Ovechkin’s lead and paste Canada in the quarters: That sound you hear was Evgeni Nabakov screaming in pain from the sunburn he has after the goal light shone down on him all night. Canada with a 7-3 win over the surprisingly listless Russians.

Sweden would go back-to-back with the gold after seeing the medal round matchups: Well, Slovakia came up with a big 4-3 win early this morning to end those hopes.

To recap: I made four predictions. I was 100% wrong every time. I put the whammy down on whoever I backed every time. I guess this explains why I am the world’s worst ESPN: Beat The Streak player. Seriously, every time I see a choice where it is “Who will win the gold medal? Bode Miller or the field”, I take the field. Then that slacker ski bum goes and throws down the run of his life. WTF, dude. So, in honor of the current streak I am riding, here are a few more predictions before we get to yesterday’s games...

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