callen
02-22-2006, 12:33 PM
TURIN, Italy (CP) - Canada's first do-or-die game at the Winter Olympics will be against its old rival Russia.
The two countries with the most world-class players and the most Olympic gold medals face off Wednesday in the quarter-finals at Torino Esposizione (2:30 p.m. ET). The winner moves on to the semifinals. The loser goes home.
"This is when the tournament really starts, everything else up to this point is just a buildup, a warm-up," said Canadian captain Joe Sakic. "Now is when you've got to play."
It will be the first Canada-Russia showdown at the Olympics since the 1992 final in Albertville, France, won 3-1 by the Russians in the era before full participation of NHL players at the Games, which began in 1998.
In other quarter-final matchups it's: the Czechs versus Slovakia, Sweden versus Switzerland and the U.S., versus Finland.
Canada's best will meet Russia's best for the first time since the opening round of the 2004 World Cup of Hockey, when Canada won 3-1. They also met in the semifinals of the world championships in May, with Canada winning 4-3 with many stars missing on both sides.
Canada was heartened by ending the preliminary round Tuesday with a 3-2 win over the Czech Republic to finish third in Group A with a 3-2 record.
Russia (4-1-0) beat the United States 5-4 to finish second in Group B.
Now, the rivalry that began with the 1972 Summit Series between Canada and the former Soviet Union and continued with Canada Cup classics in the 1980s will have a new chapter - this time with two teams stacked with NHL stars.
"Any time you play them it's a great hockey game," added Sakic. "There's a great history there and it's exciting."
It's meaningful for the Russians, too. They pulled No. 1 goaltender Evgeni Nabokov after the first period against the Americans in favour of Maxim Sokolov to save Nabokov for Canada.
This Russian team has some of the flash of the old Soviet squads - great skaters, shooters, and passers, especially the young ones like Alexander Ovechkin, Ilya Kovalchuk and Evgeni Malkin.
"We're trying to bring our hockey back to what you used to watch on TV as a young kid - moving the puck, making fancy plays," said Russian captain Alex Kovalev.
Russia/Soviet Union has won Olympic gold eight times. Canada has won seven, including at the last Games in 2002 in Salt Lake City.
"It's going to be fun," said Kovalchuk. "We're got a lot of young players who are looking forward to playing Canada.
"If we want to win, we have to beat them sometime, whether it's the quarter-finals or anything else."
The Russians strike quickly, with speedy forwards always on the lookout for a breakout passes.
"They pose a lot of problems but at the same time, we know how to play them," said defenceman Chris Pronger. "We need to get back to Canadian hockey and just chip pucks in, finish our checks, create our turnovers and get on the attack."
Canada goes into single-game knockout competition feeling somewhat better about itself after its win over the Czechs.
Brad Richards, Martin St. Louis and Pronger scored on a shaky Tomas Vokoun in the first period and Canada held on for the win despite being outshot 33-16.
Pavel Kubina and Petr Cajanek scored for the Czechs, who finished fourth in the group and play their biggest rivals - 5-0 Slovakia - on Wednesday.
After consecutive 2-0 losses to Switzerland and Finland, Canada was glad to score some goals and play a more organized, disciplined game than the scattered play that marked their first four games.
"It was a big win, coming off two losses," said goaltender Martin Brodeur. "It was definitely a nice way to end the first round - with a big win against one of our big rivals in international hockey.
"We'll hopefully take some positives off this. Although there were some negatives, it's time to be positive."
Canada got a scare in the second period when Brodeur injured his left knee as Cajanek fell on him in the crease, but the veteran goaltender stayed in the game and expects to play against Russia.
"The knee's fine, I just tweaked it a bit,' said Brodeur. "It's a knee I hurt about three weeks ago in New Jersey and I didn't have to miss any time at all with that injury.
"Now it hit me again and I felt a similar tweak and I'm pretty positive I'll be all right."
A crowd of 9,126 at Palasport Olympico saw Canada, wearing the black uniforms they wore in their first game against Italy, play its best game of the tournament thus far.
"The biggest thing was that we came back as forwards and supported our defence," said winger Ryan Smyth, who celebrated his 30th birthday Tuesday. "And we came up together as a five-man unit. We played more as a team."
Still, the Czechs controlled much of the second period and the start of the third, but Brodeur was sharp when it counted most.
Vokoun wasn't so sharp. The Nashville Predator had played every minute since Dominik Hasek was injured in the first period of the Czechs' first game at the Olympics last week.
But he ceded his place to former NHL goalie Milan Hnilicka to start the second period. Hnilicka faced only eight shots the rest of the way.
"It was just a bad game," said Vokoun. "On the first goal, I just made a mistake and got scored on and it just snowballed from there. It happens sometimes. You don't want it, but it's the reality. I just have to refocus."
If Canada beats Russia, it will play the winner of the quarter-final between Finland and the U.S. in the semifinals.
Aiight guys here it is do or die!!!! My prediction is that Canada is going to come out absolutely flying this afternoon! 5-3 win over Russia. 8)
The two countries with the most world-class players and the most Olympic gold medals face off Wednesday in the quarter-finals at Torino Esposizione (2:30 p.m. ET). The winner moves on to the semifinals. The loser goes home.
"This is when the tournament really starts, everything else up to this point is just a buildup, a warm-up," said Canadian captain Joe Sakic. "Now is when you've got to play."
It will be the first Canada-Russia showdown at the Olympics since the 1992 final in Albertville, France, won 3-1 by the Russians in the era before full participation of NHL players at the Games, which began in 1998.
In other quarter-final matchups it's: the Czechs versus Slovakia, Sweden versus Switzerland and the U.S., versus Finland.
Canada's best will meet Russia's best for the first time since the opening round of the 2004 World Cup of Hockey, when Canada won 3-1. They also met in the semifinals of the world championships in May, with Canada winning 4-3 with many stars missing on both sides.
Canada was heartened by ending the preliminary round Tuesday with a 3-2 win over the Czech Republic to finish third in Group A with a 3-2 record.
Russia (4-1-0) beat the United States 5-4 to finish second in Group B.
Now, the rivalry that began with the 1972 Summit Series between Canada and the former Soviet Union and continued with Canada Cup classics in the 1980s will have a new chapter - this time with two teams stacked with NHL stars.
"Any time you play them it's a great hockey game," added Sakic. "There's a great history there and it's exciting."
It's meaningful for the Russians, too. They pulled No. 1 goaltender Evgeni Nabokov after the first period against the Americans in favour of Maxim Sokolov to save Nabokov for Canada.
This Russian team has some of the flash of the old Soviet squads - great skaters, shooters, and passers, especially the young ones like Alexander Ovechkin, Ilya Kovalchuk and Evgeni Malkin.
"We're trying to bring our hockey back to what you used to watch on TV as a young kid - moving the puck, making fancy plays," said Russian captain Alex Kovalev.
Russia/Soviet Union has won Olympic gold eight times. Canada has won seven, including at the last Games in 2002 in Salt Lake City.
"It's going to be fun," said Kovalchuk. "We're got a lot of young players who are looking forward to playing Canada.
"If we want to win, we have to beat them sometime, whether it's the quarter-finals or anything else."
The Russians strike quickly, with speedy forwards always on the lookout for a breakout passes.
"They pose a lot of problems but at the same time, we know how to play them," said defenceman Chris Pronger. "We need to get back to Canadian hockey and just chip pucks in, finish our checks, create our turnovers and get on the attack."
Canada goes into single-game knockout competition feeling somewhat better about itself after its win over the Czechs.
Brad Richards, Martin St. Louis and Pronger scored on a shaky Tomas Vokoun in the first period and Canada held on for the win despite being outshot 33-16.
Pavel Kubina and Petr Cajanek scored for the Czechs, who finished fourth in the group and play their biggest rivals - 5-0 Slovakia - on Wednesday.
After consecutive 2-0 losses to Switzerland and Finland, Canada was glad to score some goals and play a more organized, disciplined game than the scattered play that marked their first four games.
"It was a big win, coming off two losses," said goaltender Martin Brodeur. "It was definitely a nice way to end the first round - with a big win against one of our big rivals in international hockey.
"We'll hopefully take some positives off this. Although there were some negatives, it's time to be positive."
Canada got a scare in the second period when Brodeur injured his left knee as Cajanek fell on him in the crease, but the veteran goaltender stayed in the game and expects to play against Russia.
"The knee's fine, I just tweaked it a bit,' said Brodeur. "It's a knee I hurt about three weeks ago in New Jersey and I didn't have to miss any time at all with that injury.
"Now it hit me again and I felt a similar tweak and I'm pretty positive I'll be all right."
A crowd of 9,126 at Palasport Olympico saw Canada, wearing the black uniforms they wore in their first game against Italy, play its best game of the tournament thus far.
"The biggest thing was that we came back as forwards and supported our defence," said winger Ryan Smyth, who celebrated his 30th birthday Tuesday. "And we came up together as a five-man unit. We played more as a team."
Still, the Czechs controlled much of the second period and the start of the third, but Brodeur was sharp when it counted most.
Vokoun wasn't so sharp. The Nashville Predator had played every minute since Dominik Hasek was injured in the first period of the Czechs' first game at the Olympics last week.
But he ceded his place to former NHL goalie Milan Hnilicka to start the second period. Hnilicka faced only eight shots the rest of the way.
"It was just a bad game," said Vokoun. "On the first goal, I just made a mistake and got scored on and it just snowballed from there. It happens sometimes. You don't want it, but it's the reality. I just have to refocus."
If Canada beats Russia, it will play the winner of the quarter-final between Finland and the U.S. in the semifinals.
Aiight guys here it is do or die!!!! My prediction is that Canada is going to come out absolutely flying this afternoon! 5-3 win over Russia. 8)