Up Next: Sochi Men’s Hockey Quarterfinals
You can forget everything that you have seen so far, because this is where the real hockey begins in Sochi.
The weak have fallen off and we are left with eight teams all battling for a spot in the semi-finals. Lets take a quick look at the four matchups we have on-tap on Wednesday.
Sweden vs. Slovenia (3 a.m EST)
Sweden was the only team to earn nine points in the preliminary round, which earned them the #1 seed. They catch what should be a tremendous break on Wednesday as they take on Slovenia. Anze Kopitar and company have become a great underdog story, playing Russia to a tight game, beating Slovakia and then eliminating Austria 4-0 on Tuesday. Despite their miraculous run to this point, Sweden is the theoretical Goliath in this matchup. Remember, David did defeat Goliath, but in this story, it will likely be King Henrik of Sweden walking away triumphant over Robert Kristan and the remainder of the Slovenian squad. Nonetheless, Slovenia has been extremely fun to watch and should pose a few problems for the Swedes.
Finland vs. Russia (7:30 a.m EST)
Finland is without their top-three centres (Mikko Koivu, Valtteri Filppula and Aleksander Barkov) while Russia is loaded with offensive talent. The hosts have looked rather tight so far, but can never be overlooked because of all their skill and the home-ice advantage. The ultimate equalizer in this contest is expected to be Tuukka Rask, but even he has looked shaky in the Olympics. Russia’s KHL stars have risen to the top, so should Evgeni Malkin, Alex Ovechkin and the remainder of the NHL talent on this squad find their game, the remaining teams should look out. On paper, it looks like a Russia vs. Sweden semi-final is on the horizon.
U.S.A vs. Czech Republic (noon EST)
The Americans have played very well so far. They have dismantled the opponents they were supposed to beat and we able to tackle the Russians in a shootout. While the USA has looked sharp, the Czech’s just discovered their scoring touch on Tuesday. If they are able to carry Tuesday’s momentum into Wednesday’s game, they should be able to give the Americans a run, however look for the USA to skate by the older, slower Czech’s in this quarterfinal matchup.
Canada vs. Latvia (noon EST)
There is not much to say about this game. Canada is far more talented and should be able to run away with this game. Edgars Masalskis has been a great story in Sochi, but this is Canada vs. Latvia. Canada has 25 NHLers to Latvia’s one. While Canada continues to tinker with their lines, this should be nothing but another primer for their more difficult games that lie ahead. At the start of the tournament I (along with many others) predicted it would be Canada, USA, Russia and Sweden in the final four, all things are in-line for that to happen.