{{{{Cinderella}}}Oh!indeed we shall.That prestigious Gold Metal is mere centimeters away from our boys grasp.One final victory & it is ours.Our beloved nation is blessed to have such fine talent representing us.Godspeed!Cy U.S.A.

In loving memory of Herb Brooks. R.I.P. Gone but never forgotten.Godspeed!Cy

A look at key matchups in Sunday's battle for goldSaturday, 02.27.2010 / 2:01 AM /
Share Neither Team USA nor Team Canada will be able to blame a failure to win the gold medal on a lack of familiarity with the opposing team.

All 46 players in Sunday’s championship game (3:15 p.m., NBC, CTV, TSN, SNET, V, RDS) play in the National Hockey League -- in fact, 10 NHL teams have players on both sides. Team USA’s Ryan Kesler will be trying to beat Canadian goaltender Roberto Luongo -- and three days later, he’ll be trying to score goals to help Luongo and the Vancouver Canucks win in Columbus.

American Patrick Kane and Canadian Jonathan Toews sometimes play on the same line together in Chicago. So do Team Canada’s Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry and American Bobby Ryan -- and all three often play in front of Canadian captain and defenseman Scott Niedermayer.

Team Canada coach Mike Babcock will be hoping that American defenseman Brian Rafalski’s scoring touch (4 goals) vanishes -- but only for a day. The two will be on the same bench Monday night in Denver when the Detroit Red Wings visit the Colorado Avalanche as the NHL’s regular-season schedule resumes.

To say that these teams know each other well is an understatement. Here’s a look at how some of the key figures have fared against each other during NHL play.

Had this been the expected meeting between Ryan Miller and Martin Brodeur, there would have been a lot of history -- but with Roberto Luongo supplanting Brodeur after the loss to Team USA last Sunday, that all disappears.

Instead, the gold-medal game features goaltenders who’ve faced each other only four times -- and just once since Luongo was traded to Vancouver by Florida in 2006. Luongo has won three of the four matchups, including a 3-2 win by the Canucks over Miller and the Buffalo Sabres in Vancouver on Jan. 25.

All three previous meetings took place in 2005-06, Luongo’s last season with the Florida Panthers.

Miller and the Sabres defeated Luongo and the Panthers 5-2 on Feb. 11, 2006, for Miller’s only victory against a team featuring Luongo in the other goal. Luongo led the Panthers to a 3-2 win in Florida on Oct. 15, 2005, and a 2-1 win over Miller and the Sabres in Buffalo on Jan. 1, 2006.

Patrick Kane personally spoiled Luongo’s spring last year by scoring six times against him as the Chicago Blackhawks eliminated the Canucks in a six-game Western Conference semifinal series. That included a hat trick in the elimination game. Kane also has three goals in regular-season play against Luongo.But other Americans have also had success against the Vancouver Canucks’ goaltender.

Bobby Ryan, who plays for the Anaheim Ducks, has scored 3 goals in two games against Luongo this season and five against him in the past two seasons. Phil Kessel scored twice against Luongo less than a month ago while playing for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Paul Stastny, who sees Luongo six times a season while playing for the Colorado Avalanche, had a goal against him in the season-opener and has five during his career.

David Backes has scored four times against Luongo in regular-season play for the St. Louis Blues, including twice in a game this season, and had a playoff goal against him last spring.

More than half of Team Canada comes from the Western Conference, meaning that they’ve seen Miller only rarely in the four seasons since he became the full-time starter in Buffalo.

No Canadian shooter has given Miller more trouble recently than Sidney Crosby. Sid the Kid has 7 career goals against Miller, including a hat trick in their last meeting, a 5-4 win for the Pittsburgh Penguins against the Buffalo Sabres on Feb. 1. Crosby also had three goals against Miller last season.

Should the game come down to a shootout, expect Canadian coach Mike Babcock to use Crosby as often as possible (teams can repeat shooters after the first three rounds). Sid has had a pair of game-deciding goals against Miller, including the famous winner in the 2008 Winter Classic.

Another Canadian who has fared well against Miller is Dany Heatley, now with the San Jose Sharks. Heatley had a goal against Miller when the Sabres visited San Jose last month and has 9 in his career (plus 2 in the playoffs). However, six of those goals came in 2006-07, including a hat trick on Jan. 3, 2007.

Other Team Canada members who’ve had some success against Miller include Rick Nash (3 goals in just four games) and Mike Richards and Patrice Bergeron (4 goals each).

Should the game come down to the tie-breaker (after a 10-minute overtime, five minutes more than the NHL uses during the regular season), the goaltenders have almost the same save percentage but not nearly the same results.

Miller is third on the all-time list with 28 wins in 47 decisions. His .709 save percentage is 13 th among goaltenders who’ve been in 20 or more shootouts -- one spot behind Luongo. However, Luongo’s .710 save percentage hasn’t translated into nearly as much success; he has a 20-21 record.

Miller is 3-4 this season with a .621 save percentage; Luongo is 2-2 and .636. (The NHL average save percentage on shootouts this season is .681.)

Offensively, Crosby is among the NHL’s best in shootouts this season at 75 percent (6-for-8) and scored the winner against Switzerland on his second try. He’s tied for the NHL lead with three deciding goals. Toews, who leads the NHL with seven shootout goals (in 12 tries) also figures to get a chance, as he did against the Swiss. He’s the best Canadian career shooter at 54 percent (13-for-24).

The Americans have not had a shootout in the tournament. Three U.S. shooters -- Zach Parise, Jack Johnson and Patrick Kane -- have scored four times in shootouts this season. Parise is 4-for-8; Johnson 4-for-11 and Kane 4-for-13. Career-wise, the best American shooter is Joe Pavelski, who’s made exactly half of his 32 attempts.

Hey I totally agree with you just to come out with a medal regardless if it is Gold, Silver or Bronze they should be very proud that they placed so high with all the competition they are up against.

But.....Gold is the ultimate to reach where those that take the Silver feel as if they totally screwed up and should have had the Gold. And then there is Bronze hell they are just enlighten they were actually that close and did not take 4th..........

To me regardless what they take it shows they did there best and to come out within the top 3 they all should be proud they were so lucky to surpass all the other teams that they did....

G'morn.{{{Kristi}}}My sediments exactly.One can only imagine the dedication & preparation that it required for each one of these fine athletes to compete at this monumental level.They are chosen very carefully within the strictest of guidelines & qualifications criteria.So it's fair to say that each one has more than earned their chance to represent our beloved country.They truly make us proud regardless of which medallion is earned.They have my deepest respect & love.Godspeed!Cy

Hey!{{{p~s}}} & {{{a~g}}}guess what?My beloved country is going to open a can of whoop azz on Canada this afternoon.he-he. Personally,I can't wait to get this game under way.The headline will read:U.S.A.wins Gold Metal in 2010 Olympics!! Great sportsmanship=1 hug & 1 flower each.

What is funny is I'm not a sports minded person at all normally never watch them. But have watched the Olympics this year and have really gotten into the Hockey and actually have always wanted to go see a Hockey game live.....

But now it is time for the USA to bring it on talking about opening a can of .......................




Well today it is time to bring out the can of ..................



GO USA GO USA GO USA GO USA GO USA GO USA GO USA GO USA GO USA GO USA GO USA GO USA GO USA

(wipes sweat from brow )





what a wonderful display of north american hockey to showcase to the rest of the world

Hehehehe hey that was and Awesome game Canada came out with the Gold USA with the Silver..................

Was a bit disappointed that there was not one smile from the USA team but guess that is the standard response....

Still and awesome game............

2nd place is pretty not bad for a team that was ranked about 5th or 6th.

that's what i mean about 2nd place being a sort of consolation as a gold medal game loss - it doesn't seem right.


now all ya'll try to keep up in curling too, kk? (hee hee, i couldn't resist a small snicker)

What a disappointing loss for the USA in OT to those Syrup Sucking Ice Holes.

curling wow those brooms are the key really you have apologized for Bryan Adams but to make that a sport really i think sports fanatics need an apology for this too

i've actually curled before and it's a great, fun game and really big here in canada (it almost ranks up there with hockey).

Lol first time I saw the curly this time I thought WTF how in the hell did that get in the Olympics?

never mind the sport, how the heck did the norweigans' pants get into the olympics!

really i didn't know that,seriously ok my bad eh

LMAO!

I'm most impressed with Papersmiles ability not to gloat over such a silly win.







I'm NOT so mature BWWWWA HAHAHAHA THIS IS OUR TOWN!!!!!!






WOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

i've been tempted a couple of times to bump this thread

but remember we're canadian and, therefore, much too polite to do so