2014 olympics

Sunday’s Olympic Buzz: Team USA wins Group A; Malkin pointless for 2nd straight game; Kunitz off Crosby’s line

Sunday, February 16, 2014 / by /  /   , , , , , ,
 

SUNDAY’S OLYMPIC BUZZ Team USA rolled to a 5-1 win over Slovenia, clinching first place in Group A and earning eight out of a possible nine points in the preliminary round. The Americans have earned a bye. Phil Kessel led the way with a hat trick, producing the first hat trick by a U.S. player since John LeClair in the 2002 Olympics. Kessel leads the tournament with 7 points and is one of the hottest players in all of hockey right now. Including NHL and Olympic play, Kessel has 15 goals and 34 points in his last 18 games. Ryan McDonagh and David Backes also scored in the win for Team USA. Joe Pavelski added 3 assists. Ryan Miller got his first start of the tournament, making 17 saves in the win. Brooks Orpik had an assist and was a +1. Orpik played 17:04. Paul Martin was a +1 inRead More »

Team USA – Team Russia: What We Learned

Saturday, February 15, 2014 / by /  /   , , , , , , ,
 

TEAM USA – TEAM RUSSIA: WHAT WE LEARNED The Americans thrilling 3-2 shootout win over Russia was a fantastic game that had just about everything. The game appears to have caught the attention of so many around the United States and it’s all anyone seems to be talking about which is great to see. T.J. Oshie (4-or-6 in shootout) had the heroics, scoring four times in the shootout, and beat Sergei Bobrovsky between legs in the eighth round for the epic win. Oshie who the casual hockey fan probably never heard of, has suddenly become a household name. He got a shout out from the White House to gaining almost 100,000 twitter followers today since scoring the game winning goal. He started the day at 90,000 and now has 190,000 followers as of 8:00 p.m. Oshie was asked by a reporter on how he it feels to be an AmericanRead More »

Paul Martin and Ryan Suter led Team USA in ice time vs Slovakia; Orpik played just 1:26 in 1st period

Thursday, February 13, 2014 / by /  /   , , , , , , ,
 

SOME NOTES ON PENGUINS & OTHERS FROM THURSDAY’S ACTION United States 7 – Slovakia 1 — Paul Martin and Ryan Suter each led Team USA in ice time with 19:46 TOI. Martin was an even rating in the win and in a blowout like this one, the ice time stats in the first period tell the story where the coaches view particular players right now. Bylsma, as expected, leaned heavily on Martin who had 6:25 of ice time in the first period, second to Suter. Martin, Suter and Kevin Shattenkirk (19:14) all played over 19 minutes. — Brooks Orpik was a +3 but saw the least amount of ice time among all defensemen with 10:51 TOI. Bylsma dressed seven defensemen and Orpik was the only defenseman to play under 13 minutes. What was telling with Orpik is that he only played 1:26 in the first period. The buzz on OrpikRead More »

First Impression: United States style of play has them built for success in short tournament

Thursday, February 13, 2014 / by /  /   , , ,
 

The most impressive team through the first two days of the Men’s Hockey Tournament is clearly the United States after a 7-1 trouncing over Slovakia. Paul Stastny scored twice and Phil Kessel led the way with a goal and two assists. John Carlson, David Backes, Ryan Kesler and Dustin Brown also scored in the win. Patrick Kane, T.J. Oshie and James van Riemsdyk each added two assists apiece in the win. Jonathan Quick who got the start over Ryan Miller, made 22 saves. While this was a Slovakia team with some bad players in their lineup like former Penguin Tomas Surovy who was a minus-4 in 12:11 of ice time, this was still a team that isn’t a pushover. One thing that might have gotten over looked with the United States is how the personnel is really built for a Dan Bylsma type of team. It’s a group filled withRead More »