On Valentine’s Day I did the right thing and took the wife out to eat and then ran her around on various shopping errands.
All the while, the U.S. men’s Olympic hockey team was playing Denmark. But, never fear, I was DVRing the game to be viewed later.
Not to say I was overconfident, but I did suggest to more than one person that, considering Denmark sort of claims Greenland and we’d like to have it and easily could take it, we might settle the whole matter by ceding that great expanse of ice to the winner of this game.
Even after a U.S. defenseman had kicked the game’s opening goal into his own net Saturday, I was confident.
Later, as American goalie Jeremy Swayman gave up not one, but two goals from the next area code, my confidence wavered more than a little.
In the end, the massive offensive talent of this American team was too much for the Danes, who succumbed to the tune of a 6-3 final.
I read tales of great angst on the Internet regarding the game. If you judge only by the final score, it was closer than expected. If you look deeper, at the massive U.S. edge in shots on goal and faceoffs won, it was not all that close.
Again, what made it seem close was Swayman gave up two goals from the next county, shots most beer league goalies might have stopped.
I think this unimpressive outing has cemented that the U.S. must go with Connor Hellebuyck in goal in subsequent games. Hellebuyck is known for playing well in the regular season of the NHL, and having nothing extra to offer in the playoffs or events such as this.
Some saw Swayman as a goalie who could dazzle with big saves at key moments in big games. After his Great Dane Meltdown, forget that.
The U.S. plays again Sunday, vs. Germany, to see if the Americans can win their group ahead of knockout play.
Swayman ought to just watch this one, and subsequent games.
At least Saturday’s game unfolded without the ridiculous interventions of the previous game, which saw two U.S. goals wiped out by challenges, and also some uneven officiating.
Swayman personally deducted two goals from the Americans’ winning margin vs. Denmark. The officiating was just fine.
After two games in these Olympics, this seems to be a typical American hockey team, prone to stretches of absolute dominance offensively, punctuated by runs when it looks like they never saw a hockey puck before.
At its best, this team is a legitimate contender to win the gold. But, one of those sustained stretches of lethargy against, say, the Canadians, will doom the U.S. team to failure.
The U.S. could lose to Germany today, but probably won’t. This looms as a chance for the Americans to put together a complete game, which would be their first of these Olympics, and a good way to build momentum for coming single-defeat elimination games.
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