We are still a couple of weeks away from Selection Sunday, the NBA is embroiled in the dog days of its regular season, football is over, and baseball hasn’t started yet. On almost any other such weekend, there wouldn’t be too much for the American sporting masses to get excited about.
So let’s all say thank you and give a round of applause to the Winter Olympics for giving us today’s epic U.S.-Canada gold medal game to get excited about.
Seasoned readers of MSF know that I’m not a hockey guy, so I won’t pretend to provide any analysis, although I bet that our hockey expert Tyler Juranovich will be around later with his. (Update: analysis below.)
Still, I can provide you with all of the information and resources you need to get ready for today’s game. Here you go:
U.S.-Canada Olympic Gold Medal Ice Hockey Game
- U.S.-Canada gold medal hockey game date: February 28th, 2010
- U.S.-Canada gold medal hockey game time: 3:15 ET
- U.S.-Canada gold medal hockey game TV: NBC
- U.S.-Canada gold medal hockey game spread: Canada -1
- U.S.-Canada gold medal hockey game money line: Canada -220 | U.S. +170
- U.S.-Canada gold medal hockey game over-under: 5.5
And here are a few other resources if you need them. Hopefully Tyler will come around later and add his analysis below.
- Keys to the Gold Medal game — (ESPN.com)
- Team Canada roster — (ESPN.com)
- Team U.S. roster — (ESPN.com)
- U.S. players’ flights were schedule for morning of gold medal game — (Yahoo! Sports)
Loading ...Update: And, as promised, Tyler has come through with his thoughts on today’s matchup between Team U.S. and Team Canada in the Olympic ice hockey gold medal game. Everything below are his much more informed words:
It’s the match-up that every hockey fan has wanted to see since the beginning of the 2010 Olympics: Canada VS the United States.
The Americans beat the Canadians earlier in the tournament, but that doesn’t mean a thing now. Hockey, to Canada, is like soccer to Europeans. They live and die for it. So whatever happened in the past, is in the past and should be forgotten.
Canada is coming with a vengeance. The Americans shocked them on their own ice a week ago today, but you better believe the Canadians won’t let that happen again. The Canadians have everything on their side today. Home ice, the stacked roster, and the will to win gold on their home turf.
It’s going to be very hard for the Americans to beat the Canadians for a second time, but if there was a dark horse team that could do it, it’d be the Americans. Labeled as the underdog at the beginning of the tournament, the Americans have shocked the world and have become the team to look out for. Â Now they are where they said they would be.
Both teams are at the end of the road. Now who’s going to reach out and grab the gold?
The biggest factor for the USA will be Ryan Miller. He’s been great all tournament long, but this is the big day for him. The biggest factor for Canada will be having their forwards, including Sidney Crosby, crash the net early. They have to come in hot, just like the Americans did with them a week ago.
Ultimately, the talent and motivation of the Canadians will prove to be too much for the Americans to overcome. That is why my prediction for today’s Olympic ice hockey gold medal game between the U.S. and Canada is 3-2 Canada.
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* – Canadian hockey fan photo credit: AP photo via The Examiner
* – Photo credit: Nuccio DiNuzzo via Chicago Tribune
About Jerod Morris
