The Final Results of the Olympic Pool

The crazy tournament is all over and Canada is golden once again. The 2010 Olympics have concluded and what an exciting pair of finishes we had for the medal games, as Finland edged out Slovakia and Canada squeaked past the USA in their medal games. What an exciting ride that the 12-team tournament gave us and there was a pretty good race in the small Olympic Hockey Pool, right down to the end as well.

Our winner is Dale C., who had a pretty good handle on being at the top for the better part of the entire tournament. He finished it all of with 36 points, which even included the gold medal winning goal from Sidney Crosby, which was his Canadian for the tournament. Dale managed to get points from every player on his roster, which wasn't the case for some people in the pool, being somewhat unlucky with some of the smaller nations. Dale didn't have that problem and that should be considered as his greatest weapon. His biggest point-getter in the tournament was silver medal winning goalie, Ryan Miller, who finished with 12 points and also had a key contribution from Michal Handzus of Slovakia, who finished with 6 points.

Both Roberto Luongo and Ryan Miller finished with 12 points in the tournament, leading the way among all players. The biggest surprise of the scoring list was Pavol Demitra, who led all skaters and finished 3rd in scoring, finishing with 10 points for Slovakia this year. To no one's surprise, no one decided to take a chance on Demitra.

Well, I think the small pool that the tournament fueled was somewhat of a success. I would look for it to possibly extend to the World Juniors on a yearly basis, since we all really like that tournament.

Congratulations to Dale on his pool win and all the medalists this year! See you all again in four years.

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Semi-Final Preview

It's semi-final Friday at the Olympics for the Men's Hockey and we're in for a couple of awesome games. The Olympics Sheet Pool is also loving these match-ups, especially with some big goaltending already removed from the tournament.

Dale C. leads the way into the semi-finals today, but his lead is only one point over Chris S. and it's only two points over the Greenley boys, who have been big players in almost every pool this season. Let's see how the match-ups fare, maybe we'll get some insight as to how its all going to go down.

In the early game this afternoon, the USA will take on Finland in what looks to be a great match-up on paper. Ryan Miller is the big name in the game and who Dale C. is going to be counting on for the win and some more points. As the leader, he could use an American win to pad his lead from his competitors, all except for Stuart G., who also is carrying Miller into these semis. Stuart could have a jump in the standings if Miller was to blank the Finns this afternoon. Chris S. will be counting on Ryan Suter for some more heroics from the blueline, while Leon is rocking Ryan Kesler into this semi-final match-up.

Just as important as Miller is to the USA, Miikka Kiprusoff will have big importance to Finland and Leon's chances of making a move to the top of the table in the pool. If he can pull off a big win against the States, there will be a definite shift in how the standings will look, depending on how the scoring looks down the line. Dale C. is going to have Joni Pitkanen back in the line-up for the semis, Chris will have Jere Lehtinen representing him today and Stuart has Kimmo Timonen for him today. That should make for an interesting race.

In the second semi-final later tonight, the Slovaks will take on Canada for the right to play the winner of the USA/Finland game on Sunday. It's another good mix of players in this game as all four of our pool leaders are taking different players into this semi-final game. Chris will have the captain, Zdeno Chara lining up for him tonight, while Dale will have Michal Handzus, Stuart has Marcel Hossa and Leon has Lubomir Visnovsky. Handzus leads the pack with 4 points in this tourney, so he has to be considered the favourite for points among the group for sure.

Canada's pool implication looks a little bit different. Rick Nash is the favourite of Chris, Stu & Leon's going into this semi-final game and why not? He's picked up five points in this tournament so far, so its all gravy. Dale, on the other hand, decided to take Sidney Crosby for his Canadian player and Crosby has six points in the tournament, so he's not looking too bad either. If the Canadians score a lot against the Slovaks tonight, there could be a lot of points going to all the teams and it should be a good drag race to the finish.

I'm excited for it all to get going... are you?

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Jagr Questionable for the Quarters

The Czech Republic are going to be in tough tonight, as they take on Finland in the third game of the day, because the status of Jaromir Jagr is not certain going into the match-up. Jagr took one of the hardest open-ice hits you're going to see in the last preliminary round game against the Russians, which you've probably seen a number of times already. Jagr had to leave that game and not return and then he only managed to play a little more than a period against the Latvians in the Qualification Round.

As of Wednesday morning, consider Jagr questionable and don't be surprised if he's in or out tonight... the Czechs are going to play this one close to the vest.

None. Okay, that's the short version. Jagr was put in a pretty high box and I don't think anyone really wanted to test the waters with Jagr, who does have 3 points in the tournament so far. I would really begin to wonder how much of a gamble people are going to place on him if and when he re-joins the NHL.

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One & You're Done!

It's been quite a good race in the Olympic Sheet Pool, eh? Now I'm kind of wishing I had expanded it a bit and given it to a bunch more people. Ah well, live & learn I suppose. This format may have opened itself up for the World Junior Tournament, which goes again in December, so stay tuned!

After the Qualification Round games on Tuesday night, we're heading into the Quarterfinal Round, where we get all the top teams back in the mix again for scoring.

Last night, we lost the services of Belarus, after they fell to the Swiss, 3-2 in overtime, so the most popular Belorussian player, Viktor Kostiuchenok, is now removed. He leaves the pool with a single assist. I think I have a lot to learn about the Belorussians, because I really missed the boat on some of their scoring.

So, heading into Quarterfinal Wednesday, we have ourselves a bit of a two-horse race. Dale C. and levelheaded (Chris S.) stand alone on top with 25 points each heading into today's action, two points up on Chris M. and three up on Leon & Stuart.

Top point-getter through Tuesday is still Henrik Lundqvist of Team Sweden, but he's only two points up on a number of players taken in the pool, so it will remain interesting through the stretch.

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Pitkanen Set to Miss QF

Unfortunately, I don't have any video for this post and I've only seen it briefly once, but Joni Pitkanen will miss Finland's quarterfinals match against the winner of the Czech Republic v Latvia game, because of a horrible elbow that he gave to Sweden's Patric Hornqvist in the last round-robin game for Finland. Pitkanen was handed a major penalty and a game misconduct on the play for the hit to the head and the suspension was an automatic.

This missing game may have an effect on second-place Dale and fifth place James, and in such a tight race like this small pool is, it could be big. Finland hasn't been a terribly high-scoring team and their likely opponent, the Czechs, are very tight defensively, so I would think that a Finnish blowout is not in the cards. No one wants to miss a game though, especially if you have him in the pool.

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Round Robin Is Done

Super Sunday saw the best match-ups in the Olympic Round Robin and we saw some pretty good hockey during the day. Russia dumping the Czechs, USA outdueling Canada and Sweden blanking Finland. All six teams feature in the Olympics Sheet Pool, all having a pretty big effect on the standings through three games a piece for each team.

Going into the qualification round, Chris M. has a small 1-point lead, with first to ninth is only separated by 4 points, so there is no getting comfortable with only eight players on each team and only 12 teams. It's good and tight, except when you drop below ninth place, as last place, Clayton, now sits 11 points back of first place.

For scoring in the tournament so far, Henrik Lunqvist leads the way with two wins and two shutouts, which is 8 points in the scoring race. Lundqvist was taken twice, by Chris M. & Jonny C., so you know what you're up against here. Lundqvist is obviously enjoying playing with his fellow countrymen again and Sweden will get the winner of the Slovakia/Norway match-up on Tuesday, which should be huge.

For a great look at what the schedule looks like going forward, click here to see how the match-ups will play out.

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Through Two Games Each

We're now through two rounds of the round robin in the Olympics tournament and thanks to only having eight players per team, we have a nice close race out of the gates. The 12 teams that are competing in the small selection sheet pool are only separated by 5 points and we still have another week of action to go.

Starting Saturday afternoon, we go into the final round robin games and there isn't too much to get excited about, as only Belarus and Slovakia are represented from the pool, so there shouldn't be a great deal of movement there. Belarus defenseman, Viktor Kostiuchenok, and Slovakian defenseman, Lubomir Visnovsky, are the most popular players in the action today, taken four times each in the tourney. Neither player has a point in the tournament, but both lead their respective team's in ice-time, so the points are bound to come along.

Eight players lead the pool in points with 4 each at this point in the tournament, but only four of those players have been chosen. Sidney Crosby, Ryan Miller, Tomas Vokoun (pictured) and Henrik Lundqvist lead the way among chosen players, so if you have a maximum of two players, then you're likely doing really well. Both Dale & James have Crosby and Miller and they are tied for top spot in the standings.

This has been a great hockey tournament so far and the injuries have been kept to a minimum, which is a huge positive for the pools in the NHL regular season. We don't want to see any injuries to our favourite players, especially for the stretch run to the playoffs.

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Olympics Selection Sheet Pool Update

Well, every team has played in the Olympics hockey tournament and we now officially have 12 teams signed up for this mini-pool set-up. That's good enough, I really didn't want a big pool, so this will do nicely. A few from Vancouver, a few from Calgary, I think this will work out just fine. It's all for bragging rights anyways, so let's get it on!

Well, Marian Hossa (pictured) was available for Slovakia in this pool, but he wasn't taken at all this time around. Maybe if there were a few more people in the pool, we would have had a selection or two for him.

The most popular player out of the 12 teams was Alex Ovechkin, who was taken seven times, while Rick Nash was the top Canadian with five selections. Sweden's Nicklas Backstrom, Slovakia's Lubomir Visnovsky and Belarus' Viktor Kostiuchenok were all taken four times to be tied for third and then it becomes a great spread of players, which should make the pool very interesting down the stretch.

Henrik Lundqvist, starting goalie for Sweden, leads the selected players in points after his shutout win (four points) against the Germans on Wednesday. He was taken twice in the pool, by Chris & Jonny. Sidney Crosby & Mikko Koivu each have three points a piece, making a difference in the pool early.

This might turn out to be a really good race through the couple weeks of the tournament.

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Very Small Selection Sheet for the Olympics

This pool somewhat flew under the radar, because there was no advertising for it at all, which was in large part my own fault. I had completed the layout for the pool ages ago, but didn't really put it out there until the last minute. There is no money in it and I suppose I could take an entry or two before its all said and done, but with three games already completed on the schedule, it does seem a little silly. Since its for fun, I will accept entries until the end of Wednesday, the 17th. Go here to participate...

Saying that, so far, the most popular player in the pool is Alex Ovechkin, who rightfully deserves to be on top of the selection numbers. I won't tell you how many teams have him yet, but it's a pretty solid number.

The main rule of this pool is that you can only have one player per country on your team. There are only eight boxes to choose from and eight countries to select from, so its really easy. Only one player from each country... go on, get some picks in, if you like.

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Final Result in Our Team Canada Pool

Well, if you care to remember, we had ourselves a 'Pick Your Team Canada' pool and since the Canadians faced-off against the Norwegians at Canada Hockey Place, that was when I deemed the pool to be a final result. Since Ryan Getzlaf was good enough to go on his sore ankle, we can officially say that no players were changed from the original 23-man roster that was announced just before the New Year, so how we left the standings is how we finished up.

Well, a big congratulations to the two Greenley boys, who are not twins, but sure thought like it in their picks, as they both finished with 20 out of 23 players correct, a great 87%. Both Stuart and Leon were wrong on two of the same players, Jay Bouwmeester and Ryan Smyth, but they were different in their other wrong forward picks, as Stuart took Brad Richards and Leon went with Patrick Sharp. Otherwise, it was a perfect bit of choosing from the both of them.

There were a huge number of teams that finished with 19 out of 23, which is a pretty good effort amongst everyone in the pool, but just needed one more pick to make it happen for them.

So, since there was no money, there's only pats on the back for the two Greenley boys... well done!

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The USA Olympic Team in Pictures

Goaltending


Defense


Forwards


If there is anything that needs to be said about this team is that it will be a very good hard working team in February. The Americans should be very aggressive in the forecheck and along the boards. The real questions will be how their real talent blends together and finds their chemistry, but those are the same questions you would ask most "super teams," especially in a high-talent tournament like the Olympics.

Team Canada Selection Has Been Made

The team has been primarily selected and we now have a framework to go from, heading towards February 16th in Vancouver. Steve Yzerman and his management team have deliberated long and hard to come to this 23-man roster and its one we can all be proud of.

Now, this selection process doesn't conclude the pool. The final standings won't be decided until the team hits the ice in Vancouver on the 16th, so there is a little bit of hope and praying that these 23 stay healthy, since this is the first choice selection by team management, although I'm sure there may be some people who think that a player or two might not deserve to be there and someone they chose should be there instead.

No one in the pool had all 23 picks correct, Stuart and Leon each had 20 right to lead the pool and you can see how everyone matched up here on the standings.



There really shouldn't have been any doubt to the goaltending trio that was going to be selected. All three were pegged in there for quite some time now. Martin Brodeur, Roberto Luongo and Marc-Andre Fleury are all playing exceptionally well at this time and make for little debate as to their inclusion, but the debate rages on to who will get the nod as number one.



Going alphabetically from the forward position, Patrice Bergeron, Sidney Crosby and Ryan Getzlaf lead the way for Canada up front. Bergeron's selection surprised a lot of people, but in all fairness, eight teams did pick Bergeron in their team, so kudos to those eight.



The next three include two Sharks and one Flame. Dany Heatley and Jarome Iginla were pretty much locks for the team heading into today's decision and there was a question mark as to whether or not the management team thought that the chemistry that Patrick Marleau had with his fellow Sharks would be enough to name him. Question answered.



A couple of bubble players, arguably, in the next three, when you talk about chemistry. Rick Nash was a veritable lock for the team with all his experience playing for Canada already, while Brendan Morrow brings lots of experience himself and Corey Perry gets to keep his chemistry with his Ducks teammates on the team. Lots of grit in this trio and a good share of scoring should come from here as well.



Two of the next three shared a lot of question marks, while the third was pretty much a lock with two of his linemates in San Jose, likely to be his linemates for Team Canada. Mike Richards and Eric Staal both play for hurting NHL clubs, but none of that hurt carried over to Canada's selection process. That's a big plus for these two, as they'll be vital. Joe Thornton on the other hand... will pivot Marleau and Heatley. Enough said.

The trouble with having a 13th forward is really that 13 is a prime number and isn't divisible by any other number, so Jonathan Toews is left on his lonesome, just because of his name. Toews brings his versatility to the board, which was key number one for Team Canada and his superior shootout skills in the clutch will likely be helpful, especially after the lessons learned in 1998.



The defense was going to be a solid group no matter which way you looked at it. Between Dan Boyle and Duncan Keith, you were completely locked in with those two. Nine teams did put Drew Doughty on their Team Canada, so there really should be no surprise here. You get offense and responsibility from these three, both qualities clutch and found in the picks on the blueline.



Scott Niedermayer and Chris Pronger are familiar with each other from previous Team Canada's and the Stanley Cup winning Anaheim Ducks. How much more do you want to prattle on about those two? Brent Seabrook does fit into the familiarity discussion, as he forms the top pairing in Chicago with the previously mentioned Keith. Look for that pair to stay together as well.

Another prime number on defense as well, as Shea Weber stands all by himself at the bottom of the roster selection, but that's okay... he's a one-man wrecking crew to say the least. Big hitter, big defense and big shot... the Nashville Predators pillar of strength is a welcome addition to this club.

Now, let's not forget... as official as this team looks, it's not final. There is still a month and a half worth of NHL hockey to be played and this year, if anything, has been terrible for injuries. Fingers crossed for these 23, but let's not be terribly surprised if something unforeseen happens.