Well, it's Sunday morning (or close enough) I got a "delicious" instant coffee in my hand, my good friend Tom Waits on the stereo, and the Canadian Olympic Team just won Gold.
Plus, the NHL is about to resume and we have lots to talk about. Good times.
Team Canada
Its always a weird, conflicting feeling for me when Canada wins an international tournament. On one hand, I am happy that my country won. On the other, it can't help feeling like an empty victory because they have a roster so advantageous that it almost feels like cheating.
I said before the Olympics that Canada was in a bit of a catch-22 because if they lose, it's a disaster, and if they win, it's not all that exciting because they were supposed to.
This proved to be true with the exception of the Canada / U.S game on Friday, which was a thrilling and exciting game. After that, the final couldn't help but be a let down.
Today's game just didn't ever seem to be in doubt. Add in that 4 of the 5 best Swedish players either didn't play, were injured or were disqualified, and the game had all the excitement of a Frasier re-run.
Still, nice to see your team win any time it happens, and the Canadian team was amazing. All that talk after the Latvia game seems pretty ridiculous now (and then too) as the Canadians allowed a preposterous three goals in six games.
I guess they don't name a tournament MVP in the Olympics, but if they did it would have to be Carey Price. I sometimes think its harder to get a shutout when you get less shots and don't stay busy, and Price was fantastic the entire last three games.
Pretty surreal when the team went up by three knowing that they would have to let in five games worth of goals to lose.
NHL
The NHL is back Tuesday and I say it's not a minute too soon. Unfortunately, the schedule was made by a subversive jokester with a love of irony.
Tuesday's single game: Carolina at Buffalo.
Are you kidding me? Two weeks and you come back with possibly the worst and least exciting match-up possible?
Who came up with this, the Swedish Coach?
Coyotes
Phoenix isn't back until Thursday when they visit Winnipeg in a crucial four-point contest. The Coyotes also play Friday and Sunday against Colorado and St.Louis, respectively.
Exciting about the return is the potential debut of Brandon Gormley who has been recently called up. Gormely is the organizations top prospect and this will be the first chance for Coyotes fans to get a look at him.
Gormely's debut marks the beginning of an exciting time for the Coyotes and their fans because it's potentially the start of the era of the defenseman. Gormely, Murphy, Yandle and Ekman-Larsson will make up one hell of a top-four someday. This is something worth being excited about as with that back-end there is more than just a possibility that the Coyotes are going to become one of the best teams in the NHL within the next few years.
Add in Hanzal, Boedker and Domi and the future looks bright.
But what about the present?
The present is cloudy. The Coyotes resume play tied with Dallas for the final playoff spot and appear to be in a dog fight with Dallas, Nashville, Vancouver and Winnipeg for the chance to play in the Stanley Cup Tournament. That's five teams fighting for one spot (unless Minnesota stumbles, then it's six teams for two spots) who are currently separated by four points.
It says here that if the Coyotes want to make the playoffs, they need to acquire an impact forward. This means someone better than Mike Cammelleri, who is the only name ever associated with the team lately, besides that of Ray Whitney, who isn't going to be traded to a team tied in the standings with the team he currently plays for.
The team is good to great without the puck, but they lack an impact forward and have trouble scoring. If they had a star forward I believe they are at least better than the teams they are running with now, and possibly even a contender. If it was up to me, I'd go the Brian Burke route and see what you could get for draft picks. If two firsts and a second can get you Phil Kessel, can it get you Evander Kane? If I was in charge i'd be tempted to find out.
Coyotes at the Olympics
The Coyotes had a decent, if slightly disappointing Olympics.
They sent five players, but besides Lauri Korpiskoski, I don't know that any of them fared too well.
Mike Smith of course won the Gold, but he didn't play at all, so I don't know how successful he was on a personal level, but someone had to have the world's easiest job, and he was flawless in his role as back-up to the back-up goalie.
Korpikoski seemed to be a big part of a surprising Finish team that got the Bronze. He played the shutdown role he is known for on the Coyotes and even scored a few points.
Michalek and Hanzal played on the Czech team that did not medal. I don't think anyone really expected them to, but Bronze was always a possibility. Hanzal didn't even dress for one of the games, as the European coaches proved to make some whacky decisions.
The whackiest of course was the Swedish coach deciding to make Ekman-Larsson his seventh best defenseman. I am not going to waste any time trying to understand this, except to say that I really, really hope he isn't hurt. He did get on the ice in the third period today, so I doubt he is.
Overall, the Olympics were relatively successful for the Coyote's players as, excepting the Czechs, everyone got a medal, even if they weren't exactly huge factors for their teams.
As to the Olympics in general, I didn't like the start times, the seeding, the big ice or the way fans just bailed on/roasted their teams after losses/playing Latvia. Other than that, I guess they were all right. To me, I'll always prefer the NHL to International hockey, if for no other reason than I just don't care all that much where a player is born.
Thanks for reading.
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