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USA will play the winner of the Slovakia-Czech game.
So much for Dan Bylsma allowing the suspense to build to a crescendo.
Rather than waiting until the end of the semifinals game between the Slovaks and Czechs to name the starting goalie for Wednesday’s quarterfinals game, Team USA has already announced that Jon Quick will get his net back for the quarterfinal round.
Ryan Miller (1-0, 1.00 GAA, .944 save %) made a strong case for why he should be the starter for the quarterfinals game when he defeated Slovenia by a score of 5-1 on Sunday. Miller made 17 saves on the 18 shots that were thrown at him. Miller lost his shutout bid at the 19:43 mark of the third period against Slovenia. Miller covered up some serious lapses in judgement and general sloppiness when held his team in the game after they played like it was “Disney On Ice” for a period and a half after Phil Kessel gave the USA a two-goal game by the 4:40 mark of the first period.
Bylsma and the USA braintrust have opted to revert back to Quick as their starter.
Its looking more and more like the he only way Miller sees the ice in the tap-out round is going to be if, and only if, Quick plays erratically or if he gets injured.
Is it possible for St. Louis Blues goalie Jaro Halak's career sink any lower?
On Monday, Halak was told by Team Slovakia's coaching staff that he will not be starting in the net for Tuesday's semifinal round game vs. arch rival Czech Republic.
It should come as no surprise.
For the second straight game, team Slovakia will send KHLer Jan Laco to its crease. Laco played fabulously in his last start against Team Russia. His heroic play forced OT. Ilya Kovalchuk ended the game in the shootout. Laco starred for Slovakia at the World Championships two years ago. He may not be known by thise of us in North America, however, his Slovakia teammates know and trust him, and nothing else matters.
While Halak (.857 save %, 5.18 GAA) is the problem, Laco has become the solution. His teammates have praised his excellence.
“[Laco] was amazing. He kept us in the game,” Mezaros said, per NHL.com. “We had some chances but we helped him too defensively. That’s what teams do. The goalie helps us and we help the goalie.”
The 32-year-old, who didn't dress for the first two games of the Olympic tournament, plays for HC Donbass of the KHL, stopped all 36 shots faced in regulation and overtime before losing in a shootout, a dramatic improvement over the ten gals that Halak and Budaj surrendered in the first two games of the preliminary round.
Halak was promptly yanked from his net after he was abused for five goals against by the USA on 25 shots faced in game one. Budaj replaced him and didn’t fare much better, allowing two goals on eight shots.
For game two, Halak got a shot at redemption, however, he lost to Slovenia. Afterwards, he ate the nasty blame sandwich.
“I think the first goal, that was a really weak goal for me,” said Halak, per NHL.com. “I think that kind of set the tone for the rest of the period for us. If we’re going to blame somebody, I’ll take the full blame for this loss.”
Now would be a great time for St. Louis Blues GM Doug Armstrong to call Bufalo GM Tim Murray to make a serious offer for pending UFA Ryan Miller.
The Blues will only go as far as Halak will take him. At this point he's a shot fighter. He's lost his confidence and is doubting his own abilities. That's not the jockey that I'd want riding my thoroughbred in the run for the roses.
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Washington Capitals fans have waited a long time for this day for Evgeny Kuznetsov to make his transition from his native Russia to the NHL.
Earlier this afternoon, Kuznetsov tweeted that he is headed to Washington at the conclusion of the Olympics. The Caps have been waiting patiently for the past four years to Kuznetsov to come to America. He was the 26th overall pick in the 2010 draft. He has suffered (shoulder) injuries that have delayed his development trajectory along the way. If this tweet is indeed true, Kuznetsov could be a Capital by mid-March. The KHL season ends in early March and his Traktor team may or may not qualify for the KHL playoffs. If they miss the playoffs, Kuznetsov can leave Russia and join the Caps in early March.
So, Alex Ovechkin will get a new line mate to help kick start the middling Caps offense. The Caps have had long stretches of goal scoring struggles this season with Ovechkin having to shoulder the scoring load all on his own. Jason Chimera and Troy Brouwer cannot be expected to score each and every game. The Caps need help in the goal scoring department if they have a prayer of making the playoffs.
One wonders if this Kuznetsov blockbuster is the first of many huge roster upgrades that Caps GM George McPhee will be performing in the coming weeks before the March 5 NHL Trade Deadline.
Kuznetsov is a center/winger, as is Caps vet and Swedish Olympian Marcus Johnasson. Might “MoJo” be on the way out of Washington by way of a trade for a veteran goalie? Say, Ryan Miller?
He has played the past three and a half season with Traktor of the KHL. He's played exceptionally well at the IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships in Buffalo, NY and Ufa, Russia the past couple of years.
Kuznetzov is a big (6’1 200 lb.), rangy, sleek skating center/RW who has filthy mitts and excellent hockey sense. He’s very creative with the puck, possesses a heavy shot and fires the puck with authority.
Huge addition for the Capitals.
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Jonas Hiller is the scariest man at the men’s tournament at the Sochi Olympics right now.
Hiller and his Swiss mates will battle the aggressive fore check of the Latvians in the semifinal round on Tuesday.
Hiller has created a chilling effect in the Sochi air as he has been the epitome of success at the short Olympic tournament. Excellent goaltending can punch a team’s ticket the medal round in a short tourney like the the Olympics. There is no looking past Hiller and the Swiss. Hiller has been brilliant for his country in delivering back-to-back shutout victories over Latvia and the Czechs. Hiller has turned aside a combined 47 shots. The Swiss are feeling every confident as they ride the hot goaltending of Hiller into the semis. His teammate Simon Bondenmann, told the IIFH that Hiller has been the glue that has brought the Swiss together.
“Jonas is giving us a chance to win every game,” Bondenmann said, per IIHF.com “We’d be happy to score a couple more goals, but if we win like this, it doesn’t matter.”
On Tuesday, the Swiss will have to find a way to find a solution to Latvia’s most excellent goaltender Edgars Masalskis has been equally good this tournament. The 33-year-old starred against the Swiss in the preliminary round opener, making 38 saves before Simon Moser scored a fluke deflection goal with eight seconds left. Masalskis followed that up with a stellar 35-save effort against the Czechs, keeping the Latvians in it despite being outplayed (and out-shot, 39-20).
Latvian coach Ted Nolan will ride Masalskis on Tuesday and hopefully beyond in the knockout round.
The Latvians will have to blanket Switzerland’s two best NHL forwards, Nino Niederreiter and Damien Brunner, who are the straws that stir the drink for the Swiss. Neither player has recorded a point in the prelims, however, they can score in buches. Latvia will have to beware.
Ex-Sens forward Kaspars Daugavins has nearly 100 NHL games on his resume and is one of the leading scorers in the Swiss league this year, yet only has one point (an assist) for Latvia despite averaging over 18 minutes a night.
Buffalo Sabres 19 year-old rookie Zemgus Girgensons, who scored his first Olympic goal against King Hank Lundqvist in Saturday’s loss to Sweden, is capable of throwing his team on his back and fighting like a “Braveheart”. Zemgus will give the Swiss cold sweats because he never stops competing inside a shift. He fore checks like a hostile, hungry rottweiler chasing a mail man off his front porch.
This will be a fun game to watch. I mean it in all sincerity.
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There are three "locks" life.
Death. Taxes. High TV ratings for hockey in Buffalo, NY.
On Sunday, when Ryan Miller and the flashy Americans played Slovenia, Buffalonians were planted on the couch, coffee and bagel in hand to drink it all in.
That's how Buffalo rolls. Hockey is in the DNA of all Western New Yorkers. Men, women, kids, senior citizens. It doesn't matter. Western New Yorkers get hockey. They understand it. They live it. They breath it. They eat and digest it. They pay it forward.
Neilsen TV ratings dropped on Monday morning and Buffalo was NCB Sports Network's #1 TV market for the USA-Slovenia game. Households all over WNY were tuned in to watch Sabres star Ryan Miller, and the local kids Patrick Kane (Buffalo), Ryan Callahan (Rochester), and Brooks Orpik (Amherst) compete on the biggest hockey stage in the world. The home grown kids are not disappointing.
Buffalonians threw a couple of extra logs on the fire, ate a bowl of oatmeal and settled in for the Canada-Finland game at Noon EDT on Sunday. Once again, Buffalo finished in the top three of NBCSN's top TV ratings markets.
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