Olympic Men's Hockey: Gold Medal Preview

So it comes down to this, the final game of the Olympics with the two arguably best teams in the world in USA and Canada. The first time these two teams met, USA prevailed by a score of 5-3 and many were calling it the best game they had ever seen.

Could this game be any better than the last one? Well, here's the lowdown on both of these teams.

Team USA has not lost a single game and not only that, they have not lost in regulation time. Their only real test through this tournament so far, however, was Canada. Questions about the USA's offense and goaltending were answered during that game. 4 Goals were scored on Martin Brodeur (the fifth being the empty netter), and Ryan Miller stood on his head making 42 saves, proving the critics wrong that he could see many shots, as he was not tested often in the past games against Switzerland and Norway.

USA was not taken very seriously entering the Olympics, but now they are a force to be reckoned with. After defeating Canada, the team had a day off to rest and then went into the medal round facing Finland first. They made it look easy as they scored 6 goals in the first period, on route to a 6-1 win.

Much can be said about every player on USA's roster, since they have all been key players throughout. USA has very balanced scoring and more and more people begin to contribute each game. Some of the standouts include Brian Rafalski, defenseman for the Detroit Red Wings, who surprised fans with two goals and an assist against Canada (not to mention he scored the final two goals in the game against Norway).

Chris Drury and Ryan Callahan, teammates for the New York Rangers, have been phenomenal as well, and quite possibly have the best chemistry on the team.

Patrick Kane, star forward for the Chicago Blackhawks, scored 2 goals in the game against Finland, and is really starting to emerge as a great player on this team.

Not enough can be said about Ryan Miller, ranked number one on The Hockey New's "Top 30 Goalies" list. He keeps USA in every game no matter the shot count and always gives them a chance to win, not that he doesn't do that for the Sabres, but now he has people that can actually score in front of him. Ryan Miller is the best goalie in hockey today, no doubt about it, and he will be the most important player in this upcoming gold medal game.


Canada has had more a rough ride than the USA has through these Olympics. After scorching Norway 8-2, they came very close to giving up their second game against Switzerland, pulling it out in the shootout with a goal from Sidney Crosby. The next game was lost against the USA, and questions arose on whether Canada was gold medal material.

They seemingly answered those questions in their next game against Russia, blowing the lid off of them by a score of 7-3, in which Russia played a "Euro-Trash" game, as stated by analyst Mike Milbury.

Canada has got scoring from all over their roster, Jarome Iginla had a hat trick, and the Thornton, Marleau, Heatley line was reunited from San Jose.

Two surprising players though have been that of Shea Weber and Corey Perry.

Weber is a very underrated Nashville Predators defenseman, and his skills can finally displayed on the world stage along with an all-star cast. His shot can rip right through netting (literally) and his puck moving skills are great.

Perrey has been scoring under the radar for Canada throughout the whole tournament. With the help of his Anaheim teammate Ryan Getzlaf, the two have been very dangerous.

There is no question of the skill on Canada's roster, but finesse can soon be shut down by hard work and physical play. It was a close call in last night's game against Slovakia, but they managed to pull it out. The question is, can they pull it out against the high-flying Americans?

All of these questions will be answered tomorrow. Be Sure to tune in.