Olympic Tourament Wrap Up

Here's some final news and notes as this years Olympic Hockey Tournament comes to an end. Everything from Tournament awards, 2 new members into International Hockey's Elite known as the Triple Gold Club and reaction to the Olympics as a whole.

Tournament Awards: Despite falling short of the Olympic Gold, Ryan Miller's performance during the Olympic Touranment did win him the tournament MVP as he was unbeaten in regulation and made some amazing saves to have the tournament of a lifetime.

Some of which were game saving especially in the Canada game during the Prelim Round and in the Quarterfinals Game against Switzerland where he pitched a shutout to help the Americans advance to the Semifinals.

Also making the All Tournament Team were American Forward Zach Parise who also had the event of his life where he lead Team U.S.A. in points with 8 (4G 4A). Joining Parise and Miller on the All Tournament Team from the U.S.A. was defensemen Brian Rafalski.

Joining the Americans were 2 Canadians players in defensmen Shea Webber and Forward Jonathan Toews. Rounding out the All Tournament Team was SVK Forward Pavol Demitra who helped Slovakia have their best Olympic Tournament result ever by reaching the Bronze Medal Game before losing to Finland.

Media All Star Team

G: Ryan Miller (USA)

D: Brian Rafalski (USA)

D: Shea Weber (CAN)

F: Jonathan Toews (CAN)

F: Zach Parise (USA)

F: Pavol Demitra (SVK)

Tournament MVP: Ryan Miller (USA)


Directorate Awards

Best Goalie: Ryan Miller (USA)

Best Defensemen: Brian Rafalski (USA)

Best Forward: Jonathan Toews (CAN)


Tournament Attendance: With this Olympic Tournament going down as one of the biggest and best in History. The tournament attendance was amazing as the tournament drew an impressive 419,444 fans through the gates at the 2 venues at the Hockey Canada Place and The UBC Thunderbird Arena. (17,162 at Hockey Canada Place, 5,455 at UBC Thunderbird Arena) The fans should be honored for creating such a great athomsphere for the games.

If you could make it, then you had the time of your life. If not, then the Olympic Tournament is something that every hockey fan around the world should experience at least once in their life. In addidition to the Olympics, events like the World Juniors and the Stanley Cup Playoffs are also worth making it worth getting involved in the exciting events and tournaments that the world's best players play in.


New Triple Gold Club Members

The Triple Gold Club is the biggest honor in hockey. This is where a player has won an Olympic Gold Medal, an IIHF World Championship and a Stanley Cup as the biggest honors a player and coach can win in your career.

This year, we had 2 new members as Canada's Eric Staal became the newest and currently is the youngest member of the Triple Gold Club at age 25. The young Canadian Forward only scored 1 goal, but was involved with 5 assists in the tournament and was in the mix with some of the physicality, especially in the 2 games against the U.S.A.

"At my age, I feel quite honored to be in that mix. It's an elite club. Hopefully I've got many more years ahead of me to add a few numbers to that," Staal said after the Gold Medal Game.

In addiditon to the Olympic Gold Medal, he won the Stanley Cup with the Carolina Hurricanes in 2006, where he scored a career high 128 points (54G, 74A) in 107 games in his 2nd NHL Season en route to the Stanley Cup.

Then in 2007, he won the IIHF World Championship in Moscow with Team Canada to complete the trimph. In addiddition to the World Championship, the next season he won a Silver Medal on home ice when the World Championships were held in Quebec City and Halifax.

He will be the 23rd member to enter the Triple Gold Club. During the Olympics, the IIHF and the IOC had a ceremony to honor the Triple Gold Members.

In addiditoin to Eric Staal, Mike Babcock becomes the first coach to enter the Triple Gold Club, after leading Canada to lead Olympic Gold this year. He led the Detroit Red Wings to the Stanley Cup in 2008. Also he was Team Canada's head coach when the Canadians won the IIHF World Championship in 2004 when the tournament was in Prague, Czech Republic.

The Triple Gold Club was created shortly after the 1994 Lillehammer Olympics when Swedish Teammates Hakan Loob, Mats Naslund and Tomas Jonsson were the first players to complete the Triple in their careers in the sports history. If two or more players have identical championships, the priority goes to the player who did it at a younger age.

Of the 24 members, Sweden has the most with 9, Canada with the addiditions of Eric Staal and Mike Babcock increases its total to 7. Russia/Soviet Union has 6 members and the Czech Republic has 2.

Here's a look at the Complete List of the Triple Gold Club.

1. Tomas Jonsson (Born in Falun, Sweden April of 1960)
Stanley Cup: 1982 & 1983 (NY Islanders)
World Championship: 1991 (Sweden)
Olympic Gold: 1994 (Sweden)

TGC Member as of 2/27/94 in the Olympic Gold Medal Game against Canada.

2. Mats Naslund (Timra, Sweden, October of 1956)
Stanley Cup: 1986 (Montreal Canadians)
World Championships: 1991 (Sweden)
Olympic Gold: 1994 (Sweden)

TGC Member as of 2/27/94 in the Olympic Gold Medal Game against Canada.

3. Hakan Loob (Roma, Sweden, July 1960)
Stanley Cup: 1989 (Calgary Flames)
World Championship: 1987, 1991 (Sweden)
Olympic Gold: 1994 (Sweden)

TGC Member as of 2/27/94 in the Olympic Gold Medal Game against Canada.

4. Valeri Kamensky (Voskresensk, Soviet Union, April of 1966)
Stanley Cup: 1996 (Colorado Avalanche)
World Championship: 1986, 1989, 1990 (Soviet Union)
Olympic Gold: 1988 (Soviet Union)

TGC Member as of 6/10/96 in Stanley Cup Final against the Florida Panthers.

5. Alexei Gusarov (Leningard, Soviet Union, July of 1964)
Stanley Cup: 1996 (Colorado Avalanche)
World Championship: 1986, 1989, 1990 (Soviet Union)
Olympic Gold: 1988 (Soviet Union)

TGC Member as of 6/10/96 in Stanley Cup Final against the Florida Panthers.

6. Peter Forsberg (Ornskoldsvik, Sweden, July of 1973)
Stanley Cup: 1996, 2001 (Colorado Avalanche)
World Championship: 1992, 1998 (Sweden)
Olympic Gold: 1994, 2006 (Sweden)

TGC Member as of 6/10/96 in Stanley Cup Final against the Florida Panthers.

7. Vyacheslav Fetisov (Moscow, Soviet Union, April 1958)
Stanley Cup: 1997, 1998 (Detroit Red Wings)
World Championship: 1978, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1986, 1989, 1990 (Soviet Union)
Olympic Gold: 1984, 1988 (Soviet Union)

TGC Member as of 6/7/97 in the Stanley Cup Final against the Philadelphia Flyers.

8. Igor Larionov (Voskresensk, Soviet Union, December 1960)
Stanley Cup: 1997, 1998, 2002 (Detroit Red Wings)
World Championship: 1982, 1983, 1986, 1989 (Soviet Union)
Olympic Gold: 1984, 1988 (Soviet Union)

TGC Member as of 6/7/97 in the Stanley Cup Final against the Philadelphia Flyers.

9. Alexander Moginly (Khabarovsk, Soviet Union, February 1969)
Stanley Cup: 2000 (New Jersey Devils)
World Championship: 1989 (Soviet Union)
Olympic Gold: 1988 (Soviet Union)

TGC Member as of 6/10/2000 in the Stanley Cup Final against the Dallas Stars.

10. Vladimir Malakhov (Ekaterinburg, Soviet Union, August 1968)
Stanley Cup: 2000 (New Jersey Devils)
World Championship: 1990 (Soviet Union)
Olympic Gold: 1992 (Russia)

TGC Member as of 6/10/200 in the Stanley Cup Final against the Dallas Stars.

11. Rob Blake (Simcoe, On. Canada, December 1969)
Stanley Cup: 2001 (Colorado Avalanche)
World Championship: 1994, 1997 (Canada)
Olympic Gold: 2002 (Canada)

TGC Member as of 2/24/02 in the Olympic Gold Medal Game against the U.S.A.

12. Joe Sakic (Burnaby, B.C. Canada, July 1969)
Stanley Cup: 1996, 2001 (Colorado Avalanche)
World Championship: 1994 (Canada)
Olympic Gold: 2002 (Canada)

TGC Member as of 2/24/02 in the Olympic Gold Medal Game against the U.S.A.

13. Brendan Shanahan (Mimico, On. Canada, January 1969)
Stanley Cup: 1997, 1998, 2002 (Detroit Red Wings)
World Championship: 1994 (Canada)
Olympic Gold: 2002 (Canada)

TGC Member as of 2/24/02 in the Olympic Gold Medal Game against the U.S.A.

14. Scott Niedermayer (Edmonton, Ab., Canada, August 1973)
Stanley Cup: 1995, 2000, 2003 (New Jersey Devils) 2007 (Anaheim Ducks)
World Championship: 2004 (Canada)
Olympic Gold: 2002 (Canada)

TGC Member as of 5/9/04 in the IIHF World Championship Game against Sweden.

15. Jaromir Jagr (Klando, Czechoslovakia, February 1972)
Stanley Cup: 1991, 1992 (Pittsburgh Penguins)
World Championship: 2005 (Czech Republic)
Olympic Gold: 1998 (Czech Republic)

TGC Member as of 5/15/05 in the IIHF World Championship Game against Canada.

16. Jiri Slegr (Jihlava, Czechoslovakia, May 1971)
Stanley Cup: 2002 (Detroit Red Wings)
World Championship: 2005 (Czech Republic)
Olympic Gold: 1998 (Czech Republic)

TGC Member as of 5/15/05 in the IIHF World Championship Game against Canada.

17. Nicklas Lindstrom (Vasteras, Sweden, April 1970)
Stanley Cup: 1997, 1998, 2002, 2008 (Detroit Red Wings)
World Championship: 1991 (Sweden)
Olympic Gold: 2006 (Sweden)

TGC Member as of 2/26/06 in the Olympic Gold Medal Game against Finland.

18. Fredrik Modin (Sundsvall, Sweden, October 1974)
Stanley Cup: 2004 (Tampa Bay Lighting)
World Championship: 1998 (Sweden)
Olympic Gold: 2006 (Sweden)

TGC Member as of 2/26/06 in the Olympic Gold Medal Game against Finland.


19. Chris Pronger (Dryden, On., Canada, October 1974)
Stanley Cup: 2007 (Anaheim Ducks)
World Championship: 1997 (Canada)
Olympic Gold: 2002 (Canada)

TGC Member as of 6/6/07 in the Stanley Cup Final against the Ottawa Senators.

20. Niklas Kronwall (Stockholm, Sweden, January 1981)
Stanley Cup: 2008 (Detroit Red Wings)
World Championship: 2006 (Sweden)
Olympic Gold: 2006 (Sweden)

TGC Member as of 6/4/08 in the Stanley Cup Final against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

21. Henrik Zetterberg (Njurunda, Sweden, October 1980)
Stanley Cup: 2008 (Detroit Red Wings)
World Championship: 2006 (Sweden)
Olympic Gold: 2006 (Sweden)

TGC Member as of 6/4/08 in the Stanley Cup Final against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

22. Mikael Samuelsson (Mariefred, Sweden, December 1976)
Stanley Cup: 2008 (Detroit Red Wings)
World Championship: 2006 (Sweden)
Olympic Gold: 2006 (Sweden)

TGC Member as of 6/4/08 in the Stanley Cup Final against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

23. Eric Staal (Thunder Bay, On., Canada, October 1984)
Stanley Cup: 2006 (Carolina Hurricanes)
World Championship: 2007 (Canada)
Olympic Gold: 2010 (Canada)

TGC Member as of 2/28/10 in the Olympic Gold Medal Game against the U.S.A.

24 (Coach). Mike Babcock (Manitouwadge, On, Canada, April 1963)
Stanley Cup: 2008 (Detroit Red Wings)
World Championship: 2004 (Canada)
Olympic Gold: 2010 (Canada)

TGC Member as of 2/28/10 in the Olympic Gold Medal Game against the U.S.A.

Twitter Updates during Olympic Quarterfinals and Tomorrow's Women's Gold Medal Game

Just like for a part of the 2nd Round Games yesterday. I will be once again be doing Twitter Updates during the Quarterfinals of today's Men's Games, then tomorrow, it's the Women's Gold Medal Game as the U.S.A. & Canada will play for the Olympic Gold for the 3rd time in the Women's Hockey Tournament History.

Today's Quarterfinals

U.S.A. VS. Switzerland 12:00 PM PST

Russia VS. Canada 4:30 PM PST

Finland VS. Czech Republic 7:00 PM PST

Sweden VS. Slovakia 9:00 PM PST


Tomorrow's Women's Gold Medal Game

U.S.A. VS. Canada 4:30 PM PST

Final Olympic Group Stage Standings and Knockout Round Matchups

Men's Group Stage

30 Years ago today, the Americans took down the mighty Soviet Union as the Americans found that magic to take down the Arch Rival Canada to win Group A and finish the Group Stage as the Top Team for the Knockout Round with a strong 5-3 win over the heavily favored Canadians.

It turned out to be one of the most exciting and thrilling moments of these Winter Olympics. Not just in the Hockey Tournaments, but overall as we head into the 2nd half of the Winter Olympics. Which will climate with the Gold Medal Game on Sunday as the Winter Olympics in Vancouver will come to a close.

In the Men's Group Stage. It ended with the hype called Super Sunday where arguably the top 6 teams faced off on Sunday to determine the 2nd Round Byes as Team U.S.A., Russia, Sweden and Finland finished as the top 4 teams from the Group Stage. Elsewhere, Russia used it's high octane offense to beat the Czech Republic 4-2.

Then late last night, the defending Gold Medalist Sweden with 2 goals from Dallas Stars Forward Loui Eriksson to pitch a 3-0 shutout of Northern European Rival's Finland. Despite the loss for Finland, the Finns still advanced to the Quarterfinals with a strong 2-1 record and a +6 Goal Differential which turned out to be the difference over the Czech Republic who had a +3 Goal Differential who will be the 5th seed in the 2nd Round.

The 4 2nd Round Games will take place tomorrow as the Czechs take on Latvia, Canada faces off against Germany, Slovakia will take on Norway who after a bad start against the U.S.A. and Canada, came back with a strong performance by taking the Swiss to OT. Finally, Switzerland will take on Belarus.


Here's the Scores and Final Standings for the Men's Group Stage. The Final Number after the Goal Differential is the Seeding for the Knockout Rounds.

Group A Standings

1. U.S.A. 3-0-0-0 9 PTS 14-5 +9 1

2. Canada 1-1-0-1 5 PTS 14-7 +7 6

3. Switzerland 0-1-1-1 3 PTS 8-10 -2 8

4. Norway 0-0-1-2 1 PTS 5-19 -14 10


Group A Scores

2/16: U.S.A. 3 Switzerland 1 (1-0, 2-0, 0-1)

2/16: Canada 8 Norway 0 (0-0, 3-0, 5-0)

2/18: U.S.A. 6 Norway 1 (2-0, 1-1, 3-0)

2/18: Switzerland 2 Canada 3 (SO) (0-1, 2-1, 0-0, 0-0, 0-1)

2/20: Norway 4 Switzerland 5 (OT) (1-1, 2-2, 1-1, 0-1)

2/21: Canada 3 U.S.A. 5 (1-2, 1-1, 2-1)


Group B Standings

1. Russia 2-0-1-0 7 PTS 13-6 +7 3

2. Czech Rep. 2-0-0-1 6 PTS 10-7 +3 5

3. Slovakia 1-1-0-1 5 PTS 9-4 +5 7

4. Latvia 0-0-0-3 0 PTS 4-19 -15 12


Group B Scores

2/16: Russia 8 Latvia 2 (3-0, 1-0, 4-2)

2/17: Czech Republic 3 Slovakia 1 (1-0, 2-1, 0-0)

2/18: Slovakia 2 Russia 1 (SO) (0-0, 1-0, 0-1, 0-0, 1-0)

2/19: Czech Republic 5 Latvia 2 (3-0, 1-2, 1-0)

2/20: Latvia 0 Slovakia 6 (0-3, 0-2, 0-1)

2/21: Russia 4 Czech Republic 2 (1-1, 1-0, 2-1)


Group C Standings

1. Sweden 3-0-0-0 9 PTS 9-2 +7 2

2. Finland 2-0-0-1 6 PTS 10-4 +6 4

3. Belarus 1-0-0-2 3 PTS 8-12 -4 9

4. Germany 0-0-0-3 0 PTS 3-12 -9 11


Group C Scores

2/17: Finland 5 Belarus 1 (2-0, 1-1, 2-0)

2/17: Sweden 2 Germany 0 (0-0, 2-0, 0-0)

2/19: Belarus 2 Sweden 4 (0-2, 1-1, 1-1)

2/19: Finland 5 Germany 0 (1-0, 2-0, 2-0)

2/20: Germany 3 Belarus 5 (1-1, 0-1, 2-3)

2/21: Sweden 3 Finland 0 (1-0, 2-0, 0-0)


Teams in Bold have earned 2nd Round Byes

2nd Round Matchups (All Games are on 2/23. All Games are PST)

#8 Switzerland VS. #9 Belarus 12:00 PM PST @ Canada Hockey Place

#6 Canada VS. #11 Germany 4:30 PM PST @ Canada Hockey Place

#5 Czech Republic VS. #12 Latvia 7:00 PM PST @ UBC Thunderbird Arena

#7 Slovakia VS. #10 Norway 9:00 PM PST @ Canada Hockey Place


Quarterfinals on 2/24 Times are TBD

#1 U.S.A. VS. Switzerland/Belarus Winner

#2 Sweden VS. Slovakia/Norway Winner

#3 Russia VS. Canada/Germany Winner

#4 Finland VS. Czech Republic/Latvia Winner



Women's Group Stage

The Women's Tournament has gone straight forward as the U.S.A. and Canada have won all 3 games in huge fashion as the North American Powers outscored their opposition by a combined 72-3 in their games as the U.S.A. and Canada are expected to face off for the Gold Medal Game coming up on Thursday.

As for the rest of the field, the Sweds and Finns have come up as the Northern Euro Teams could face off for the Bronze Medal assuming no major upsets take place in Today's Semifinal Matchups.

For the 3rd and 4th place teams, a consolation Round Matchups between Russia, China, Switzerland and Slovakia who's making their debut in the Women's Olympic Hockey Tournament this year as the lowest ranked team to ever make the Women's Tournament since Women's Hockey made it's debut in 1998 in Japan.

Group A Standings

1. Canada 3-0-0-0 9 PTS 41-2 +39

2. Sweden 2-0-0-1 6 PTS 10-15 -5

3. Switzerland 1-0-0-2 3 PTS 6-15 -9

4. Slovakia 0-0-0-3 0 PTS 4-29 -25


Group A Scores

2/13: Sweden 3 Switzerland 0 (1-0, 1-0, 1-0)

2/13: Canada 18 Slovakia 0 (7-0, 6-0, 5-0)

2/15: Sweden 6 Slovakia 2 (3-2, 1-0, 2-0)

2/15: Switzerland 1 Canada 10 (0-2, 1-3, 0-5)

2/17: Canada 13 Sweden 1 (5-0, 7-0, 1-1)

2/17: Slovakia 2 Switzerland 5 (1-0, 0-1, 1-4)


Group B Standings

1. U.S.A. 3-0-0-0 9 PTS 31-1 +30

2. Finland 2-0-0-1 6 PTS 7-8 -1

3. Russia 1-0-0-2 3 PTS 3-19 -16

4. China 0-0-0-3 0 PTS 3-16 -13



Group B Scores

2/14: U.S.A. 12 China 1 (5-0, 3-0, 4-1)

2/14: Finland 5 Russia 1 (1-1, 2-0, 2-0)

2/16: Russia 0 U.S.A. 13 (0-5, 0-7, 0-1)

2/16: Finland 2 China 1 (0-1, 2-0, 0-0)

2/18: U.S.A. 6 Finland 0 (4-0, 1-0, 1-0)

2/18: China 1 Russia 2 (0-0, 1-2, 0-0)


Semifinals/ Tournament Placement

In addition to the Semifinals, the Women's Tournament does a Tournament Placement to ranks teams that finish 5-8. This is for World Ranking purposes after the Olympics are over and to determine who will roundout the field for the 2011 World Women's Hockey Championships. The Women's Semifinals will take place today to determine the Gold and Bronze Medal Games which take place on Thursday night.

Women's Semifinals

#1A Canada VS. #2B Finland 5:00 PM PST

#1B U.S.A. VS. #2A Sweden 12:00 PM PST


Women's Tournament Placement

Saturday was the first Round of the Tournament Placement for the 3rd and 4th place teams that will round out teams ranked #5-#8. The two third Place Teams as Russia and Switzerland came out with big victories and will play for 5th place. As for the 2 4th Place Teams as Slovakia and China will play for 7th and 8th place coming up.


2/20: Switzerland 6 China 0 (2-0, 2-0, 2-0)

2/20: Russia 4 Slovakia 2 (2-0, 1-1, 1-1)

2/22, 5th Place Game: Switzerland VS. Russia 7:00 PM PST

2/22, 7th Place Game: China VS. Slovakia 2:00 PM PST

Countdown to Vancouver

With the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver starting up on Friday night. I'm going to start by posting the national team rosters and provide some notes on the different teams that will be comeptiting (Especially with the Mens Tournament).

Just a remender, the Mens Tournament starts on the Feb. 16 and the Women's Tournament starting on Feb. 13 which is the day after the Opening Cermonies.

Here's the tournament Groups.

Men's Tournament

Group A: Canada, U.S.A., Switzerland, Norway

Group B: Russia, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Latvia

Group C: Sweden, Finland, Germany, Belarus


Women's Tournament

Group A: Canada, Sweden, Switzerland, Slovakia

Group B: U.S.A., Finland, Russia, China


Belarus Roster

8 years has passed since Belarus pulled off the biggest upset in their nations history as they beat Sweden in the Olympic Quarterfinals. Since then, the Belarus team has been up and down as the BLR Junior Teams have struggled to stay in the WJC and U18 World Championships, also a mixed results in the IIHF World Championships and missing the 2006 Olympics in Italy. This roster will have a ton of players from the KHL in Russia along with a couple of recent draft picks that they are hoping to get into the NHL.

For Belarus, their most recent success came in the 2008 IIHF World Championship when they surprised everyone by making the Quarterfinals. This was one of the stronger showings in recent history.

As for the roster, they will be 4 NHLers, along with 5 in the Belarusian Open League which is the top league in Belarus. Then the other 15 are playing in the KHL, espically with the only Belarus team Dynamo Minsk. For Belaurs, 15 of these players played on the 2008 IIHF World Championship Team that got them to the Quarterfinals and eventually finished in 6th place.

So hopefully the fimilar of the roster will help them out and the strength of players in the KHL should help them out to pull off some upsets. Espically when they play Germany to open up the tournament on 2/20.

Belarus Group Stage Schedule

2/17: VS. Finland 6:30 PM CST

2/19: VS. Sweden 2:00 PM CST

2/20: VS. Germany 10:55 PM CST

Goaltenders

Vitali Koval, Dynamo Minsk (KHL, BLR)

Maxim Malyutin, HK Vitebsk (KHL, RUS)

Andrei Mezin, Dynamo Minsk (KHL, BLR)


Defensemen

Andrei Antonov, Shakhter Soligorsk (BOL, BLR)

Andrei Bashko, Shakhter Soligorsk (BOL, BLR)

Vladimir Denisov, Dynamo Minsk (KHL, BLR)

Viktor Kostiuchenok, Amur Khabarovsk (KHL, RUS)

Ruslaen Salei, Colorado Avalanche (NHL)

Nikolai Sushko, Shakhter Soligorsk (BOL, BLR)

Alexander Syrei, Shakhter Soligorsk (BOL, BLR)


Forwards

Oleg Antonenko, Avtomobilist Yekateringburg (KHL, RUS)

Sergei Demagin, Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk (KHL, RUS)

Mikhail Grabovski, Toronto Maple Leafs (NHL)

Alexei Kaliuzhny, Dynamo Moscow (KHL, RUS)

Konstantin Koltsov, Salavat Yulayev Ufa (KHL, RUS)

Andrei Kostitsyn, Montreal Canadians (NHL)

Sergei Kostitsyn, Montreal Canadians (NHL)

Alexander Kulakov, Dynamo Minsk (KHL, BLR)

Andrei Mikhalev, Dynamo Minsk (KHL, BLR)

Andrei Stas, Dynamo Minsk (KHL, BLR)

Alexei Ugarov, MVD Balashikha (KHL, RUS)

Sergei Zadelenov, Dynamo Minsk (KHL, BLR)