The Angela watch is over and I know there are quite a few dissapointed readers and my son in law will have to find a new hero or heroine. So Canada will play Sweden for the Gold in women's hockey and the US ladies will play Finland and try to win the Bronze.
Would you believe Finland and Slovakia are unbeaten in the men's hockey and Switzerland beating The Czech Republic and Canada. The USA has just lost to Slovakia so their chances right now seem to be slipping away. However the big news for NHL fans who are so-so about these Olympics, like me, are the injuries. What most fans and I gather the owners also, feared , has happened. Two big injuries that could affect the NHL races have come early in the games.
Dominick Hasek, the Dominator, played all of ten minutes against Germany and then left with a groin injury. He is now out for the rest of the Olympics. The Czechs have Tomas Vokoun of Nashville as backup, the Senators have no such luck. The backup goalie for the Senators is Ray Emery who has appeared in 15 games with a 9-4-1-0 record a 3.14 GAA and a save percentage of .883. Compare that with Hasek's 27-9-0-4 a GAA of 2.09 and a save percentage of .925. If Hasek is out for any significant time the Senators would be in deep trouble. Lets not forget that Hasek is 41 and injuries don't heal that quick for 41 year olds.
Patrik Elias has played in 18 games since his return from his illness. He has 7 goals and 14 assists in helping the Devils back into the playoff picture. He has rib injuries. Elias replaced the Ranger's Petr Prucha who had to withdraw because of a knee injury. You think Lou Lamoriello is smiling now.
And this just in. Reports are that Jaromir Jagr left the game against Finland bleeding from a cut on his head as he was hit into the boards. How about that, Olympic fans? It is a Rangers fan worst nightmare. We will have to wait for the reports to come in. It figures.
On a personal note, I will be away for a while. I have been getting some tests and they have decided that I need a procedure to remove a blockage in my bladder. They say it is a simple procedure. Trust me, when you are seventy-five nothing is simple. Your thoughts and prayers are appreciated. My cohort will continue to regale you with Olympic highlights.
ICINGS:
Team USA's women had gold in Nagano and silver in Salt Lake. A shootout loss to Sweden keeps them from a shot at either in Torino. That hurts.
Angela Ruggiero said after the loss:
The past day has been a tough one for me and my team. As I am sure every reader of this site knows, Sweden upset the US last night in a shootout. We went up 2-0, but they never gave up and came back to tie the game. Even after 10 minutes of thrilling overtime, no one could score. We thought that we would take it in the shootout (we won the World Championships in a shootout last year) and never lost hope until we saw Sweden throwing up their gloves to celebrate. I was in disbelief. Shock. I did not know what to do immediately after the game. Our team has put so much into this tournament and have postponed our lives to reach a goal: a gold medal. I never imagined that we would not be in that final game, so in a way, this is a new challenge for me and for the rest of the team.
We'll still keep pulling for Team USA and Angela Ruggiero. It's nice the IOC "no blogging" rule for athletes has an exception. Angela was allowed to continue writing her blog during the games. The International Olympic Committee usually bars competitors, as well as coaches, support personnel and other officials, from writing firsthand accounts for news and other Web sites.
An exception is if an athlete has a personal Web site that they did not set up specifically for the Games.
The IOC's rationale for the restrictions is that athletes and their coaches should not serve as journalists — and that the interests of broadcast rightsholders and accredited media come first.
Angela will certainly keep blogging as she now tries to win a spot in Donald Trump's next "The Apprentice." She is one of 12 USA Olympians that are in the running for a spot on next season's show. The public is voting on which Olympian will be selected to go for the Trump job. Currently, Angela is in 2nd place with 44% of the vote to Bobsledder Todd Hays' 49%. It is an interesting marketing move to connect Olympics reality TV with the other reality TV.
It would be nice to see hockey bloggers and fans get out the vote for Angela. VOTE HERE.
I hope someone removes Jarko Ruutu's head from his shoulders... or his knees from his body...
Good luck with the procedure and come back healthy.
Good Luck Pundit Man!