In the second day of men's hockey competition, the six teams who didn't begin round robin play on Tuesday get under way. Below are previews of each of those games and a look at the standings after Day 1 of the tournament.
Olympic Hockey, Day 2 Preview: Jaromir Jagr Set To Put On A Show
Today’s Games and Storylines
3 PM ET / Noon PT : Finland vs Belarus in Group C action
Broadcast details: Live coverage on MSNBC
Belarus has a penchant for knocking off Scandinavian hockey clubs in the Olympics. Okay, they only did it once in the 2002 Salt Lake Games against the Swedes in the quarterfinals, but it’s what they’ve become known for as a hockey-playing nation. Note that they didn’t even qualify for the 2006 Torino Games and you’ll realize that it was probably a fluke thing.
Like many of the small European countries in the tournament, though, Belarus has the familiarity factor going for them. Half the team plays for Dynamo Minsk in the KHL, so they certainly have chemistry together. Their goaltender, Andrei Mezin, has been good in past NHL competition and they do have some NHL-caliber punch up front with Sergei Kostitsyn and former NHLer Konstantin Koltsov. It’s just not enough to match the Finns.
Mezin would have to match Miikka Kiprusoff in goal and those few weapons of front have to create more offense than Teemu Selane, Olli Jokinen, Mikko Koivu, Saku Koivu, Jere Lehtinen and Niklas Hagman, to name a few. The Finns are just as strong on the blueline with Joni Pitkanen and Kimmo Timonen leading the way. Finland hasn’t been considered by many as a favorite to medal, but they should be.
7:30 PM ET / 4:30 PM PT : Sweden vs Germany in Group C action
Broadcast details: Live coverage begins at 8 PM ET / 5 PM PT on CNBC
Team Sweden begins their gold medal defense against a German team with not much to lose in Vancouver. It’s unlikely that the Germans will sniff the medal round, but if they can get some solid goaltending from Thomas Greiss, who plays the backup role to Russia’s Evgeni Nabokov in San Jose, they might be able to squeak by a team early in the tournament.
The only problem there? They’re playing Sweden, the team everybody is forgetting about despite the fact that they have nice shiny medals hanging around their necks. Greiss will have to out duel Henrik Lundqvist, a task most NHL players aren’t exactly up to. The German defense, which is certainly their strong suit, will also have to contend with guys like Henrik and Daniel Sedin, two members of the Canucks who are certainly accustomed to playing well in Vancouver. Oh, and there’s Daniel Alfredsson, Johan Franzen, Pete Forsberg and Nicklas Backstrom to worry about as well.
12:00 AM ET / 9:00 PM PT : Czech Republic vs Slovakia in Group B action
Broadcast details: Live coverage begins at 12:30 AM ET / 9:30 PM PT on CNBC
They were once one as Czechoslovakia, but now separate, they meet again in hockey competition in these Olympics. It certainly is a weird game, too. Neither of these teams are favored to medal, although the Czechs won bronze in 2006, but they both have very strong teams that could give the best of the tournament fits. Both teams have NHL caliber talent in goal, up front and on the blueline, which should make for and extremely interesting evening at BC Hockey Place in Vancouver when these teams meet.
Slovakia is without their leading scorer, Marian Gaborik, who will miss the first two games of the tournament with an injury. Marian Hossa, Michal Handzus and Pavol Demitra will look to pick up the offense in support of goaltender Jaroslav Halak.
The Czechs are led by Jaromir Jagr, one of the most fascinating stories of this years’ Games. He left the NHL after last season to go play in the Russian KHL and it should be great to see the show that this future Hall of Famer puts on now that he’s back on NHL ice.
Standings
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