2014 Winter Olympics hockey: USA shakes things up; Canada lines unchanged

With Canada and USA both taking part in the first practice of the 2014 Olympics on Monday, it was stated not to read too much into line combinations as both coaches worked to find the right chemistry for their teams. The sentiment held true for the Americans, as coach Dan Bylsma shook things up a bit on Tuesday.

Line combinations out of Sochi for Tuesday’s practice for the USA showed a bit of a different look, aside from the top line:

Byslma stated during the team’s press conference on Tuesday he feels that Team USA has one of the harder lineups to play against with a heavy presence up front, and he worked to find a better balance in his combinations while keeping the Joe Pavelski top line together for the second day in a row.

For Team Canada, the combinations that were seen on Monday held true on Tuesday despite what coach Mike Babcock had stated about not reading too much into the first practice. Canada has one more practice day before Thursday’s game against Norway, when it’s expected that Babcock will have his final plan in place for that first game.

Line combinations for Canada on Tuesday:

Finally, there’s this piece of interesting information regarding goaltender equipment. The NHL required all goalies to size down their pads prior to the 2013-14 season, with the theory that doing so would increase scoring and take away an unfair advantage from goaltenders.

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