Winter Olympics 2014: Netherlands sweeps speed skating, again

International Ice Hockey Federation president Rene Fasel has guaranteed that women’s ice hockey would not be taken out of the Olympics, after another tournament in which concerns over competitive balance have been raised regarding Canada, the United States and the rest of the world.

“That will never happen,” Fasel said during a news conference on Tuesday, per CTV News. “I can guarantee that will never happen.”

Fog pushed the start of Men’s Snowboard Cross to Tuesday, but the delay didn’t hamper the competition. The big final was a thrilling race that saw a photo finish for gold and silver, while Alex Deibold of Team USA took home bronze.

Deibold saved his best performance for the right time, following a disappointing season in the FIS World Cup that saw him finish in the Top 10 twice, adding a 39th and 48th place finish. Part of his struggles were due to an injury sustained in 2013 that required surgery, but the 27-year-old showed no signs of any impediment on the slopes Tuesday.

Now that we’re into the home stretch of the 2014 Olympic hockey tournament it’s time to start looking ahead to the 2018 tournament and everybody’s favorite talking point -- will the NHL be back?

All of the key decision makers were talking about it on Tuesday, and NHL commissioner Gary Bettman seemed to echo the timeframe deputy commissioner Bill Daly mentioned last week when he talked about a decision coming down sometime over the next six months. Bettman made it clear, however, that it is not something that will be discussed while the games in Sochi are taking place, while adding that he did not want to get into the pros and cons of NHL participation, noting that they have already been repeatedly discussed.

Tuesday marked the unfortunate end to a crowd-favorite with Norway and their loud pants failing to advance in Men’s Curling, losing to Great Britain in the tie-breaker session.

The Norwegian team captured hearts and eyes with their seemingly-endless stream of amazing pants, which ranged from representing the country’s flag, paint splotches, references to high art and floral prints. It might not have been received well by all of the team’s competitors, but that must be because they can’t appreciate amazing things. Nevertheless, we’ve lost our curling spirit guide.

Slovenia’s seemingly impossible hockey dream will continue for at least one more game.

The biggest underdog in the entire tournament advanced to the quarterfinal round of the men’s hockey tournament on Tuesday with an impressive and thoroughly dominating 4-0 win over Austria, setting up a game against Sweden on Wednesday.

With group play over, Olympic men’s hockey is now on to the knockout stages, which start on Tuesday with the qualification round. NBC continues to give this event the red-carpet treatment, showing every game live on its family of networks.

The United States, Canada, Sweden and Finland are already through to the quarterfinals after getting the most points during group play, so Tuesday’s games will determine which opponents they face. Russia is the most high-profile team in this group. Still reeling from a heartbreaking shootout loss to the U.S., the home team will take out its frustrations on Norway, who has yet to win a game.

Speed skating continues on Tuesday with two medal events on both short and long track. The women’s 1000m event has a qualification round at 4:30 a.m. ET, while the 3000m relay final begins at 5:54 a.m. ET.

The Netherlands has had a brilliant run in speed skating this year, but China has been the big winners on the short track, taking the gold medal in both 500m and 1500m. Li Jianrou and Liu Qiuhong will hope to keep their streak going. American Emily Scott is looking to recover from her crash in the 1500m run.

It’s a great day for undercard hockey as eight teams battle for a spot in the quarterfinals of the men’s hockey medal round. The Sochi crowd will be focused on Russia’s game with Norway, but there’s plenty of intriguing action to go around.

In terms of sheer geopolitical intrigue, the Czech Republic and Slovakia squaring off is something straight out of what would happen if WWE boss Vince McMahon ran the IOC or United Nations. Or maybe Taylor Swift (we are never ever ever ever etc. etc.).