Originally Posted by kane

When I was explaining it to a friend tonight I told him that it would be like if they made Football (American football, not soccer) an Olympic sport and we put together an all star team made up of world class pros from the NFL and the Olympics were being held in the US. We would expect to win because we would be playing our game with our best players on our home turf. If they suddenly lost it would send a lot of people into a state of disbelief.

That said, it isn't like the US team is made up of a bunch of nobodies. Ryan Miller has the second best GAA in the NHL right now. Orpik won the cup with the Pens last year. Patrick Kane is considered one of the best young stars in the game. Rafalski, Langenbrunner and Drury are top notch NHL players. Both teams are made up completely of NHL players. If you are playing in the NHL it means you are one of the best players in the world. The people that put together the US team picked fast, smart, talented players that can use the big ice to their advantage and so far they are doing just that.

Of course this doesn't mean they are going to win the gold. There is no reason to think Canada can't beat Germany to get into the medal round then run the table. But as the announcers were saying the NHL compacted the schedule to accommodate the Olympics and the guys have already played 66 games so they are a little worn out. Maybe some of those big name vets playing for Canada are running a little low on gas.