On Monday, Feb. 13, the NHL began its two week hiatus to allow its players to participate in the 2006 Winter Olympic Games in Torino, Italy.
The break began strikingly late, as the men's ice hockey preliminaries began just two days later on that Wednesday. Many members of the U.S. National team did not arrive until Tuesday and had to quickly adjust to their surroundings before the first round action.
Going in, the strongest teams in the competition were undoubtedly Canada,Sweden and Finland. Canada's team was composed of superstar-caliber players, namely Jerome Iginla, Joe Thornton, Dany Heatley, Simon Gagne and Martin Brodeur. On the other hand, Finland was led by Anaheim's Teemu Selanne and Sweden by Philadelphia's Peter Forsberg.
Finland and Canada, placed in Group A, found themselves alongside the Czech Republic, Italy, Germany and Switzerland. Group B featured the favored Swedes as well as the United States, Russia, Latvia, Slovakia and Kazakhstan.
With no truly dynamic player on the roster, the United States appeared hard-pressed just to keep its head above water and prevent an early elimination from the tournament. Led by veterans Mike Modano and Chris Chelios, the United States tied Latvia 3-3 on Feb. 15 in a game where it outshot its opponent 42-25.
The next day, the Americans beat Kazakhstan, only to lose close games to Sweden, Slovakia and Russia over the holiday weekend. However, even with a record of 1-2-1 in the preliminary, they still advanced to the quarterfinals on Wednesday, where they played an unstoppable Finnish team that mauled the Group A competition, compiling an undefeated record in the preliminaries. The United States put up a fight against its formidable opponent, but ultimately lost 4-3.
Canada also departed during the quarterfinals, losing 2-0 to the underrated Russians. Led by Washington's young phenom Alexander Ovechkin, the Russians shutout the Canadian all-star team and Russian goaltender Evgeni Nabokov nabbed 27 saves.
The promising young teams from Slovakia and Switzerland also suffered elimination after initially surprising everyone with their impressive play. Switzerland beat both the Czechs and the Canadians - a feat most considered impossible - and was ranked second in Group A behind Finland going into Wednesday's quarterfinal. The semifinals will be played today, as unbeaten Finland takes on Russia and Sweden opposes the Czech Republic.
As the NHL teams are still on their Olympic breaks, Phoenix Coyotes assistant coach Rick Tocchet has been at the forefront of the news for his association with gambling and his alleged association with Janet Jones Gretzky. Tocchet is set to stand trial in New Jersey to face the allegations, and while Mrs. Great One has not been exonerated, she is going to testify against Tocchet in court. This should make for TV about as entertaining as curling (what's not to love? - it's shuffleboard on ice!)
What may be more interesting than "Slashie" Gretzky's involvement in the scandal is her husband's reaction. During a press conference, Gretzky threw his wife under the proverbial bus, distancing himself from the entire affair and his spouse. He defended his own reputation, talking about how he has never bet on hockey while saying nothing about his wife. The Canadian National team threw its support behind him, but with the Canadians' disappointing loss to Russia on Wednesday, Gretzky seems to be fresh out of distractions and will likely face a renewed grilling from the press.
Most NHL teams resume their regular season on Tuesday. While the playoff picture has already started to develop, keep an eye on several races in particular. The Philadelphia Flyers and New York Rangers are battling for the No. 1 spot in the Atlantic Division, and at this point, the title is theirs for the taking. The Buffalo Sabres are giving the Ottawa Senators a run for their money in the Northeast Division, and the Calgary Flames, are deadlocked with the Vancouver Canucks in the Northwest Division.
