Tag: team usa

Olympic Update – Men’s Hockey Final

This afternoon we saw possibly one of the greatest hockey games of our time. I have never seen a level of play this caliber before. Both teams gave it their all and left their hearts on the ice.

It all started with a goal in the first period by Canada. They may have gotten the first goal, but now the question was “how would Team USA respond?”
The answer seemed to be “not very well” when Canada scored again in the second. It appeared that Team USA would be defeated. They had something to say on the matter though. They scored once in the second to bring the score to 2-1. And that wouldn’t be the last we heard from them.
Third period. Less than a minute to go. Empty net left by Miller for the extra man. That was when Zack Parise would get his chance to score, tying the game up at 2-2 in the final seconds. It would seem this game wasn’t over yet.
The game ended there and went to OT. Crosby would score about five minutes in, winning the game for Canada. Miller (USA’s goalie) looked incredibly dejected after the loss, but he should be proud of himself and how well he played throughout the entire tournament. He was named MVP, which I believe he greatly deserves. He made some spectacular saves and really proved to be an extraordinary player.
If we had to lose to someone I’m glad it was Canada and the level of play was as good as we saw. In my mind, neither team really lost, as they showed us what extraordinary players they all are.
At the end of the day the gold medal went to Canada, silver to Team USA, and bronze to Finland (who beat Slovakia by a score of 5-3 yesterday). The overall medal count for Team USA was 9 gold, 15 silver, 13 bronze, for a total of 37 medals. Germany was in second with 30 and Canada was in third with 26 (14 of which were gold). The medals aren’t what’s really important though. What matters most are the stories that we got to share, and the memories that will stay with us. Whether it’s Apolo Ohno’s record-breaking performance or the Canadian who skated in memory of her mother who recently passed away or Hannah Kearney’s gold medal in Skiing (which admittedly still makes me cry every time I see the replay), these memories will hold more weight than all the medals in the world. These are the moments that make these games truly special.

Olympic Update – Men’s Hockey Semifinal + Short Track

Today’s Olympic action brought us both men’s hockey semifinals and the final races in short track for both the men and women.

In short track, Apolo Ohno skated in both the men’s 500m and the 5,000m relay. He was disqualified from the 500m for touching another skater, which caused him to go down. Ohno didn’t let this setback stop him from scoring a bronze medal win in the relay, however. Canada received both gold and bronze for the 500m and another gold for the relay. On the women’s side, the 1,000m saw a silver medal go to American Katherine Reutter. Gold went to Meng Wang of China.

In the first semifinal, Team USA defeated Finland by an impressive score of 6-1. All six of our goals were scored in the first period in the span of 11 minutes, two of which were less than a minute apart from each other. The second semifinal was between Canada and Slovakia. Canada dominated throughout the game, scoring 3 goals in the first two periods and shutting Slovakia out. That was until the third period, when Slovakia started to make a comeback. They scored two goals, making it seem as if they might win in the final minutes. Canada was able to hold them off though, and won the game by a score of 3-2. The gold medal game will be Team USA vs. Canada. The bronze medal will be between Finland and Slovakia. May the best teams win.

The medal count as of now is 8 gold, 13 silver, and 13 bronze, for a total of 34 medals for Team USA. Germany is in second with 27 total while Canada is in third with 21.

More to come tomorrow.

Olympic Update – Women’s Hockey Final + Figure Skating (Women’s Free Skate)

Tonight’s Olympic action brings us the women’s hockey final and the women’s figure skating free skate.

In women’s hockey, the bronze medal game was between Finland and Sweden. Finland took that game by a score of 3-2. The gold medal game was between Canada and Team USA. This was possibly the closest game either team has had all tournament. In the end Canada proved the better team, winning by a score of 2-0.

In figure skating, Canada received a bronze medal with an elegant performance by Joannie Rochette. I spoke before about the support of the crowd after the loss of her mother. This support continued tonight, and, I think, contributed to her win. This will be one of those moments she will never forget. I’m sure it was bittersweet for her, but hopefully she can find some sunshine through the rain. The other medals went to Mao Asada of Japan (silver) and Yu-Na Kim of South Korea (gold). This was not only the first gold medal for South Korea in this event, but the first medal the country has ever received for figure skating.

That’s all for tonight, folks. More to come tomorrow.

Olympic Update – Men’s Hockey Quarterfinal

The Men’s Hockey Quarterfinal has just finished, and boy was it a good one. Both teams remained scoreless through the first two periods. Team USA scored a goal at the end of the second, but it didn’t actually cross the goal line until after the horn sounded to mark the end of the period. The third period saw a power play goal by Zach Parise, bringing the score to 1-0. The score would remain that until an empty net goal at the end of the period, also by Parise. Final score: 2-0. I good day for Team USA. We will play either Finland or Czech Republic in the Semifinal.

More Olympic action to come tonight.

Player nominations announced for World Cup

The nominations for the World Cup have been announced as well as when and where each match is scheduled. Team USA is set to play Serbia March 5-7. The players for USA are John Isner, Sam Querrey, Mike Bryan, Bob Bryan. The captain of the team is Patrick McEnroe. The Serbian team includes Novak Djokovic, Viktor Troicki, Janko Tipsarevic, Nenad Zimonjic. The captain of their team is Bogdan Obradovic. The matches will be held at Belgrade Arena in Serbia. More information will be posted here as it is made available.

Olympic Update – Figure Skating (Pairs) + Snowboarding

Today’s Olympic action included another gold medal for Team USA and some intense snowboarding action. Two Americans made it to the finals in Snowboard Cross: Seth Wescott and Nate Holland. Wescott was able to overtake the other three competitors for Team USA’s second Olympic gold medal. Also tonight was the end of the figure skating pairs competition. The top two pairs in this event were both from China, and both had an impressive display to offer. There was also supposed to be speed skating tonight but it was delayed due to unsafe conditions with the ice. At the end of the day the total medal count for Team USA was 8, including 2 gold medals, 2 silver, and 4 bronze. More Olympic action continues tomorrow with figure skating singles short program and the speed skating race that was delayed from tonight.