CrashingTheGoalie

by Drew Baird
Over the last two weeks I have been observing the final stages of evolution, evolution transforming the city of Vancouver from an everyday city into a destination playing host to the world’s finest. From the opening ceremonies to Canada winning its first gold medal on home soil, Canadians have a lot to be proud of in the first 3 days of competition. I will always remember where I was when Canada won both of its medals, you can feel it throughout the city.

Yesterday I had my first chance to take in one of the games. It was USA against Switzerland in preliminary men’s ice hockey and I was not disappointed.

ZAK PARISE

It was a different feeling than a typical NHL game.

You could sense the bulk of the crowd were not knowledgeable hockey fans, the jumbotron even explained the rules before puck drop. What you could tell however, was the passion that each and every fan in Canada Hockey Place brought to the table. Frequently throughout the game USA chants would begin, the crowd would chant GO SWISS. The two chants would trade off whenever a team would put on pressure and had Canada been involved it would have kicked the experience to a whole new level.

The passion of the game made it feel like the playoffs.

And to the game,

Everyone and their dog was aware that the Americans were the stronger team in this affair, it would have been a disappointment had they lost and it showed in the 3-1 victory. Some people really impressed me in the game though. It was my first opportunity to see Zach Parise live and I thought he looked great, this kid has loads of talent. I thought Ryan Suter and Erik Johnson looked alive on the back end and Ryan Miller was well Ryan Miller.

Being a Canucks fan at heart I found myself watching a lot of Kesler, he looked a little nervous and a little less like he knew where to be but I think he will find his niche and have a strong tournament. The thing about team USA is they have a team built unlike any other in the tournament. They have an NHL style team with every role filled. It is something we haven’t seen in this tournament and I think they could surprise a few people.

I was most impressed in the game by Mark Streit and Jonas Hiller. Streit was such a calming presence over the entire team, he kept his team in check and man is this guy smart with the puck on the point. He has a quick accurate shot and reminds me of a young Mathieau Schneider. Jonas Hiller is going to be up against it in this tournament but he looked great in this game, but that will make about as much difference as Mark Messier made to the Canucks playoff aspirations.

All in all it was exactly what I expected the Americans getting used to one another and the Swiss hanging in on and playing their hearts out.

Like I said team USA is built for the NHL so they won’t blow anyone out, but I love them in a close game.

I hope our boys come to play on Sunday.

*****

photo courtesy of cdn.nhl.com