(U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!)
With that said, happy Miracle on Ice anniversary, everybody! While this humble blogger was technically alive for Team USA's victory against the heavily favored Soviets in the 1980 Lake Placid Winter Olympics, toddlers are very easily distracted and not everything registers right away. On Febuary 22nd, 1980, the amateur and collegiate players that made up team USA stunned the Soviet men's hockey team by beating them 4-3. Contrary to popular opinion, that actually was not the gold-medal game- the match with the USSR was to see who would take on Finland in the Gold medal game. Team USA would go on to defeat Finland to win the gold; their unlikely run dramatized in the 2004 film Miracle starring Kurt Russel as coach Herb Brooks. Rumor has it that the film was also shown in the Red Sox locker room when they were down 0-3 in the 2004 ALCS.
(30 years later- USA! U-S-A! U-S-A!)
Now, Sunday Nights Men's Hockey contest was no Miracle on Ice, but Team USA found themselves in the role of underdogs nonetheless. Just 41 seconds into the first period, USA's Brian Rafalski quieted the partisan crowd at Vancouver's Canada Hockey Place with a slapshot that deflected off Sidney Crosby's stick and past Martin Brodeur for the early 1-0 lead over Canada. Eric Staal deadlocked the game at 1-1 at the 8:53 mark of the first, but Rafalski would notch his second goal of the contest a mere 22 seconds later, sending the puck under Brodeur's left pad. The game would be knotted again on a Dany Heatley tally 3 and a half minutes into the second period, and would remain a 2-2 tie until USA's Chris Drury sent the puck past Brodeur after a mad scramble in front of the net late in the second.
In the 3rd period, Jamie Langenbrunner tallied the USA's only power-play goal of the game to make it a 4-2 USA lead. Although down, Team Canada certainly wasn't out and Sidney Crosby managed to solve Ryan Miller on a Canadian power-play at the 16:51 mark to make it a one-goal game. The crowd seemed to factor back in the final 3 minutes of regulation, including when Canada pulled Brodeur for the extra attacker in the final 57 seconds. However, USA's Ryan Kesler won the footrace with Canada's Corey Perry and got the empty-netter to seal the deal and make it a 5-3 USA win.
Now, as anxious as I was when Ryan Miller would make a spectacular save only to leave a whole bunch of big, juicy-looking rebounds for Canada to pounce on, he faced a total of 45 (stopping 42) while Brodeur only faced 23 shots on goal. So it didn't just seem like Miller was facing twice as many shots as Brodeur was....that actually was the case. Personally, ever since I saw the Canada/Switzerland game, I did expect Team USA to keep it close and put their odds at beating Canada head-to-head at 50/50.
Reports are circulating that Roberto Luongo will replace Brodeur in net for Tuesday's game against Germany while Team USA awaits the winner of the Switzerland/Belarus game.
Women's Hockey: Not too surprising, given the margin of victory over their opponents, but the USA and Canadian women's team will face off for the gold medal game, the American women punching their ticket with a 9-1 win over Sweden and the Canadians shutting out Finland 5-0. The gold medal match is set for Thursday at 3:30 PM Pacific time.
Short Track Speed Skating: Although the South Koreans claimed 4 of the 6 short-track medals awarded Saturday, Apolo Anton Ohno won silver last weekend and bronze in the 1500M event Saturday to make him the most decorated US Winter Olympian with seven medals. The feat surpasses Bonnie Blair, who won five gold medals and a bronze from the 1988 Calgary games to 1994 in women's long-track speed skating.
Women's Alpine Skiing: Well, downhill favorite Lindsey Vonn has another medal to her name, although she had to settle for the bronze in the Super-G competition. Vonn admitted to being a tad complacent and eased up after making her way through the more difficult portions of the course. Austria's Andrea Fischbaker secured the gold while Slovenia's Tina Maze won silver Saturday. Not the most earth-shattering developments out of Vancouver, but hey! Another gratuitous opportunity to put up some Vonn-centric ocular sweetness!
NBA: Well, I kinda got the feeling if Denver could do it to King James and the Cavs on the road, I shouldn't be too disappointed if Boston wasn't able to come away from Denver with the W.
After beating the Portland Trailblazers pretty convincingly Friday night, the C's headed into Denver to take on the Nuggets in a matinee game Sunday afternoon. Ray Allen had 25 points while KG, Rondo and Marquis Daniels each had 15. The Nuggets had doubled up Boston early, getting out in front by as much as 20, but Boston cut the Denver lead to 7 at halftime and managed to pull even at 66-66 in the third before dropping off the face of the earth to lose 114-105 Sunday afternoon.
The Celtics next game will be at the TD Banknorth Garden Tuesday against the NY Knicks. Paul Pierce is doubtful for the game with a bad thumb.
NFL:Not the least-bit New England-centric, but the San Diego Chargers have released RB LaDanian Thomlinson this week. In so doing, the Chargers avoid paying him a $2 million roster bonus on top of his 2010 salary of $5 million.
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