Race to the podium

  

The Olympic men’s hockey rosters have been announced and for the most part will remain as they currently are. Here are my pre-tournament rankings and my picks for who will end up on the podium.

12: Norway is lacking talent and will only ice one NHLer, Ole Kristian Tollefsen. Look for the Norwegians to lose all four matches.

11: Latvia is in the same boat as the Norwegians. The tiny talent pool they have to work with is not enough to compete with the stronger nations. It’s good exposure for some Latvian players, but that’s about it.

10: Remember the exceptional Belarusian squad that upset the Swedes in Salt Lake City? Well that won’t be the case in Vancouver. The team will be led by Mikhail Grabovsky and the Kostitsyn brothers – not promising. Don’t expect too much from Belarus.

9: The German squad is very similar to the Belarus team: a few NHLers, but none who can carry the team to victory. I’d be surprised to see Germany move past the quarters.

8: The Swiss won’t pull off another upset similar to their win over Canada in Torino. However, good preliminary play would mean taking on one of the bottom four and a berth in the semis, but don’t count the Swiss as medal contenders.

7: Slovakia has the potential to be a sleeper team and will pose as a potential threat to take the bronze. However, they’ll need to put the load on their stars. If Jaroslav Halak and Marian Gaborik can keep up their solid play, they might steal a few games. Yet too many ifs and not enough depth will usually race to the podium mean not a great showing.

6: The Czechs are also a strong competitor for the bronze, but unless their top six forwards steal the show, you won’t see them in medal contention. The potential is there when you have Jagr, Elias, Plekanec, Havlat, Erat and Fleischmann headlining your top six, but only consider them as a sleeper.

5: I’m going to make a bold prediction here and say that the Russians will lose in the semis and fail to get on the podium. Russia is 100 per cent offence; even their defence is offensive. They probably have the best six forwards in the tournament, but their defensive skills are lacking and it will be the main source of their demise.

4: The Fins will be motivated by their heartbreaking loss to their bitter rivals in Torino, and come out flying. They have strong goaltending, a good mix of veterans and youth and should produce a potent offence. Slotting them in fourth is not a knock against them, but instead it just means that the other squads will be better. Yet if they want to win, this is the year because most of the squad will be too old next time around.

3: My sleeper pick to succeed is the United States. The Americans are going younger and faster. The U.S. developmental program has improved significantly over the past couple of decades and it’s showing already with a big win over the Canadians in the WJC final. The Americans are solid on all fronts. Their only fault is a lack of experience. This transitional year for the Americans is just the beginning the upswing for U.S. hockey and a bronze would be a good start.

2: The Swedish hockey program has progressed the most in the last quarter of the century and will be a strong contender for gold. Henrik Lundqvist and Sweden’s strong defence led by Nick Lidstrom will keep their goals against to a minimum. The Swedish offence is extremely potent with the Sedin twins always a threat to explode offensively. If the Canadians don’t win, they Swedes will.

1: Steve Yzerman has used the pros and cons of the past and has created a well-rounded Canadian squad jam-packed with all stars. Every forward line is not only defensively strong, but can score on a moment’s notice. The same goes for the seven blueliners. Did I mention they have the best goaltender lineup in the world? The sheer force that is Team Canada coupled with the home ice advantage will surely result in gold.