I have to agree Wildbill,, now that I've had a couple days to get over the loss and calm down, there is no shame in losing to that Russian team.. Their lineup looks just as talented if not better then Canada's.. Although give Canada the edge in goal with Brodeur.. Nabokov played great when he had too though for Russia.. Canada sort of coasted through that prelim round and didn't give much of an effort,, many of us wondered if they would be able to "turn on the switch" in the elimination round. I think they did, they just ran into another very good team, that Russian game was pretty even, and was probably Canada's best game of the tourney.. It was one quick 3 second play,, Pronger knocked the puck in front of his own net while shorthanded, and Ovechkin pounced on it .. Brodeur had no chance.. That 3 second lapse sent Canada home.. They had several good chances in the last 2 minutes to tie it but couldn't get that elusive goal.. Its such a fine line between victory and heartache in this game where all the quarter final teams are talented and anybody can beat anybody.. One mistake can kill ya..
One other note about Canada and the US both bowing out early in the quarterfinals.. The NHLers back home in Canada that watched the game were being interviewed about it, several of them that have played international hockey said playing on the bigger international ice surfaces is a great equaliser for these European teams, as those players are used to it growing up on the big ice.. while the North American Style hockey of dump in and agressive forecheck in smaller NHL rinks,, just doesn't work on this big ice surface.. All these Euro teams only send 1 guy in to forcheck, and keep 4 guys back waiting at the redline, and they wait for a turnover to pounce on a mistake. Its not pretty to watch, but it gets the job done as we now see..
