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Canada, Russia on a collision course
Source: Agencies |
February 18, 2010, Thursday
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CANADA and Russia opened the Olympic men's ice hockey tournament with explosive wins on Tuesday to set the old rivals off on a collision course towards the final.
Canada launched its bid for the gold that matters more than any other to the country by crushing Norway 8-0 while Russia rekindled memories of the Big Red Machine to dump Latvia 8-2.
The United States, seeking its first hockey gold since the "Miracle on Ice" 30 years ago at the 1980 Lake Placid Games, opened its account with a workmanlike 3-1 win victory over scrappy Switzerland.
For the 11th-ranked minnow from Norway it must have seemed like it had been thrown to the sharks when it was drawn to face Canada in an electrically charged opener in front of a raucous capacity crowd in Vancouver demanding nothing less than a mauling.
As Canada stepped on to the Olympic ice for the pre-game warm-up the team members were greeted by a seething sea of red and deafening roar from a crowd that had been anticipating the moment since Vancouver was first awarded the Games.
With no National Hockey League players on their bench, the Norwegians looked across at the cream of Canadian hockey and a roster stocked with NHL MVPs, Norris trophy-winning defensemen, all-stars and the most successful netminder of all-time.
Canada had faced the Norway three times in Olympic competition and outscored it 29-3 but the Norwegians came prepared to fight and battled the gold medal favorite to a scoreless opening period.
But the Canadians finally broke through early in the second on a powerplay goal from Jarome Iginla who added two more in the third to complete his hat-trick.
Russia, seeking its first gold since the breakup of the Soviet Union, was led by two goals each from the NHL's top sniper Alexander Ovechkin and Danis Zaripov.
Bobby Ryan, David Backes and Ryan Malone scored for the young Americans and Hnat Domenichelli had Switzerland's lone goal to spoil goalie Ryan Miller's shutout bid.
Canada launched its bid for the gold that matters more than any other to the country by crushing Norway 8-0 while Russia rekindled memories of the Big Red Machine to dump Latvia 8-2.
The United States, seeking its first hockey gold since the "Miracle on Ice" 30 years ago at the 1980 Lake Placid Games, opened its account with a workmanlike 3-1 win victory over scrappy Switzerland.
For the 11th-ranked minnow from Norway it must have seemed like it had been thrown to the sharks when it was drawn to face Canada in an electrically charged opener in front of a raucous capacity crowd in Vancouver demanding nothing less than a mauling.
As Canada stepped on to the Olympic ice for the pre-game warm-up the team members were greeted by a seething sea of red and deafening roar from a crowd that had been anticipating the moment since Vancouver was first awarded the Games.
With no National Hockey League players on their bench, the Norwegians looked across at the cream of Canadian hockey and a roster stocked with NHL MVPs, Norris trophy-winning defensemen, all-stars and the most successful netminder of all-time.
Canada had faced the Norway three times in Olympic competition and outscored it 29-3 but the Norwegians came prepared to fight and battled the gold medal favorite to a scoreless opening period.
But the Canadians finally broke through early in the second on a powerplay goal from Jarome Iginla who added two more in the third to complete his hat-trick.
Russia, seeking its first gold since the breakup of the Soviet Union, was led by two goals each from the NHL's top sniper Alexander Ovechkin and Danis Zaripov.
Bobby Ryan, David Backes and Ryan Malone scored for the young Americans and Hnat Domenichelli had Switzerland's lone goal to spoil goalie Ryan Miller's shutout bid.
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