2010 Winter Olympics Hockey: Team Canada vs. Norway Highlights and Analysis
February 16th, 2010 by Mark Ritter Leave a reply »Written By: Mark “The Hard Hitter” Ritter
Fours years after finishing an embarrassing seventh in Turin (2006), Canada’s Men's Olympic Hockey Team started on its journey towards redemption in front of a capacity crowd—and the legend himself, Wayne Gretzky, in attendance for the game in Vancouver.
With the crowd decked out in a sea of red and white and the benefit of having Vancouver’s golden boy, Roberto Luongo, in between the pipes, Canada looked poised to demolish a virtually unknown Norwegian squad that primarily features players from the German, Swedish and Russian Leagues.
Given Canada’s stacked lineup it is easy to understand why expectations are so high. That said, the Norwegian team has the benefit of familiarity—something Canada will have to try to develop as the Olympic Tournament goes on.
It is this familiarity, combined with a defense-first hockey system that much resembles the dreaded “trap”, that gave Norway a chance against Canada early on.
During the first period, Canada attempted to stretch the Norwegian squad by attempting numerous 20-foot passes. On more occasions than not the puck got ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NHL
Article written by Mark Ritter
Advertisement