As you probably know by now, the Czech Republic ice hockey team suffered their first loss of the Olympics thus far, falling to the Russians 4-2 on Sunday afternoon.
Therefore, the Russians have earned a first-round bye with their triumph of Group B, while the Czechs will most likely have to play in the first-round to earn their way into the quarterfinals.
This loss was indeed a loss, but it did not come without it's positives. The most positive note of all: The Czechs proved they can roll with the Russians, which might mean they can roll with anyone else.
The Czech's stayed with the Russians all game. They skated with them, they fired the puck with them, and one beastly hit from Alex Ovechkin, along with some solid goaltending from Russian netminder Evgeni Nabokov, might have been the difference between a Czech loss and a Czech comeback victory.
They did everything the underdog USA squad did against Canada this evening, except not with the same satisfactory result as the Americans were fortunate enough to receive (along with some questionable goaltending from Canadian netminder Martin Brodeur).
But ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NHL
Article written by Doug Gausepohl
2010 Winter Olympics: Czech Team Loses First Real Battle, but Could Win War
February 22nd, 2010 by Doug Gausepohl Leave a reply »
Advertisement