The Men’s and Women’s tournaments are already heading for a fever pitch!
Let’s get after it!
Women’s Tournament
Semifinal Game 1: Sweden vs. USA – A Game of Tests
The Swedes got here out of the kind of rock solid game they’ve been bringing all tournament meeting the Czechs, and through 60 minutes of solid hockey from bell-to-bell-to-bell, they managed to get a shutout from Ebba Svensson-Traff and two excellent goals off of Hilda Svensson and Hanna Olsson; a major feather in the cap of the Damen League, the fruits it’s born, and the rise of the Swedish program from the relative
obscurity it’s been cursed with for years. The Damen are finally here.
Meanwhile, the US got here by doing a series of Mortal Kombat fatalities to Italy. Italy managed exactly six shots on goal against Aerin Frankel.
Million different pathways and all that.
Really, this is two teams who could use a good test; The Swedes haven’t done this well in women’s competition in years and are now in position to potentially medal for the first time since 2006, and they need to see where they really are in the grand scheme of things if they want to continue to build as a program against the shining star of the Women’s game. Meanwhile, the United States’ needs to see how they handle the unknown; neither side has seen each other yet this Olympics, and so a rising team that’s also a relative unknown to them ought to be the perfect look at where their effort level should be to get into the Gold Medal game.
Semifinal Game 2: Canada vs. Switzerland – Round 2, fight!
So last time these two teams met, MPP was out of the lineup and Switzerland kept it close for a comically long time…right up until they started taking penalties. Switzerland seems to have the idea that if they can keep the events in the game as low as possible, they can exploit the issues that Canada has been bringing to the table in terms of speed and cohesiveness (something exacerbated by coaches getting a little too cute). This was not a bad strategy to be frank, it was one that however required the Swiss offense, which lives and dies through Boston Fleet forward Alina Muller, to find anyone that was open at all, something she frequently could not do.
Now, MPP is in the lineup. Canada is still piecing themselves together after the asskicking they took from the States, and they have been routinely dropping 5 goals on teams who dare to not be on their level. They may be a bit long in the tooth, but having Poulin back still gives them a stinging edge that makes them much, much scarier than you might expect.
Unless the Swiss manage to get double digit shots, I sincerely don’t expect them to come out of this alive for anything but a shot at Bronze.
Men’s Tournament
The Prelims are over, and those teams who have made their way to the Quarterfinal bye are as follows:
- USA
- The US is definitely what we expected; extremely talented and their stars are coming in to meet the moment. But DON’T THINK I DIDN’T SEE THAT DENMARK GAME. THAT S#!T WASN’T ALL SWAYMAN GETTING CAUGHT, THEY SHOWED YOU THEY’RE CAPABLE OF A STINKER IF NOT PROPERLY PRESSED. YOU ARE ON NOTICE UNTIL YOU GET TO THE GOLD MEDAL GAME.
- Canada
- Canada sleepwalked to their bye because they have three different flavors of the “I Win” button that they can just press every so often. They’re as finely tuned an engine as you would expect them to be, and watching all of those talented players find their groove together has been an absolute joy. Really, the only question coming out of prelims is what the hell did France do to you, Canada?
- Finland
- I gotta hand it to you, Finland. I thought for sure you were gonna be down where Sweden is right now. I figured you wouldn’t recover from that Slovakia game and just lurch into Quarters. But you rebounded huge, and even beat your neighbor in the process then put the home team into a blender! Full credit to rolling through and getting here!
- Slovakia
- Man, Juraj Slafkovsky is something else. Also has to count for something that the Slovaks really didn’t actually miss any time together as a national unit, as outside of a loss to Sweden, they look pretty damn good as a unit, even if their limiting factors in goal means they’re pretty much destined to keep doing tight games until they hit a team that’s got more talent than they do.
Qualifier 1: Germany vs. France – Leon vs. The World
Well, if nothing else, this game will be short!
That’s all I got. The Germans are more talented than France. That’s just about all there is to it. Even if Philipp Grubauer developed Grubauer symptoms again they could just score their way out of it. Might not work every time, but it’ll work against France.
Qualifier 2: Switzerland vs. Italy – Do it for Kevin
The Swiss have won their games by largely crushing the other team with possession and letting their NHL guys do their thing, which is a real problem because now they’re down one Kevin Fiala, who will not be returning to the ice after getting surgery in Milan. That gives them a dangerous edge of a recent motivator to go deep, and for Italy, who sure participated in this tournament as “team getting dunked on”, that bodes very ill for them.
Also I’d keep your trash talk to yourselves, Italy. There’s a pretty good chance someone on your opponent’s side can understand it.
Qualifier 3: Czechia vs. Denmark – Make-up Credits
Czechia probably feels like they shouldn’t be here. But here they are anyway.
After winning a game they should, and then losing a game they should, the Czechs played Switzerland to Overtime, where they lost. It was also way, way, way tighter of a game than I think the Czechs were expecting to play, and so now they need to play Denmark in order to keep their dreams alive.
Denmark meanwhile has played the role of gatekeeper; the teams who are obviously better than them have beaten them handily (at least on paper. Looking at you; USA.), and they escaped a much harder working Latvia to come away with a win. Czechia, at least on paper, is more talented than them…with the noted exception of goal, where Lukas Dostal has been a major disappointment. Frederik Andersen is due to remember he’s playing in a game that counts and is thus prone to self-destruction, but if he can keep the game close, then the Czechs could be in for a rough ride.
Still should beat them. It’s just gonna be a nightmarish game for them.
Qualifier 4: Sweden vs. Latvia – Saving Face
Sweden has some ‘splaining to do.
Latvia we understand. They work their ass off because they know their ceiling is much lower than a lot of the other teams around them. Didn’t quite work against the US, worked against Germany, and it could’ve worked against Denmark if their goaltending hadn’t let them down at a crucial moment. That’s pretty standard for Latvia. We get Latvia.
Sweden meanwhile…probably shouldn’t be here? Maybe?
Sweden has a record on-par with Finland and Slovakia, but Finland putting the boots to Italy heavy-style and beating Sweden gave them the edge. It’s not like Sweden has struggled or anything, it’s just, for whatever reason…they never seemed to have that win that felt like they were clearly a program of hockey royalty. Italy got a pair off of them, Slovakia came away from their game having won the group in spite of losing by two goals, and it seems like their eternal rival next door got a major shot in the arm from beating them.
The time may have come for Sweden to finally put the kibosh on any doubt the prelims conjured, and that means looking at everyone’s favorite underdog nation and doing something nasty to ‘em.
Dans, it’s all up to you to do something extremely funny.
Bruins in this tournament
- USA
- Charlie McAvoy has been solid, though he’s not garnered any points through 3 games.
- oh Jeremy… What a game you had. Swayman played one game against Denmark and did not have a fun time out there. In fairness, it looked very much like the US was still congealing as a unit (and frankly, not taking their opponent seriously, which should’ve gotten them bagskated into the dirt), and as a result his sole game so far has ended with him pitching a .857 SV%.
- Sweden
- Elias Lindholm has played 2 games, and has not garnered any points.
- Finland
- Joonas Korpisalo has faithfully opened the bench doors for Finland’s forwards, and goddamnit that’s a skill that needs highlighting. That’s quality backup work.
- Czechia
- David Pastrnak has once again shown his growth as a player by being more of an assist guy than a goalscorer; he’s got 3 points; 1 goal, 2 assists, in 3 games played!
- Latvia
- Dans Locmelis once again carries the torch for Latvia; tying with Ed Tralmarks and Renars Krastensburgs for the team lead in goal scoring with 2 in 3 games.
Boston Fleet In this Tournament
- USA
- Megan Keller has a cool 6 points in 5 games!
- Haley Winn is still getting adjusted to this level of the game, but I think we can let that slide since she’s got 3 points in 5 games!
- Aerin Frankel is f#!king invincible, dude. .978 through three games played.
- Germany
- Laura Kluge came alive for Germany, but wasn’t enough for them to avoid elimination. She had a heroic tournament; finishing the tournament with 7 points in 5 games. Genau, Laura. Genau.
- Czechia
- Daniela Pesjova finished her tournament with no points, though she doesn’t play a super point-getting game with the Czechs.
- Switzerland
- Alina Muller is doing it all for the Swiss; she’s got 4 points in 5 games, and accounts for 3 of 4 goals scored by Switzerland. GET HER SOME HELP, PLEASE. THEY CAN’T GET SUSANNA OUT HERE FOR THAT.
- Finland
- Susanna Tapani was one of the unlucky many on the women’s team for Finland that had Noro, but couldn’t really overcome the other limitations that Finland had put on their players; she comes home pointless. Here’s hoping she uses the rest of her time in Milan for something other than being sick; she deserves it.
GO FOR GOLD!
