Women's Hockey Medal Rounds Begin

An incredibly important 50 point gold is at stake as the medal rounds begin Monday in women's hockey. As usual the favorites are Canada (Brian Schwartz/Nordique Combined) and the USA (Dave Spence/Paragons). Both managers need the 50 point medal as they're in fifth and seventh place respectively. Hoping to play spoiler are Sweden (John Binz/Da Nang Dynamos) and Finland Ellis Kunka/Cornballers). The winners will play for the gold Thursday while the losers will play for bronze.

Noon PST - USA vs. Sweden
Team USA, ranked first in the world, breezed through their preliminary rounds without really being challenged. They scored 31 goals and allowed just one. Their closest game was a 6-0 win over Finland in which they raced to a 4-0 lead by the first break, then killed 10:44 worth of Finnish power plays.

Team USA goalie Jessie Vetter is 2-0 with a decent 0.00 GAA in the tournament. Backup Brianne McLaughlin of Robert Morris University, pictured at right, so far is the most talented 7.50 GAA goaltender of all time. Their top forward is Natalie Darwitz who leads the team in ice time and has 4 goals and 7 assists with a +8. Jenny Potter has 6 goals and 3 assists and is a +7. Molly Engstrom led the defense corps in ice time and is a +11 with 3 goals and 2 assists.

World #4 Team Sweden started strong with a 3-0 win over world #5 Switzerland, then defeated Slovakia to ensure the quarterfinal berth. The wheels came off in a 13-1 loss to Canada in which Sweden was outshot 52-13.

For Team Sweden, starting goalie Kim Martin is 1-1 with an ugly 6.76 GAA thanks to the Canada disaster. Pernilla Weinberg leads the offense with 4 goals in the tournament and a team-high 17 shots. Elin Holmlov has 3 points and leads the team in ice time. Emma Eliasson leads the defense in ice time but is a -4.

So on paper this game couldn't look like more of a mismatch. But who could forget 2006, when Sweden lost their final pool game to Canada 8-1 before stunning the USA in the semifinal round. Certainly Team USA hasn't forgotten. Look for them to come out inspired and put Sweden away early. As in any game with a heavy favorite, the key for the underdog is to keep the game close enough that the favorite starts to feel pressure. I doubt that will happen.

5 PM PST - Canada vs. Finland
World #2 Team Canada made a mockery of their bracket with a 10-1 win over Switzerland being their closest game. They have a solid +39 goal differential (41-2) over their three games.

Canada's starting goalie Kim St-Pierre has a 2-0 record with an 0.00 GAA. Amazingly, four players already have double di git points in the tournament. Hayley Wickenheiser is the greatest player in the history of women's hockey and has 2 goals an 9 assists with a +14. Meghan Agosta has 8 goals and 4 assists with a +11 despite playing fewer minutes than any other forward. Jayna Hefford has 5 goals and 5 assists, and Caroline Ouellette has a goal and 9 assists. Catherine Ward led the defenders in minutes and has four points and a +12. Meagan Mikkelson is pretty talented as well.
Finland, ranked #3 in the world, went 2-1 with their only loss to Team USA. Goalie Noora Raty has played every minute of the tournament and has a 2.67 GAA. This is an incredibly balanced team with five players having two points each. Expect their top defenders, Heidi Pelttari and Jenni Hiirikoski, to be quite busy.

I'd like to say this is not a foregone conclusion, but I can't imagine defending gold medalist Canada losing this one on home ice. Canada should score early and often and will likely get a shutout.