MSP Sports | MSP Sports | Great Expectations!

The Olympic break couldn't have come at a better time for the NHL. With the Rick Tocchet story growing exponentially by the day, getting away from the reports in North America for a while is probably a good thing. For everyone except team Canada of course. With Wayne Gretzky as a team executive, the media spot light will be glaring even more brightly on this team already dealing with enormous expectations. Will Canada pull through and win one for the great one? Of will the pressure of expectations and media hype be too much for the boys from up north? Today we'll take a look at the 12 Olympic hockey teams and what to expect.

In goal, Canada is strong with Marty Brodeur and Roberto Luongo filling the pipes. On defense, Canada is equally strong, with Rob Blake, Adam Foote, Scott Niedermayer, Chris Pronger, Wade Redden and Ed Jovanovski protecting the goal. And at forward? Only names like Joe Thornton, Martin St. Louis, Ryan Smyth, Veincent Lecavlier, Rich Nash, Brad Richards, Dany Heatly, Todd Bertuzzi, Simon Gagne, Shane Doan and Kris Draper. If you think that reads more like an All-NHL team than an Olympic team, you're not alone. Canada's odds in Vegas are riding at 1-2....you can't even get "even money" on them to win the gold.

Weaknesses: I've heard they could have picked a better towel boy in the locker room!

Expectations: Canada SHOULD come away with the Gold Medal, but they will face strong competition fro the Czechs and from an underrated US team.

CZECH REPUBLIC The Czechs are the fashionable pick to upset the Canadians. And there’s plenty of reason for that too. For starters, they aren’t playing that far from home, which means there could be a lot of Czech fans cheering them on. Ass in a very formidable roster, and there’s certainly reason for optimism, but unlike team Canada, there ARE holes on the Czech team.

In goal, Dominik Hasek and Tomas Vokoun will split duties. Both are having stellar seasons behind winning clubs in the NHL, but is Hasek past his prime when it comes to playing against the best of the best? He’s got a stellar defense helping him out in Ottawa. Here, his defense consists of Jaroslav Spacek, Marek Malik, the Kaberle twins (not really!), Filip Kuba and Pavel Kubina. Not exactly the cream of the defensive crop there.

However, what this team lacks in defense, they more than make up for in offense. Jaromir Jagr has returned to his form as one of the premier players in the game. Milan Hejduk, Martin Straka, Robert Lang, Martin Rucinsky, Ales Hemsky and several others give the Czechs a strong offense. Jagr has been scoring virtually at will this season, so anything is possible when he is on the ice.

Strengths: Offense, especially Jagr. Goaltending could be a strength too if they play up to expectations.

Weaknesses: Defense. It’s not that good!!! And a porous defense could shake the confidence of the goaltenders as well.

Expectations: At 3-1, the Czechs are the second favorite team in Vegas. We don’t buy it though. Czechs settle for Bronze.

FINLAND The Fins are an interesting team. They always pose a threat in Olympic competition. But there has been some issue with who made the team and they are far from being the top team on paper. While there certainly are some top talent on the team, such as Teemu Selanne and Mikka Kiprusoff, depth will make things interesting for the Fins. Who ever plays, the Fins always seem to come our with more heart than anyone else, so their games should be interesting.

The key really will be the play of Kiprusoff and Selanne. Kipper was quietly having one of the best seasons in the NHL at the break, leading in shutouts and just one off the mark for the lead in wins. If he can play out of his mind, the Fins will have a chance. Likewise, Selanne has returned to his old form after returning to his old team. He is once again a confident goal scorer and his production will be key to the Fins chances.

Other players like Teppo Numinen, Sami Salo, Kimmo Timonen, Aki Berg, Ossi Vaananen, the Koivu brothers, Olli Jokinen, Jere Lehtinen, Ville Peltonen, Sami Kapenen, Joni Pitkanen, Tuyomo Ruutu, Antti Laaksonen and Jarkko Ruutu will have to make some contributions as well or the Fins will fall flat.

Strengths: Kiprusoff gives anyone a shot at a medal! And there are some guys out there who can put the puck in the net, especially Selanne. But will it be enough?

Weaknesses: Clearly defense isn’t their strong point, so Kipper will have to be a wall. There’s also not a lot for guys who can take over a game offensively. That could hurt this team in the end.

Expectations: Vegas has them at 14-1, which sounds about right to us. They have a chance to surprise some people and MAYBE get a medal, but it’s not very likely. There are just too many teams with more skill than the Fins. It wouldn’t be shocking to see them not even reach the quarter finals.

GERMANY The Germans aren’t exactly a team full of nobodies, but they’re not too far from it. Looking over their roster, it’s hard to find many names you recognize. Olaf Kolzig is the star of the team and should give them stability in net. He’ll have to, as backups Robert Muller and Thomas Greiss aren’t exactly seasoned pros.

On defense, Christian Ehroff and Dennis Seidenberg will be charged with keeping pucks away from Kolzig, along with Sascha Goc, Christoph Schubert, Stefan Schauer, Andreas Renz, Lasse Kopitz and Alexander Sulzer. Who???

It doesn’t get much better at forward. Jocchen Heckt’s a familiar name, as are Marco Sturm, Marcel Goc, and Jan Benda. Beyond that though, it’s the likes of Daniel Kreutzer, Tomas Martinec, Klaus Kathan, Michael Hackert, Stefan Ustorf, Alexander Barta, Eduard Lewandowski and Petr Fical. Fical, more like fickle….as in fickle goal scoring coming from this squad!

Strengths: Olie the Goalie! He’s going to stand on his head for this club to have ANY chance of even making the quarter finals.

Weaknesses: roster depth across the board. Their first line MIGHT hang with Canada’s fourth line, but then they’re screwed.

Expectations: Enjoy the trip to Italy boys, cause you ain’t bringing back any hardware!!!

ITALY Home team always gets in, thus Italian hockey is born. OK….so it’s been there, but we never knew about it, and for good reason. At 250-1 odds, Vegas doesn’t expect much from them.

In net, Gunther Hell brings a fun name, but not much else, and backups Jason Muzzatti and Rene Baur are unknowns as well. Honestly, no point in naming the rest of the team as they’re not much better. Few of these guys have playing anywhere in North America, let alone in the NHL.

Strengths: The fans. Hometown teams have a funny way of shaking things up once in a while with the fans cheering them on.

Weaknesses: Pretty much everyone on the roster. This is like a high school team from Texas taking on the Gophers.

Expectations: Lots of cheering fans, little production on the ice. Don’t be surprised to see a couple shutouts against this club en route to a quick exit from the games.

KAZAKHSTAN Another club their for the vacation more than for a chance at a medal, the Kazi’s as we’ll call them for short are just that….short on talent. While they do sport two NHL players, little else bodes well for this team. The two NHLers are goalie Vitaly Kolesnik and Nik Antropov. The team’s claim to fame in the 2005 World Championships was an upset victory over Germany. Otherwise, they just lost….a lot!

Strengths: Kolesnik is a BIG goalie. He’s developing nicely in Colorado and should prosper in the national limelight. Antropov’s a punishing forward.

Weaknesses: Who is going to score goals for this team? And not much for defense either.

Expectations: Like Italy, little chance of making the quarterfinals. Vegas has their odds at 250-1. Don’t waste your money!

LATVIA Latvian hockey fans may be yearning for the days of old, as the former Soviet state has seen its hockey program dry up pretty quickly. There are some aging familiar names, but little young talent to build upon. Guys like Arturs Irbe, Sandis Ozolins and Karlis Skrastins will be fun to watch, even if Irbe is over the hill now. Otherwise, not much to enjoy here. Alexandrs Semjonovs and Grigorijs Pantelejevs used to be decent players, but that was a while ago. Sergei Zholtok would have undoubtedly been on this team were it not for his untimely death in the fall of 2004 while playing in his native country during the NHL Lockout.

Expectations: Another bad team, but there are 5 bad teams and only 4 can go home early. Latvia could be the team to move on to the quarterfinals. From there, all they have to do is get VERY lucky to win a medal. Not likely. Vegas has them at 250-1. Don’t waste your money.

RUSSIA Looking for a good upset pick? You may have it here. The Russians are a solid team with a good mix of veterans and talented youth. Nikolai Khabibulin and Evgeni Nabokov are an imposing pair in net, capable of sharing duties and taking this team far.

On defense, Andrei and Danny Markov, Alexei Zhitnik, the imposing Darius Kasparaitis and Sergei Gonchar give them talent and depth along the blue line. Up front, scoring potential is abound. Ilya Kovalchuk is second in the NHL in goals and is one of the scariest players in all of hockey when he has the puck. Alexei Kovalev, Alexei Yashin, Viktor Kozlov, Maxim Afinogenov, Alexei Zhamnov, Maxim Sushinsky (just kidding) are pretty formidable offensive players, and budding stars like Alexander Ovechkin, Pavel Datsyuk, Alexander Frolov and Evgeni Malkin could make a huge splash on the international scene in these games.

Strengths: The goaltending and scoring should be huge strengths for this team. They should have three or four very good offensive lines to put on the ice, even without Sergei Samsonov on the team.

Weaknesses: Depth on the blue line could be tested. While they have some good players, they’re getting older, so pressure will also be on Fedor Tyutin to step up.

Expecations: Russia could be a big surprise, or a big letdown. I’d go for the surprise and look for them to battle the Czechs for the Bronze medal. At 11-2 odds, Vegas has some faith in them as well.

SLOVAKIA Want the sexy upset pick in the tournament, here it is. With some big names on forward and some fairly impressive names on the blue line, Slovakia certainly won’t be a pushover team. Marian Gaborik was been on fire lately and is sure to lead the offense, along with Peter Bondra, Pavol Demitra, Michal Handzus, Marcel Hossa, Marian Hossa, Ladislav Nagy, Miroslav Satan, Joxef Stumpel, Marek Svatos and Richard Zednik. The forward lines could stack up with those of Canada.

One defense, physical Zdeno Chara, Ivan Majesky, Andrej Meszaros, Martin Straka, Radoslav Suchy, Lubomir Visnovsky and Milan Jurcina will try to take the pressure off unproven goalies Jan Lasak and Peter Budaj. Budaj probably has more upside, but is still pretty green.

Strengths: The forwards are scary! On the larger Olympic ice surface, this team could put up a lot of crooked numbers on opponents.

Weaknesses: without a doubt, the goaltending. If they had better goaltending, they would be a serious contender for a medal.

Expectations: As it is, they should make the quarterfinals, but will be lucky to have a shot at the Bronze. Lots of people will be cheering for them, but it’s really hard to win without quality goaltending.

SWEDEN Team Sweden’s first line is going to be down right scary. Niklas Lidstrom and Mattias Ohlund on defense, with some combination of Daniel Alfredsson, Peter Forsberg, Markus Naslund and Mats Sundin at forward….that’s scary stuff for a goaltender to see coming his way. Add in other quality players like Kenny Jonsson, Kim Johnsson, Niklas Kronwall, Mattias Norstom, Christian Backman on defense, and P/J/ Axelsson, Fredrick Modin, Samuel Pahlsson, the Sedin twins and Henrick Zetterburg, and you’ve got a pretty well rounded roster.

The goaltending combination of Mikael Tellqvist and Henrik Lundqvist is young and inexperience, but has lots of upside. Lundqvist in particular has been playing great lately.

Strengths: A deep, stable defense, and lots of scoring punch on the offensive side.

Weaknesses: Untested goaltending on a major stage like the Olympics. This will be the key.

Expectations: At 4-1, Vegas agrees with most people that the Swedes will be in medal contention. While they will certainly make it into the quarterfinals, we aren’t so sure they have the goaltending to get the job done. The defense should take pressure off the young netminders and give them a chance, but in the end there are too many stacked teams who will take advantage of the inexperience these goalies bring to the games. Look for them to just miss the medal round.

SWITZERLAND Known more for watches and peace than hockey, the Swiss have some good goaltenders in David Aebischer and Martin Gerber, but not much else. With no recognizable names on forward or defense, the goalies will need lots of oxygen as they get peppered with shots throughout the tournament. There’s just not much to say about this team. In a few years, the Swiss may be more competitive, but not right now.

Strengths: Two decent goalies who will likely have to rotate while the other goes to therapy after getting shelled with shots. Weaknesses: Defense and forward, nothing there. Expectations: Look for a couple shutouts against and a quick exit from the games.

UNITED STATES The U.S. has a lot of recognizable names, but youth is in short supply. And goaltending is a little up in the air, causing many experts to write them off. There’s still a ton of talent on this team though, so don’t be so quick to jump ship on the US team.

In net, Rick Dipietro, Robert Esche and John Grahame will share duties between the pipes. Grahame has been red hot lately and could be a surprise in the Olympics. On defense, Chris Chelios, Derian Hatcher, Aaron Miller, Brian Rafalski, Mathieu Schneider, Jason Blake, Jordan Leopold and John-Michael Liles will defend the blue line. It’s actually a decent balance of veterans with a few promising young kids thrown in. Leopold looks really good!

On offense, Chris Drury, Scott Gomez, Brian Roslton, Bill Guerin, Mike Modano, Mark Parrish, Keith Tkachuk, Doug Weight, Erik Cole, Brian Gionta and Mike Knuble will try to give the US some early leads and hope they can hang on for some wins.

The big controversy for team USA has centered around team selection. Do they respect veterans or go with the best players of now? Despite some unhappy players who didn’t make the team, this is certainly a team that will make some noise in the games. Playing on the larger ice surface will be the big challenge, but with some of the players having played in Europe last year, it’s one they should be able to overcome.

Expectations: Vegas isn’t very high on the US, with 8-1 odds. Canada will likely prove to be too much for the Americans, but they should make it to the finals and take home the silver medal.

So there you have it. Canada takes the Gold, the US gets the Silver, and the Czechs get the bronze.

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