For the Canadians & Americans, the NHL-sized rink is a major advantage. Against each other, the game will look very much like an NHL All-Star game, separated into Canada vs. United States, and played like the 7th Game of the Stanley Cup Finals. Should be exciting.
1960 US Men's Olympic Hockey Team
Twice the American Men’s Hockey Team has kicked off a brand new decade with a Gold Medal at the Winter Olympic Games. Both victories took place on North American ice, and the 2010 Olympic Games pose another enticing chance for the US to grab a rare Ice Hockey Gold.
In 1960 at Squaw Valley, the US Men defeated Canada & Russia, never losing a game throughout the round-robin Qualifying & Medal Rounds (7-0). That upstart squad beat a Russian team that had not lost a single game in international competition since 1956, and they skated on to Olympic Gold.
In 1980 at Lake Placid, the Men’s Hockey Team consisted almost entirely of collegiate athletes from the American Northeast.  Those Americans skated through the USSR & Finland in the Medal Round for a tournament win. They once again avoided losing, but settled for a tie in the Qualifying Round against Sweden.
Now the 2010 US Olympic Men’s Hockey Team is 2-0 and squaring off against another highly-regarded Canadian Team. They will meet this Sunday the 21st at 4:40 PST to conclude the Group Round of the tournament. Both teams will go on to the Playoff Round, but only the winner is assured of the Bye to the Quarterfinals gifted to seeds #1-4. (Teams #5-12 will match up for play-in games to Quarterfinals berths.)
The tournament structure in 1980 at Lake Placid prevented the two teams from meeting, but now the United States & Canada share Group A with Switzerland & Norway. The North Americans have been dominant so far, with the noteworthy exception of a near-miss Overtime Win by Canada versus the Swiss. The result of that OT Win was an American (6) lead in points when the Canadians (5) got two points instead of the three allotted a regulation winner.
With the United States behind Canada in Goal Differential (a key tiebreaker for seeding), the Americans cannot edge the Canadians without an honest win going into the Playoff Rounds. An OT Loss would put both teams at 7 points, but Canada would be +10 or better in Goal Differential while the Americans can only hope for +8 or better.
Canada and the United States will carry their seeding through the rest of the tournament, but only the US has a chance to max out on points (9) coming out of the Group Round.  Even with an OT Win on Sunday, the #1 seed through the playoffs is still within the Americans’ grasp…
If Sweden & Finland go the distance, with the Swedes winning a low-scoring game in OT, and Russia either beats or ties the Czech Republic in another low-scoring game, then the US will only need the two points from an OT Win to break into the Playoff Round with the top seed. However, the United States could finish Sunday as low as a 6th seed.
It is most likely that, even with a loss, the United States will earn a Bye, and it’s not like the US must win every game on its way to Olympic Gold.  Still, history can be downright repetitive, if only because the plot line looks better.  The Americans will be out for nothing short of a win versus the host Canadians.
The United States will go into Sunday with the daunting task of defeating the Canadian Team on home ice. As good as the US has looked in 3-1 & 6-1 victories over the Swiss & Norwegians, the might of the Canadian All-Stars will put American Hockey to the test.
This US Team, like the group that won at Lake Placid in 1980, plays a decidedly American Collegiate style of hockey. The 2010 Roster draws exclusively from NHL teams, but they did not play as a team previous to these Olympic Games. The decision by head coach Ron Wilson to embrace the fundamentals of US college hockey has shown up in the team’s awe-inspiring puck control displayed so far in the tournament. That success was predicated by these players’ ingrained response to such a familiar system.
The Americans could have scored more goals with an all-out attacking style of play similar to that of its European counterparts. Instead, the US team wears down its opponents with brilliant cycling in the offensive zone and relentless puck movement through neutral ice. Even this will come much harder against the defensively solid Canadians, though.
Canada’s team is populated by large, agile men, and on the smaller North American ice they will play the corners and boards as tightly as the United States does. In fact, for the first time in the history of the Winter Olympics, hockey games will be played on the narrower NHL-sized ice rink. The difference between 98.4 ft across and 85 ft across is most noticeable in Neutral Zone play, but it literally changes the entire dynamic of the game.
For the Canadians & Americans, the NHL-sized rink is a major advantage. Against each other, the game will look very much like an NHL All-Star game, separated into Canada vs. United States, and played like the 7th Game of the Stanley Cup Finals. Should be exciting.
I like the Canadians to find a way to win in front of the home crowd, but don’t count the United States out even if they lose. If both squads wind up with top-four seeding, it will be the Semifinals before they could meet again. That’s a long time to think up a strategy for American victory over Canada.
Remember… the 1980 Lake Placid win over the USSR was preceded by a 10-3 thrashing of the American men at an exhibition game a week before the Olympics began. The USSR brought the Soviet Hammer down on the Americans in a non-medal event, and the US players took that opportunity to learn how to beat the Big Red Machine. An American loss on Sunday could just as easily lead to an American win when it counts.
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