Time to settle the medals

By Jamie MacDonald, CNNSI.com

Bear with this oversimplified historical observation of the Olympic tournament in our midst: The story of modern Canadian hockey, decades in the making, has been distilled and retold over a matter of days in Utah. Holding onto the notion that theirs was the game’s foundation, Canada struts into international competition with the walk of owners. That foundation is shaken, even undone by the most creative hockey of the day -- decades ago it was the Soviet Union, which baffled opponents with a where’d-who-go? circular system, and in 2002 it was the Swedes sneaking players into weak sides and open spaces -- before getting their skating acts together and adapting.

After near national hysteria, a publicly brave face and the calm after the storm, Team Canada stands where so many think it always belongs, on track for gold, which -- gasp! -- the United States has won twice since the last time the Canadians struck in 1952.

Well, the Swedes are out of the way, leaving only Russian and the United States to drain one another before Sunday’s final. Using history as a barometer, Team Canada may not win gold, but barring a loss to Belarus, order will be restored and it will live to strut again.

As we roll toward the podium, take a look at the guys who’ve scored for their countries through the quarterfinal round. If there isn't anything under one of these NHL player's names, he hasn’t scored or assisted. Well, we’re letting goalies off the hook on grounds that you might be interested in their save percentages.

CNNSI.com Power Rankings Rank LW Team 1 1 Detroit Red Wings Brendan Shanahan F ... Canada ... 6'3" ... 215 ... 1/23/69 Steve Yzerman F ... Canada ... 5'11" ... 185 ... 5/9/65 * Assist, +1 vs. Czech Republic * Goal, +1 vs. Finland Dominik Hasek G ... Czech Republic ... 6'2" ... 180 ... 1/29/65 * 18/20 saves, W vs. Germany * 20/22 saves, L vs. Sweden * 33/36 saves, T vs. Canada Pavel Datsyuk F ... Russia ... 5'10" ... 168 ... 7/20/78 Sergei Fedorov F ... Russia ... 6'2" ... 200 ... 12/13/69 * Goal, assist, +3 vs. Belarus * Goal, even vs. USA Igor Larionov F ... Russia ... 5'9" ... 170 ... 12/3/60 Tomas Holmstrom F ... Sweden ... 6'0" ... 200 ... 1/23/73 * Goal, even vs. Germany Nicklas Lidstrom D ... Sweden ... 6'1" ... 190 ... 4/28/70 * 2 assists, +2 vs. Germany * Goal, assist, -1 vs. Belarus Fredrik Olausson D ... Sweden ... 6'0" ... 199 ... 10/5/66 Chris Chelios D ... USA ... 6'1" ... 190 ... 1/25/62 * Goal, +3 vs. Germany Brett Hull F ... USA ... 5'11" ... 203 ... 8/9/64 * 2 assists, +2 vs. Finland * Goal, +1 vs. Russia * Goal, 2 assists, +1 vs. Belarus * Goal, +3 vs. Germany 2 3 Chicago Blackhawks Jaroslav Spacek D ... Czech Rep. ... 5'11" ... 198 ... 2/11/74 Boris Mironov D ... Russia ... 6'3" ... 223 ... 3/21/72 * Goal, +1 vs. Belarus Alexei Zhamnov F ... Russia ... 6'1" ... 200 ... 10/1/70 * Goal, +1 vs. Belarus Michael Nylander F ... Sweden ... 6'1" ... 193 ... 10/3/72 * Goal, assist, -1 vs. Belarus Tony Amonte F ... USA ... 6'0" ... 200 ... 8/2/70 * Assist, +1 vs. Belarus * Goal, +1 vs. Germany Phil Housley D ... USA ... 5'10" ... 185 ... 3/9/64 * Assist, +3 vs. Finland * Assist, +1 vs. Russia * Assist, +1 vs. Germany 3 4 Boston Bruins Sergei Samsonov F ... Russia ... 5'8" ... 180 ... 10/27/78 * Goal, +2 vs. Belarus * Assist, -1 vs. USA P.J. Axelsson F ... Sweden ... 6'1" ... 176 ... 2/26/75 Bill Guerin F ... USA ... 6'2" ... 210 ... 11/9/70 * Goal, +1 vs. Finland * 2 goals, +2 vs. Belarus Brian Rolston F ... USA ... 6'2" ... 205 ... 2/21/73 * Assist, +1 vs. Finland * 2 assists, +2 vs. Belarus 4 2 Philadelphia Flyers Simon Gagne F ... Canada ... 6'0" ... 185 ... 2/29/80 * Assist, +1 vs. Germany * Assist, +1 vs. Finland Roman Cechmanek G ... Czech Rep. ... 6'3" ... 176 ... 3/2/71 Jiri Dopita F ... Czech Republic ... 6'4" ... 230 ... 2/12/68 * 2 assists, +2 vs. Germany * Assist, +1 vs. Sweden * Goal, even vs. Canada Kim Johnsson D ... Sweden ... 6'1" ... 178 ... 3/16/76 * Goal, -1 vs. Czech Republic * Assist, -1 vs. Belarus John LeClair F ... USA ... 6'3" ... 225 ... 7/5/69 * 3 goals, +2 vs. Finland * 2 goals, +1 vs. Belarus * Goal, assist, +2 vs. Germany Jeremy Roenick F ... USA ... 6'0" ... 205 ... 1/17/70 * Assist, +1 vs. Finland * 2 assists, +2 vs. Belarus * Goal, assist +1 vs. Germany 5 6 Colorado Avalanche Rob Blake D ... Canada ... 6'4" ... 227 ... 12/10/69 * Goal, +1 vs. Sweden Adam Foote D ... Canada ... 6'2" ... 215 ... 7/10/71 * Goal, even vs. Germany Joe Sakic F ... Canada ... 5'11" ... 185 ... 7/7/69 * Goal, +1 vs. Germany * Goal, +1 vs. Finland Milan Hejduk F ... Czech Republic ... 5'11" ... 185 ... 2/14/76 * Goal, even vs. Germany Martin Skoula D ... Czech Republic ... 6'2" ... 195 ... 10/28/79 Ville Nieminen F ... Finland ... 6'0" ... 200 ... 4/6/77 * Assist, +2 vs. Belarus Chris Drury F ... USA ... 5'10" ... 185 ... 8/20/76 6 9 San Jose Sharks Owen Nolan F ... Canada ... 6'1" ... 210 ... 2/12/72 * Assist, +1 vs. Sweden * Assist, even vs. Germany Teemu Selanne F ... Finland ... 6'0" ... 201 ... 7/3/70 * 2 goals, +2 vs. Belarus * Goal, +1 vs. Russia Marco Sturm F ... Germany ... 6'0" ... 190 ... 9/8/78 Evgeni Nabokov G ... Russia ... 6'0" ... 180 ... 7/25/75 Niklas Sundstrom F ... Sweden ... 6'0" ... 190 ... 6/6/75 * Goal, assist, +1 vs. Canada * Assist, even vs. Czech Republic * Assist, +1 vs. Germany Marcus Ragnarsson D ... Sweden ... 6'1" ... 215 ... 8/13/71 * 2 assists, +3 vs. Germany Gary Suter D ... USA ... 6'0" ... 215 ... 6/24/64 * Assist, +1 vs. Finland 7 8 Ottawa Senators Martin Havlat F ... Czech Republic ... 6'1" ... 178 ... 4/19/81 * Goal, assist, even vs. Germany * 2 goals, +2 vs. Canada Jani Hurme G ... Finland ... 6'0" ... 187 ... 1/7/75 * 25/26 saves, W vs. Russia * 32/34 saves, L vs. Russia Sami Salo D ... Finland ... 6'3" ... 192 ... 9/2/74 Daniel Alfredsson F ... Sweden ... 5'11" ... 195 ... 12/11/72 * 2 assists, +1 vs. Canada * Assist, +1 vs. Czech Republic * Goal, assist, +2 vs. Germany Magnus Arvedson F ... Sweden ... 6'2" ... 198 ... 11/25/71 8 7 Toronto Maple Leafs Curtis Joseph G ... Canada ... 5'11" ... 190 ... 4/29/67 * 20/25 saves, L vs. Sweden Robert Reichel F ... Czech Republic ... 5'10" ... 185 ... 6/25/71 * Goal, -1 vs. Germany Tomas Kaberle D ... Czech Republic ... 6'2" ... 200 ... 3/2/78 * Assist, -1 vs. Germany Aki Berg D ... Finland ... 6'3" ... 215 ... 7/28/77 Jyrki Lumme D ... Finland ... 6'1" ... 209 ... 7/16/66 * Assist, +3 vs. Belarus Dmitry Yushkevich D ... Russia ... 6'0" ... 208 ... 11/19/71 Mats Sundin F ... Sweden ... 6'4" ... 220 ... 2/13/71 * 2 goals, assist, +1 vs. Canada * Goal, +1 vs. Czech Republic * Goal, 2 assists, +2 vs. Germany Mikael Tellqvist G ... Sweden ... 6'3" ... 189 ... 6/8/79 9 5 St. Louis Blues Al MacInnis D ... Canada ... 6'2" ... 209 ... 7/11/63 Chris Pronger D ... Canada ... 6'6" ... 220 ... 10/10/74 Keith Tkachuk F ... USA ... 6'2" ... 222 ... 3/28/72 * Goal, +2 vs. Finland * Goal, even vs. Russia Doug Weight F ... USA ... 5'11" ... 196 ... 1/21/71 * Assist, +2 vs. Finland * Assist, even vs. Germany Scott Young F ... USA ... 6'1" ... 200 ... 10/1/67 * Goal, +1 vs. Finland * 2 goals, +2 vs. Belarus 10 10 Los Angeles Kings Mikko Eloranta F ... Finland ... 6'0" ... 190 ... 3/4/75 * Goal, +1 vs. Belarus * Goal, +1 vs. Russia Mattias Norstrom D ... Sweden ... 6'1" ... 205 ... 1/2/72 Adam Deadmarsh F ... USA ... 6'0" ... 210 ... 5/10/75 * Goal, assist, +2 vs. Belarus Aaron Miller D ... USA ... 6'4" ... 200 ... 8/11/71 11 13 New York Islanders Michael Peca F ... Canada ... 6'0" ... 190 ... 3/26/74 * Assist, even vs. Sweden Roman Hamrlik D ... Czech Republic ... 6'2" ... 215 ... 4/12/74 * Assist, +2 vs. Canada Oleg Kvasha F ... Russia ... 6'5" ... 230 ... 7/26/78 Alexei Yashin F ... Russia ... 6'3" ... 228 ... 11/5/73 * Goal, +1 vs. Belarus Kenny Jonsson D ... Sweden ... 6'3" ... 195 ... 10/6/74 12 11 Vancouver Canucks Ed Jovanovski D ... Canada ... 6'2" ... 210 ... 6/26/76 * Assist, +1 vs. Germany * Assist, even vs. Czech Republic Jarkko Ruutu F ... Finland ... 6'2" ... 194 ... 8/23/75 Markus Naslund F ... Sweden ... 5'11" ... 195 ... 7/30/73 * 2 goals, +1 vs. Germany Mattias Ohlund D ... Sweden ... 6'2" ... 220 ... 9/9/76 * 2 assists, +3 vs. Germany 13 12 Edmonton Oilers Eric Brewer D ... Canada ... 6'3" ... 220 ... 4/17/79 * Goal, -1 vs. Sweden Ryan Smyth F ... Canada ... 6'1" ... 195 ... 2/21/76 Janne Niinimaa D ... Finland ... 6'1" ... 220 ... 5/22/75 * 2 assists, +3 vs. Belarus * Assist, even vs. Russia Jussi Markkanen G ... Finland ... 5'11" ... 183 ... 5/8/75 Jochen Hecht F ... Germany ... 6'1" ... 191 ... 6/21/77 * Goal, even vs. Canada Tommy Salo G ... Sweden ... 5'11" ... 173 ... 2/1/71 * 33/35 saves, W vs. Canada * 37/38 saves, W vs. Czech Republic * 15/19 saves, L vs. Belarus Tom Poti D ... USA ... 6'3" ... 215 ... 3/22/77 14 18 New Jersey Devils Martin Brodeur G ... Canada ... 6'2" ... 205 ... 5/6/72 * 18/20 saves, W vs. Germany * 20/23 saves, T vs. Czech Republic * 18/19 saves, W vs. Finland Scott Niedermayer D ... Canada ... 6'1" ... 200 ... 9/31/73 * Assist, +1 vs. Czech Republic Patrik Elias F ... Czech Republic ... 6'1" ... 195 ... 4/13/76 * Goal, assist, +2 vs. Germany Petr Sykora F ... Czech Republic ... 6'0" ... 190 ... 11/19/76 * Goal, +2 vs. Germany Brian Rafalski D ... USA ... 5'9" ... 190 ... 9/28/73 * Assist, even vs. Russia * Assist, +1 vs. Germany 15 14 Carolina Hurricanes Sami Kapanen F ... Finland ... 5'10" ... 180 ... 6/14/73 * Goal, +1 vs. Belarus * 2 assists, even vs. Russia Tom Barrasso G ... USA ... 6'3" ... 210 ... 3/31/65 * 12/13 saves, W vs. Belarus 16 15 Dallas Stars Ed Belfour G ... Canada ... 5'11" ... 192 ... 4/21/65 Joe Nieuwendyk F ... Canada ... 6'1" ... 205 ... 9/10/66 * Assist, even vs. Germany * Goal, even vs. Czech Republic Martin Rucinsky F ... Czech Republic ... 6'1" ... 205 ... 3/11/71 * 3 assists, -1 vs. Germany Jere Lehtinen F ... Finland ... 6'0" ... 200 ... 6/24/73 * 2 assists, +1 vs. Belarus * Goal, +1 vs. Russia Mike Modano F ... USA ... 6'3" ... 205 ... 6/7/70 * Assist, +1 vs. Russia * 2 assists, +1 vs. Belarus * 2 assists, +3 vs. Germany 17 17 Montreal Canadiens Richard Zednik, who played for Slovakia in the World Cup of Hockey before breaking into the NHL, will not get a chance to play for his country this time around. 18 19 Phoenix Coyotes Teppo Numminen D ... Finland ... 6'2" ... 199 ... 7/3/68 * Assist, +2 vs. Belarus Ossi Vaananen D ... Finland ... 6'4" ... 205 ... 8/18/80 * Assist, +1 vs. Russia Juha Ylonen F ... Finland ... 6'1" ... 189 ... 2/13/72 * Assist, even vs. Russia Danny Markov D ... Russia ... 6'1" ... 190 ... 7/30/76 19 16 New York Rangers Theoren Fleury F ... Canada ... 5'6" ... 180 ... 6/29/68 * Assist, even vs. Sweden * Assist, +2 vs. Czech Republic Eric Lindros F ... Canada ... 6'4" ... 236 ... 2/28/73 Radek Dvorak F ... Czech Republic ... 6'1" ... 200 ... 3/9/77 Vladimir Malakhov D ... Russia ... 6'5" ... 230 ... 8/30/68 * Assist, even vs. USA * Assist, +1 vs. Czech Republic Brian Leetch D ... USA ... 6'0" ... 195 ... 3/3/68 * 2 Assists, +1 vs. Finland * Assist, +1 vs. Russia * Assist, +2 vs. Belarus Mike Richter G ... USA ... 5'11" ... 185 ... 9/22/66 * 33/35 saves, T vs. Russia * 28/28 saves, W vs. Germany Mike York F ... USA ... 5'10" ... 185 ... 1/3/78 * Assist, +2 vs. Belarus 20 24 Nashville Predators Kimmo Timonen D ... Finland ... 5'10" ... 196 ... 3/18/75 Mike Dunham G ... USA ... 6'3" ... 200 ... 6/1/72 * 23/23 saves, W vs. Finland 21 23 Washington Capitals Jaromir Jagr F ... Czech Republic ... 6'2" ... 235 ... 2/15/72 * 2 goals, 2 assists, +1 vs. Germany * Assist, +2 vs. Canada Sergei Gonchar D ... Russia ... 6'2" ... 208 ... 4/13/74 Andrei Nikolishin F ... Russia ... 6'0" ... 206 ... 3/25/73 * Assist, +1 vs. Czech Republic Ulf Dahlen F ... Sweden ... 6'2" ... 199 ... 1/12/67 22 21 Calgary Flames Jarome Iginla F ... Canada ... 6'1" ... 200 ... 7/1/77 Igor Kravchuk D ... Russia ... 6'1" ... 205 ... 9/13/66 23 22 Buffalo Sabres Richard Smehlik D ... Czech Republic ... 6'4" ... 222 ... 1/23/70 Maxim Afinogenov F ... Russia ... 6'0" ... 195 ... 9/4/79 * 2 assists, +1 vs. Belarus * Goal, +1 vs. Czech Republic 24 27 Anaheim Mighty Ducks Paul Kariya F ... Canada ... 5'10" ... 172 ... 10/16/74 * Goal, even vs. Germany Oleg Tverdovsky D ... Russia ... 6'1" ... 204 ... 5/18/76 25 20 Pittsburgh Penguins Mario Lemieux F ... Canada ... 6'4" ... 225 ... 10/5/65 * 2 goals, +2 vs. Czech Republic * Assist, +1 vs. Finland Jan Hrdina F ... Czech Republic ... 6'0" ... 200 ... 2/5/76 Robert Lang F ... Czech Republic ... 6'2" ... 216 ... 12/19/70 * Goal, 2 assists, +1 vs. Germany Darius Kasparaitis D ... Russia ... 5'11" ... 209 ... 10/16/72 Alexei Kovalev F ... Russia ... 6'2" ... 215 ... 2/24/73 Johan Hedberg G ... Sweden ... 6'0" ... 185 ... 5/5/73 * 19/20 saves, W vs. Germany 26 26 Tampa Bay Lightning Pavel Kubina D ... Czech Republic ... 6'3" ... 213 ... 4/15/77 * Assist, -2 vs. Canada Juha Ylonen F ... Finland ... 6'1" ... 180 ... 2/13/72 Nikolai Khabibulin D ... Russia ... 6'1" ... 195 ... 1/13/73 * 29/33 saves, W vs. Belarus * 23/25 saves, T vs. USA * 26/29 saves, L vs. Russia * 41/41, W vs. Czech Republic 27 25 Minnesota Wild When Slovakia lost in the prelims, so, too, were the medal hopes of Marian Gaborik and Lubomir Sekeras. 28 28 Florida Panthers Niklas Hagman F ... Finland ... 6'0" ... 190 ... 12/5/79 * 2 assists, +3 vs. Belarus * Goal, even vs. Canada Olli Jokinen F ... Finland ... 6'3" ... 208 ... 12/5/78 * 2 goals, +3 vs. Belarus * Assist, +1 vs. Canada Pavel Bure F ... Russia ... 5'10" ... 189 ... 3/31/71 * Assist, even vs. Belarus * Goal, even vs. Finland Valeri Bure F ... Russia ... 5'10" ... 187 ... 6/13/74 * Goal, even vs. USA Viktor Kozlov F ... Russia ... 6'5" ... 232 ... 2/14/75 29 30 Columbus Blue Jackets Unfortunate that the pride of Norway, Espen Knutsen, won't get to show the world his country's brand of hockey. 30 29 Atlanta Thrashers Milan Hnilicka G ... Czech Republic ... 6'1" ... 190 ... 6/24/73 Pasi Nurminen G ... Finland ... 5'10" ... 190 ... 12/17/75 Tomi Kallio F ... Finland ... 6'0" ... 190 ... 1/27/77 Ilya Kovalchuk F ... Russia ... 6'1" ... 220 ... 4/15/83 * Goal, assist, +2 vs. Belarus * Assist, -1 vs. USA

 

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