Olympic medal picks

Team Canada's men look golden

Hockey fans everywhere are eagerly awaiting the Olympic Tournament in Salt Lake City. Here are some capsule comments on our Top Six followed by an attempt to quantify the differences between the teams based on six general categories. Enjoy.

Men's Ice Hockey Medal Picks
Canada	Scorecard total: 45
Canada's best attribute is its corps of defensemen. It has the best mix of size, speed and skill on the back line, led by Chris Pronger, Rob Blake, Scott Niedermayer and Adam Foote. The blueliners will have to add to the offense as well because Canada is vulnerable up front, where health and inconsistency are issues. What could have been an intriguing frontline, with Joe Thornton and Keith Primeau providing dominant size in the middle, turned instead into a slighter and older group with the inclusion of Steve Yzerman and Joe Sakic. Team speed is spotty on the outside, which could present matchup problems on both sides of the puck. In goal, if I were behind the bench, Martin Brodeur would start ahead of Curtis Joseph. Both guys are world class, but Brodeur's game is a little less quirky. Joseph can deliver a highlight-reel, 35-save performance to pull out a victory, but his style also makes him overly susceptible to a five-goals-on-19-shots performance -- problematic in a tournament format. Still, as an alumnus of Team Canada in 1984, of course I'm picking Canada for gold! Oh, Canada ...
Russia	Scorecard total: 40
The Russian national team has all the components to challenge for gold, possessing a tremendous mix of talent up front, with premier puckhandling provided by Alexei Yashin and Sergei Federov in the middle, and electrifying outside speed courtesy of Pavel Bure and Sergei Samsonov. Don’t be surprised if energetic 18-year-old Ilya Kovalchuk becomes the talk of the tournament. He is precocious and productive and seems to crave center stage -- there is no bigger venue than the Olympic Games. And while the forwards may garner the attention, the rearguards warrant respect. Sergei Gonchar and Oleg Tverdovsky ably augment the offense, and Vladimir Malakhov is more than capable of stepping up in the absence of Dmitry Yushkevich, who will miss the Olympics with a blood clot in his leg, to form a stopper pair with Darius Kasparaitis. Speaking of stoppers, goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin is the ingredient that makes the others come together. He is focused, motivated and at the top of his game -- all the traits a team wants in its goaltender heading into tournament time.
United States	Scorecard total: 40
Their goaltending is only fifth best as they prepare for Salt Lake City and their defense doesn’t have a guy who can hammer the puck from the point and score -- like an Al MacInnis for Canada or Gonchar for Russia -- forcing Team USA to rely more on skating and follow-up chances to generate an attack. That might be difficult with the Olympic format, which eliminates the red line and forces defensemen into hanging back to cover more open ice instead of aggressively looking for transition offense. The strength of Team USA, though, lies in its collection of forwards. Led by Mike Modano, Jeremy Roenick and Doug Weight at center, they have the potential to dominate with their speed and strength. Anytime the Americans have had success, however, some of the lesser-known players usually play a pivotal role. This time around it means guys like Brian Rolston and Mike York have to become household names in the span of two weeks. Ultimately, Team USA merits medal consideration based mainly on the possibility of inspired underdogs producing and intangibles. Don’t underestimate the importance that they are performing on home soil -- motivated to restore honor and respect to their name after returning from Nagano in ’98 with their reputation tarnished.
Sweden	Scorecard total: 37
The Swedes are solid in goal with both Tommy Salo and Johan Hedberg. In addition, they have an outstanding group of defensemen, led by the best rearguard in the game, Nicklas Lidstrom, and Kim Johnsson, a blueliner achieving new personal heights like no other in the NHL this season. The forwards have star appeal with Mats Sundin and Markus Naslund, but the Swedes still suffer from a lack of depth. They have just enough talent and skill to contend for a medal, but the question remains, do those traits run deep enough to reach the podium? Probably not.
Czech Republic	Scorecard total: 41
OK, this is a stretch, but the Czechs might not get a chance to defend their title if they get off to a slow start in Salt Lake. An opening game oversight, for instance, could exclude them from the medal round entirely. Granted, with Dominik Hasek in goal, the Czechs have a good hedge bet against any early tournament malaise. And given time to acclimate, they have plenty of talent and experience to repeat. Yes, they have Jaromir Jagr, Patrick Elias and Milan Hejduk to pace the attack, as well as Martin Havlat and Robert Lang to round out the offense. However, all of those players have had bouts of inconsistency this year and, on the blue line, the Czechs don’t really pose a threat offensively. The offense will have to come from the relatively inexperienced group of Roman Hamrlik, Tomas Kaberle, Pavel Kubina and Martin Skoula. In the past, the Czechs have relied heavily on timely markers from the ‘D’ -- goals that might be in short supply this time around unless their 20-something top four come through. Ultimately, that could be the difference between gold and going home early for the Czech Republic.
Finland	Scorecard total: 33
The best way to describe the Finns is solid. A dangerous opponent because they play a strong team game -- especially on the defensive side of the puck -- they are offensively challenged, with the quietly consistent Sami Kapanen and slumping Teemu Selanne leading the way. The two always play well together -- maybe that familiarity and Kapanen’s fine play this season will spur Selanne on offensively. Still, if anyone typifies the Finnish style of play, it is Jere Lehtinen -- maybe the best two-way forward in the game. The defense is lead by Teppo Numminen and Janne Niinimaa. Numminen’s game is complete, meaning he will see plenty of ice time in all situations. Niinimaa is the thumper from the point on the power play -- an area in which the Finns have to excel if they are going to contend for a medal. Beyond that, though, starting goaltender Jani Hurme doesn’t even start for the Ottawa Senators. Is he capable of backstopping Team Finland’s effort and making their meager margin on offense stand up? Obviously, Hurme will have to be heroic and if he is, do not count the Finns out. They are difficult to play against and certainly take the Olympic experience seriously -- witness the bronze medals in the last two Olympiads.