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Do or die Elimination play adds more intrigue to men's hockeyPosted: Wednesday February 20, 2002 11:20 AMUpdated: Wednesday February 20, 2002 11:40 AM
WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah (AP) -- Some of the world's greatest hockey players are about to go home angry. No matter the results, at least two dozen NHL stars will leave Salt Lake City after Wednesday's Olympic quarterfinals, when the six world-class teams and two hungry qualifiers will be trimmed to four semifinalists. "We all know that the real tournament doesn't start until the quarterfinals," Sweden captain Mats Sundin said. "Everybody has a clean slate, and everybody gets a shot at the gold medal now." It could be the most fascinating day in the tournament, with four years of speculation and planning coming down to 60 minutes that will make the difference between medal possibilities and bitter disappointment. Wayne Gretzky has fumed about the expectations placed on Canada. But, in truth, big things are expected from all six nations that received byes through the preliminary round. At least two will be going home early.
Russia and the defending Olympic champion Czech Republic were among the favorites for the gold, but stumbles in round-robin play left the two powers facing each other Wednesday. Canada, following Gretzky's cry of us-against-the-world, was up against underrated Finland in another tough game. Finnish captain Teemu Selanne said his team is capable of surprising the elite. Sweden and the United States won their round-robin groups, setting up quarterfinal matchups against the weaker qualifying teams. The Americans face Germany, and it was Sweden against Belarus. "I said even before the games that there would be six or even eight good teams here," Russian forward Pavel Bure said after a 3-1 upset loss to Finland set up the Czech game. "I don't think it would matter if we play Canada or the Czechs or any other team in the quarterfinals. It will still be a tough match." Russia's meeting with the Czechs will center around a potentially thrilling matchup between goalies Dominik Hasek and Nikolai Khabibulin, who were expected to dominate the tournament, as Hasek did in Nagano four years ago. Instead, the early matches largely were won with outstanding offense. The Czechs are the world champions, yet they beat only Germany in the first round. Their 2-1 loss to Sweden and 3-3 tie with Canada forced them into the game with Russia, which had problems of its own in a loss to Finland and a tie with the United States. "It's too late for anyone to change strategy," Finnish coach Hannu Aravirta said. "A team can't suddenly become, at this late date, something they are not. If you are having problems, you will continue to have problems." Elsewhere, German coach Hans Zach injected a bit of intrigue into his team's game with the Americans when he didn't pull his goaltender in the closing minutes of a 3-2 loss to Canada on Sunday night. Asked for his reasoning, Zach said he preferred to finish last in the pool and meet the United States in the quarterfinals. "Maybe that's why they lost the Second World War, guys," U.S. coach Herb Brooks said. "So there, I'll draw the line in the sand and you can take that right back." Brooks didn't back off the remark when asked about it later Tuesday, but said, "I qualified it by saying they could have their own philosophy after a game."
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