#2014winterolympics

The Team USA hockey team has looked pretty solid so far.  They dominated against Slovakia and Slovenia, and won a tooth and nail game against Russia in the shootout, thanks in large part to T.J. Oshie.  Now that the "easy" part is over, it's time for teams to move on to the Elimination Round.  I just wanted to compile a post about how the USA has fared so far, and how their chances look to capture the gold medal, in the form of answering my own questions.

1. Who is the United States next opponent?

Thanks to their success in the preliminary round, the United States has taken the second seed, and earned a first round bye.  Their next opponent will either be the Czech Republic, or a rematch against Slovakia, depending on the outcome.  The Czech's are coming off a pretty disappointing preliminary round, where they only defeated the last seed Latvia. Slovakia has been even more of a disappointment, only garnering one point. Either way, the United States shouldn't have much of an issue knocking off the winner of this game. Next.

2. Who will play in goal for the United States?

It's between two men. Jonathan Quick, and Ryan Miller. Quick won the first two games for the U.S., including the shootout over Russia, and Miller looked strong against Slovenia earlier today.  The odd goalie out is Jimmy Howard.  Personally, I would start Quick in the elimination rounds.  I know Ryan Miller got us to the silver medal four years ago, but Quick has been outstanding in recent years.  A couple of seasons ago, he put the Los Angeles Kings on his back and was a big reason for winning the Stanley Cup, the first in the Kings franchise, setting several records along the way.  He's proven to be an absolute monster in big games (Just ask the San Jose Sharks). You can't go wrong with either guy, but I think Quick should get the nod.  It's a good problem to have.

3. Which U.S. players should you keep your eyes on?

For the next game, definitely keep an eye on the U.S. top line of Phil Kessel, Joe Pavelski, and James van Riemsdyk.  They've been a force so far.  Against Slovenia today, Kessel recorded a natural hat trick, and Pavelski got assists on all three goals. Not bad. If the U.S. wants to keep winning as the opponents get tougher, they'll need to rely on this top line for the majority of their scoring.

4. Who are the biggest threats for the United States?

I'd say that Canada is the biggest threat for the United States. Save for one game, Canada hasn't exactly gelled yet and become the scoring powerhouse we thought we'd see yet, but that doesn't make them any less dangerous.  I'd be here all day if I listed the scoring threats Canada had individually, so I'll just say "everyone."  The United States has definitely shown themselves capable of standing up to Canada, as they did four years ago when they beat them in the preliminary, but lost the gold medal game in Overtime to them. (That Crosby goal still pisses me off). The other big threats to the U.S. are Russia, Finland, and Sweden. Russia gave the U.S. a run for their money, but like Canada, their offense hasn't clicked just yet.  Finland hasn't looked overly impressive, but their depth at goaltending and solid defense is worrisome.  Sweden would've been a much bigger threat, but the fact that Henrik Sedin and Henrik Zetterberg won't be playing for the rest of the Olympic due to injury (it's not a good day to be a Henrik) really cripples their offense.  Now gold medal hopes rest on the shoulders of Sweden goaltender Henrik Lundqvist (are all Swedes named Henrik good at hockey?).

Over in the UK, Charles Dance is narrating the Olympics, giving the impression that with the Starks indisposed, the Lannisters have stepped up to suppose the Games of the North. It turns out this is not the case.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mK…