My 5 Vancouver things #9.

After taking a couple of days off to install track lighting in the living room, I'm ready for the penultimate post of the winter games. We had ten posts for Beijing, and now ten planned for Vancouver. That's continuity, baby.

#1: US and Canada win semifinals to set up gold medal rematch game. It was kind of like this had to happen. Exactly one week after the US beat Canada in the final round robin, we will be right back in that glorious GM Place, and this time it really means something. We got to the biggest game of the games with a huge 6-1 win over Finland yesterday. I'm so, so proud. Just two minutes into the game, the blowout was on. It was Ryan Malone picking up a bad play from Miikka Kiprusoff and nailing the opening goal to start the Red, White, and Blue off well. The US scored all six of their goals in the first 12 minutes and 46 seconds of the game. It was a nearly unbelievable, complete and utter demolishing of the Fins. Patrick Kane scored two goals, Parise added two points, and Rafalski continued his Olympic tear with two assists of his own. Thrilling stuff. However, we'll be going against Luongo and the Canadians for our rematch in the gold medal match. It'll be a more difficult game to win than last Sunday's. This hockey game is so freaking huge tomorrow.

#2: US women get shutout by Canada, fall to silver. Let's hope this isn't a precursor to tomorrow's men's final. The Canadian women knocked us out hard, with a 2-0 win, and then celebrated like they won the AL West while we dried our tears with silver. Both goals were scored in the first. Both goals were scored by Marie-Phillip Poulin, some Frenchie machine, and then the offense went silent. While this was always a two horse race on the female side, I'm still proud that we earned the second place silver. And, I hope the media would get off the backs of the Lady Maple Leafers for celebrating like champs. They deserved it.

#3: Sweden shocks Canada with a curling comeback to steal the gold. Wow, I am so glad I got to watch this match! With the Canadians leading the bonspiel 6-4, the Swedish women were ready to make a thrilling charge. With the last stone in the 10th, the Swede 4th tossed a perfect rock to pick up 2 points and push the game to an extra end. Having the hammer in the 11th, though, the Canadians were confident. After a couple of poor choices, however, the Swedish fourth impressed again, stole the end with a single point, and shocked the curling world. Insanity in BC. Today, the Canadian men try to capitalize on their opportunity with their gold medal match against the funny pants from Norway. Hopefully team USA will be taking notes from the crowd.

#4: Lindsey Vonn finishes with poor run, but seems happy with herself. Vonn came into these games with huge, Phelpsian expectations. The media set her up as having a legitimate shot to win a gold in every event, even despite her deeply bruised shin. Instead, she missed a gate on her final run last night, and finished with a single gold and a single bronze. In an interview, she stayed proud, pointing out that the media's expectations were not her expectations. Good for her. She cried on the medal stand as the anthem played when she won gold. She's a stud.

#5: US continues nordic combined history with gold and silver. Never. We never medaled in this event. I was also not really ever into this sport. Both of those changed during this winter games. In the final nordic event, the US finished one and two, gold and silver, Demong and Spillane. The US has officially arrived in this seriously underrated event, and I enjoyed every minute of it.

Before I get to the what to watch for, I just want to say that I really think figure skating should be grateful for record breaking South Korean Kim Yu-Na. She really rocks the sport. Also, F Evgeni Plushenko for being so bitter about losing to American Evan Lysacek. He was some kind of douche for calling his silver a "platinum medal" on his official website. Hey Russians, you lost to the greatest country in the world. Suck it up, you commie punks.

LSF's "What 2 Watch 4 2night": With just two days of competition remaining in these amazing winter games, we're getting down to the good stuff in Vancouver. At 3 pm on CNBC we have the men's curling gold medal match, at 7 pm we have the men's bronze medal hockey game between Finland and my pre-games underrated pick from Slovakia, and the primetime show on the big network has some good ol' bobsled. Tomorrow at 9:00 am we have the face off for the US/Canada match for the gold. Can't freaking wait.

Medal count: The US have the medals pretty well wrapped up, leading with 34 (8-13-13). Germany has 27 (9-11-7), with Canada taking over third at 21 (10-7-4). Will the host country finish with the gold medal lead?

Wondering how the government controlled Chinese media are covering the games? Enjoy this from the Sports Pickle.

My 5 Vancouver things #8.

Welcome to the snowman of the winter games' posts. With my son's baptism and family in town, my post regularity has decreased, and I apologize to the none of you reading this. Let's get back to the good stuff.

#1: Ryan Miller shines as US "shocks" Canada. The biggest upset for team USA since the 1980 Miracle On Ice? Maybe we should save that for something closer to the medal round, MSNBC. Despite the networks trying to give this game significant historical perspective, this was a damned exciting match. After a fantastic opening frame in which we went up 2-1 on two goals from the amazing Brian Rafalski, we got flat outplayed in the second. Luckily, we were able to escape with a 3-2 lead despite being outplayed. With all of America on the edge of their seats, the US got a goal from Jamie Langenbruner, which was actually a shot off his skate by none other than Brian Rafalski. With Crosby scoring a late goal against Miller, the stage was set for a six on five Canadian attack to tie the game. Instead, Ryan Kesler scored one of the greatest empty net goals in hockey history, beating out the defender and diving with a swat of his stick to nail the goal that would put us way ahead for good. Ah, Kesler. Just one day after pissing off Canadian Canuck fans by saying that he "hated" team Canada, Kes made it count for the good ol' US. The game may have been a shocking win, and an upset, but it isn't really the biggest win that we're going to have in the tournament. Talk to me after we beat Canada in the gold medal game. Good stuff, though. Also, the loss has led to the Canadians going with Roberto Luongo between the pipes for their next match. Success!

#2: US Men's curlers get straight destroyed by China. China doesn't even really know what curling is. They picked up the sport because they thought it was a "soft" sport that they could easily medal in. Maybe they were right. Actually, no, we just really suck. After building up some cred with two straight wins, the Americans have fallen to the bottom of the heap with this latest 5-11 loss to the Chinese. It is our biggest loss in the games so far, and it featured three three point ends for the Chinese. This happened on the same day as a 2-7 loss to Canada. Don't you just love John Shuster and company? Our country won the bronze in Torino? What the heck happened? The US trials were obviously a joke. At least it's finally over.

#3: The women curlers don't fare much better. Same story for our beloved female curlers. At 2-5, we are the goats of the tournament, showing the world that we really just can't curl that well. Maybe if we all go out to that open curling event in San Diego this weekend, we'll get picked up for the national team. You think? Ah, dreams. On the day of the significantly amazing hockey match, the women lost 3-9 to Sweden. The Swedes had three multi-point ends in the match, keeping the US from scoring more than 1 point in any single end. That's just not cutting it with the hammer, eh? Today the US are trying to get some revenge against China, and trail 2-3 after four. Well, for our curlers, there is always Sochi in 2014.

#4: Canada wins ice dance gold. There were actually some really amazing moves put down during the ice dancing competition. Who needs throws into the air? With Canada winning, I have one real thought. The US pair of Meryl Davis and Charlie White pulled off a significantly better routine than Canada. Some of the moves put out by the US had me baffled as to how they were doing them. Like I figured, there was some bitterness abounding after the competition. Although, the silver medal winning Americans completely supported the Canadians winning the gold, it was the Italians and the Russians complaining that the judges were influenced by the crowd going crazy for the home team. Is it true? Maybe, but I'm just glad that the US is showing some class in their second place finish.

#5: There is no crying in curling! I know I already talked about curling twice in my 5 things, but this was just too much.

LSF's "What 2 Watch 4 2night": At 3 pm on the big network we have the second nordic combined event, which is way more fun than you're thinking, and possibly a second chance at another American medal in the sport. At the same time on CNBC, the Canadian men's curling team, who I feel we have to root for as North Americans now, take on China to try and keep them from getting double digits. Tonight on the big network we have women's figure skating, which should be pretty damned enjoyable. I can't wait for hockey to move forward!

Medal count: Canada may have officially declared defeat to the US, but Germany is still hot on our tails. We have 25 (7-8-10), with Germany sitting on 21 (7-9-5), Norway at 14 (6-3-5), and bronze crazy Russia at 11 (2-3-6).

My 5 Vancouver things #7.

The Olympics is rolling along on day 9, and with 8 to go, the LSF coverage carries on.

#1: US Men's curling win 2 straight, but it's a little complicated. The blog has chronicled olympic curling more than TMZ covered the Tiger Woods' scandal. So, if you've been reading along (which you haven't), you know that skip John Shuster blew 4 chances to throw a game winning stone over the Americans first four games, and that the team got off to a 0-4 start, which basically eliminated them from contention. Needing to get a breath of fresh air, the American coach decided to sit Shuster and bring in alternate Chris Plys. The move has really garnered all kinds of attention, way more than it should have. Shuster, the fourth throwing skip, held the worst accuracy percentage on the team. Something had to change. With Plys on the sheet and Jason Smith moved to the four spot, the Americans shined. A smooth 4-2 win over France slowly turned things around. It was three points in the ninth and tenth that hooked us up, and it was sweet to get our first win against the Frogs. Today, we matched up with a really solid squad from Sweden, and for some reason Shuster was back on the sheet. However, this time around the skip was throwing third and Smith continued to be the anchor. This made all the difference. The US shocked the curling world to get the win over Sweden 8-7 in 11 ends. John Shuster may have made the biggest mistake by bumping a guard and allowing a 3 point end in the seventh for the Swedes. Luckily, the US was able to hold strong, keep the Swedes to just 1 in the 10th with the hammer, and head to extras tied at 7. Holding the hammer didn't look too promising for the US with Sweden putting two rocks in the four foot blue circle. But, we had Jason Smith sitting on the hammer, not John Shuster. Smith drew the perfect rock to nail the win. The US celebrated with their screaming fans, and climbed their record to 2-4. Tomorrow at 2 pm, just before the US/Canada hockey match, we see men's curling going against the nearly unstoppable Great Britian. Let's pull on the intensity of the revolutionary war, and get us 3 straight wins.

#2: US curling women start getting hot as well. A big win for the men only pumped the women up even more, and Debbie McCormick and company pulled off an impressive 6-4 win over the Russians. Going into the final end, after Russia tied the match at 4 through 9, the US had the hammer and made it count with 2 huge points to earn the win. At 1-3, the US women have more of a chance to get into the thick of things than the men, with the women's bracket being a little more wide open. Today, right now in fact, they are going head to head with a strong Great Britain. GBR has skip Eve Muirhead, age 19, leading the way, and this would be another shocking win for the US. We're down 2-3 halfway through.

#3: Lindsey Vonn gets the bronze in super-G. You know, I think this injury thing set up Vonn getting tons of medals and making America go ski crazy. She just hasn't been able to hold up her end of the bargain. We should still be proud, though, with Vonn earning the bronze (0.74 seconds behind Austria's gold medalist). Just medaling should be good enough.

#4: Super Swiss Simon Ammann continues to sweep it all. We covered the Harry Potter look-a-like early on in the Games, and now he won the gold medal in the large hill ski jump event, to sweep the ski jump for the second straight Olympic games. Are you kidding me? This guy, who previously was interviewed saying that ski jumping needed attractive snow bunnies and jumps in Miami Beach, has to make Switzerland proud with his jumping.

#5: Jon Montgomery wins gold in skeleton for Canada. I didn't think I would actually enjoy watching the skeleton event, but it turned out to be damned exciting last night. Canada picked up their fourth gold of the games, the games where everyone in Canada thought they were cursed and wouldn't earn a single one. Now, after celebrating his win with loud screams of excitement, Montgomery is apologizing for not being polite enough in victory. I say, you won the gold, let loose, and don't apologize for being crazy excited. All of North America is screaming along with you, pal.

LSF's "What 2 Watch 4 2night": Tonight at 7 pm on CNBC we have the extreme curling match of the games thus far with the Canadian men going head to head with the men of the Union Jack. Primetime on the big network we have the super-g I already spoiled (whoops!), Apolo Ohno going for his record seventh Winter Olympics medal, and Shani Davis looking to lock up his second gold in the 1,500 in speed skating. Don't forget tomorrow is the huge US/Canada men's hockey game. Watch it and be a proud American.

Medal count: The US has 21 medals (6-6-9), with Germany trailing at 14, Norway fourth with 10, and the hosts sitting on 8.

My 5 Vancouver things #6.

As the Olympics continued in Vancouver, our hockey team continued to tune up for Sunday's big match, while our curling team continued to stink it up.

#1: US strong against Norway, becoming favorite for Sunday? The Americans really needed to play large in their first two hockey games, with Canada coming at them in game three. Mission accomplished. A 6-1 victory against Norway has improved our boys to 2-0 in round robin play, as we outshot the Norwegians 39-11. Remember, this US team went 1-4 in Torino. The exciting thing about this game was the way it was closed out. Three goals in the final six minutes for the US, with Brian Rafalski netting two in the final 3. Even (yuck) Patrick Kane got in the action. It was a nice way to follow up our 3-1 in over the Swiss, and after watching the Canadians having to win a shootout to beat the very same Swiss, I'm feeling pretty good about Sunday's super match.

#2: US men's curling is hurting at 0-4 after extra end loss to the Danes. It's almost as if we're following a script. We play an okay game, get a chance to toss a game winning rock, and skip John Shuster misses the final shot. It seems like it happened it each of the first three games and it happened against Denmark yesterday. It's getting so bad that Karen is actually rooting against the US because she doesn't think we even deserve to be in Vancouver. She has a pretty good point. After 6 ends, we were up 5-3, tossing well, and it looked like we were headed to our first win by beating the winless Danes. Oh, how cruel a game curling is. Denmark scored a single point in the seventh. eighth, and the tenth, while the Americans earned just a single point in the ninth. So, it may look bad that we were forced into an extra end, but not really. We had the hammer going into the 11th, the final stone, which all but guaranteed a win. With the Danes lying one, skip John Shuster only needed to knock a Danish stone out of the house, and leave his thrown stone somewhere in there. Instead, Shuster simply bumped the Danish stone closer to the button, handing the Scandinavians the victory. In the stands, Shusters family looked ready to give him up for adoption. He's throwing stones at 70% on the tournament, which is last on the squad. Just like that, we're 0-4. Tonight we go against France, as we continue to try and stop the bleeding.

#3: US Women really follow suit, also losing to the Danes 6-7. Like brother, like sister. The American women also went against Denmark yesterday, and also continued their losing ways, dropping to 0-3 after a regulation 6-7 loss to the Danes. After being up 4-2 halfway through the match, the US watched the Danes get one in the sixth, and the allowed them to completely blow the game open with 3 stones counting toward the score. That pretty much sealed the deal. Skip Debbie McCormick was just 66% accurate in the game, the lowest on the team. The girls take on Russia the morning, which I'm watching right now, and we're tied at 1 after 4 ends.

#4: American Evan Lysacek wins gold in men's free skate. Thanks to my 6 week old son wanting to be awake from 3:45-5:15 am, I got to watch the early morning (or late night) replay if the primetime skating event. Despite being the current world champion, Evan Lysacek shocked Vancouver by earning the gold medal over Russian Yevgeny Plushenko. Despit pulling off the amazing quadruple jump, Plushenko was shaky on many of his easier jumps' landings, and that was enough to shake him one step down the podium. Two things struck me about this event: 1) Johnny Weir is no longer the US skating mega star and 2) Men's figure skating isn't nearly as exciting as women's or pairs.

#5: UK's Amy Williams sets Whistler skeleton record. We may not be at the medal point of skeleton, but things are still getting exciting. Williams flew down the sliding track at 143.3 KPH (77.37 MPH), finishing with a time of 53.83 seconds to set the Vancouver record. She's pumped for the opportunity to bring the Brits a medal in Brandon's favorite winter sport.

LSF's "What 2 Watch 4 2night": Sweden and Belarus go head to head on the hockey rink at Noon on MSNBC, US curling goes against France at 2pm on CNBC to try and get to 1-4, and primetime on the big network we have the start of the very exciting ice dancing, skeleton, and ski jumping.

Medal count: The US leads with 18, with Germany sitting at 11, Norway at 8, and Canada and France each with 7.

Enjoy day 8.

My 5 Vancouver things #5.

In case you haven't heard, it was a golden day for the USA yesterday. We captured 6 total medals yesterday, making all the citizen's of the greatest country in the world fully proud. I covered the Lindsey Vonn win in the downhill yesterday, thanks to the NBC tape delay, but let's look at the other exciting action.

#1: Shani Davis sparkles in "his" event. After starting the game's with a couple of poor runs, Shani Davis hit the ice in the 1000 meter skate, which has long been considered his strongest event. He really showed it off yesterday. Davis won his second straight gold medal in the event, edging out the surprising Mo Tae-bum from South Korea with a sweet time of 1:08.94. Can you even imagine? His turns are clearly some of the best in the business. As an added bonus, Chad Hedrick earned the bronze in the race, helping the US to surpass all expectations.

#2: Shaun White takes the gold in the snowboard halfpipe. After creating five new tricks, Shaun White thrilled the judges with his amazing McTwist-type moves, and earned his second gold medal in the sport at just the age of 23. He pulled off an inside flip and 3.5 turns, which he renamed "The Tomahawk," and easily helped the Americans push more medals into the giant heavy sack of medals we're taking back to the States with us. The gold medal occurred with Guns N' Roses' "Paradise City" blaring in the background, clearing putting an American stamp on the event.

#3: Sweden busts Germany 2-0 in their opening Men's hockey match. This was a true battle of my Canuck loyalties, but come on, you knew I was rooting for the Swedes. With Henrik, Daniel, and former 'Nuck Ohlund sporting the three crowns, I easily chose to root for them over Ehrhoff and the Germans. I'm putting the fact that I love Swedish hockey squarely as the reason for their win. Of course, a stellar slapper from Mattias Ohlund at 22:49 of the game, and a nice netter by Loui Eriksson at 34:13 of the game helped. How about the clean sheet, despite 21 German shots, by Henrik Lundqvist? It was an all around solid win for the Swedes. Don't buy into the hype that they're upset with only winning by 2 with the huge wins by the US and Canada earlier in the tournament. It's BS. A win is a win. Belarus is up next on 2/19.

#4: US Men's curling painfully falls to 0-3. Can it get any worse for John Shuster and the boys? They played so well, eventually, against the Swiss that I think we all were calling the win. After falling down 0-4 after 3 ends, the US fought back, scoring in the next 5 ends to take the lead 6-4. We were stealing points like crazy, as the Swiss had the hammer most of the time. Then, after allowing the Swiss to get one in the 9th, the US had the hammer going into the tenth, up by one. 90% of curling teams in this situation come away with the win. But this is no ordinary team. John Shuster stepped up to the hogline needing just a draw to win the game and get back to 1-2 in Olympic play. He, of course, flubbed this chance against Norway the previous day. And guess what? He totally bricked the shot again, sending the game to an extra end. In the extra end, he stepped up with an identical chance. Three chances to throw a shot that could win the game for the US. He blew it again. Three straight blown chances. Pathetic. The US fell to 0-3 in Vancouver, which is the amount of losses that most people believe would keep you out of moving on. Today, they are going head to head with a winless Denmark team (in a battle much like the Rams vs. the Lions from last year's NFL season). Well, the Rams won that game in 2009, and I'm pulling for the US to win this game against Denmark and kind of pull back into having a chance at the game. I'm watching it right now, and in the middle of the fourth end we're up 3-2. Can we please beat this even worse Dane squad?

#5: Curling women, follow male counterparts, drop to 0-2. At least we have another curling team to put our hope in, right? Wrong. The American women dropped a 5-6 match to Germany last night that was not nearly as close as the score would make you think. The US got a gimmie point in the final end because Germany knew that they would win. Missed shots. Worse than the US Men's team, by far. Karen and I were left completely questioning the plans of the team, the placement of their rocks, etc. Again, Debbie McCormick took second fiddle despite being the skip to Allison Pottinger (who even got the interview after the loss). But it was the aging Andrea Schopp and her Germany girlies that ruled the day. At 2 pm, the American ladies go against the Danes, in another USA must win.

LSF's "What 2 Watch 4 2night": Of course the women's curling match is worth checking out (CNBC at 2pm), but the best bet of the evening is the second ice hockey battle for the US men against Norway at noon on USA network. Canada also carries on in Men's hockey, preparing for their huge battle Sunday with the US, against the Swiss (who the US beat 3-1). Tonight on the big network in primetime you have the men's figure skating finals (free skate), women's snowboarding (pipe), alpine skiing, and the women's 1,000 m speed skating competition. Enjoy Day 7!

Medal count: With the big day yesterday, the US busted to the lead with 14 total medals (5-3-6), holding down more golds and more bronzes than any other country. Germany fell to second with 10, France holds third with 7, and Canada is sitting pretty with 6.

My 5 Vancouver things #4.

Hockey and curling continue to dominate my Olympic viewing, and thus continue to dominate my posts.

#1: Roberto Luongo backstops Canada to shutout win against Norway. With a new Johnny Canuck logo atop his goalie mask, Canada's backup goalie certainly made a case for himself to be the main man between the pipes last night against Norway. The Vancouver captain held strong, earning the clean sheet, and helping Canada along to a nice Olympic opening 8-0 win against a Norwegian team that will be facing off against the US tomorrow. Bobby Lu needed to make just 15 saves in the shutout, in a game where my most hated Canadian Jarome Iginla had a hat trick, and Sidney Crosby (almost equally hatable, and probably more so to East Coast fans) picked up three assists. Canada gets the Swiss tomorrow before the huge game against the US on Sunday.

#2: US Men's curling falls to 0-2. Speaking of Norway, the American men pushed their curling battle against the Norwegians all the way to extra ends, and skip John Shuster simply had to draw his final stone in the blue circle to steal a win away and get to 1-1 at the Games. Instead, he threw too mighty a weight, and his rock blew right through the house. It was a significantly more difficult to take loss that the earlier in the day battle with the Germans, and it has put the pressure on the American side. Most experts agree that three losses in round robin play will eliminate the Americans from curling play. And this after getting a bronze in Torino? Are we looking back on the changing of the squad and deciding that it was a bad decision? We'll find out, as the US tries to right the ship against the Swiss in about 4 hours.

#3: US Women's curling falls to 0-2. We are seriously looking at a non-medal year for the US in this wonderful sport. A couple of huge mistakes, including allowing a 3 points end for the Germans in the fifth, and then going for three points when they could have had an easy two (and only ending up with one in the sixth) all led to the US dropping their second curling match 5-6. The issue with the squad may be one of leadership, which was really apparent during one of our time outs. Skip Debbie McCormick kept silent during most of the time out, while #3 Allison Pottinger kept talking about what the team's plan would be. You really need to have someone in charge who speaks their mind and makes the tough calls, especially because it was McCormick's rock to throw. We are faced again, with a must win situation for our beloved curlers tomorrow against Denmark.

#4: Vonn leads US domination of the downhill race. Whistler was red, white, and blue today after the Olympic downhill race. It was a pretty anticipated race, with American superstar Lindsey Vonn injuring herself prior to the games, and reportedly using some kind of German cheese to help bring down the swelling. Well, it must have worked, you lousy skeptics, because Vonn captured downhill gold for the US today despite that bruised shin. If that wasn't solid enough, American Julia Mancuso took home. Vonn earned the gold with a run of 1:44.19, with Mancuso finishing 0.56 second behind. Austria earned the bronze.

#5: Jacobellis falls at snowboard cross. A comeback story that we actually rooted for was snowboard cross superstar Lindsey Jacobellis. She ate it in while trying to showboat at the end of the race in Torino (tried a fancy move on the last bump and fell, only to watch her competition pass her). After growing up a little bit, and getting herself an impressive Visa commercial, Jaco had the US ready to see her stream down the hill to regain that snowboard cross glory that she should have earned 4 years ago. Instead, she ate it while trying to do well around a turn, making the final race a 3 person battle. In an evening where snowboard cross became an interesting sport to enjoy, the headline became: "Redemption denied."

LSF's "What 2 Watch 4 2night": At 2 pm, CNBC features the US Men's third curling match against the Swiss, and hopefully the American team takes it as seriously as us fans. That match is followed, on the same network, by a hockey battle between Sweden (Go Twins!) and Germany (Go Ehrhoff!). Primetime on the big network features Shani Davis speed skating in the 1,000 (which is supposedly his to win), Ohno goes for another medal in short track, Shaun White can thrill little teenage boys in skinny jeans on the half pipe, and you can watch the tape delayed coverage of Lindsey Vonn's gold (whoops! I spoiled it!).

Medal count: Germany continues their lead with 9 over the US' 8. France has now crept to #3 with 7, watching Canada sit in the 4 hole with their 5.

My 5 Vancouver things #3.

This is the Olympic day I have been anticipating since the opening of the games. The first day of curling action and the first day of Men's hockey, and I was in heaven thanks to the USA Network, my lovely wife letting me watch 6 straight hours of the games, and again my lovely wife letting me connect to the plum sauce of our Vancouver vacation via a McDonald's promotion.

#1: The US Men beat up on the Swiss 3-1. Ryan Miller changed out of his Sabres jersey and into the Red, White & Blue, and lead the Americans to a nice 3-1 win against Switzerland in the opening game of the Olympic tournament. Ducks star Bobby Ryan nailed the first goal of the games for the American side, and he was followed up by goals from David Backes and Ryan Malone to beat up on the Swiss impartials. Ryan Miller may have had his shutout bid denied by Roman Wick (a 2004 draft pick of the Sens, and he was assisted by Hnat Domenichelli, a former Hartford Whalers draft pick...no joke), but he was solid enough between the pipes to start us off. Imagine that only the third goal by Ryan Malone featured an assist, but Ryan Suter, and the other two American goals belonged to the unassisted category. While Canada starts against Norway later today, the next American match is the 18th (also against Norway).

#2: The US Men's curlers blew it against Germany. Despite winning the Bronze medal in Torino, the American curling squad obviously comes in as the serious underdog. Of course, everyone is expecting Canada to easily walk away with the gold. I love an underdog, but after the way we played against Germany, I'm a little concerned. Skip John Shuster made a couple of really poor shots, and we were just simply outplayed by the Germans 7-5 in the opening bonspiel. Germany was able to place the rocks in such a better manner than we were, and the concerns about this squad being a mostly rookie Olympic squad obviously rang true. However, as the announcers put it, the quality of a curling team is shown on their ability to bounce back. We won't have to wait long to find out about this squad, as they play Norway tonight in Vancouver (tape delayed to be shown at midnight tonight). Canada, as you could hear from the cheers during the American game, came away with a 7-6 win over the Norwegians.

#3: Bode Miller gets the bronze, but America doesn't care. NBC has tried to paint Bode Miller as the American dream, saying that everyone in our beautiful country is rooting for him to make a comeback, but that is hardly true. This boozing loser, who was proud to say that, although he didn't win a medal in Torino, he was glad to have "partied like an Olympian." Well, his amazing comeback bid fell short by NBC's standards, as he finished with the bronze in the downhill. Guess what Bode? Nobody outside of Lake Tahoe was rooting for you.

#4: The Chinese earn the gold in the pair figure skating. After watching most of the competition, this wasn't going to be a shock. I didn't actually get to watch their final outing onto the ice, but I think everyone knew that this would be the result on the podium after the competition. Shen Xue and her husband Zhao Hongbo banged out the gold medal win in the pairs figure skating, and the Americans failed to even sniff the podium. Amanda Evora and Mark Ladwig finished 10th in the standings, as China earned the silver and the Germans finished with the bronze. Hey, at least Russia finished fourth. Don't worry, ice dance is still on the way.

#5: Germany continues to dominate the luge. Just a little bit after the Germans gobbled up the gold in the men's luge, it was Tatjana Huefner's performance that gave German the women's luge gold as well. Are the Germans doing anything besides making quality sausages and practicing for Olympic luge? The medal was the ninth medal in 13 Olympics luge competitions for the Germans. Can you say dominant? Austria, which is basically Germany, won the silver, and Germany's Natalie Geisenberger took the bronze. The top American, Erin Hamlin, finished 16...and she was the 2009 World Champion.

LSF's "What 2 Watch 4 2night": Tonight's coverage gets a little thin on the big network. The tape delayed NBC primetime has Men's short program figure skating, snowboarding (cross, I think), and the women's medal round of the speed skating 500m (which should be really fun). However, CNBC helps out with the Canada/Norway Men's hockey match at 5 pm, and American/Norway curling taking us all the way until Midnight. Hockey and curling...is there anything better?

Medal Count: Germany has taken the lead, as you may have figured out from reading, with 9 total medals (3-4-2), while the US has dropped to second with 8 (2-2-4). Canada holds at third with 5 (2-2-1).

My 5 Vancouver things #2.

With the first full weekend of the games in the book, we take a look at five important things from the second day of competition.

#1: Men's freestyle moguls gold snaps Canada's drought. It was an impressive run from Alexandre Bilodeau on the mogul hill that earned Canada its first gold medal as a host country, something that was three Olympics in the makings. It was a huge win for the nation, especially after favorite Jenn Heil failed to pull it off on the women's side the previous day. I wonder what Australian Dale Begg-Smith thinks about it. He earned the silver as an Aussie, but recently took citizenship in his new country after being born in Canada. Stoked that he didn't hold out for the win. Also stoked that American Bryon Wilson pulled off the #3 spot.

#2: US women beat China 12-1 on the hockey rink. GM place has seen some stellar blowouts thus far in the Olympic game (even if it has been renamed "Canada Place"), and the opening match for the American women was no different. We may not have pulled off the shutout, but a 12-1 victory is pretty impressive. Jenny Potter earned herself a hat trick in the game, and one of them was a thrilling between the legs pass to herself that completely baffled the Chinese. Props to Jin Fengling, who scored the lone goal for the Chinese. Happy New Year.

#3: Johnny Spillane wins medal for US Nordic team in first games. I severely underestimated Nordic Combined. The competition starts off with a ski jump. The distance you go in the ski jump determines when you get to start a 10 K cross country race. The American started 32 seconds after the ski jump leading Fin, and made it all up when the Finnish skier fell to the snow. Leading the way with just yards remaining, Johnny Spillane was passed by the French Nordic star, finishing with the silver. However, silver is a huge honor for the US since we have never been in this event in the Winter Olympics before. Toward the end of the Olympics, the US team will return for the large hill contest in Nordic Combined, and I strongly suggest you watch.

#4: Germany wins luge gold, but American had the best fan base. It was a little tense watching the luge competition as the sliding sports started, but in the end it was Felix Loch getting crowned with the gold medal. He won by 0.679 seconds, showing how close the competitors are in this competition. Speeds were 10 percent down after the modifications to the track following the pre-games death of Nodar Kumaritasvili, but it was still pretty exciting to see the lugers at the best. Despite Germany walking away with the gold, it was American Chris Mazdzer who finished 13th that thrilled the fans. There was a large contingent cheering Mazdzer on, who was in his first games, and despite finishing 13th, he made our country proud as a young luging stud.

#5: Olive Oyl Czech skater wins the 3000. The women's 3,000 meter speed skating competition was on yesterday, and the girl they call Olive Oyl (although her real name is Martina Sablikova, busted on the rest of the world. She weighs just 119 pounds, standing at an impressive 5'7, but it was her speed that shocked the speed skating world yesterday. With Stephanie Beckert of Germany getting the silver and Kristina Groves of Canada earning the bronze, the question is: How will these results set up the 5,000 race in a couple of days?

LSF's "What 2 watch 4 2night": At 1 pm on NBC you have the snowboard cross qualifying heats, which you may or may not like. But, at 2:30 on MSNBC, the Canadian women's hockey team goes against the Swiss to see how they can follow up on their 18-0 rout of Slovakia. Then, in primetime on the main network, we have the conclusion of the pairs figure skating free skate (which started off really well for the American, standing at #2 behind the Chinese, and awfully for the Russians, who fell in their skate), the 500m speed skate competition, and the conclusion of the snowboard cross competition. Don't forget, we are now less than 24 hours away from the start of curling and a little more than that away from the start of men's hockey. Can't wait.

Medal count: Despite only having 1 gold today, the US leads the overall medal count at 6, with Germany standing at #2 with 4, and France and Canada tied with 3.

My 5 Vancouver things #1.

This is the second Olympic games covered by The LSF, and that brings us back to the same "My 5 things" format I started with Beijing. So, after the first full day of competition in Vancouver, let's get it started:

#1: Ohno skates into history with silver. Thanks, in part to a huge Korean wipeout on the final lap, American Apolo Anton Ohno started off hi final Olympic games (most likely) with a thrilling silver medal. Coming around the final turn in the 1500 meter final, two South Koreans (in second and third at the time) slid out and crashed into the wall, allowing the then fourth and fifth place Americans to skate in for an easy medal. Ohno earned the silver medal, tying him with Bonnie Blair for the most medals by an American winter athlete. Possibly even more exciting, for the world of American speed skating, was that Ohno's heir apparent, 19 year old JR Celski finished right behind him with the bronze. It was a huge comeback win for Celski, after he almost bled out on the track in the US trials in a bloody injury, and a proud moment for the US.

#2: Hannah Kearney denies Canada with moguls gold. I didn't really think that freestyle moguls was my thing, until I was watching it last night. I was really, really into it. Way more than I remember. And, watching golden girl and Canadian national Jenn Heil fall to the silver was almost as sweet as watching Kearney earn the gold. It was a solid, flawless run, which shocked the Canadian crowd who had all but given Heil the gold after her final journey down the bumpy mountain. Kearney finished with a 26.63 score, besting Heil's 25.69, which was thought unbeatable after the run. Hannah got to celebrate with bronze winner, American and pink haired dynamo Shannon Bahrke, as the US contiuned to pile on the medals.

#3: Canada's women's hockey team sets record with an 18-0 win over hapless Slovakia. Are you kidding me? This was crazy. In the first Winter Olympics appearance for the Slovakian women, the host country completely embarrassed them. However, as was pointed out, maybe Canada was just trying to right the wrong that Slovakia perpetrated on Bulgaria in a 2008 match. The Slovaks won that game by the score of 82-0. That's real. So, don't feel bad after the Maple Leafers romped them to open the games in Vancouver. Jayna Hefford tied the record for most points in a game, with 6, and Meghan Agosta nailed a hat trick (only one?). The Canadians outshot the Slovaks by the tally of 67-9, and face off against a tougher Swiss team on Monday. Meanwhile, the US women open against China in 3 hours.

#4: Simon Ammann impresses in Games' opening gold on the ski jump. I actually watched this entire competition, and really enjoyed it. After opening up the round with a 105 meter launch, Ammann (who they call a Harry Potter look-a-like) nailed a 108 meter jump to earn the Gold. Not only does her know how to jump, but he provides pretty priceless interviews as well.

#5: Sven "Sven-couver" Kramer leaves competition in the dust, gets Dutch a break on their electricity bills. Speed skating is the second most popular sport in The Netherlands, behind soccer, and they proved it in the 5000 yesterday. Sven Kramer, known as the "Flying Dutchmen," was insane in winning the Gold in the 5K event, getting the Olympic record of 6:14.6. The silver medal winning Lee Seung-hoon of South Korea finished a full 2.35 seconds behind. American Shani Davis (the US speed skating equivalent of Albert Pujols-sorry I picked him, but I was trying to think of a great non-Angel, non-douchebag ball player, and he's all that came up) was paired with Sven in his gold medal run, and nearly got lapped. For at least one day, it was Sven-couver, BC. To top it all off, and to really highlight how popular the sport is in The Netherlands, the nation's electric company is giving $65 US dollars off of every customer's bill for every gold that Sven wins at the games. Why is our nation so behind the times?

LSF's "What 2 watch 4 2night": Carrying over another tradition from the games in Beijing, it's time to ket our readers know what exciting Olympic things are coming up. First off, I don't think it gets any better than Stephen Colbert's Olympic poster. As for the Olympic TV action, we have the US competing in their first even Nordic Combined event at 1:00 pm (NBC) and the US women's hockey opening against China at the same time (on USA network). Primetime tonight, we have medal events in women's speed skating (3000), the really fun men's freestyle moguls, and the modified men's singles luge. Pairs figure skating also gets underway tonight, and please don't try to pretend that you aren't excited about that.

Set your DVRs for curling, starting Tuesday morning on USA network (USA v. Germany), and men's ice hockey, starting Tuesday afternoon on USA network (USA vs. Switzerland). Wow, Tuesday is a big day. Thank goodness I'm still on paternity leave!

Fun fact: I held my sleeping baby and typed with one hand throughout this post.

Road trip flip flop.

The Canucks road tip from hell seemed to start off well, but all of the sudden things have taken a turn, and with the Olympic break getting closer we need to do some examining.

Of course, when I say that the road trip started off well, I'm talking about the thrilling comeback win against Toronto back on January 30th that started it all. To see how I felt about that game, click here. The backslide started right after that comeback win, as we continued our travels through Eastern Canada. It started with a close 2-3 loss to Montreal. Jaroslav Halak was insane in goal for the Habs, stopping 45 Vancouver shots. Despite putting the rubber on goal 47 times and going 2 for 5 on the man advantage, the Canucks couldn't get the job done against this Original Six squad.

That game wouldn't have hurt so much, if it wasn't for the 1-3 loss to Ottawa two nights later. Rayzor may have been in goal to spell Luongo for a night, but we still expected so much more. For the Sens, they increased their win streak to 11 games. For the Canucks, they dropped a game where it took them 58:21 to score their first goal, a Wellwood power play netter. Allowing two goals in the first period to the Sens, though, really sealed the deal early on. Again, we won the shot battle with 30, and Ray Ray played pretty well (2 goals allowed on 20 shots), but it just wasn't enough. When you don't score until there is less than two minutes in the game, you probably aren't going to win.

My Vannies may have stopped the bleeding in their next game, a 3-2 shootout win against ailing Boston, but even that was a less than exciting effort. For the Bruins, it was their 10th straight loss. For the Canucks, it was Pavol Demitra making good on being out all season with the game tying goal and the shootout winner. Bobby Lu was the other big story in the match, acting like a brick wall on 41 shots. Despite Mason Raymond's 21st of the year, and the huge clutchness of Po Po D, the Canucks still had holes with their 0 for 5 mark on the power play, and most of Orca Nation knew that this win wasn't a sign of things turning back around all the way.

This brings us to February 9, when the Canucks got beat up by Mattias Ohlund and the Lightning. With the game tied at one heading into the third period (Ryan Kesler got his 15th), Martin St. Louis destroyed the Vannies and changed the game with a shortie and a game finisher (at 2:52 and 15:40 in the third) to knock the Canucks out. Another huge bad guy goalie performance, this time from Nittymaki (39 saves on 40 shots), kept the Canucks from getting into this one. Luongo only stopped 16 of the 19 shots that came at him, and we skated off the ice with a tough to take 1-3 loss to TB. Hope Ohulnd is happy.

Now, after allowing giving up the opening goal in 7 straight games and started to make fans slightly nervous heading toward the Olympic break, the Canucks get a chance to turn things around against a dead awful team from Florida. The recent rough road has managed to drop the Vannies to 35-21-2 (72 points), now 2 back of first place Colorado and now #6 in the Western Conference (+3 of Nashville and +5 of Calgary). Meanwhile, tonight's opponents from the FLA, are 24-26-9 (57 points) and ranked 12th in the East. They are 3-6-1 over their last 10 and sit 24th in goals scored per game (we're ranked #3). Keep an eye open on the third line in this game (Glass-Wellwood-Bernier) as an underrated line on the ice, and watch for Sami Salo tro try and be a difference maker with Bieksa and Mitchell still on the mend (Luko and Rome continue to bring up the rear as the 5 and 6). A glimmer of hope: The Canucks have been giving up a grip of game opening goals during this patch, but the Panthers have the worst record in the NHL when scoring first. Wow, we have to make this one work.

Interesting that none of the previews of this game from the real media seem to remember this.

2010 Winter Olympic Primer.

I think everyone around the LSF knows how much I love the Olympics (please see my amazing Summer Olympic posts from 2008), and I decided that it was time to get us all ready for the upcoming winter games from a city very close to my heart, Vancouver. Before we get ready, let's take a glance at what's been happening for my squads. Then, we'll get primed up.

-Angels: We are just 8 days from pitchers and catchers reporting to Spring Training. I'm getting tingly.

-Canucks: A shootout win against the Bruins on Saturday has the Vannies rolling again on their road trip. At 35-20-2 (72 points), the Olympic hosts still lead the Northwest by a win over the Colorado Rangers and get ready to battle Tampa Bay (25-21-11) tomorrow. Still #3 in the West, I'm proud.

-Celtics: After getting smashed up yesterday morning by the Magic, the C's are now just 32-17, and looked toward a match against the Super Bowl winning Hornets on Wednesday (27-24). The loss has us now 1 game back of #2 Orlando and 7.5 back of the runaway Cavs. Will Ray Allen stay, or will he go?

-Rams: Today is the first day that players can be cut, and rumors are swirling that Marc Bulger may be out. I'm finally excited about Rams news!

-Celtic FC: Irish stud Robbie Keane scored in his first match with the Hoops to win 4-2 over Dunfermline. We're still 10 back of Rangers with a match set for Wednesday against Hearts.

-Newcastle: A 5-1 win over Cardiff has the Toon Army buzzing. With a 3 point lead over West Brom, we have a battle with Derby County tomorrow.

-Gauchos: A win over UC Davis by 4 has Gaucho Nation pretty happy. After a .500 start, we're 13-8 and #2 in the Big West. #4 Long Beach State is scheduled to come to the Thunderdome on Saturday. PEople are going to be drunk.

-Fighting Irish: The basketball team continues to suck after a narrow win over USF. At 17-7, we're not even smelling the elite level of the Big East, but we have a game at Seton Hall on Thursday, which is nice because they're worse than us. Lots of good stuff on signing day for Notre Dame, and you can read about it here.

Onto the Olympics. I'm about to pee my pants! The world's games get underway on Friday with the opening ceremonies, and I want to get you ready for what I'm most excited to enjoy:

-Bobsleigh: This fun event brings back memories of "Cool Runnings," despite the fact that the Jamaicans didn't make the cut this year. The sport gets underway 2/20 with the two man heats and concludes on 2/27 with the medal event in the four man. In Torino, it was Germany walking away with 3 golds, while the US finished with just a silver. Canada, equaling the US, earned a silver, at Torino. Can we end German domination? Our last Gold was in 2002 in Salt Lake, and hopefully we can bring the close to home feeling up to British Columbia. Steve Holcomb, Justin Olsen, Steve Mesler, and Curt Tomasevicz are ready to bring it home for us.

-Curling: You might think I'm crazy, but curling is one of my favorite Winter Olympic sports. I'm not joking, I completely love it. The battles start on 2/16. Following the US, we go against Germany in the Men's Round Robin to open and battle Japan in the Women's Round Robin. We also battle Norway, the Swiss in the Men's battle, while the women also go against Germany in the Round Robin matches. Last Olympics, Canada regained glory with the gold (along with Sweden), while the US surprised by getting a bronze. It is our only medal in the sport. Can John Benton and Jeff Isaacson lead the US men to glory?

-Figure Skating: Everyone loves figure skating, don't deny it. When it gets serious, it gets so damned exciting. This year, we already have controversy getting it on. The favorites to win the gold in the pairs, the Russians (Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin), have raised eyebrows with a dance referencing Australian Aboriginal culture. The pair wear dark skin toned outfits and loin cloths. The Australian Olympic committee are saying, "It looks more like they were trying to emulate the token savage cave man. That's insulting to Aboriginal people." That's why I'm launching my "Anyone To Beat The Russians" campaign. We have to beat these Reds. Look to be stunned by American skating studs Rachael Flatt, Johnny Weir, Charlie White, and Amanda Evora. Should be a blast.

-Ice Hockey: Where can I start with this one? Obviously, you root for the Americans, but you wouldn't mind seeing Canada or Sweden take it, right? I don't know. I used to think that, but when I was watching the World Juniors, I grew to hate Canada's hockey team so much. And, with the fact that they're sitting Roberto Luongo in favor of that bum from New Jersey makes me even more frustrated. The Men open things up on 2/16 as the US battles the Swiss and Canada battles Norway. We face Norway on 2/18, and have the biggest match on 2/21 as the US and Canada go head to head. That's going to be a knock down drag out fight. Ryan Kesler better get some ice time. Of course, my favorite hockey playing twins will try and propel their Swedish squad on the up and up against Germany first, then against Latvia, and Finland before the "playoffs" get underway. Don't forget that I said in an earlier post that Slovakia is the most underrated squad in Vancouver.

-Short Track: Equivalent of the short races around the track in the Summer Games, short track is a fast paced and exciting sport that always delivers. It starts on day 1 with the 1500 meter race, and continues on from there. The US got a gold and a 2 bronzes in the 2006 Torino games, and have our largest competition from the Asians. The Koreans came away with 10 medals in '06 (6 golds, 3 silvers, and a bronze) and the Chinese walked away with 5 (a gold, a silver, and 3 bronzes). Even Canada big upped us with 3 silvers and a bronze. We are going to have to make some serious headway to get up in the tops of this get you out of your seat sport. Would you believe that Apolo Anton Ohno is only 27 years old? He leads a core of solid skaters like Travis Jayner, Jordan Malone, JR Celski, and Simon Cho. Don't forget about the women, with Allison Baver leading the squad. Let's get us some.

Now surely there are other sports that you may like, I'm just scratching the surface of the sports that really have been nerding out. If you love alpine skiing, that's fine. If you're a fan of biathlon, I really respect you (I actually think I might want to try and get into that this time around). Cross country isn't my cup of tea. Freestyle skiing, much like snowboarding, is especially not interesting to me. The luge is pretty cool, but it certainly doesn't compare to the bobsleigh. Again, nordic combined isn't my cup of tea. Then you have skeleton (a little too crazy), ski jumping (I'll admit I enjoy watching it, but it's not what I'm waiting 4 years for), and speed skating (I'm impressed with the distance skaters, but my passion is for short track).

So, maybe this post inspired you to get as pumped up as I am for the Winter Games. Maybe you'll try out a new sport, which I always advise. Maybe I just bored the crap out of you, and you are wishing this was one of those posts with a bunch of funny links in it. Either way, walk over to your DVR and set a ton of recordings, because the Winter Olympics from Vancouver are going to be very, very fun. Don't forget to also keep up with the LSF as we post on the games.

Have a nice afternoon, and apologies for the lack of proofreading.

...God opens a window.

Well, the transfer window is officially closed in the world of soccer, and I'm ready to assess how my two favorite European soccer teams fared on the final day of the transfer period.

We'll start with the Magpies of Newcastle United. The Toon Army were getting mighty worried that we would have a crappy transfer period, or no transfer period, based on the fact that the team is still in transition and not an EPL elite type of squad any longer. I'm going to have to say that we were all wrong. Newcastle made a fairly significant splash, in my opinion, as a way to try and solidify their top spot in the Coca Cola Championship table thus hoping to shore up promotion back to the EPL by '10/'11. We loaned up Fitz Hall and Patrick Van Aaholt (of Chelsea fame) earlier in the week to offset letting go of Fabio Zamblera to AS Roma. Meanwhile, after going through a year of losses of Newcastle greats like Oba Martins, Seb Bassong, Beye, Irishman Damien Duff, and weak sauce Geremi, 'Castle sucked it up and picked up Danny Simpson from Man U, Wayne Routledge, Mike Williamson from Ports, and the big splash of Leon Best from Coventry City. Best is a stud, getting 19 goals in his 3 years at Coventry, and it a Republic of Ireland started 7 times over since 2008. He had back to back hat tricks last season in CC, and earned the nickname "Socko" after wearing protective socks even after an ankle injury healed (kind of like that dude from the Pistons with the face mask). Not too long ago, back in October, has was named player of the month in the Championship, and now he's here at St. James'. Despite not being a starter, Shola is still my favorite Mag, but Socko Best is clearly gaining as an Irish native (now the only Irishman on the squad outside of the rarely playing defender Callum Morris). Best will be the biggest acquisition, but hopefully Williamson will get the defense a little more solid, along with Danny Simpson (but I'm sure Andrew will tell me he sucks), Van Aanholt (but I'm sure Brandon will tell me he sucks), and Fitzy. Next up for 'Castle is a battle with Cardiff City on Friday, and hopefully Best can get in there and help increase our 4 point table leading mark.

How did Celtic fare on the final day of the transfer period? Wow, talk about a weird day for me as a fan of the Hoops. Middlebrough stole my favorite player on the team, Aussie Scott McDonald, adding to the losses of Mark Brown, Danny Fox, Stephen McManus (on loan), and the earlier losses of Naka, O'Dea, and Kennedy. On the flip side, we picked up the amazing Irishman Robbie Keane on loan from Tottenham. Born in Dublin, Keane scored 11 goals in his 29 EPL games thus far, and should bring a shockingly awesome offensive prowess to my Bhoys. He should more than make up for the loss of Scottie Mac, although the tears still fall for the Aussie. The Green & White also added Edson Braafheid from Bayern Munich, Paul Slane from Motherwell, and Diomansy Kamara from Fulham. That's all just from today, adding to the previous pick ups of Morten Rasmussen, Thomas Rogne, Jos Hooiveld, and Ki Sung-Yong (from FC Seoul). I think the Sligo faithful are going to be pretty stoked on our acquisitions, despite our losses, and hopefully Robbie Keane can push us to the next level and help us catch Rangers. Tomorrow, we'll see a Groundhog Day battle against Kilmarnock, as step one in a multiple step plan to improve on our -10 position from first place in the SPL. Slow down Rangers, we're coming to get you.

Just to wrap up on the soccer info, props to Chivas de Guadalajara for opening the latest season of Mexican football with a 3-0-0 start. 6 goals from super stud Javier Hernandez Balcazar has really got us going, and hopefully he can continue the lovely play on Friday against Queretaro. Is this a championship season for the Goats? Let's try, yes.

The complete LSF sweep.

A four goal fourth period was the only thing that could offset an 0-3 start, as the 'Nucks demolished the Maple Leafs 5-3 to complete Tommy's LSF NHL Week sweep and send Andrew to a tear filled pillowcase at bed time. I was able to listen to the game on the Maple Leafs Radio Network thanks to a new app on my Palm Pre (sweet!), and let's be honest, I turned it off after the Leafs went up 3-0. Boy, did I miss a thrilling finale.

Roberto Luongo got chased from the game early, after allowing 3 goals on 8 shots. Are you kidding me? What happened to our mighty captain. On a day like "Hockey Day In Canada," he really didn't impress the Canadian Olympic team staff to the fact that he should start over Marty. Andrew Raycroft, however, may have made a case to replace Luongo on the Canadian roster (I'm joking really, but his success was funny). Ray Ray stopped all 13 shots that he faced (that's right, the Leafs only put 13 shots on goal in the final two periods, including just 3 shots in the 2nd...3!!!) and saved the day, setting up the amazing Vannie comeback. After Kessel (0:52 and 3:49) and Mayers (19:55) started the Leafs off hot, they went amazingly silent. Then, i t was the Vancouver top line going bonkers to get us the big win. Burrows nailed a shorthanded goal after a Samuelsson high stick at 9:29, and we headed into the third period down 1-3. Then it was some Sedin twin magic. A Sedin goal scoring sandwich featured Daniel as the bread (3:27 and 17:56) and Henrik as the meat (5:32) against Toskala (now former Maple Leaf keeper, Toskala) to grab the lead. Alex Burrows was then able to seal the deal with his 25th of the year on the empty net. Poor, poor Toronto. My man AB lead the way with 4 points (2 goals and 2 assists), Daniel had 3 points, Hank had 2, and Alex Edler was the unsung hero (finishing at +4). What a freaking game. After losing, the Leafs decided to make their team even more douchey by trading for Dion Phaneuf and JS Giguere. No one is really talking about how they've lost Matt Stajan in the deal (16 goals and 25 assists), and I think that will be a bigger deal than people believe (how about you, Do Do?). Plus, any team that has Phaneuf is an enemy in my book. A totally docuhey enemy. Can't wait until next year, babies.

Meanwhile, the Orca don't really need a trade to make their team Stanley Cup ready, as they have rolled off 7 straight wins, including this big one to start their 14 game Olympic road trip. At 34-18-2 (70 points), the Vannies are #3 in the West (-8 of Chicago and -11 of San Jose) and lead the division by a strong 4 points over finally fading Colorado. This road trip will officially decide how this season is going to go. Of course, no one is really talking about how after the road trip the Canucks have the most games at home before the end of the year than any other team. We should be able to finish strong no matter how this trip goes. Being #3 in the West right now, though, is so much fun. By the way, Toronto is officially worse than Carolina, and only Edmonton is worse than Toronto. Man, this is a really great year. Game 2 of 14 on the Road Trip from Hell features the Canucks and the Habs on Groundhog Day. Montreal are 25-25-6 this season, with a -9 goal differential and a 3-4-3 record over their last 10 games. The Canucks will try and get their winning streak to 8 while sending the Habs to a four game losing stretch. With the Canadiens only sitting 1 game over .500 at home, I think we should be able to pull it off.

Here is a page that features the Burrows shortie and a pretty funny picture of Brian Burke.