Squeaking By

With the pressure applied by the Czechs in the third period, Canada was lucky to get out of the Palasport Olimpico with a 3-2 victory. The Canadians appeared to be working on team defence rather than trying to score, but they still gave up a lot of opportunities that required Martin Brodeur to bail them out, and bail them out huge. Though he made some scintillating saves, Brodeur looked frantic for much of the game, scrambling to get back into position and nearly tripping over his own feet a few times, not to mention being handcuffed on the bad-angle Cajanek goal that brought the Czechs within one. Hopefully playing two games in a row - something he has not done yet in these Olympics - will cause him to settle down a little.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I didn't see Rick Nash step on the ice once in the third period, and his minutes in the first two frames were anything but abundant. This is either Pat Quinn sending a message to the young left-winger, or Quinn is trying to simplify things as 13 forwards makes for lots of line juggling, and thereby presents a challenge to team chemistry. Shane Doan (remember what a good game he had on Sunday?) took Nash's place on Joe Thornton's line, playing on Big Joe's left flank with Todd Bertuzzi on the right-hand side.

Of Bryan McCabe's two penalties in this game, one was not smart (grabbed his man around the shoulder, but McCabe's hand slid up and got him in the face), and the other was unmerited (called for tripping when Rostislav Olesz tried to leap over him and couldn't clear the hurdle). Referee Don Marouelli is off the hook for both; the first was merited, while his view on the second was obstructed by McCabe's backside, and all he saw was McCabe reaching for the puck as Olesz fell down. Again, however, one could take issue with Harry Neale's interpretations, as he rambled about how foolish the first one was (yes, it was, but how many penalties are smart? You didn't hear him ragging on Rob Blake for his blatant hook that put Canada down two men), and after the video replay showed that the second call was suspect, Neale stopped yammering, simply finished his sentence with a feeble "as McCabe hauls him down," and left it at that. The only reason I can come up with for Harry Neale's apparent love of maligning the Leafs defenceman is that he sees McCabe play almost every NHL game, as Neale also does play-by-play for Molson Leafs Hockey on TSN. Perhaps he feels more comfortable criticizing McCabe than he does guys like Adam Foote or Chris Pronger, whom he seldom watches.

Finally, an addition to my last post: Canadian defenceman Jay Bouwmeester is also sporting a visor for this tournament, something he doesn't usually do in the NHL for the Florida Panthers. It is possible that some of these players have upped their protection under orders from their employers, who want to be sure that their assets will come back safe and sound to help down the stretch.