Canada earned a measure of Olympic men’s hockey redemption after a shock semi-final loss to Germany by defeating the Czech Republic 6-4 in Saturday’s Pyeongchang bronze-medal game. That gave Canada three goals on its first eight shots, a reversal from the semifinal loss when the Canadians gave up three goals on nine shots in the first period in losing to Germany 4-3. The U.S. -born Krupp and Canadian-born Macek have German fathers and now call Germany home with no apologies for beating or scoring against the countries of their birth.
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If that trend continues, the Russians should cruise to the gold since their defense has been phenomenal, with goaltender Vasili Koshechkin giving up just three goals in the past four games. To that end, another of Saturday’s pre-game messages asked Canada’s Olympians to consider how they might feel 20 years from now, looking back on their careers as retirees.
Team Canada pushed back hard in the third period, pulling two goals back, but the Germans held on.
BC-OLY-HKO-Germany-Russia, 844Continuity carries Germany, Russians into Olympic finalAP Photo OLYMH229, OLYMH156, OLYMH245, OLYMH153, OLYMH230, OLYMH159, OLYMH231, OLYMH154, OLYMH228Eds: With AP Photos.
“A year ago nobody in this locker room knew we would have this opportunity”, Ebbett said. “(The Russians also) should be really familiar because nearly everybody plays on the same teams in Russia”.
“He blocks a lot of shots and he’s really good on PK and that’s what I needed”, said Sturm, who thinks Uwe and Bjorn play and even look alike.
“Sounds insane right?” German coach Marco Sturm said after his team’s win on Friday night.
Canada has medalled for a third consecutive Olympics, this time finding the podium with an offensive outburst against the Czech Republic in the bronze-medal game.
“It’s very important for us”, Czech goalie Pavel Francouz said.
The best player on either roster is Ilya Kovalchuk.
Larocque issued a statement through Hockey Canada apologizing to the IOC, International Ice Hockey Federation, the Pyeongchang Olympic Organizing Committee, the Canadian Olympic Committee, Hockey Canada and her teammates and fans.
Kovalchuk and Kirill Kaprizov have four goals each, while Nikita Gusev has dished out six assists in four games. Next shift and Chris Kelly is in his place – re-direct from the front of the net and it’s 2-1 Canada.
This deal showcases the power of United States of America women’s hockey, and the gold medal is just a cherry on top of a true victory they wanted most. “It wasn’t until the closing ceremonies that I got the big idea of what the Olympics was about, and why everyone was talking about how this event is so big, so exciting, and in that moment was something that I wanted to enjoy again”. That became an equalizer and helped boost the chances of teams such as Germany that have few National Hockey League players.
Just before the shootout, Oshie – who converted four of six shots in a legendary shootout win over Russian Federation four years ago in Sochi – tweeted his support for Terry, but Francouz was able to save a multiple-fake try by the University of Denver player.
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“It’s very tough when you don’t score any goals”, assistant coach Jaroslav Spacek said. Given that the NHL’s best players populated this tournament from 1998 until 2014, only Canada’s stars of stars harboured realistic dreams of getting an Olympic sniff. “We didn’t play any easy games and I think it is making us more and more strong.” .
