I can't say that I'm shedding any tears now that Sweden is knocked out of the playoff round. No, not even tears of joy :)

The Evil Ones had a pretty good team this year and look like they are turning the corner in producing some good hockey talent (keep an eye out on BERGFORS). Even if they finish just 5th, I think Swedes will be happy to see that there team performed well and didn't just have to trap to survive. Anders "I drafted Luca Cereda" Hedberg was on TSN before the game and discussed the problem of Swedish hockey teaching 10 years olds how to trap. Hedberg claims that the kids need to play creatively and he's starting to see that change happen.

I mean, they outshoot Finland by a 2:1 margin and lose 1-0 in OT! Sweden couldn't have possibly done anything else as Finland just hung on for dear life as Tuukka Rask saved the day. Full game recap here.

The Game of the Day was the USA/Czech Republic tilt. The Americans scored 2 early goals and the Czechs tried to chip away for the rest of the game. The first period was quite exciting, but the 2nd and 3rd periods were basically the Americans sitting back while the Czechs pressured.

TSN was all over the fact that the Americans were blocking shots, and I noticed a lot of American players falling all over the place to block shots. The Americans are certainly here to play and TJ Oshie is the epitome of how the Americans played last night. While Oshie didn't appear on the scoresheet, his promotion to the top line (Kessel/Bourque) basically spurred the offence and gave his team a kick in the ass. Oshie was doing great on the PK and I like his hustle and speed. If he can discover some kind of scoring touch, the Blues have a themselves a bit of a gem. At the very least, as I mentioned before, he's a much smarter Jamal Mayers :)

Michael Frolik? There's no way in hell he has a chance at being #1 in the 2006 Entry Draft after his disappointing performance in this tournament. He earned an easy assist on Smid's goal and then missed a wide open net in the third period on a great chance. Other than that, he wasn't overly impressive.

Full game recap here.

Oh, I'm definitely cheering for a USA/Canada final. How intense would that be?

Now, how bad are the Canucks doing? Losers of like 7 out of their last 8 or something...but how bad do you have to be to lose 4-1 to the Blues?? THE BLUES??? Who loses to the Blues??

Alex Auld must be fatigued because some of those Blues' goals were weaker than drinks in a Utah bar. I also see that Todd Bertuzzi is taking his Canadian Olympic nomination seriously. I mean, how else can you explan the fact that he's floating even worse than before. He must be saving his energy for Turin, because he's not breaking a sweat for the Canucks these days.

The Vladimir Orszagh Story is getting a bit messy and now the high-priced lawyers will have to get involved. It seems the IIHF Transfer Agreement doesn't allow such signings mid-season, but Orszagh's contract with Lulea allowed him to sign with an NHL club. You'd figure the IIHF agreement would override the club agreement, but it's not quite that simple. The IIHF ruling is there to protect their European clubs, but it's obvious that Lulea knew Orszagh would sign with an NHL club and even allowed Vlado the option of doing so.

Swedish Weirdness of the Day - Peter Forsberg + Hot Dog Buns. 0_o
Watch the video here.