After two most excellent days for Canada at the Winter Olympics, Saturday was downright sucktacular.

1. Canadian Curlers had a horrible day losing to countries they can normally beat fairly easily. (Link)
The men’s team lost to Italy and is clinging to the final playoff spot. The women’s team is out of the playoffs thanks to a loss to Japan. JAPAN!??! Ow :(

2. Eric Guay just missed a medal and finished fourth in the Super G. (Link)

Guay was skiing for the first time competitively since suffering a knee injury back on January 23rd during a Giant Slalom race in Austria. The inflammation in the joint below the knee kept him out of the men's downhill race last weekend. The Mont-Tremblant, Quebec native underwent therapy and pronounced himself fit to race earlier this week, however, he did admit that he was still experiencing some discomfort in the joint and would likely be freezing the affected area.

I think Canadians should give him a proverbial round of applause for his effort. I didn’t think he would be able to ski after his injuries, but he came back and almost got a medal even while injured.

3. Oh, and Team Canada’s male hockey team lost 2-0...to Switzerland!! Damn, those Swiss don’t miss. Shutting down the vaunted Canadian offence and keeping the powerhouse Czechs from running up the score are two very impressive feats.
The key to winning Olympic Hockey? Getting really really really damn fine goaltending. We saw in Nagano (Hasek), and we’re seeing it in Turin (Aebischer, Gerber, Arturs Irbe, and Kim Martin).
“Yeah, thanks for the sage advice, Mr. Obvious.”




Well, great goaltending can make a winner out of any team, but we are seeing some monumental upsets thanks almost solely to great one-off goaltending efforts. The Swiss were outshot 49-16 and teams that rarely win games when giving up a -33 shot differential.

Oh, and some idiot blogger (His name rhymes with ‘chess’) said this about the Swiss before the tournament, picking them to finish 10th:

Their defence isn't too shabby, but this bunch of mini-me's suffers
from an inferiority complex and confidence problems that will always hold them back.

I bet that fartknocker feels like a Mastercraft tool-kit right about now.
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Joeri Loonen of Eurohockey.net sent me some more photos, including this one of the Slovaks lined up. Is Martin Strbak leading the charge or checking out the babes in the crowd? (Click photo for larger image)

Operation Slapshot:

Al Strachan is calling out the media, blabbering that they all owe Wayne and Janet Gretzky a big apology.

As you would expect, Al Strachan doesn’t apologize for his own behaviour, as he is too high on his soap box to climb down.

While Strachan didn’t pile on the Gretzky’s like other mediots did, Al didn’t become Gretzky’s knight in shining armour until it was quite clear that all Wayne and Janet did was bet on some horse races and football games.

It’s no small wonder why most peeps think Al needs a swat upside the head with a salmon sandwich.