I watched in utter disbelief yesterday as Team Canada struggled against Team Finland in one of the worst displays of Canadian hockey in recent memory. The first period nearly had me cursing at the TV. How can a guy like Chris Pronger get knocked off the puck by a little guy like Koivu? How can the entire team play a full game without delivering a solid body check. What happened to the physical play that we are known for? Are we afraid of taking penalties?
To hear them talk about the game as a 'tune-up' reveals the general atmosphere of the players. The game didn't matter. It was a practice, a nothing-game.
But it does matter. It determines who they play against in the medal round. It affects their confidence and their momentum.
We haven't scored in two straight games. That's just not right.
We got smoked by Sweden 4 years ago and it seemed to wake us up a bit. Let's hope these two losses have similar affect and we recover and start skating and hitting and giving 110% and putting the puck in the net and all those other intermission interview cliches.