What Slovakia's Win Means for the Tournament.

Plain and simple the Slovaks are for real. The Russians, on the other hand, may not be. I was convinced five days ago that the Russians were a lock for the gold medal game. After watching them play twice I am rethinking my position. Their problems start with the roster, but they do not end there; the disparity in the level of talent between the NHL and KHL is too obvious. Former NHL stars like Viktor Kozlov and Sergei Fedorov seem overwhelmed playing against this level of talent. Kozlov, who made a career in the NHL with his elusive stick handling skills and a lightning quick release looked as though he had never even heard of hockey let alone played it before tonight. It would not be too outrageous to think that the quality of play in the KHL has lessened the ability of these former NHL stars.

The KHL players were not the only aspects of Russia's performance that I would deem atrocious. The coaching by Bykov was so pitiful that it would have made Bruce Cassidy look like Scotty Bowman. The Russians will go as far as Ovechkin, Semin, Malkin, Kovy, Datsyuk, Volchenkov, and all the other NHL players will take them. Bykov has to stop trying to please the Russian Hockey brass by giving the KHL players more minutes than they deserve. In overtime Kozlov and Fedorov had no need to be on the ice when players like Ovechkin, Semin, Malkin, Kovy, and Datsyuk were sitting on the bench.

My final point of contention with Bykov tonight was having Ovechkin shoot 3 times in the shootout. Ovechkin is a great goal scorer but it is no mystery that he has his struggles in shootout/penalty shot situations. He scored on the first shot and I have no qualms with giving him a second shot. He failed miserably on the second attempt but was nonetheless rewarded with a third chance two rounds later, which he missed again. Bykov should try Datsyuk next time. I hear he is pretty good.

As for the Slovaks, they are so skilled and so fast that it is becomes very hard to overlook their chances of advancing far into this tournament. No, they do not have the depth of Canada, Sweden, or Russia but they do have 7 or 8 top tier forwards and arguably the games best defenseman in Zdeno Chara. If they can score at the rate they are capable of and get consistent goaltending from Halak then Slovakia might just be able to turn some heads in Vancouver.