Spring Break for the Fantasy World

Okay, maybe Spring Break isn't the best title, since most of us are still buried under literal feet of snow, but it works in principal.

The NHL is taking a couple of weeks off for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia and that leaves all the fantasy poolies with nothing to do for a couple weeks. (I mean, you could scout players to pick up over the course of the last couple weeks of the season, but do you really need 2 weeks to do that?)

As for me, I'm left with nothing relevant to talk about for a couple weeks, so why not look at how everyone's Olympic teams is faring after their first game.

Canada 8, Norway 0.

Hockey fans north of the border were shocked that this game remained tied after one period. That tie lasted long enough for Sidney Crosby to find his favorite new linemate, Jarome Iginla hiding in the slot.

Nobody realistically expected this game to be close, but it certainly wasn't the blowout it could have been. Norwegian goaltender Pal Grotnes was bombarded by Canadian shots yet only yielded 4 goals before leaving the game with muscle tightness in the 3rd period. Grotnes is the most important member of Team Norway and he showed that he has the ability to steal a game from all but the top tier of teams in Vancouver.

Its hard to be too critical of a team that just won 8-0, but one thing the Canadians will have to do to win this tournament is stay out of the penalty box. Norway may not be gifted enough to capitalize on the ample opportunities Canada gave them, but many of the other teams do have the firepower to make them pay for their overzealous play.

USA 3, Switzerland 1

This was a game that I thought the Swiss had a very good opportunity to outright steal. And were it not for some great individual plays by Americans David Backes and Bobby Ryan, as well as USA goaltender Ryan Miller's staunch play between the pipes, a Swiss victory may have occured.

While Switzerland will be terribly outclassed by Team Canada in their next meeting, they should have a more than reasonable chance against Norway. The Swiss play a tight defensive style, and with some timely goaltending from Jonas Hiller and the occasional goal, they have the resources to surprise some teams again this time like they did with their 4th place finish at the Turin Olympics.

The score of this game may have been tight, but if you watched it you would agree, Team USA was not going to lose this game. They appeared to be doing just enough to win, and doing it very well. They pressed when they needed scoring, and fell back when they needed to protect a lead. Their game against Norway should be more polished and give everyone a better idea of where they really stack up before facing off with Canada this Sunday.

Those were the games in Group A, tomorrow I'll look at the teams in Groups B and C and after Sunday's games look at how things are shaping up for the remainder of the tournament...or I'll just watch more curling and forget to do any of this.