The Winter Olympics is getting started up and there are plenty of great sports to pay attention to and watch while they are on. Also, there is nothing quite like watching your home country win a game on the biggest stage in the world. The Olympics originated in Greece in the year 776 BC but were abolished after 1,000 years. Then in 1896 it was brought back and grew into the worlds largest sporting event behind the world cup. Even with all these sports, we will be covering my personal favorite, Ice Hockey.
In the qualifiers, we had eight teams playing. Those countries are Sweden, Latvia, Czechia, Denmark, Switzerland, Italy, Germany and France. All these countries were playing for a spot, there were other teams that made it to the quarterfinals without having to play in the qualifiers. Those countries were Canada, USA, Finland and Slovakia. Sweden would handily beat Latvia 5-1. Czechia would barely beat Denmark 3-2. Switzerland would take care of business against Italy 3-0 and Germany would be the second team with a 5-1 score against France. Honestly, a boring set of games with one close match and plenty of blow outs.
In the quarter finals, we have once again eight teams playing, those teams being; Canada, Czechia, Finland, Switzerland, USA, Sweden, Slovakia, and Germany. Four of these teams got a rest by not having to play any qualifiers matches which should help and have them be less fatigued. Some people would argue this break causes players to get out of practice and without playing it slows the players down, but that’s neither here nor there. The first game was Slovakia beating Germany with ease 6-2. The next game was USA vs Sweden, which was a nail biter ending in a 2-1 win for the US. Another close game came with Finland squeezing out and beating Switzerland 3-2. Next was another close matchup and quite the shootout with a 4-3 win for Canada against Czechia.
The Semifinals went very well for the US and Canada who would both win an advance to the finals. The US men’s team would bury Slovakia 6-2 continuing a dominating run to push their way to the championship game against Canada. This game would be much closer with Canada winning 3-2 against Finland. Very close matchup with Canada and the US playing against one another for the Olympic men’s ice hockey championship.
In the Championship the US and Canada got to play each other in the Olympic ice hockey championship. In the end, the Canadians got second again to their much more superior counterpart USA. Now this would not be an easy game for the US men’s team with the final score being 2-1 with a last-minute overtime goal by Jack Heughs to send the Canadians home.
Many people I spoke to said that the final game was an absolute nail-biting game with a perfect ending. This was a good series of Olympic hockey games with that beautiful little cherry on top in the form of a win for the US men’s national team.
