Everyone in the Pool! Preview #1

The team previews really didn't work out so well. I think it was just too much to take on. But, with the Winter Olympic Games commencing in just 5 days, I figured that's three posts for the mens hockey tournament pools. Make the jump

Today, Pool A. The teams include:
#1 Seed Canada
#6 Seed USA
#7 Seed Switzerland
#12 Seed Norway


Analysis:
Canada is the runaway favorite in this Pool. The team is stacked, deep, and balanced. That's all there is to it. There's a reason they're the number one seed.

The real interesting battle in this pool will the USA and Switzerland. Paired right next to each other, these two will be playing for keeps. Chances are good that whichever of these two wins in the head to head will make it out of the round robin, into the actual tourney.

Unfortunately for Norway, they drew a terrible seed. The last ranked in the Olympics, they have some NHL-level talent, but I would be surprised to see them even compete in any of their games.

Time for some predictions
Mr Mystic won't return my calls (I think he's unhappy about being cut out before), but I will render my predictions for you right now.

-Canada will finish the round robin undefeated, and will make it into the gold medal game. I don't think they'll be able to pull it off, though.
-USA will squeak out the win against Switzerland, and make the tourney. Unfortunately, they're just too young, and I think they'll probably end up somewhere around 5th, losing a heart breaker somewhere along the way.
-Switzerland is pretty much everyone's sleeper for the tournament. Switzerland IS tough. I just don't know if they have the offense to beat a team as well trained as the USA. All but one of their forwards are Suisse League, the one that isn't is from the AHL. Just not quite enough skill.
-Like I said, Norway probably won't win a single game in the round robin. They actually might get the mercy rule put into effect when they play Canada. Too bad for them that hot fans don't translate to medals...