A blog about the NHL and The Pittsburgh Penguins...technically, anyway.
Updated every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday


Monday, February 15, 2010

State of the Olympics: Women's hockey

A recap of the Women's hockey games to this point in the 2010 Winter Olympics.
Women's hockey isn't really easy to find to watch, let alone consistently. So as a result, we will be just looking at the results for the games, with a little analysis of the teams' performance to this point.

GROUP A

























Sweden 3 0 Switzerland
Canada 18 0 Slovakia
Switzerland 1 10 Canada
Finland Slovakia


Canada has been dominating, as expected, including setting a new record for goals scored in a game against Slovakia, a move which earned them some criticism. Another convincing win over Switzerland further solidifies their standing.

Sweden has looked good, posting a 3-0 shutout over Switzerland. As of this writing, they are having some difficulty with Slovakia, holding onto a 3-2 lead by virtue of two powerplay goals.

Switzerland has not put on a good showing, both games played by a combined score of 13-1. Their only hope for a win is Slovakia. Still, one has to wonder if they can steal the win, with Slovakia knowing Switzerland is it's only real chance.

Slovakia is better than their results suggest. Seeing some of the game against Canada, Slovakia has potentially one of the best two goaltenders in the group. Despite the score, the goalie faced over 60 shots in that game, so there was no offensive or defensive support.



GROUP B













United States 12 1 China
Finland 5 1 Russia


The US put on a decent show, but failed to get the Shutout. China is a first year competitor in hockey, so one would really expect the score to be closer to the Slovakia/Canada score. I didn't see the game, but wonder if the US was shifting their lower lines towards the end.

Finland looks to be well poised for a shot at an upset against the USA, after a solid 5-1 thrashing of the Russian Federation. However, Russia's defense was mediocre at best, so Finland should still a have an uphill climb.

Russia isn't nearly as good as their Men's hockey counterpart. They seem to have decent goaltending, but a general lack of ability on defense and offense. They should still make short work of China.

China is a first time competitor. Don't expect more than 5 goals in the entire Olympics.



So that's it. Check back later for more insight into Men's and Women's Olympic hockey!

No comments:

Post a Comment