O (No), Canada!

Our men’s Olympic hockey team certainly isn’t making this tournament easy for themselves.

Already, we’ve seen a far-too-tense shootout win against Switzerland (just when I had stopped crying myself to sleep after losing 2-0 to them in 2006) and, of course, a big loss against the United States.

While the credit in the latter game went to the States’ star goalie, Ryan Miller, Canada has a team of bona fide “goalie killers” who couldn’t convert on chances even when Miller was down and out.

Miller has 21 losses this NHL season, and the disparity in talent between his Buffalo Sabres and other NHL teams is not as a great as it is between Canada and the U.S.

So despite how well he played, Canada still should have won on Sunday.

It’s not time for all of us to cry ourselves to sleep just yet, though. I see our loss against the U.S. as a blessing, not a burden.

We talked to Canada’s general manager, Steve Yzerman, in our winter issue. He stressed the need for team chemistry and mentioned how the three games before the knockout stages provide “a little bit of time to sort things out if things don’t start off the way you plan.”

Now, because Canada lost, there’s an additional game they have to play against Germany on Tuesday to qualify for the medal rounds. That game provides even more time for Canada to build the chemistry that Yzerman is looking for. It’s unfathomable to think Canada will lose to Germany – their goalie is no Ryan Miller; it’s Thomas Greiss, back-up for the San Jose Sharks. This game is much more of an opportunity than it is a challenge.

Therefore, we can legitimately hope for a dominant Canada in time to face Russia on Wednesday. And from there, everything could be, well… golden.

— Josh Bailie