Author: Christian Potts

In a game pretty much expected to happen before the Olympic hockey tournament even started, the top two teams in women’s hockey – Team Canada and Team USA – delivered a game Thursday that lived up to all the years of hype and then some. Team USA overcame a third-period deficit and then won on the sixth try in a shootout, scoring a 3-2 win and snapping a two-decade drought from winning the Olympic gold medal. The U.S. won the first women’s Olympic hockey tournament in 1998 in Nagano. Since then the Canadians had dominated, winning four straight gold medals,…

The margin between ecstasy and disappointment in sports can be razor-thin. Team USA narrowly found itself on the wrong side of that line in the quarterfinal round of the Olympic hockey tournament. After battling favored Czech Republic all the way to a shootout, the Americans fell 3-2 to the second-seeded Czechs and were eliminated from the tournament Wednesday. It’s a bitter ending for a U.S. squad that had an up-and-down tournament. After a bumpy ride in the preliminary round, the Americans had played their best game in a first-round win against Slovakia in the knockout round. And for much of…

Team USA started its play in the knockout round of the 2018 Winter Olympic Hockey Tournament with its best showing so far in Pyeongchang, racing past Slovakia 5-1 to reach the quarterfinal round. Next up is a test against the Czech Republic, the No. 2 seed, in a start just after 9 p.m. CT tonight. Ryan Donato scored twice as the U.S. defeated Slovakia for the second time in the tournament. Now the challenge gets more difficult against a Czech squad that is one of only two undefeated teams so far at the Olympics. The rest of the first round…

The matchup everyone pretty much knew was coming before the 2018 Olympic Women’s Hockey Tournament even started is now official. Canada vs. Team USA. Gold medal on the line. Each team cruised in the semifinal round Monday, with the U.S. taking down Finland and Canada defeating the Olympic Athletes of Russia, each by matching 5-0 margins. Now, the two teams that have dominated international women’s hockey for multiple decades will square off for the biggest prize at the Winter Olympics. “Everyone is rolling, that’s what we want, and that’s the kind of team we’ve built,” said U.S. forward Hilary Knight…

It’s win or go home in the Olympic hockey tournament, and an up and down run in pool play leaves Team USA with a hill to climb to reach the medal round. The Olympic athletes from Russia controlled throughout a 4-0 win that clinched Group B while dumping the Americans into a three-way tie with Slovenia and Slovakia. Now all 12 teams go into a single-elimination knockout bracket. As it turns out, the U.S. is the No. 7 seed and will start with a rematch against Slovakia in the opening round of tournament play, beginning late Monday/early Tuesday. With the…

Ryan Donato supplied the offense, and Team USA hockey suddenly looks a lot stronger than it did just 24 hours earlier in the Olympic tournament. Donato’s two goals propelled the Americans to a 2-1 victory against Slovakia Friday. Coupled with Russia’s 8-2 beatdown of Slovenia, the U.S. now finds itself atop Group B with four points ahead of its final game of group play Saturday against the Russians. The winner there likely snatches a top four seed which means a bye into the quarterfinals of the bracket play round and a better shot at finding its way to the medal…

It isn’t quite “must-win” territory for Team USA’s men’s hockey squad at the 2018 Winter Olympics. However, it’s about as close as a team could be in just its second game of the tournament. The Americans take on Slovakia at 9:10 PM CT Thursday in the second of three games in pool play in the tournament. Both Team USA and the Olympic Athletes from Russia lost in their opening contests, to Slovenia and Slovakia, respectively, leaving Group B wide open. The U.S. took a 2-0 lead into the third period before pretty much falling apart, as Slovenia scored twice to…

Team USA’s debut in the 2018 Winter Olympics degenerated into a nightmare. Slovenia overcame a two-goal deficit in the third period, tying the game late and then winning it in overtime for a 3-2 triumph as the men’s hockey tournament began with a pair of upsets. The other Group B matchup also went the way of the underdog, as Slovakia also overcame a 2-0 deficit to knock off the Olympic Athletes of Russia by the same 3-2 count. Now the group is turned on its head, and the pressure is ramped up for both the Americans and the Russians going…

Team USA Men’s Hockey Team USA sees its first action of the Olympic Men’s Hockey Tournament on Wednesday in Pyeongchang, and on the surface, a matchup with Slovenia seems like a good way to ease into the tournament. But a deeper look shows both the Americans and the Olympic Athletes of Russia – who open at the same time against Slovakia – better be ready to go. With NHL players not coming to this year’s event, it’s evened up the talent discrepancy between the top hockey-playing countries of the world and those like the Slovenians or Slovaks, whose rosters will…

Canada looked every bit the part of a favorite. Team USA had to bounce back from a slow start. And a unified Korean team made history, even in a losing effort, as the 2018 women’s Olympic hockey tournament got started in Pyeongchang. All in all, the results pretty much went as predicted on Saturday and Sunday in the first two days of pool play in the Olympic ice hockey tournament. Canada looked especially good, ripping through the Olympic Athletes of Russia for a 5-0 triumph. Rebecca Johnson and Melodie Daoust each scored twice and Ann-Renee Desbiens stopped all of Russia’s…