TEAM FIRE VS TEAM ICE SKIN

The Russians are talented and looking to settle a score. ThereвЂ™s a high number of KHL players on this Russian team (perhaps to interest the domestic audience a bit more), and one can expect a few breakout performances. To do that, theyвЂ™ll lean on Ovechkin and Malkin particularly, along with Kovalchuk, for leadership. They will want to put that performance to rest with home ice advantage, Russia can be expected to play a lot better than they did four years ago. The Russians were undoubtedly very disappointed with their performance in Vancouver, especially after they were manhandled by the Canadians 7-3 (вЂњThey came like gorillas coming out of a cage,вЂќ Ilya Bryzgalov described the Canucks after the loss). Odds of winning as good as: CCTV dashboard footage of foreign journalist getting arrested uploaded to LiveLeak Olympic History (including as the Soviet Union) Goal: Sergei Bobrovsky Semyon Varlamov Alexander EremenkoДefence: Aton Belov Alexei Emelin Andrei Markov Nikita Nikitin Fedor Tyutin Slava Voynov Yevgeny Medvedev Ilya NikulinДЇorward: Artem Anisimov Pavel Datsyuk Alexander Svitov Ilya Kovalchuk Nikolai Kulemin Evgeni Malkin Valeri Nichushkin Alex Ovechkin Alexander Popov Alexander Radulov Aleksander Svitov Vladimir Tarasenko Alexei Tereshchenko Victor Tikhonov If thatвЂ™s the case, too, they could be very tough to beat.ДЄka: Р‘РѕР»СЊС€Р°СЏ РљСЂР°СЃРЅР°СЏ РњР°С€РёРЅР° (Big Red Machine) Miller may get the start for the Americans, but if Quick is on his game, heвЂ™ll likely quarterback the squad for the long haul. They have plenty of scorers up front, with the likes of Parise and Kane, and will hit the Olympics with Maple Leafs linemates Kessel and van Riemsdyk on one of the hottest lines in the NHL right now. The Americans will perhaps suffer the same constraints as the Canadians on the big ice, but theyвЂ™re looking to prove they can again win gold at the Games, especially after being denied in overtime in 2010. Odds of winning as good as: Foreign Olympic journalist getting arrested. Oshie Max Pacioretty Zach Parise Joe Pavelski Derek Stepan Paul Stastny Blake Wheeler James van Riemsdyk

Goal: Jimmy Howard Ryan Miller Jonathan QuickДefence: John Carlson Justin Faulk Cam Fowler Paul Martin Ryan McDonagh Brooks Orpik Kevin Shattenkirk Ryan SuterДЇorward: David Backes Dustin Brown Ryan Callahan Patrick Kane Ryan Kesler Phil Kessel T.J. Below is a guide to the tournament, the teams and that game schedule that might have some of us in North America waking up rather uncomfortably early.

TEAM FIRE VS TEAM ICE SKIN

The NHL will be on hold while Canada tries to defend the gold medal it won by the skin of its teeth in 2010 вЂ“ and it will certainly be a difficult title to retain. Twelve teams qualified for the 2014 tournament in Sochi for the Olympics.

Team fire vs team ice