2010 Winter Olympics Day 12 Men's Ice Hockey Live Blog

It's the playoff qualification round and you know what that means. In 11 hours, 4 teams will be able to declare they cannot win a gold medal in men's ice hockey. As long as you are not trolling, come join us for the festivities!

#8 Switzerland vs. #9 Belarus 3:00 (USA - Mike Emrick and Eddie Olczyk, ItG: Pierre McGuire) (Winner plays United States)
#6 Canada vs. #11 Germany 7:30 (CNBC - Mike Emrick and Eddie Olczyk) (Winner plays Russia)
#5 Czech Republic vs. #12 Latvia 10:00 (CNBC - CTV Feed: Peter Loumbardias and Ray Ferraro) (Winner plays Finland)
#7 Slovakia vs. #10 Norway 12:00 (CNBC - Kenny Albert and Joe Micheletti) (Winner plays Sweden)

Men's Ice Hockey Qualification Playoffs Schedule

I have updated this information in the "2010 Olympic Men's Ice Hockey Schedule", but I figured I would post it here as well so everybody could see it right away without refreshing a schedule page that I have not updated since the tournament began.

Anyways, here is your exact ice hockey schedule for Tuesday, February 23, 2010.

#8 Switzerland vs. #9 Belarus 3:00 (USA) (Winner plays United States)
#6 Canada vs. #11 Germany 7:30 (CNBC) (Winner plays Russia)
#5 Czech Republic vs. #12 Latvia 10:00 (CNBC) (Winner plays Finland)
#7 Slovakia vs. #10 Norway 12:00 (CNBC) (Winner plays Sweden)

While it is hard to say that any of these games will come close to being as good or as exciting as USA vs. Canada was last night, it could still provide for some interesting games when you consider that all games from here on out are win or go home.

Announcers for each game have not been formally revealed yet, but if I had to take a guess, I would guess Doc and Edzo will be doing the 3 games at Canada Hockey Place and Kenny and Joe will be in UBC Thunderbird Arena for Czech Republic-Latvia.

2010 Winter Olympics Day 9 Men's Ice Hockey Open Thread

Group A: Norway vs. Switzerland 3:00 (MSNBC - Mike Emrick and Eddie Olczyk, SR: Pierre McGuire)
Group B: Latvia vs. Slovakia 7:30 (MSNBC - Kenny Albert and Joe Micheletti)
Group C: Germany vs. Belarus 12:00 AM (MSNBC - Kenny Albert and Joe Micheletti)

Here are the standings thus far from 1-12 (points are next to the team; goal differential where needed is the number in parentheses).

Finland - 6 (+9)
United States - 6 (+7)
Czech Republic - 6 (+5)
Sweden - 6 (+4)
Canada - 5
Russia - 4
Slovakia - 2
Switzerland - 1
Belarus - 0 (-6)
Germany - 0 (-7)
Latvia - 0 (-9)
Norway - 0 (-13)

Thus if there were not to be a 3rd round of games, the schedule for the elimination would look like this:

Finland, United States, Czech Republic, and Sweden all get byes to the quarterfinals.

In the secondary round quarterfinal qualification games to be held on Tuesday February 23, Canada would play Norway, Russia would play Latvia, Slovakia would play Germany, and Switzerland would battle Belarus.

But as we all know there is a 3rd round with today being the real seedings placer for the lesser teams and tomorrow being the big rivalry day that could give us a few shake-ups in the standings. It should be a fun couple days of hockey especially seeing as once again, Latvia is going to be featured in primetime against Slovakia.

2010 Winter Olympics Day 7 Men's Ice Hockey Open Thread

Group A: United States vs. Norway 3:00 (USA - Mike Emrick and Eddie Olczyk, ItG: Pierre McGuire)
Group A: Switzerland vs. Canada 7:30 (CNBC - Mike Emrick and Eddie Olczyk)
Group B: Slovakia vs. Russia 12:00 AM (CNBC - Kenny Albert and Joe Micheletti)

USA, Canada, and Russia are all in action again today and once again, the most compelling game is in late night. But the big question of the night has to be: will NBC improve their hockey coverage or will the incompetent and irrational morons at NBC once again prevent us from seeing a 1st period of hockey at 7:30 PM ET?

2010 Winter Olympics Day 5 Men's Ice Hockey Open Thread

Group A: United States vs. Switzerland 3:00 (USA - Mike Emrick and Eddie Olczyk, ItG: Pierre McGuire)
Group A: Canada vs. Norway 7:30 (CNBC - Mike Emrick and Eddie Olczyk, SR: Joe Micheletti)
Group B: Russia vs. Latvia 12:00 AM (CNBC - Kenny Albert and Joe Micheletti)

Let the World Cup of Hockey begin!

10:08 PM: We are 112 minutes away from the epic showdown. To get you all ready for Team Latvia to begin their quest for the gold here is some Latvian music to get you fired up.

First, the Latvian national anthem!



And now, Latvia's entry in the 2008 Eurovision Final, Pirates of the Sea!



Latvija par zelta medaļu. Lai dzīvo demi-Dievs Oskars Bārtulis!