No. 1 Star: Henrik Lundqvist(notes), Sweden

Faced with a pesky German team in their first game of the tournament, Lundqvist stood his ground in net stopping 21 shots, including 11 in the third period as Sweden blanked Germany 2-0. During a 5-on-3 penalty kill early in the second period, Lundqvist received help from a goaltenders best friend, the goal post, after Christian Ehrhoff's(notes) blast hit the iron, which would have opened the scoring. Minutes later, with Sweden on the power play, Matthias Ohlund scored from the point after German goaltender Thomas Greiss(notes) was screened in front by Daniel Sedin(notes). Sweden next plays on Friday against Belarus.

No. 2 Star: Jaromir Jagr(notes), Czech Republic

There was much anticipation to see Jagr's return to North American ice and he didn't disappoint. The 38-year old forward scored what would end up being the game-winning goal for the Czech Republic in their 3-1 victory over Slovakia. Moments after Marian Hossa's(notes) shot rang off

Here are your Puck Headlines: A glorious collection of news and views collected from the greatest blogosphere in sports and the few, the proud, the mainstream hockey media.

(Ed. note: We'll be live-blogging all three men's games today beginning at 2:45 p.m. ET. Join us, won't ye?.)

• Even at the Olympics, Sidney Crosby(notes) can't get away from the marriage proposals. Points docked for the lack of a wedding dress, like this one. [AP]

• Wysh lays down the storylines for Day 2 of men's hockey action. [Fourth Place Medal]

• Interesting piece from Jeff Z. Klein about the big difference between Canadian and American hockey players. It seems that Canadians are mostly left-handed shots and majority of Americans shoot right-handed. [NY Times]

• What we learned from Canada's 8-0 rout of Norway last night. [National Post]

• Pierre LeBrun talks about Canada's challenge in finding chemistry with no room for error. [ESPN]

• If you haven't seen the Down Goes Brown/Bloge Salming Team Canada

Julien Sprunger is a 24-year old forward for Switzerland who plays for HC Fribourg-Gotteron in the Swiss League (National League A). A fourth-round pick by the Minnesota Wild in 2004, Sprunger almost saw his career come to an end as a result of a hit from David Backes(notes) of Team USA in last spring's World Championships. Sprunger underwent neck surgery over the summer and worked with a psychologist to be sure he wasn't hesitant on the ice going forward. Here's the video of the hit:

Sprunger told ESPN.com's Pierre LeBrun that he never heard from Backes after he hit. One motivation for Sprunger's return to hockey was his knowledge that Switzerland's first game in the Olympics would be the United States.

Fast-forward to Tuesday afternoon after Team USA's 3-1 win over the Swiss and Sprunger told LeBrun that during the game Backes threatened to "do it to you again if you want," reminding him of the hit from the World Championships. Backes denied the allegation and said he told

Anyone watch ESPN2's First Take ever this morning? No? Neither did I, but apparently they were discussing looking good when you're middle-aged, and host Jay Crawford asked Barry Melrose, in-studio but off-camera, how he dealt with crow's-feet around his eyes, and the ESPN hockey analyst revealed his secret facial product.

Via You Been Blinded: (NSFW language)

There's not a second watching Melrose's response that makes me think he was joking one bit. Plus, Melrose is wacky as it is, and I wouldn't put it past him that "chicken [Gretzky]" is his form of facial cream. His added instruction of using it for 30 minutes while watching hockey makes me wonder if Steve Levy and Matthew Barnaby(notes) have taken any of Melrose's advice during ESPN's Thursday Night Hockey coverage.

Co-host Dana Jacobson later apologized during the show for Melrose's inappropriate word saying that he did not realize he was on-air and that ESPN is sorry for "offending anyone we offended."

Stick-tap to Sports by

(Editor's note: Please join us at 2:45 EST as we hold a live chat during the USA-Switzerland game, and then again at 7:15 EST for the Canada-Norway game. A regular live blog will take place during all non-USA/Canada games throughout the tournament.)

It's finally here. After all the buildup since the 2006 Games in Torino, Olympic hockey is back, and over the next two weeks, we'll be privileged to take a break from the NHL season and watch the best-on-best competition.

Like everyone else around the world, the Puck Daddy staff made predictions for the tournament, and as you'll see, our Russian and Canadian contributors are quite the homers. After the jump, our gold, silver, bronze, and fourth-place predictions.

Greg Wyshynski, Editor, Y! Sports Puck Daddy blog

Gold: Sweden

Silver: Canada

Bronze: Russia

4th: Finland

I had to make a prediction on The Score, and I said "Sweden." I'm not sure why. But the more I thought about it, the more I liked the Sedins on home ice but without the

If there's one thing that drives the interest of casual sports fans during the Olympics, it's the personalities showcased every two years in the Summer and Winter Games. Athletes like sprinters Donovan Bailey and Usain Bolt, snowboarder Shaun White, and figure skater Johnny Weir are just some of the competitors who draw eyeballs to televisions and get heavily promoted to bring in large ratings.

The International Olympic Committee's latest attempt to keep originality and personality out of the Olympics has it ordering American goaltenders Ryan Miller(notes), Jonathan Quick(notes), and Tim Thomas(notes) to remove phrases from their masks as it violates IOC rule No. 51, which bans any sort of advertising, demonstration, and/or propaganda on an athlete's equipment. Miller had "Miller Time" on the back of his mask, which the IOC would make you believe is some sort of beer advertisement and not any kind of nickname for the Buffalo Sabres netminder. Quick had the audacity to put "Support Our

Heading into Vancouver, one the dark horses in the men's Olympic hockey tournament was Slovakia. With its offense led by Marian Gaborik(notes) and Marian Hossa(notes), and with Jaroslav Halak(notes) tending the net, the Slovaks were a team that was ready to make some noise in Group B.

What could derail the team are the injury issues that surround its top two players, as Slovakia prepares for their opening round game against the Czech Republic on Wednesday night.

According to NHL.com, the Slovakian team doctor said that Gaborik is still weak in his right leg and that flexing his knee is difficult. Gaborik collided with Henrik Lundqvist(notes) during practice a week ago, and the New York Rangers forward took a skate to the thigh.

One deep gash later, and Dr. Dalimir Jancovic tells John Dellapina that he believes Gaborik should not train for at least three days, which would mean he'd miss the Czech Republic game as well as Thursday evening's game against Russia. Gaborik would then be

One benefit of the NHL and its teams being so technologically advanced has been the addition of comedic videos produced involving players and sometimes, mascots. Whether it's Ian Laperriere's hilarious PSA outtakes or Los Angeles Kings mascot Bailey working towards a Carl's Jr. commercial of his own or even some Atlanta Thrashers keeping busy during Olympic break with their own version of "The Office", teams have been able to showcase the personalities of some of their players and fans have enjoyed them immensely.

The Chicago Blackhawks have been one of those teams leading the charge and have parlayed their successful videos into a deal with WGN to air, "Blackhawks TV", a 30-minute show highlighting the players off-the-ice as well as comedy segments. The second episode aired Sunday night after Chicago beat Columbus in a shootout. With the Olympics underway, the Blackhawks thought it'd be fun to hold their own "Mini Olympics" between some of their American and Canadian players. First up