The Hockey Story: Might we see a day of upsets?
The Hockey Story sets the scene and the storylines for the day's Olympic ice hockey action, in a handy and easy-to-follow numerical format.
1. Sweden really would not like to see this again
The Swedes meet Belarus today. They've met them before in the Olympics. It wasn't fun.
The 2002 Belarus upset of the Swedes was named the biggest one of the decade on Puck Daddy. Revenge begins at noon PST/3 p.m. EST on MSNBC in the U.S.
2. Careful Czechs take on Latvia
Russia rolled Latvia to the tune of 8-2 in the opener, but Latvia isn't nearly as bad as that score may indicate. The Czechs won an emotional opener over Slovakia, and can't afford a letdown here (4:30 p.m. PST/7:30 p.m. EST; US TV: MSNBC, when they get around to it.) One thing to watch: The third period, where Slovakia completely outplayed the Czechs; let's see if they can tighten things up against a lesser foe.
3. The burly Germans seek upset
Finland looked solid in its opening win over Belarus but were physically overmatched at times. The Germans, meanwhile, played the powerful Swedes very well physically and limited them to two goals in their victory. This will not be an easy one for the Finns (9 p.m. PST/midnight EST, US TV: MSNBC), and it comes just 48 hours before their medal-game rematch with the Swedes on Sunday. A total trap game.
