.:Gotta Drop a Blog in The Corner:.

it's been awhile since i've watched such an exciting hockey game, seeing as how buffalo has barely missed the playoffs the last couple seasons. it must have been amazing to be at the arena for the start, i was all charged up from seeing the crowd just on the tv. i chose to go with canadian ctv coverage over msnbc (one of the benefits of living close to the border). had some good shots of different groups of people watching from toronto to vancouver. i have to admit, i was undecided on who i should throw my support behind in the beginning. on the one hand i've always been partial to canada in most things especially when it comes to music, government, and social responsibility. i also have this love for a sport i feel is above all others in hockey. however well... i'm still an american, though one who's been influenced quite a bit by our neighbor to the north having spent much of my life in the buffalo-niagara metro area. the US roster has sabres goalie ryan miller as its starter, ex-sabre chris drury who still might be one of my all around favorite sabres, and two buffalo area natives in brooks orpik (currently with the pens), and patrick kane (currently with the blackhawks). it was quite a conundrum for me... who to root for. in the end, the buffalo ties won.

miller was fantastic tonight as the US took about half as many shots as the canadians making 42 out of 45 saves. he'll be the reason the sabres go deep into the cup playoffs this year. playing against the elite teams in the olympics could really boost his confidence going into the last couple months of the nhl season. for sure, canada has a very talented team. they totally dominated the americans for much of the game in all aspects of it. however, the US hung tough and found a way to win. for this reason, though canada now has a longer road to get to the gold medal game, i feel like they're still better equipped than the americans to do it. this could set up an interesting final if the US and canada both make it.

i also got around to thinking about the make up of the US team, and how many people were upset with some of the selections including that of chris drury. jeremy roenick spoke out in public against drury's selection. i've always despised roenick and his big fat useless mouth, especially when he was playing with philly. that guy should just shut his pie hole. tonight drury again had a clutch goal as he usually comes through in times when his teams really need him to. additionally, drury's fearless in blocking shots and is one of the most effective penalty killers out there, both of which were on display tonight. he might not be a power forward who score pretty goals, but he's a great role player, leader, and is responsible at both ends of the ice.

so those were pretty much the things going through my head as the game moved from the first to second period. the game itself was great though, constant back and forth, canada always coming back to tie until the americans took a two goal lead later in the game. canada's goal to pull within one made it a lot more tense, and it seemed like the americans would never get the puck out of their zone in the last couple minutes. kesler's empty net diving goal to put out the canadians allowed me to exhale. the effort he made to tap it in with his stick was brilliant.

so... with that, i'll congratulate the canadian team for playing a hard game... and give them some good vibes to get past germany and russia. hopefully both teams will be able to survive to the gold medal round, and we'll have a very intense and interesting rematch. i'm still uncertain about who i'd root for if that game does indeed happen. i think it would be amazing to see canadians win their first gold on home ice, and just to be happy for all the canadians out there. however seeing as how the canadian team denied the US team their own celebration on home ice in the gold medal game in the slc olympics... i might decide it's time for payback. at the end of the day though, this game was so good for the sport of hockey all around.