Oh, Canada

Just finished watching the Canada-USA game for the gold medal in women’s hockey. I have to say, the Canadian women went with a similar formula as the one used by Team Canada to take down Russia in men’s hockey on Wednesday. Keep it simple, grab an early lead, and suffocate. The USA women rarely had any time and space in the middle of the ice, even on the power play and even with a two-man advantage. Congrats to the Canadian women on their well-deserved gold medal performance.

It’s hard to fathom that all five of Washington’s Olympic ice hockey participants are headed home without any hardware whatsoever. Wednesday’s full day of quarterfinal action ended the medal dreams for Russians Alex Ovechkin, Alexander Semin and Semyon Varlamov, Sweden’s Nicklas Backstrom and the Czech Republic’s Tomas Fleischmann.

Russia’s ouster was particularly painful. Ovechkin and company were outskated, outworked and outcoached from the get go. The team’s coaching staff never gave the players a chance, failing to recognize that starting netminder Vladimir Nabokov didn’t have even his “C” game on this night. Instead of yanking him in favor of Ilya Bryzgalov while the Russians were still close enough to mount a comeback, Team Russia head coach Vyacheslav Bykov allowed Nabokov to start the second period after he had surrendered four goals – including a couple of ugly ones – in the first.

While Canada played a smart game, the Russians tried to do too much individually in their bid to climb back in it. They repeatedly opted not to get pucks deep, trying instead to make fancy movies and/or ill-advised/high risk passes in the neutral zone and at the opposing blueline. The Canadians smartly used this Russian stubbornness as fuel for its own transition game, and the hosts were able to pad their already substantial lead as a result.

From what I’ve seen from Bykov in this and a couple other tournaments, he is not a guy who has a good sense of his team, or who has a finger on the pulse of his players or his room.

The Swedes lost a close shave to Slovakia, which reached the semifinals for the first time in its history. Swedish goaltender Henrik Lundqvist had been nearly impenetrable throughout the tournament, but he surrendered four goals in a span of five shots after the teams played scoreless hockey through the first half of the game.

Sweden dug out of a 2-0 hole to even it up at 2-2 but gave up the next two goals and it was only able to get one back. Slovakia’s dark horse bid for a medal is heartening for longtime Caps fans because longtime District dynamo Peter Bondra is the general manager of Team Slovakia. Bondra and his aides spent a lot of time scouting and piecing together a competitive team and it’s great to see that effort get rewarded.

The Czechs were unable to muster any offense, falling victim to a 2-0 Miikka Kiprusoff shutout.

Team USA won a 2-0 squeaker over Switzerland in the day’s most thrilling contest.

The five Washington Olympians should be back at Kettler by the weekend. Varlamov may be on the ice as soon as tomorrow while the other four are likely to lace up for the first time on Sunday or Monday.

Goaltender Michal Neuvirth was on the ice for the start of the Caps’ second practice in preparation for the NHL’s post-Olympic stretch drive. The rookie netminder participated in a few drills before leaving the ice, and Brett Leonhardt finished up in Neuvirth’s stead thereafter. After practice, Caps coach Bruce Boudreau said that Neuvirth would participate fully on Friday when the team takes to the ice again.

Left wing Jason Chimera left Wednesday’s session a shade early after experiencing some discomfort with the lower body ailment that sidelined him for the team’s last few games prior to the Olympic break. Chimera was back on the ice Thursday and he made it through the practice without incident.

Washington’s stretch drive will start in Buffalo on Wednesday when the Capitals close out their season’s series with the Sabres.