SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT LAURA BORDEN:   VANCOUVER, British Columbia

Is it possible to even compare Olympic hockey to NHL hockey? I don’t think so. I’ll start with the superficial differences before exploring the question of whether NHL players should be playing in the Olympics. This year, the Olympic committee decided not to change the size of the rink for Olympic play. It remains NHL size, rather than the bigger size, better suited for the more open and quick style of European hockey.

There is no trapezoid behind the goalie, so good stick handlers, such as Martin Brodeur, supposedly gain an advantage. Finally, icings are called automatically with no touch-ups. But those rules don’t even start to compare to biggest difference I have noticed – the fans.

Even before entering the arena, there were mobs of fans draped in their country’s flags. Every fan was representing their homeland. Every fan was fully engaged in the game. There were no groups of people in business suits, trying to impress clients instead of watching the game. No one went for a walk in the middle of a period to take a break. And everybody screamed, rang their cowbells, and sat on the edge of their seats for the whole game. Don’t even think about leaving early to avoid the crowd!

It was amazing to be in the middle of such a super-charged atmosphere. As a supreme lover of hockey, this is the best environment one can hope for. The preliminary games have had the excitement of NHL conference final games. I can’t imagine what the finals will be like. Each player and fan is fighting with all their energy for the honor of their countries.

What would this be like without the NHL players? My opinion is that it would not be as entertaining to the casual fan. There have been a few ugly hits and injuries, but this would happen in any game. Is it worth sacrificing the excitement of the games for the perceived safety of the NHL players? I definitely don’t think so. The fans root for their countries, but I think they also appreciate the games more when they recognize more of the players. The NHL is the center stage for professional hockey. Current rivalries have translated to the Olympic stage. The promotions for today’s Canada/Russia game all show Crosby against Ovechkin. In the United States, we are familiar with this same matchup watching Pittsburgh versus Washington.

I interviewed some of the Philadelphia Flyers going to the Olympics before they traveled to Vancouver. They were all excited about the trip and couldn’t imagine a better honor than playing for their country. When I asked Kimmo Timonen about the differences between playing for Finland and the Flyers, he said about his Olympic team, “They speak in Finnish.” Ok, I probably could have figured that out. But he was proud of his team and keeps his medals at his Mom’s house. Chris Pronger keeps his medals in a bank vault, but being a previous winner doesn’t make this trip any less special, as he plays for the host country.

There has been a lot of debate about allowing NHL-ers to play in the Olympics. But remember, hockey is not the only sport that allows its professional athletes to compete for country in the Olympics. In fact, hockey was one of the last sports to allow professionals to compete. Professional hockey players have been able to participate in the Olympics since 1988, but they did not stop the NHL schedule for the Olympics until 1998 in Nagano, Japan (insert Soviet Union definition of “professional” and “amateur” here). By allowing these players, I feel that the fans are getting the highest quality of play.

The competitors have been staying in the Olympic Village and are living the true Olympic experience. This may cause a disruption in NHL play, but every team gets a well needed mid-season break. The level of play has been incredible and I can’t imagine it being as exciting if I didn’t know the familiar names of the players I see every night at the NHL games.

I am delighted to be the newest blogger to join Pucking Awesome, and I will be blogging every Friday with my “5 for Friday” column, where in addition to my musings about the sport, as well as a somewhat uncool play on the phrase “5 for Fighting”, I will have a “Top 5 of” whatever I choose to discuss each week.  The upcoming week signifies the beginning of the Winter Olympic Men’s Ice Hockey tournament, which promises to be ultra exciting.  Everybody is picking a Canada-Russia Gold Medal game, but will there be a surprise challenger in the midst of it all?  I’ll briefly break down the competing teams below, and then at the end of the column, give you the Top 5 Storylines of the Winter Olympic Ice Hockey tournament to watch out for.

GROUP A (OR GROUP EH?)

CANADA

Key Players: Sidney Crosby (Pittsburgh Penguins), Roberto Luongo (Vancouver Canucks), Dan Boyle (San Jose Sharks)

Outlook: Is there ever been more pressure on a Canadian team to win the Gold Medal than the current incarnation?  Home country, the best Canadian NHL players on the roster, and a stiff challenger ahead in the Russians; it’s almost mind boggling.  I could’ve listed every Canadian on the roster as a key player, but I settled for those three.  Roberto Luongo will be under the most pressure out of all the players, being the Captain of the Canucks, and being required to backstop his country to Gold Medal glory, which means that the Vancouver and the CANADIAN media will be all over him like white on rice.  I don’t envy being Mr. Luongo for the next couple of weeks, that’s for sure.  Not that Canada are too worried…should he slip up, Martin Brodeur is there to back him up, who’s pretty darn good, so I’ve heard. I like the balance in the Canadian team.  There are two solid scoring lines, and two good checking lines, with guys like Mike Richards and Brendan Morrow in the squad.  It shows you how deep the Canadian’s are that they can leave guys like Jeff Carter of the Flyers off the roster.

Prediction: Silver Medalists

UNITED STATES

Key Players: Zach Parise (New Jersey Devils), Patrick Kane (Chicago Blackhawks), Phil Kessel (Toronto Maple Leafs), Ryan Miller (Buffalo Sabres)

Outlook: This is a scrappy American team who are looking for another, pardon the cliche, Miracle on Ice.  Only instead of Herb Brooks, we (I am American) have Ron Wilson and Brian Burke running the show.  The two men are also the brain trust of the floundering Toronto Maple Leafs, so it’s no surprise that Phil Kessel made the roster, as did Mike “Cement Skates” Komisarek before he went down to injury.  There are some holes on the team though, that will prevent the US from winning gold.  Outside of Kessel, Parise, and Kane, who will provide the secondary scoring for the Americans?  David Backes of the St. Louis Blues had 31 goals last season, but currently only has 13 in 57 games.  Ryan Callahan isn’t really a bonafide goal scorer, but can put in a solid shift, while his NY Ranger teammate Chris Drury has done little more than fade into a shadow of the player he once was.  And is Brooks Orpik really Olympic material?  The only way I can see the USA putting up a fight is with goaltending.  Tim Thomas is backing up Tukka Rask in Boston these days, so the onus is on Ryan Miller to stand on his head each night and single handedly win the US some games.  NHL Wins leader Jonathan Quick of the Kings is waiting in the wings.

Prediction: The USA put up a valiant fight, but do not medal.  I see a quarterfinal exit looming

SWITZERLAND

Key Players: Jonas Hiller (Anaheim Ducks), Mark Streit (NY Islanders)

Outlook: Switzerland enter the tournament with very few NHL players, but do not overlook them.  Jonas Hiller is a quality goalie, good enough to run former Stanley Cup winner Jean-Sebastien Giguere out of Anaheim.  Should Hiller get hurt, former Ottawa Senator Martin Gerber will back him up…YIKES!!!  Mark Streit is a solid defenseman with the NY Islanders, and isn’t intimidated by the challenges ahead.  On the scoring side, former Calgary Flame/Atlanta Thrasher Hnat Domenichelli is a point scoring star in the Swiss league, and he’ll be backed up by Andreas Ambuhl of the Hartford Wolf Pack.  Yes, their second leading scorer plays in the AHL.  My lip is quivering!

Prediction: They probably will win only one game, but don’t be shocked if Hiller steals a win off of the US for the Swiss.

NORWAY

Key Players: Patrick Thoresen (Salavat Yulaev – KHL), Ole-Kristian Tollefsen (Detroit Red Wings)

Outlook: Admittedly, I know nothing of the Norwegian team.  Tollefsen is a penalty minute magnet, while Thoresen was last seen in the NHL nearly getting his balls blown off by a Mike Green slapshot.  Nowadays, he’s averaging nearly a point-per-game in the KHL, so he should be the main scoring threat.  In goal, Ruben Smith seems to be the only goalie on the Norwegian roster to post a save percentage about .870 whenever he suits up for the Norwegian team!

Prediction: Ruffle some feathers, but exit early.

GROUP B:

RUSSIA

Key Players: Alexander Ovechkin (Washington Capitals), Pavel Datsyuk (Detroit Red Wings), Evgeni Malkin & Sergei Gonchar (Pittsburgh Penguins), Evgeni Nabokov (San Jose Sharks)

Outlook: Russia, just like Canada, posses a SCARY line up!  They contain the most dymanic player in the world (Ovechkin), as well as fantastic secondary scoring (Malkin, Datsyuk, Ilya Kovalchuk, Alexander Semin).  The roster is littered with lots of KHL players as well; those Penguin fans out there will remember Alexsey Morozov, who had one solid year with the Pens, returned to Russia after the NHL lockout, and is now averaging nearly 1.5 points-per-game in the KHL the last three seasons.  Gonchar and Andrei Markov of the Canadiens will make a solid first line defense paring, and I am really scared for any team that gives Russia a power play opportunity.  They’ve got solid goaltending, with Nabokov and Ilya Bryzgalov backing him up, who’s been lights out this season in Phoenix.  What’s stopping this team from winning the Gold Medal?  Perhaps the lack of depth, but we shall see.  Viktor Kozlov has one good game, and then takes 3 or 4 off (us Capital fans can attest to that), and Sergei Federov can put in a solid two-way shift and offer defensive help as well, even though he’s older than dirt!  Any Nashville Predator fans watching can get another chance to “cheer” on their favorite whipping boy, Alexander Radulov.

Prediction: I really wanted to pick Canada for the gold, but this is an Olympic tournament, not the NHL, so Chris Pronger will not be allowed to freely throw his elbows around.  Russia win the Gold Medal

CZECH REPUBLIC

Key Players: Patrik Elias (New Jersey Devils), Martin Havlat (Minnesota Wild), Jaromir Jagr (Avangard Omsk – KHL), Tomas Kaberle (Toronto Maple Leafs), Tomas Vokoun (Florida Panthers)

Outlook: The Czechs have plenty of NHL experience on their roster, including players on the team who used to play in the league (Jagr, Josef Vasicek, Petr Cajanek), and solid scoring with the forwards and some of the D-men.  Jagr returns to North America to showcase his limitless talents, especially when the Czech’s go on the power play, but the goaltending for me is a concern.  You’re not really going to win the Gold Medal with both your goalies coming from the NHL’s Southeast Division (Vokoun & Ondrej Pavelec), but don’t underestimate the Czechs.  They have the ability to beat any team on their day.

Prediction: I initially wanted to say Bronze medalists, but I’m not sold.  4th place at best, although Slovakia or Sweden will have something to say about that.

SLOVAKIA

Key Players: Marian Gaborik (New York Rangers), Zdeno Chara (Boston Bruins), Marian Hossa (Chicago Blackhawks), Jaroslav Halak (Montreal Canadiens)

Outlook: Man, are the Slovaks a solid bunch of players or what.  They can score bunches when Gaborik and Marian Hossa are on the ice, and they’ve got Chara and Lubo Visnovsky marshaling the blue line, while Halak has been a revelation in goal for the Canadiens this season thus far, so much that there have been rumors of Montreal supposedly looking to jettison Carey Price out of town.  There are loads of NHL experience on the roster, but from either average players (Marcel Hossa, Jozef Stumpel, Lubos Bartecko anyone?) or guys who used to be good goal scorers once upon a pre-lockout-time (Ziggy Palffy, I’m looking straight at you).  And seriously…Milan Jurcina???  Don’t even get me started

Prediction: They lose the Bronze Medal game to Sweden.

LATVIA

Key Players: Karlis Skrastins (Dallas Stars), Oskars Bartulis (Philadelphia Flyers)

Outlook: Again, similar to Norway, I know very very little of the Latvians.  Their so-called best forward plays for the Binghampton Senators (Kaspars Daugavins), and they have a defenseman (Arvids Rekis) plays for a team called GRIZZLY ADAMS WOLFSBURG!!  Yes, a German team that’s named after THAT Grizzly Adams.  I hope that gets brought up at some point during the coverage.

Prediction: Latvia make up the numbers, but come on, how can they beat anyone in this tournament?  They battle with the Germans for last place.

GROUP C:

SWEDEN

Key Players: The Sedin Twins (Vancouver Canucks), Henrik Zetterberg & Nicklas Lidstrom (Detroit Red Wings), Nicklas Backstrom (Washington Capitals), Henrik Lundqvist (New York Rangers), Douglas Murray (San Jose Sharks)

Outlook:  The Swedes are solid from top to bottom, and realistically, they are the only nation that I can foresee preventing a Canada-Russia Gold Medal game.  Of course, part of that depends on Henrik Lundqvist.  When he’s on his game, the Rangers goalie can be arguably the best in the world.  Last season in the playoffs, he frustrated the free scoring Alexander Ovechkin enough to get inside of Ovechkin’s head, which I’ve never seen a goalie do before.  And speaking of shutting down Ovechkin, that responsibility will fall to Douglas Murray, should Sweden encounter Russia.  Ovechkin likes to hit, but doesn’t like to BE hit, and Murray seems to be the only player in the league that loves to hit Ovechkin all the time.  That should be a battle.  On the scoring side, The Sedins…everyone knows about them already, but the wild card here is Nick Backstrom.  The Capitals head coach Bruce Boudreau got inside Backstrom’s head earlier this season and told him to SHOOT more, and the results have been devastating.  Backstrom already has a new career high in goals (26 at time of writing), and it’s not even the 2nd week of February.  He’s one of the top 5 passers in the NHL, and now you can almost add 30 goal scorer to that list.  He’s an excellent complimentary player to the roster.  And then there’s the ancient Peter Forsberg, who’s always dangerous with the puck.  But how well will he play in these Olympics?

Prediction: They win Bronze

FINLAND

Key Players: Teemu Selanne (Anaheim Ducks), Mikko Koivu (Minnesota Wild), Valtteri Filppula (Detroit Red Wings), Olli Jokinen (New York Rangers), Kimmo Timonen (Philadelphia Flyers), Miikka Kiprusoff (Calgary Flames)

Outlook: The Finns can be dangerous, but I’m worried about their depth in defense, which I fear could lead to them leaking goals.  Not a ton of goal scoring, although look for Koivu to lead the Finnish attack.  Olli Jokinen has been an enigma everywhere he’s played, and I don’t really trust him to consistently produce, but he could prove me wrong, although I don’t really count on it.  Kimmo Timonen is a terrific shutdown defenseman in front of the key man for the Fins, Miikka Kiprusoff.  The outstanding Flames goaltender is good, but players a lot better when you play solid D in front of him.  And I’m sorry, but guys like Lasse Kukkonen and Sami Lepisto don’t really scare me!

Prediction: If this was 2006, I’d say they challenge for Bronze.  But this isn’t, so I say maybe 5th place.

BELARUS

Key Players: Sergei and Andrei Kostitsyn (Montreal Canadiens), Ruslan Salei (Colorado Avalanche), Mikhail Grabovski (Toronto Maple Leafs)

Outlook: The surprise 2002 4th place finishers didn’t qualify for the 2006 games, but return to the Vancouver games looking to similarly shock the world yet again.  Will it happen?  Not likely, but they will not be a push over, that’s for sure.  Grabovski spearheads the attack on the back of a nice 20 goal season last year for the Leafs, although this year he is struggling with just 7 tallies to his name.  The Kostitsyn’s can be solid players when they’re not hanging around Montreal with European gangsters!

Prediction: Maybe they will beat Germany in the prelim’s, but that’s about it.

GERMANY

Key Players: Marco Sturm (Boston Bruins), Christian Ehrhoff (Vancouver Canucks), Dennis Seidenberg (Florida Panthers)

Outlook: Former NHLer Uwe Krupp will be head coach of Die Mannschaft in the Vancouver Games, with a limited amount of talent on the roster.  Marco Sturm, he who scored the winning goal in the 2010 NHL Winter Classic, will be required to lead the way in the goal scoring department.  And let’s be honest here, he’s not a GREAT goal scorer; he’ll get you about 20-25 a season, but not an ideal first line forward.  They will struggle on all 3 phases of the game.

Prediction: Maybe one tie at best for the Germans.

And now without further ado, the TOP 5 STORYLINES OF THE WINTER OLYMPIC ICE HOCKEY TOURNAMENT:

1.  How well will the Canadian team handle the pressure from the media and Canadian citizens?  No team at the Vancouver games will be under a bigger microscope than Canada.  And no athlete’s every move will be more scrutinized than Roberto Luongo, regardless of how hard the American media big up’s Lindsey Vonn.

2.  How infuriated will American hockey fans be at NBC’s coverage of the games?  Put it this way: NBC already bumped off the February 21 match between Canada and the USA off of regular NBC and put it on MSNBC to show figure skating.  Really?  It’s bad enough that they only market 4-5 NHL teams on their weekly games as it is.  Every game during the 2009-2010 NHL season on NBC has featured the Red Wings or Penguins.  I’m just saying…

3.  Forsberg and Jagr:  The former magicians of the NHL world return to the North American hockey spotlight after playing the last few seasons overseas in Sweden and Russia respectively.  They are older, but do they still have the talent to inspire their nations to glory.  Or an even better question, do they NEED to inspire their nations, or can they just sit back and contribute.

4.  Does Russia have the depth?  They first two lines are solid as can be, and their top defensive pairing of Gonchar and Markov, should they play together, will be unbeatable.  But what about the rest of the team?  Do they have the goaltending to win the Gold?  Can the KHL players hold their own against the world’s elite?  I predicted Gold for Russia, but will Canada (or even Sweden?) prove me wrong?

5.  Television ratings in the US.  If enough people watch the games here (you know Canada will already get the audience), will the prompt a rethink from NHL commissioner Gary Bettman to allow NHL players to participate in the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia?  Prominent Russian players like Evgeni Malkin and Alexander Ovechkin have already said that they’re risk long term NHL suspension to play for their country on home soil in 2014.  Do high TV ratings in the US for hockey help to better Ovechkin and Malkin’s case?  If you think the Canadian antipathy towards the Russians in these games will be bad, could you imagine 4 years from now when the script is flipped?

In the meantime, enjoy the Winter Olympics, and I’ll be back next Friday with another edition of 5 for Friday.

~Phil

December will make or break which way teams are headed in the parity filled NHL, so let’s look at three specific teams in this week’s Hat Trick.

Buffalo Sabres  

The surprising leaders of the Northeast Division have been riding one of the hottest goalies this season.  In December they have 15 games, and the good news is only two of them are on back-to-back nights.  They recently finished up a five-game home stand with a 3-2 record and had impressive back-to-back wins against the Blackhawks and Rangers. 

Coming down the stretch of this month are two contest at home against the Penguins, one on the road with the Capitals and four games against division rivals Ottawa and Toronto.  With Olympic selections for USA coming up, it will be interesting to see how Ryan Miller does with the heavy workload this month and how this team that depends on often-injured stars hold up with the treacherous schedule.

St. Louis Blues  

A team that got hot at the end of last season to make the playoffs have once again started slowly.  This month full of 15 games, including two tough back-to-back nights (home Flames, road Blackhawks and road Canucks, road Oilers) will make or break the season for the up and coming Blues. 

Good news for them is that eight of the games will be played away from the Scottrade Center, since they have a 8-2-3 road record this season.  Being one of the younger teams in the league (27.4 average age), they should be able to handle the long December stretch. If they falter, however, they do have two veterans on their last year of contracts (Kariya and Tkachuk) that could get some interest.

Philadelphia Flyers  

This one, an obvious pick for the preseason Stanley Cup favorite, is a Hurricane winning streak away from being the worst team in the East and their own winning streak away from being back in the playoff picture.  They also have 15 games in December, the problem is they have already started 1-5 in the month. 

The schedule does not look favorable either with a home and home series with the Penguins, and two games against division rival Rangers, but they do get a week of the Southeast Division (Panthers, Lightning and Hurricanes Oh MY!)  They have already fired their coach and lost their starting goalie to injury for the entire month, but should be getting reinforcements soon with the returns of Simon Gagne, Darrol Powe, and Blair Betts from injuries.  Needless to say if they continue the month they way they started you could see a major shakeup of players in Philadelphia.

We have already seen big names missing time, and it seems every day we check the headlines as another NHL player is out for an extended period of time. 

In this, an Olympic year, you start to wonder if people are starting to just coast to make it to their respective countries’ rosters and wait until after the Olympic break to really start playing. 

Now on to the Pucking Awesome Hat Trick or the top three stories I am watching this week.

Will The Real Steve Mason Show Up?

Talk about your sophomore slumps, as last year’s Calder Trophy winner Steve Mason has fallen off the map.  The 21-year-old Blue Jackets net minder is now ranked 44th in save percentage (.890) and 45th in goals against (3.46). 

The NHL goalie is a crazy character; very few stay relevant for an extended period; that is a reason to marvel at Martin Brodeur and Roberto Luongo right now. 

Mason’s coach, Ken Hitchcock, had the best quote about the second-year player this week, “Just because a guy’s a second-year player, it doesn’t mean he’s a better player yet.”

The Blue Jackets are still in the thick of things and a good team but will not make an impact without the services of their franchise goalie. 

We all have to remember that this kid is only 21 years young and made the rare move right from juniors to the NHL before we put him in the Jim Carey category.

With four games this week, I will be watching to see which Steve Mason will show up.

Kovalchuk Conundrum:  

The Thrashers keep winning, and Ilya Kovalchuk keeps scoring.  The trade deadline is far away right now, and first comes his Olympic run for the Russian squad, but I have to keep my eye on this situation. 

Similar to the Marian Hossa problem of not signing a contract extension, the Thrashers were forced to trade their franchise player in February 2008.  The Penguins were the benefactor of that move and went on to the Stanley Cup Finals. 

The problem this year is the Thrashers are a winning team and it’s evident they depend heavily on Kovalchuk’s offensive prowess. 

Atlanta this season is 10-4-3 with the winger in the lineup; his stats are a staggering 14 goals and 24 points in those 17 games.

I will be keeping my eye on this situation all of December, as in those 15 games ahead could be a deciding factor on not only the Thrashers’ playoff hopes but the Stanley Cup run of another team.   

Games Of The Week:  

With two big returns this week, I had to highlight both of them in the Games of the Week. The first day of December matches up Dany Heatley against the Senators. 

Although the game is in San Jose so he won’t feel the same wrath of Ottawa, it will be interesting to see how the team he refused to play for will treat the talented scoring winger. 

The move has seemed to work for both teams so far, as Heatley (18 goals) has teamed up with Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau for a dominant line. 

Milan Michalek, the main piece coming back to the Senators, leads the team with 13 goals, while Jonathan Cheechoo has chipped in filling the checking line. 

The other return is Marian Hossa back to Pittsburgh on Saturday.  You don’t think the Penguins organization will have Hossa walk down a hallway of them hoisting the cup, maybe even a picture of him sitting watching it.

Before Hossa became the $62.8 million man, he jumped the Crosby ship and spurned the Penguins for a “greater” chance to win a cup with the team that beat them in the 2008 Stanley Cup Finals.

You heard the reaction he got throughout last year’s finals; expect the same on Saturday.