USA vs Canada.. Yea, I'm Talking About Hockey

I am getting geared up for the gold medal showdown between the US and Canadian hockey teams. If you are anything like me, you cringe every time the NHL is talked about at any length on Sportscenter. I have never played hockey, I don't understand all the rules, and I could care less about the NHL, but that never stops me from getting sucked into Olympic Hockey every four years. If you have followed the Olympic hockey tournament, you have been rewarded with great drama and an extremely intense competition.

I can't help but draw the comparison between Canada's passion for hockey, and the Bluegrass State's affinity for college basketball. Most of the countries sports fans only watch college basketball for a couple weeks a year in March, where we Kentuckians live and breath the Cats year round. Hockey is arguably even lower in American sports hierarchy than college basketball, but for these past two weeks they have been on center stage, similar to the NCAA tournament, and they haven't disappointed.

I have seen the complaints about the officiating of yesterday's game, but I think we are missing something. For most of the game, the Vols were the aggressor. Officiating and fortune almost always goes in favor of the more aggressive team, and the Cats weren't able to match that intensity for the first 30 minutes of the game. You are going to see that same storyline for today's border battle with the Canucks. When the Canadians were stunned by the American squad earlier this tournament, it resulted in a more focused and intense squad their next three games. That same 'back against the wall' mentality is something the Vols had going for them yesterday, and the Cats late surge wasn't enough to pull out the win. We can only hope that the Cats use this loss as a lesson, and come back as strong as the Canadians have in this Olympic Hockey Tournament.

With all that praise for Canada's love for their hockey, I hope we make them choke on it. GO USA!!