2014 Sochi Olympic Female Hockey Player of the Day

For those of you who do not follow us on Twitter @3rdStringGoalie, during the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, we posted a Female Hockey Player of the Day during the Games, featuring players from each of the eight teams in the women's tournament.

For those of you who missed out, or even for those of you who do follow us on Twitter, we have collected each of the athletes we featured during the Olympics here in one post for your convenience.

1 Anna Prugova Russia

2 Meeri Raisanen Finland

3 Gigi Marvin USA

4 Katrin Nabholz Switzerland

5 Yurie Adachi Japan

6 Jenni Asserholt Sweden

7 Meaghan Mikkelson Canada

8 Amanda Kessel USA

9 Angelina Goncharenko Russia

10 Shannon Szabados Canada

11 Kerstin Spielberger Germany

12 Florence Schelling Switzerland

13 Annina Rajahuhta Finland

14 Tanja Eisenschmid Germany

15 Hilary Knight USA

16 Hayley Wickenheiser Canada

Canada Wins Olympic Gold

Canada won their second consecutive gold medal at the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, Russia with a dominating 3-0 defeat of Sweden, their second consecutive shutout.

Canada celebrates it's 2014 Olympic gold

Jonathan Toews opened the scoring with his first goal of the Olympics when he redirected a centering pass from Jeff Carter past Swedish goaltender Henrik Lundqvist at 12:55 to give Canada yet another lead, as they did not trail in any game of the tournament. Not once. The shots on goal after one period were 12-11 in favor of Canada, while both teams hit the post in other close calls which could have changed the complexion of the game.

Jonathan Toews looks to celebrate with Jeff Carter

While Sweden had the run of play early in the second period, a turnover near the blueline led to a Sidney Crosby breakaway. Crosby once again was the man in the right place at the right time with the right talent and nerves of steel and made it 2-0 Canada as he left Lundqvist sprawling at 16:43. It was also Crosby's first goal of the Olympics and, going into the game, you just knew that he and Toews were not going the entire tournament without each one of them a scoring a goal at some point. Apparently they understand the concept of saving their best for last… The shots after the second period stood at 23-20 in favor of the Canadians.

Crosby rises to the occasion once again

While one hoped for a Swedish goal (or two) to make for a competitive and memorable finish, it was not to be as the Canadians extended their lead to 3-0 at the 9:04 mark when Chris Kunitz swooped in, stole the puck from Daniel Sedin at the blueline, skated into the zone and ripped a shot past Lundqvist using a Swedish defender as a screen to ice the game despite half a period remaining.

Chris Kunitz extends Canada's lead to 3-0

Canada held Sweden to a mere four shots in the third period at a time when the Swede's needed to throw pucks at the net and crash the crease in an effort to get on the board and put a dent in the Canadian's ever increasing confidence. In the end, Canada outshot Sweden 13-4 in the third and 36-24 for the game, with goaltender Carey Price assuring himself a permanent place in Canadian hockey history with his dominating gold medal performance. In five games, Price allowed 3 goals on 106 shots for an unbelievable .972 save percentage.

Only Norway, Finland and Latvia managed to score on Canada during the tournament, with each managing a single goal. The last goal given up by Price came at 15:41 of the first period of their game against Latvia four days and 164:19 minutes of play ago to earn him Best Goalkeeper honors.

Carey Price takes center stage after two consecutive shutouts

Today's featured jersey is a 2014 Canada National Team Carey Price jersey as worn on February 13th vs. Norway. Nike introduced all new jerseys for Canada for the 2014 Olympics, and while the red and white jerseys were criticized for resembling the logo of the Petro Canada gas stations, were certain that with a gold medal in hand, no one is complaining now. Based on recent history, expect to see these jerseys used again in the 2014 and 2015 World Championships at a minimum before a new style replaces them, perhaps at the rumored World Cup of Hockey in August of 2016.

This jersey is currently up for auction, along with 24 other men's jerseys and 22 women's jerseys of the same style on ebay to raise funds for the Hockey Canada Foundation and the Canadian Olympic Foundation. As of the time of this writing with 8-10 hours left in the men's jersey auctions, the Crosby jersey is at $14,621.67, by far and away the highest over the $4,851.72 for the Toews followed closely the Price at $4,807.69.

As a celebration of the Canadian gold medal victory in Sochi, our friends at Gettysburg Flag Works have generously donated a Canadian flag for us to give to one of our readers from north of the border. It's a nylon flag, 24" x 36", (61 cm x 91 cm) big and made for outdoor use, but you can certainly take it with you to your next Team Canada game and cheer on your squad, perhaps the next World Juniors in Toronto and Montreal.

Be sure to visit Gettysburg Flag Works to check out their large assortment of many baseball, football and NASCAR flags and banners among the many products they offer.

To be the lucky winner of the flag, which retails for $36.65, just send us an email at Spyboy1@gmail.com and be the first one to tell us how many Olympic gold medals Canada has now won. Be sure to include your address and good luck to all!

2014 Sochi Olympic Hockey Preliminary Round Report

The Preliminary Round of the 2014 Winter Olympics concluded today with the final four games of group play.

In Group A, the United States took the top honors thanks to an exciting 3-2 shootout win over Russia, as T. J. Oshie starred with four goals on six attempts, making him an instant star in the United States. The US benefitted from a disallowed goal due to the net being dislodged slightly, negating what would have been a game winner for the Russians.

American hootout hero T. J. Oshie

Russia dropped points in not only their game against the US, but also by having to go all the way to another shootout against the Slovaks. The Russians finished with 6 points in the standings with a win, and overtime win and an overtime loss.

Thanks to their surprising win over the Slovaks, Olympic debutants Slovenia finished third in Group A with three points, trailed by Slovakia who finished a disappointing last with a single point from their shootout loss to Russia and a pair of defeats.

Group B went down to the final game of the round, as Canada prevailed in overtime against Finland 2-1. The Canadians finished with 8 points from two wins over Norway and Austria and their overtime win against the Finns.

Drew Doughty gives Canada the top spot in
Group B with his overtime game winner

By splitting the points with Canada in their final game, Finland ended with 7 points, which earned them a bye into the Quarterfinals as the highest seed after the three group winners. Austria defeated winless Norway 3-1 in today's first game to claim the third spot in the group with three points.

Play in Group C concluded yesterday with Sweden beating Latvia 5-3 to become the only team in the competition to win all three of it's games in regulation for the maximum 9 points.

Switzerland solidified their place as a team to be reckoned with by finishing second ahead of the Czech Republic, who they defeated 1-0. In fact, all three Swiss games ended with 1-0 scores, as they got a late game winner against Latvia in their opening game and kept it close in their game with Sweden, but were unable to get an equalizer. Jonas Hiller had both of Switzerland's shutout victories and the Swiss allowed just one goal in their three games, but need to find their offense soon.

How far can Switzerland's goaltending carry them if they can't score?

While the Czechs were able to defeat Latvia in regulation to claim the full three points, they would be the only points they would manage as they came in third. Latvia went winless, narrowly missing out on making it to overtime against Switzerland in their opener.

With the Preliminary Round now completed, all 12 teams have been ranked based on their results to date, with group winners Sweden, the United States and Canada talking the top three seeds in that order, with Finland claiming the fourth thanks to the extra point they earned by reaching overtime against Canada in the final game of the round.

The remaining eight teams will now enter the Qualification Playoffs on Tuesday, February 18th as the single elimination games begin.

In the upper bracket, #5 Russia will face #12 Norway, with the winner advancing to play #4 Finland.

In the lower bracket, Switzerland was ranked 6th due to an inferior goal differential compared to Russia and will face #11 Latvia in what could very well be yet another 1-0 game for the Swiss. #3 Canada awaits the winner of their matchup.

The Czech Republic drew the #7 spot when the tie breakers were applied to themselves, Slovenia and Austria, who each completed the first round with a single win, and they will now have to face a difficult challenge in their rivals #10 Slovakia, who seem to have found their game by taking Russia to overtime scoreless. The team that survives will face a rested #2 United States.

Back in the upper bracket, #8 Slovenia is paired with #9 Austria in a very winnable game for the lowest ranked team entering the tournament. The Slovenians are ranked 17th in the IIHF World Rankings, and certainly could have had a much worse draw in the Qualification Playoffs, having avoided the likes of Russia and Switzerland. The victor's reward is a date with the undefeated, #1 ranked Swedes, but who are now without captain Henrik Zetterberg for the remainder of the tournament.

Will Anze Kopitar and Slovenia be this year's best underdog story?

The knockout games begin on Tuesday at 3 AM Eastern on the NBC Sports Network (NBCSN), with the second match at 7:30 AM on the USA Network followed by a pair of games at 12 noon, one on NBCSN and the other on MSNBC. This is a somewhat unfortunate schedule, as in 2010 in Vancouver, the schedule was set with four consecutive games, rather than two being played at the same time. With a little luck, fans will be able to watch the game of their choice without learning the result of the other game before having a chance to watch a recording of it, as we were able to do with this morning's pair of games.

Looking ahead to the Quarterfinals on Wednesday, there are four more games on tap, making for eight over the course of two days. The winners of Wednesday's games will be guaranteed of a chance to play for a medal, but first need to get through Friday's semifinals to find out which one.

2014 Sochi Olympic Men's Ice Hockey Tournament Schedule

Today, February 12th, begins the 2014 Sochi Olympic Winter Games Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.

The opening games will be the Czech Republic and Sweden on the USA Network and Latvia taking on Switzerland on MSNBC in Group C, with both starting at 12:00 PM Eastern Time.

The 10 hour time difference rears it's ugly head the next day, February 13th when a full slate of games dictates the first game of the day between Finland and Austria (NBC Sports Network (NBCSN)) airs live at 3 AM. The host Russians begin play against Slovenia at 7:30 AM on MSNBC while at the same time, the United States begins play against Slovakia on NBCSN. The day concludes with Canada vs. Norway on USA at 12 noon.

A similar schedule follows on Friday the 14th, with the Czech Republic vs. Latvia at 3 AM (MSNBC), Sweden vs. Switzerland (NBCSN) at 7:30 AM and a pair of games at noon, Canada vs. Austria (USA) and Norway vs. Finland (MSNBC).

Saturday the 15th has Slovakia vs Slovenia at 3 AM on MSNBC followed by the United States vs. Russia matchup on NBCSN at 7:30 AM (which you think would have been worthy of the main NBC Network) followed by the final Group C games at noon, Switzerland vs. the Czech Republic (NBCSN) and Sweden vs. Latvia (USA).

This raises the question, wouldn't 9 PM Moscow time and noon in North America be a better time for the United States vs. Russia game than 4:30 PM Moscow time and 7:30 AM in North America? Doesn't Russian TV have "prime time"? Honestly, 7 PM in Moscow is 10 AM in North America. Doesn't NBC pay enough to dictate at least a better start time for the United States vs Russia or wouldn't the host Russians prefer their game to be on at a later time than 4:30 in the afternoon?

The final day of group play arrives on Sunday the 16th. Austria plays Norway at 3 AM on USA, Russia meets Slovakia at 7:30 AM on USA in Group A as the United States meets Slovenia at the same time on NBCSN. Preliminary Round play concludes with Finland vs. Canada on USA at noon.

The sweaters of the many Chicago Blackhawks competing in Sochi

Following the Preliminary Round, things get serious on February 18th, as the teams ranked 5th through 12th, who have not earned byes in the Preliminary Round, are all paired off in a one day series of knockout games, called the Qualification Playoffs, to determine who advances to the Quarterfinals. The day hockey begins at 3 AM (NBCSN) with games following at 7:30 AM (USA) with two more at noon (NBCSN & MSNBC) and is a day primed for upsets, with the lower ranked teams fighting for their lives with everything to gain and nothing to lose. A goalie on his day can eliminate a genuine medal contender in a format such as this and is a day of hockey not to be missed. We must question though, why two games are being held at the same time, rather than four consecutive games as in 2010 in Vancouver?

The process is repeated the very next day on February 19th when the Quarterfinals occur on the same time schedule, 3 AM NBCSN, 7:30 AM NBCSN and noon USA & MSNBC, another day of drama as the surviving teams from the day before take on the top four clubs, who will have been resting up for two days. Any of the major teams who slip into the Qualification Playoffs will be looking to correct any earlier slip-ups and keep their tournament alive in another day of elimination games. The matchups on this day will feature winners of each group in the Preliminary Round and all their associated star players in action.

The Semifinals occur on February 21st at 7 AM and noon, both on NBCSN, when the four surviving teams meet to determine which two will play for the bronze medal on Saturday, February 22nd on NBCSN with the gold medal final on Sunday, February 28th, finally on the main NBC network itself.

Here is a link to a nice grid of the matchups, times and networks for all the 2014 Olympic hockey games for the United States, and here is a day-by-day listing for Canada, which will have games on SportsNet, SportsNet1, TSN, TSN2 and the CBC, who will have the honors of carrying the bronze and gold medal games.

Dasherboard: With the Olympic Games starting today, it's not too late to get your hockey name with our Third String Goalie Hockey Name Generator. Choose from Canadian, Finnish, French-Canadian, Russian or Swedish!

The Third String Goalie Hockey Name Generator!

2014 Olympic Hockey Preview - Sweden

The Sweden National Hockey Team is currently ranked 1st in the IIHF World Rankings and will be looking to return to the top step of the medals podium, having won the gold medal at the 2006 Olympics in Torino, Italy. In addition, they are the current World Champions, having claimed the title in the spring of 2013 at home in Stockholm to become the first team to win at home since 1986, a span of 28 years without a host champion, which spawned talk of a "home curse". 

Based on their status as one of the top nine ranked countries, Sweden was automatically entered in the 2014 Olympic tournament, allowing them avoid the qualification process for teams outside the top nine.

The Swedes have participated in hockey at the Olympics 20 of a possible 22 times since hockey first became an Olympic sport in 1920, with finishes in the medals coming in just under half of their appearances. Their best results have been gold medals in 1994, following Peter Forsberg's famous goal in the shootout of the championship game, and again in 2006 in Torino, Italy against rivals Finland. Additionally, Sweden has also captured silver medals in 1928 and 1964, with bronze medals coming in 1952, 1980, 1984 and 1988.

The postage stamp commemorating Forsberg's

1994 shootout goal against Canada

Sweden are regular participants in the World Championships, with their first appearance coming in 1931. Considered one of the World's elite hockey nations, Sweden has never been outside of the Top Division of the World Championships in their history, with medal winning finishes coming more often than not.

The Swedes have captured the World Championship nine times, the most recent being in the most recent championships held in 2013. They have also won silver 17 times and bronze an additional 15 times.

Sweden celebrating their 2013 world championship

Considered one of the World's elite teams, they have also participated in the six team Canada Cup tournaments all five times it was held, with a best finish of second in 1984, and the eight team World Cup of Hockey twice, reaching the semi-finals in 1996.

Sweden enters the 2014 Olympics with 24 NHLers on it's roster out of 25 players, with the lone European based player being forward Jimmie Ericsson of Skelleftea AIK in Sweden.

The Swedes look solid all around with the New York Rangers Henrik Lundqvist in goal, a veteran defensive group led by Erik Karlsson of Ottawa. The forwards are led by Daniel Alfredsson and Henrik Zetterberg of the Detroit plus Nicklas Bäckstrom of Washington and Daniel Sedin of Vancouver, with his brother Henrik Sedin being forced to miss the competition due to injury.

With the format for this year's Olympics calling for the top four teams after the Preliminary Round to receive byes into the quarterfinals, the key for Sweden will be defeating the Czech Republic in their opening game on February 12 and then taking maximum points from Switzerland on the 14th in order to win Group C and avoid playing an extra knockout game the day before the quarterfinals on the 19th. Not only is this a realistic goal for Sweden, it is what is expected of them.

Today's featured jersey is a 2006 Sweden National Team Mats Sundin jersey as worn in the 2006 Olympics where Sweden won gold. This style of jersey was one of the older style airknit jerseys, as Sweden and Switzerland were the only two nations in the field not to wear the new, supposedly performance enhancing Nike Swift jerseys for the first time.

Sweden's jerseys are the most traditional of all the national team jerseys, similar to the Montreal Canadiens or Detroit Red Wings in that they remain essentially unchanged with only minor tweaks throughout their history and are more resistant to manufacturer trends than other countries.

Note the detail of the Sweden Olympic logo added to the right shoulder jerseys, as well as the cosmetic "laces" in the neck yoke, two details which were unique to the jerseys worn in Torino, as Sweden then wore the Nike Swift style for the 2006 World Championships onward.

Here is a look at the jerseys that Sweden will be wearing in the 2014 Olympics in Sochi. The Swedes can always be counted on to bring their usual understated class to any tournament with their three crowns, or "Tre Kronor", and minimal striping, regardless of the design trends of the day. These jerseys have even less striping than usual and also maintain their traditional, unique and preferred yellow home jersey paired with their less often seen blue roads.

Sweden has a long and illustrious history to draw on for today's video selections, and we begin with a look at several of the gold medals Sweden has won since 1987.

Here is the conclusion of the shootout in the gold medal game at the 1994 Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway, which included Forsberg's famous goal.

In 2006, Sweden became the first country to win both the Olympics and the World Championships in the same season. Here are highlights of the Gold Medal game against rivals Finland.

And here they celebrate the historic double by winning the World Championships three months later.