USA without a doubt. The American team is beatable with speed and skating, the Finns are much harder to break down. I’d fear we wouldn’t score enough against finns, not so much against Americans. Plus I think we can use our size to our advantage against Americans.
So, here is hoping for a Slovakia vs. US final for the gold medal! Although I think the US would be a better opponent for Slovakia, I hope we play Finland next, because I'm an LA Kings fan, and I wish for Cal Petersen, Trevor Moore, and Matt Roy to have as much success as possible – not at the expense of Slovakia, however.
High time to break the Finnish curse for us, I think. And who better to score the game-winning goal against Finland and send them home packing, than someone like Pospíšil or the young phenom Slafkovský, who spend their seasons in Finland!
Don't even remind me of Vancouver, I get depressed anytime it gets mentioned.I think they are all aware Finland has been our toughest opponent in hockey for quite many years now. It used to be Czechs in previous decades, but it's been Finland in recent years. The curse may well have started in that nightmare finish at the 2010 Vancouver olympics, when Slovakia lost a 3-1 lead in the 3rd period in the bronze-medal game.
But I say, bring them on this Thursday!
Believe me, I still remember how the Soviet Union beat us (Czechoslovakia) 11-1, or something like that, at one of the World Championships. I was a very small kid back then, and I remember almost nothing from those years, but I do remember the shock from that defeat. (I even remember that the main culprit in that game was a crazy German referee, named Madill or something like that.)
Nemec will also play in second pairing
