Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Big Day For Badgers In Vancouver

The Badger hockey Olympians stayed unbeaten as the US men's and women's teams won 3-1 and 13-0 respectively, and the Canadian men's team blanked Norway 8-0.

Former Badger forward Dany Heatley had a big night in front of the home Canadian crowd scoring two goals in the blowout victory.

Team Canada started slow, going into the first intermission tied 0-0, but came out in the second and built a strong 3-0 lead. Canada blew the game open in the third and never looked back. They will play Thursday at 7:00 PM vs Switzerland on CNBC.

The United States men started off the tournament on the right foot beating Switzerland 3-1. Joe Pavelski was centering the second line with Ryan Malone (St. Cloud State), and Phil Kessel (Minnesota) on his wings.

Pavelski was in front of the net screening Swiss goalie Johan Hiller when Malone scored his power play goal. Former Badger defenseman Ryan Suter assisted on the goal when his slap shot from the point bounced onto Malones stick before he put it away. The USA men's team next plays on Thursday afternoon at 2:00 PM vs Norway on the USA Network (HD).

The United States women got their second blowout victory of the tournament this afternoon. They demolished Russia 13-0. Former Badger Patty Kaz winner Jessie Vetter was peppered with a whopping 7 shots the whole game and turned all 7 aside in the shut-out.

Badger forward Hilary Knight, who will still have two years of eligibility left when she returns from the Olympics had four assists in the win. The only other Badger to score was defenseman Molly Engstrom.

The biggest news of the day was that coach Johnson held forward Erika Lawler out of the game today. She had injured her ankle in a pileup in a race for a loose puck on Sunday. From the sound of it, she could have played if they needed her but the smart thing to do was to rest it.

The USA women next play on Thursday at 4:30 PM vs Finland which can be found on MSNBC.
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