One win in the books

Canada vs. USA did not disappoint last night in each team's opening bout in the World Cup of Hockey.

I fully expected Canada to win the game by 3 or 4 goals but was actually relieved to have the game be much closer then that.

I will give the Americans credit, they played a gritty, playoff style game and they had lots of opportunities to tie the game up after Guerin scored to make it 2-1. Thankfully we have the best goalie in the world between the pipes for us and Brodeur shut the door after Guerin's goal.

I thought for sure the best line of the night for Canada was the line of Ryan Smyth, Vinny Lecavalier and Dany Heatley. They cycled the puck well, they had sustained pressure in the offensive zone, they were grinding it out in the corners, and they weren't staying on the ice longer then they should be. That line deserved a goal or two.

Of course Canadians everywhere will be complaining about the chippiness of the American squad as Brodeur was bumped and run a couple of times. Having watched the game though I don't think Marty is totally innocent in this case as we threw a few blocker shots and tugged on a few red, white and blue jersey's himself.

Speaking of jersey's, was Wayne Gretzky on acid or something when he signed off on the jersey's Team Canada was wearing last night? I didn't see the first half of the first period so perhaps they explained the reasoning behind the disaster they call a jersey. What was the deal with the Winnipeg Falcons crest on the left shoulder? It looked like Gretz and co. went in to an American Eagle store and bought 25 jerseys and sowed a red maple leaf on them. Go back to the red and white boys, this is a hockey tournament, not a fashion show.

So, outside of the fact that our boys looked like they were covered in mustard, I was pretty pleased with their first game (better then the drubbing they took at the hands of the Swedes in the last Olympics).

There wasn't really anyone that stood out as not being effective in last nights game. Pat Quinn will have a difficult time getting the Marleau-Draper-Maltby line into any games, although if any line is going to sit, I would guess it will be Joe Thornton's line. It looks like Jovanovski is out with one of those pesky "lower body injuries" so I would expect to see the speedy Jay Bouwmeester in the lineup tonight as they take on the high flying Slovaks.

Our junior team here in Moose Jaw (the beloved Warriors) are playing their annual intrasquad game tonight as training camp continues on. So, yours truly will be taking that game in instead of watching the Canada/Slovakia game.

All in all a great start for Canada. I would much rather see them pushed in these round robin games instead of seeing them blow everyone out by 5 or 6 goals. Kicking off against the USA was the best thing that could have happened to this team.

Go Canada!