US into Quarterfinals at World Hockey Championships

[polsongrizz]

The US is looking good and playing the Czechs next...

May 11, 2005
AP - May 10, 3:30 pm EDT
VIENNA, Austria (AP) -- The United States will have a familiar opponent in the quarterfinals of the world hockey championships -- the Czech Republic.

The Americans, who beat the host Czechs in a shootout at the same stage at last year's worlds, finished third in their second-round group and have a 3-1-2 overall record. They play the Czechs on Thursday. The semifinals are Saturday, and the final is set for Sunday.

``They're a formidable opponent, we know that,'' U.S. head coach Peter Laviolette said on the team's Web site. ``It should be a heck of a game. We'll have to be at our very best to beat them.''

http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/news;_ylc=X3oDMTBpdDcyMnNwBF9TAzk1ODYxODgzBHNlYwN0 bQ--?slug=ap-hockeyworlds&prov=ap&type=lgns

[ISUMatt]

ahhhh HOCKEY!!!!

[Georgia Griz]

The US is looking good and playing the Czechs next...

May 11, 2005
AP - May 10, 3:30 pm EDT
VIENNA, Austria (AP) -- The United States will have a familiar opponent in the quarterfinals of the world hockey championships -- the Czech Republic.

The Americans, who beat the host Czechs in a shootout at the same stage at last year's worlds, finished third in their second-round group and have a 3-1-2 overall record. They play the Czechs on Thursday. The semifinals are Saturday, and the final is set for Sunday.

``They're a formidable opponent, we know that,'' U.S. head coach Peter Laviolette said on the team's Web site. ``It should be a heck of a game. We'll have to be at our very best to beat them.''

http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/news;_ylc=X3oDMTBpdDcyMnNwBF9TAzk1ODYxODgzBHNlYwN0 bQ--?slug=ap-hockeyworlds&prov=ap&type=lgns

You know, I was so ready for this tournament once the NHL announced their season was cancelled. I was dying to catch any hockey telecasted. I watched the college Frozen Four and was gearing up for this tournament as well. Then the NASCAR season got in full swing and I forgot all about hockey. Have any of these games been televised? I saw this morning where the U.S. team had been eliminated in a shoot-out. I'm sorry, shoot-outs are great entertainment and are good for deciding regular season games, but in playoffs and elimination rounds of tournaments they should not even be considered.

[ISUMatt]

I believe they play an OT period and if no one scores then a shootout, like World Cup soccer. TSN in Canada is televising the games and something called NHL Network has it too. But Im pretty sure no US TV has access to these without a giant dish!!!

[ISUMatt]

http://www.tsn.ca/canadian_hockey/news_Story.asp?ID=124483

With no NHL playoffs, it seems the world hockey championship is filling the void for Canadian hockey fans.

TSN averaged 364,000 viewers for Canada's first five games of the tournament, more than double the first five Canadian games last year when an average of 173,000 tuned in.

Canada's tie with Finland in Innsbruck, Austria, on Sunday drew the largest audience of 425,000. An average of 424,000 viewers watched Canada's loss to Sweden on Saturday.

TSN's national average during the 2003-04 NHL regular season was 322,000 per game. Unlike the world championship, those games were prime-time.

Canada's gold-medal hockey win over the United States at the 2002 Salt Lake Olympics drew the highest ratings in Canada for a sporting event with more than 10 million English and French-language CBC viewers tuning in.