Jan 25, 2014; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Boston Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask (40) passes the puck against the Philadelphia Flyers during the second period at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
Tuukka Rask took a little time to talk to Caryn Switaj of the Bruins organization to talk about his hopes for himself and the expectations of his country as he heads to Sochi to compete in the 2014 Olympics for his home country Finland. The Bruins also take a little time to talk about the other Bruins competing in Sochi, and how Claude Julien and Peter Chiarelli will be working with Team Canada. (Boston Bruins)
The Bruins find themselves on five different teams this time around. The Bruins participating will be meeting different challenges, (Perhaps not for Patrice Bergeron. Team Canada is so well stocked, Bergy will be playing on the fourth line.) and their teams will face off against each other as they battle to earn a place in the medal round. (Causeway Crowd)
The NESN team breaks down the Olympic teams and ranks them in their projected finish. I usually like NESN’s analysis and agree with it often, but I think a team like Finland and Slovakia could play spoiler this time around. See where your favorite team is ranked here: (NESN)
Following NESN’s rankings, the team at Bleacher Report list all the Olympic hockey teams, and show their odds if you’re in a gambling sort of mood. Several teams have real good odds, and one team has the dubious distinction of being an “infinity-to-1” long shot. (Although if that bet paid off, you could probably buy the country that has those odds.) See where the teams are, and what their chances look like here: (Bleacher Report)
There is a lot riding on Team Russia at the Sochi games. They were embarrassed out of a medal in Vancouver, and they would certainly like to repeat Team Canada’s success in 2010. Things do appear to be shaping up Russia’s way, and home ice advantage has to be considered as a factor. Here is Sports Illustrated look at team Russia, and how this might finally be the emergence of Alexander Ovechkin as a world champion level NHL player. (Thankfully for us Bruins fans, we’ll always have Patrice Bergeron (and now Jarome Iginla). (Sports Illustrated)