GDT: World Cup Day 4 - Blood Rivalries

Good afternoon sports fans. Two teams facing elimination - the USA literally and Finland everything but - square off against their natural border rivals today in what could be the best day of the tournament. USA coach John Tortorella freely admits not thinking about certain aspects of how he coaches the team and the team’s performance reflected that against Europe in their opener. Now the Americans are in the position of having to beat Canada, their hated adversary and best team in the tournament, with little other than thuggery and dumb luck as a means to do so. Finland can theoretically lose this game and still make the semis by beating Russia like 10-0 and having the Swedes take out the youngsters, but best case would be to take them by surprise once again like they did in the pre-tournament opener.

Schedule

Finland vs Sweden
3pm ET/1pm MT on ESPN/SN/TVA
Landy had a helluva game vs Russia and Big Carl wasn’t bad either, that should continue

USA vs Canada
8pm ET/6pm MT on ESPN/SN/TVA
EJ tries in vain to block 100 Duchene shots

Canada’s scratches will be Claude Giroux and Jake Muzzin, Price will be in net of course. Torts counters by scratching Jack Johnson, who’s been horrible, for Byfuglien and Kyle Palmieri will return to the ice for Brandon Dubinski. Wonder if this means EJ gets to play with his buddy Buff...

Tomorrow’s schedule features the last game, perhaps ever, for Team Excitement in a matinee against the Swedes. For pure hockey enjoyment this might be one of the best matchups in the whole tournament, so prepare your excuses now for bolting from work after lunch.