Babcock vs. Rafalski

Today will without a doubt be a historical day in Canadian and to a lesser extent American sports as the undefeated United States go for Olympic glory against the hockey super-power of Canada.

Last night, Red Wing Valtteri Filppula took home Bronze as Finland beat Slovakia 5-3, to officially end their "Cinderella" story Olympic run. Today Brian Rafalski will do better than that, the only question is, how much better?

Today, they're on opposing benches, as Rafalski, the tournament's leading scorer and possible MVP thusfar, will be met by Mike Babcock's team. Tomorrow, they'll be pulling in the same direction against the Colorado Avalanche back in Detroit. One of them, still riding high in the glory of victory, one still feeling the disappointment of an Golden opportunity lost.

While no players from Hockeytown are wearing the Red Maple Leaf for Team Canada, Red Wing influence reigns supreme on the Gold-medal favorite. Aside from Detroit's Mike Babcock managing the bench, Steve Yzerman is the team's Executive Directive with Wings' GM, Ken Holland his Associate Director.

For Brian Rafalski, he holds the honor of being the last remaining Red Wing with a shot for Gold. Eight other Red Wings; Zetterberg, Lidstrom, Kronwall and Franzen for Sweden, Datsyuk for Russia, Filppula for Finland, Tollefsen from Norway and Kolosov for Belarus, began the Olympic tournament.

With only hours left until puck-drop, both nations prepare for an historic battle between the biggest rivalry in international hockey for the last two decades. The U.S. looks to avenge their loss on home soil in 2002 with a role-reversal of winning Gold in Canada.

The Canadians, on the other hand, seek vengeance of their own for last Sunday's shock loss to this same U.S. squad as well as the incredible World Junior Championship upset at the start of the year when Team USA's juniors ended Canada's five-year winning streak in the Gold-medal game of that tourney. Further to that, Canada seeks redemption for their embarrassing 7th-place finish in the 2006 Torino Winter Games.

I, for one, cannot wait for the puck to drop on this historic affair. Regardless of the outcome, the game is without a doubt the best possible scenario for the NHL. Let's just hope the game lives up to the anticipation.