Red Wing Players Excel, Front Office Struggle

With the knockout portion of the Olympic Men's Hockey tournament to begin today, many Red Wings representing their home countries are in a great spot for a medal. Every full-time Red Wing at the Olympics will get the bye in the first-round of the knockout stages and await their quarter-final opponents.

The four teams earning the bye after the preliminary round, U.S.A., Sweden, Russia and Finland, all have Red Wings on their roster.

Lead by Wings' D-man, Brian Rafalski with 4 goals and an assist, Team U.S.A. sit atop the standings after an undefeated group stage with an unexpectedly good shot at the Gold. After their shock 5-3 win over the heavily favored Canada, the American will next see the victor between the Switzerland vs. Belarus clash.

As usual, Team Sweden is littered with talent out of Hockeytown in the form of captain Nicklas Lidstrom, defenseman Niklas Kronwall, and forwards Henrik Zetterberg and Johan Franzen. Sweden is also undefeated thusfar in the competition and await the winner of Slovakia and Norway in the quarters.

Valtteri Filppula and Team Finland had been very strong until they met arch-rivals, Sweden. Despite the 0-3 shutout loss to the Swedes, they still earnt a bye through the first-round and will see either Latvia or the Czech Republic in the quarter-finals.

Russia and Detroit's Pavel Datsyuk are probably in the most unenviable position of the top-four seeds. After winning two games with a surprise shootout loss to Slovakia in game 2, they finished as the #3 seed and will play Canada or Germany in the round of eight.

Meanwhile, members from the Red Wings' front office that are involved with Team Canada's Olympic bid, find themselves in a much less auspicious position.

Despite the slow start Team Canada has had in the tournament, they are definitely a team no-one wants to face and the current draw means that if Canada beats Germany tonight, only one of these teams favored to face-off in the Gold-medal game, Canada and Russia, can get a medal.

Sunday's loss to their southern neighbors puts Stevie Y.'s squad in a tough spot. While Gold is still within reach, having to beat Russia and Sweden en route to the Final is never a comfortable situation. Still, the trio from Detroit, GM; Steve Yzerman, Associate Director; Ken Holland and Head Coach; Mike Babcock, are still optimistic of their Gold-medal chances.

They still run a team that undoubtedly has the deepest talent in all positions. After Brodeur's shakey game against the U.S., Canuck Roberto Luongo will start against Germany and has the chance to hold that mantle for the rest of the tourney. All Canadian eyes will be on them tonight at 7.30pm EST as they try to turn momentum in their favor.

The knockout stage begins today:
3.00pm EST - Belarus vs. Switzerland, with Grand Rapids Griffin, Sergei Kolosov for Belarus;
~winner to play U.S.A.
7.30pm EST - Germany vs. Canada;
~winner to play Russia
10.00pm EST - Latvia vs. Czech Republic;
~winner to play Finland
Midnight EST - Norway vs. Slovakia, with Griffin, Ole-Kristian Tollefsen playing for Norway.
~winner to play Sweden