Stupendous Sunday for Hockey Fans - Team USA Stuns Canada

Yesterday was a fantabulous day for hockey fans round the globe, and an especially proud day to be sporting the red, white and blue even if you don't follow the on-ice action on a regular basis! Hockey Mom's day started bright and early with a 6:15 (yes, that would be a.m.) kids' game, but I made sure to grab a power nap before all the incredible hockey action started in Vancouver with the Russians meeting the Czech Republic in the first game of the day. The Capital's own Alex Ovechkin was one of the driving forces behind Russia's 4-2 victory, alongside his rival during the regular season Evgeni Malkin, who scored two goals for the guys in red. Former Capital Viktor Kozlov also scored for Team Russia, one of the few goals resulting from players crowding Tomas Vokoun's crease. But the play of the game was the highlight reel hit by Ovi on Jaromir Jagr, which sent the former NHLer sprawling to the ice practically dislodging his world-famous mullet! Canada's TSN commentators joked that the hit was so hard, it registered on the Richter Scale! The thundering hit resulted in a Czech turnover which saw the puck get into the smooth hands of Alexander Semin, who set Malkin up for his second tally. The Russians shined with their physical play and despite the heroic efforts of Vokoun, the Czechs could not keep up with the Russian firepower. Ovi once again proved that he can be an instant game-changer and to HM's shocking surprise, even cad Mike Milbury seemed to jump on the Ovechkin bandwagon (though I am convinced that someone must have  held him down and tickled his toes with a feather until he he cried "uncle" for such a swift change of allegiance)!

But the talk around the water cooler today is the incredible performance and win by the youthful United States team over highly-touted and supremely talented Team Canada! Somehow I think there won't be enough boxes of Kleenex in the country for braggart Don Cherry to dry his tears after his country's stunning defeat! Despite being in a defensive mode for much of the contest and getting outshot 45-23, USA's grit and determination combined with an absolutely brilliant performance from goaltender Ryan Miller, earned them the outstanding 5-3 victory! Miller put on an amazing show and stopped 42 shots from the sharpshooting Canadians - he was phenomenal and stole the spotlight from the legendary Martin Brodeur minding the net on the other side of the ice. Detroit's Brian Rafalski scored twice (his second two-goal game of the Olympics) and team mates Jamie Langenbrunner and Chris Drury also lit the lamp. Vancouver Canuck Ryan Kesler tallied the empty-netter to put a fork in the Canadians and silence a stunned crowd clad in red and white maple leaf jerseys! Congratulations to Team USA for the hard-fought win - what a sweet and historical victory and we'll be proudly cheering you on in the next round! Another Hockey Mom high-five to Team Sweden, who saw a goal from Nicklas Backstrom and earned a 3-0 blanking over bitter rivals Finland!

Speaking of the next round, here's how things are shaping up after yesterday's action. The players will all get a well-deserved rest today and the action picks up again tomorrow.