The final game of the Olympic round-robin last night, between Sweden and Finland, featured a scary moment for Nashville Predators fans. While carrying the puck behind the Finnish goal line, Swedish winger Patric Hornqvist was caught by a vicious elbow from Joni Pitkanen, a hit which left Hornqvist groggy and ended his playing night (Pitkanen received a major and a game misconduct, as head shots are not tolerated in Olympic play).
For video of the incident, your best bet is to go to NBCOlympics.com, where online video replays are available. The hit occurred with just 49 seconds left in the second period.
Before we get to the rest of your morning news and notes, then, it's worth sharing this from the Swedish press:
Här är råa överfallet på Patric Hörnqvist - Hockeyexpressen.se
You'll need to run this through a translator (I use Google's), but the bottom line is that Patric Hornqvist was evaluated by Swedish and NHL doctors after getting knocked out of last night's game, and was described as "clear as a bell". It sounds like he'll be OK to play on Wednesday.
Predators News
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Tonight's POTG podcast features Steve Lepore of Puck the Media, which should lead to further discussion on NBC's handling of Olympic hockey.
Predators prospects roundup - Nashville Predators Examiner
Jim Diamond has your weekly farm report.
Around the NHL
Ryan Kesler follows through on his 'beat Canada' guarantee - Puck Daddy
Wow, Kesler made this guarantee six months ago!
The Seventh Defenseman - Matchsticks and Gasoline
The second-guessing of Team Canada is fully underway, starting with "where's Mike Green?"
Black Dog Hates Skunks: Pierre Maguire And I Agree. The End Of The World Is Nigh!
Pierre called it before the USA/Canada game; goaltending would be key.
The Peerless Prognosticator: Week One In The Books
TPP has all the winners and losers from last week's Olympic action. I'll let you guess which category NBC falls under...
The Peerless Prognosticator: Uh-oh Canada
Take a look at these newspaper front pages from all across Canada, and you'll get a sense of just how bad they're taking yesterday's loss.
Down Goes Brown: Vancouver 2010: Worst Olympics Ever?
DGB is just one of many Canadians having a rough time these days.
Trade Deadline Cheat Sheet: Atlantic Division - View From My Seats
Matt Reitz looks ahead to the horse-trading that will begin once the Olympics conclude.
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