The Olympic hockey tournament gets rolling again today with the Playoff Qualified round, which will determine which four teams will advance to the Quarterfinals against the top four teams which are enjoying an extra day's rest right now. I've got the complete 2010 Olympic Men's hockey bracket laid out for you so you can see how things will proceed over the course of the week.
As for today's games:
Switzerland vs. Belarus (2:00 p.m. Central, USA Network): The winner meets Team USA tomorrow.
Canada vs. Germany (6:30 p.m., joined at 7:00 on CNBC): Canada gets to take out their frustration on Marcel Goc, Alexander Sulzer and the rest of the German squad, to earn the chance to meet Russia.
Czech Republic vs. Latvia (9:00 p.m., CNBC): The Czechs are heavily favored here, with the winner facing Finland.
Slovakia vs. Norway (11:00 p.m., CNBC): The Slovaks must be feeling confident after beating Russia, and if they win here they move on to face Sweden in the Quarterfinal.
Remember also that streaming video is available at NBCOlympics.com.
And now, on to your morning hockey news...
Predators News
thinktrain: An upset, but no miracle for U.S. hockey
Rob points out that if Canada does come back and win gold in Olympic hockey, Sunday's win by Team USA will look much less significant.
Preds On The Glass: POTG Radio Podcast with Steve Lapore and Intent To Blow and Tuesday Tidbits
Catch Buddy's latest podcast, which focused on hockey's coverage in the media.
Bridgestone Arena Domain Name - CoolSprings.com
The site which broke the arena renaming story wonders what's going to happen with the domain name, which a local man purchased, ostensibly to handover to Bridgestone.
Downtown arena gets its new name - 107.5 The River
One local radio station is running a poll as to whether listeners like the sound of "Bridgestone Arena". To me, it may not be sexy, but as long as they pay the bills it's fine by me!
Hornqvist injury shows the risk Preds’ GM must face with Olympics - Nashville City Paper
While it appears that Patric Hornqvist is OK to play in Wednesday's quarterfinal game for Sweden, when he got hit Sunday night it put a scare into every Preds fan (that stayed up to watch the late game, like I did).
Around the NHL
Another Name for The Billboard ... Ratings for Team USA-Canada Strong ... Panthers Back on Wednesday - On Frozen Pond
If you're not crazy about "Bridgestone Arena", at least it isn't the "Jay-Z Center"!
Should NHL Adopt Olympic Point System? - Die By The Blade
One thing that we like about the Olympic point system is that all games carry equal weight. David Oleksy applies that method to the NHL standings, to see just how radically things would change.
Working Backwards from Gold Medal Odds: Head-to-Head Hockey Odds - Behind The Net
Taking the oddsmakers' current Olympic projections and turning them inside-out, backwards, and sideways!
Olympic coverage: Commercials vs. Content (and where hockey fits) - From The Rink
A good reason why almost all the hockey action has NOT been on NBC; the need for a ridiculous number of commercial breaks...
Members inducted into Triple Gold Club - NHL.com
A World Championship, an Olympic Gold Medal, and a Stanley Cup; that's a rare combination on a player's resume.
james mirtle: Olympic hockey: Who's getting the big minutes
Taking a look at the ice time leaders from throughout the Olympic field.
‘Super Sunday’ Shows Hockey At It’s Finest (No Fights?) | The Hockey Writers
Mike Colligan celebrates the lack of goonery at the Olympics.
Brian Burke not satisfied with 3-0 Team USA - NHL.com
Team USA's in a great spot; they've earned the #1 seed in the Olympic bracket, but there's still plenty to fix in terms of their on-ice play, so the coaching staff has the players' full attention.
Part 5 - Reporting from the 2010 Olympic (HOCKEY!!!) Games - The Battle of North America - Pension Plan Puppets
A series of pics from a Canadian who attended Sunday's big game...