30 Years

For a hockey fan, this is the most significant anniversary on the calendar.

30 years ago Monday, a group of college-aged kids pulled off the biggest upset in the history of sports.

And that's not hyperbole or some sort of gimmick attached to a comparatively insignificant moment.

If this doesn't give you goosebumps, nothing will.



Actually, if that didn't work, here's Kurt Russell's awesome reenactment of Herb Brooks' pregame speech. Enjoy.

Canada's Defense Shallow at Best

As they did in the World Juniors, Team Canada's entry in the Olympic women's hockey tournament seems to enjoy rubbing their superiority in their opponents' faces.

How did that turn out for Canada in the World Juniors again?



Oh, yeah. That's right.

Karma.

Canada's women's team has won their first two games by a combined total of 28-1. They've outshot Slovakia and Switzerland by a combined 129-21.

They beat Slovakia 18-0 in the opener Saturday, outshooting the outclassed opponents 21-3 in the third period, a period that started with Canada already leading 13-0.

21 shots in 20 minutes while leading 13-0? Really?

Canada's players don't have much of a defense for this behavior, and it's obvious given how meekly they've tried so far.

"I think it's just about getting something out of the game, and making sure we're playing together, and we're getting better each game we play," Apps said. "I think we respect our opponents absolutely, but as far as our team is concerned, in our locker room it's all about getting better each day and moving forward."

How much better are you going to get by pistol-whipping a team that doesn't have a prayer against you?

It's a dumb defense for a senseless tactic. Canada spent the third period of a 13-0 game TRYING TO SCORE GOALS. Meanwhile, Team USA pulled back on the throttle in the second period against China, a team that they didn't dominate quite as badly as Canada did Slovakia, preferring to play a puck-possession, cycling game in the offensive zone. Many of their shots were unscreened, with little traffic in front of the net because Team USA's players chose not to go there.

(In Canada's defense, Slovakia had it coming. They beat Bulgaria 82-0 in 2008. Seriously.)

To follow up 18-0, Canada showed it learned nothing by hanging five third-period goals on clearly-overmatched Switzerland Monday.

If there were a way to disqualify a team for crappy sportsmanship, we'd boot the Canadians. Instead, we're just left to hope Team USA gives them what they have coming to them.

Real, Raw, Gripping Emotion

There are two sides to the extremes of emotion.

The first is the jubilation. The raw, seemingly unending happiness that comes with the greatest of accomplishments.

For NASCAR driver Jamie McMurray, the lifelong dream came true Sunday evening at Daytona.

McMurray, a driver who was out of a job for a time last fall, won the Daytona 500 in his first points race for new employer Earnhardt Ganassi Racing. McMurray was a victim of the numbers game at Roush Fenway a year ago. He lost his ride because of a mandated downsizing of the Sprint Cup racing team, combined with numbers that showed him woefully short in the wins department.

With his new ride, the No. 1 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet, McMurray didn't take long to prove himself.

If these plate races are like entering a random drawing, McMurray was the lucky winner Sunday. You'd be hard-pressed to find someone more grateful for his opportunity.



There is a flip side to this emotion, though. It's the feeling of losing someone you're immeasurably close to. For Brian Burke, this feeling became a reality nearly two weeks ago, when he got word that his son, Brendan, had been killed in a car accident while driving on a snowy road in Indiana. Brendan had been visiting Michigan State University, and was on his way back to his home base of Oxford, Ohio, where he attended Miami University and worked as a student manager on the men's hockey team.

For Brian Burke, a normally gruff and unemotional man in front of the camera, Sunday brought a whole new challenge. While he tried to put on a strong face for his U.S. Olympic men's hockey team -- he is the general manager of the team -- it's clear Burke is still hurting.

The hurt is evidenced by a great column from FanHouse colleague Lisa Olson, who spoke to Burke after his press conference in Vancouver.

"Born on December 8, 1988, eight pounds, eight ounces. Eight is a lucky number for people of Chinese descent," Burke said, his face aglow. "They kept rubbing his head, the nurses did. I said to one of the nurses, 'What's the deal?' and she said, 'Oh, he's a very lucky baby.' I said, 'Well, rub his foot because he's going to be bald for Christ's sake.'

"He was born with a lot of lucky signs around him," Burke said. "Just a magnetic personality even as a kid."

At Brendan's wake in Canton, Massachusetts, amongst the hundreds of mourners, Burke ran into one of his son's teachers. Everyone had their favorite story about Brendan; he had impacted so many people in so many different ways, and it warmed Burke's heart to hear them all. This teacher told him about an eighth grade dance, and a girl standing alone in the corner. Brendan walked over and asked her to dance, oblivious to (or maybe in spite of) his classmates' snickers.

"He didn't care what they thought, he just didn't want her to have a bad night," Burke said, beaming like a father boasting about a son who had won several Stanley Cups.

People wonder why we love our sports so much. A big part of sports should serve as an escape. Even those who can't escape reality sometimes need a temporary release. For Brian Burke, here's hoping the next two weeks are an opportunity for him to enjoy the fruits of his labor. He worked hard to build this U.S. team, and they have a chance to reward him with a medal.

If that happens, it will surely be another in a long line of emotional days for a man once viewed as being without emotions.

Shows what you get for judging a book by its cover.

New Widget

You'll notice a new widget on the upper left.

It's temporary, and it will keep you posted on the latest news surrounding Olympic hockey. The Games start Friday, with the men's hockey tournament set to start Tuesday.