Olympic Ice Hockey: SUI 1 – CZE 0

Day 4 of the olympic ice hockey tournament created some major drama between the United States and Russia. I don’t need to say anything about that game except…..AGAIN! The game that followed up USA-Russia at the Bolshoy Ice Dome was a game from Group C, Switzerland versus Czech Republic. With Sweden clinching group C in their victory over the Swiss, the winner of this game would finish second in the group and have an excellent chance at getting a bye through to the quarterfinals.

Jonas Hiller was back in net for the Swiss and once again he performed very well and earned his second shutout of the tournament, which means he has yet to allow a goal so far in these Olympics, 47 saves on 47 shots. They have allowed a collective one goal throughout their three games of group play. However, they’ve only scored two. Late in the first period, Swiss forward Kevin Romy won a key battle along the end boards that ended up in being the only goal of the game. Romy won the battle, got the puck to Denis Hollenstein, who set up Simon Bodenmann for a one-timer and he blasted it by Czech goalie Ondrej Pavelec. After that, the Swiss defense and goaltending shut the door, as usual.

I knew the Swiss was going to be a tough out in this tournament and they’re proving how good they are. The stick to their system and they win games. It may not be the most exciting style of play to watch, but it gets the job done. As for the Czechs, the mystery continues. It started with some of their roster choices and who they left off the roster, and a slow start against Sweden, a too close of a game against Latvia and a goose egg against Switzerland. The Czech fans are certainly going to be asking questions when this tournament ends, if not already.

So, these two teams’ fates are sealed. Since the USA and Russia did not get upset by either Slovenia or Slovakia, Switzerland fell to 6th place and Czech Republic fell to 7th place. With only game left in group play, Finland-Canada, which is going on as I write this, Both the Swiss and the Czechs know who they will play in the qualification playoff round. Switzerland will play Latvia in the qualification playoff round, they’ve already met and resulted in the other Hiller shutout. The Czech Republic will play rival Slovakia, which should be a fun game.

Scoring Breakdown by Period:

• SUI: Bodenmann (1)

Shot Breakdown by Period

Powerplay Efficiency:

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