Olympic Roundup

With the Olympics now over, here is the final medal count.

USA - 37 total
9 Gold, 15 Silver, 13 Bronze

The 37 total medals is a new Winter Olympic record.

Germany - 30 total
10 Gold, 13 Silver, 7 Bronze

Canada - 26 total
14 Gold, 7 Silver, 5 Bronze

Canada led all countries with 14 gold medals.

The Suter Legacy at the Olympics...

Here is what USA Today has to say about the Suter's and their strong history at the Olympics. Below is a video interview with Ryan Suter and his thoughts from USA Hockey Magazine.

Ryan Suter - Going for the Gold

Medal Count Update

Germany has significantly closed the large gap the U.S. had in the medal count. Currently the U.S. sits in first with 25 medals, with Germany at second with 21. Norway, in third, has 14. The U.S. is tied with Germany for the most gold medals (7), second in silver medals (8 to Germany's 9), and first in bronze medals (10).

Some recent gold medal winners include Bode Miller in the men's Super G, Evan Lysachek in men's figure skating, and Shani Davis in the men's 1500 meter speed skating.

On tap:
Today medals will be given in several events, including men's Giant Slalom, women's Ski Cross, and the Men's 10,000 meter speed skating

Former Badgers Continuing to Rock Olympic Hockey

If you've been living under a rock for the past 48 hours, then you haven't heard that Team USA upset Team Canada last night in the group stage of the Olympic Hockey Tournament. Despite the fact that this game occurred early in the competition, this was a huge victory for the United States. Yes, Canada is still in the tournament, but Team USA gained an exponential amount of confidence going forward from this point. Although the Americans were clearly the younger and more inexperienced squad, they played the game of their lives last evening and socked the Canadians in the mouth. Oh, and did I mention that this game took place in Canada? Vancouver must have been a very quiet city yesterday evening.

Regardless of how both the American and Canadian hockey teams finish the Olympic tournament, one thing is for certain - UW alumni have continued to shine. 41 seconds into the game, Brian Rafalski (former Badger and all-star defenseman) netted the first goal of the conflict, giving Team USA the lead and an abundance of confidence. Ryan Suter, another former Badger hockey standout (pictured above & currently employed by the Nashville Predators) assisted Rafalski on the goal. Rafalski went on to score 9 minutes later to give the U.S. a 2-1 lead and momentum going into the 1st intermission.

Three minutes into the 2nd, another former UW hockey player (this time a Canadian), Dany Heatley tied the game 2-2. Later, 7 minutes into the third, Jamie Langenbrunner drove in the dagger and put the United States up 4-2. He was assisted by both Rafalski and Suter. Of the 8 goals scored by both sides in this game, a former University of Wisconsin Hockey player was involved in 4 of them. This is a huge testament to how strong of a hockey program we have here. Word up to all current and former Badger hockey players for making us proud.

Olympic Sized Failures

Gary D'Amato of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel wrote an article about all of the failures that Vancouver has experienced during these games. The interesting part about this article is that it isn't because the lack of facilities but the organization of Vancouver and the Olympic committee for these games. This story may lead to a greater interest in other factors of hosting the games.

Although it is not their fault the fact that the Vancouver's climate is warm during February was one error that should have been avoided.

Despite all of these errors I have enjoyed the American success during these games.