Team USA and Canada are playing the "they're the favorite / no they're the favorite" game -- which is less gamesmanship, more pressure relief and, to me, building in the feeling that it's okay to lose. That's actually what bothered me a bit about the 2002 final: That U.S. team almost sounded like it was just relieved to have atoned for 1998 and made it through host-country pressure to reach the final under Herb Brooks.

Of course, Canada was the clear favorite then and is the favorite now. They are deeper; if all their stars play their roles according to their abilities, then Ryan Miller is the only thing standing in their way. But it should be close, maybe even a toss-up. Hockey fans deserve a classic.

I'll be gathering elsewhere, but this is our game thread. For an SBN-wide thread, you can also visit this one.

This and that:

• If you didn't see it in the margin earlier, a rehab update on Mikko Koskinen
• FanShot find about Travis Hamonic returning from his shoulder injury for the Wheat Kings
• Befitting the day, a Pittsburgh radio interview with Ken Morrow about, well, you know

The return of Islanders hockey is just around the corner. Tuesday vs. [---]-medal winning Patrick Kane and the Hawks.