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Are you ready for the football, er hockey? The quarterfinals are here, and based on a cursory look at the demographic data of visitors to this site, 75 percent of you will be sleeping or working the third shift while Sweden takes on feel-good underdog Slovenia and their ice cream-tinted uniforms.
Anyway, after that quarterfinal takes place at the Inhumane Eastern Time hour of 3 a.m., the Russians get prime local time (but 7:30 a.m. EST) for their quarterfinal vs. Finland, which is one of those awesome matchups fraught with historical subtext. (Apparently when you invade another country, they hold a grudge for a while which extends to sports. Weird, right?)
Finally, the North American's Dilemma games occur at noon EST: Both the U.S. (vs. Czech Republic) and Canada (vs. Ted Nolan's Latvia. That's the official name of the country now: Ted Nolan's Latvia) are on opposite one another. I believe the Canada game will be on USA Network (or MSNBC?) in the U.S., but my DVR guide isn't very detailed:
|
WED FEB 19, 2014
|
 |
 SWEDEN
|
3:00 AM ET
|
TSN, NBCSN |
|
WED FEB 19, 2014
|
 RUSSIA
|
 FINLAND
|
7:30 AM ET
|
CBC, NBCSN |
|
WED FEB 19, 2014
|
 CZECHIA
|
 UNITED STATES
|
12:00 PM ET
|
NBCSN |
|
WED FEB 19, 2014
|
 Ted Nolan's LATVIA
|
 CANADA
|
12:00 PM ET
|
CBC |
Will their be any upsets today? Doubtful. But we watch in joyful hope...except when our nation-state is the favorite.
Other reads for your Wednesday:
This is Mike Cornell:
- Other Bridgeport stuff: Dan Petriw's update with thoughts on the two Anders(es?) from announcer Phil Giubileo. | Separately, the Sound Tigers sent Mike Keenan to ECHL Stockton.
- Voting time: Voting is now open for the Bobby Nystrom Award. Matt Martin has won two seasons in a row, so I think it's time to return to one of his predecessors.
- Bruce Bennett is one of the voices in that Oral History of the New York Islanders, and also happens to be a fantastic Getty photographer based on Long Island. Our feed uses his photos more often than not. He's also taking great Olympic photos.
- The Islanders prospect report includes mention of a 10-save shutout by Stephon Williams. Yes, ten.
- The Austrians lost yesterday, so Thomas Vanek and Michael Grabner are headed home -- or, to Long Island, which is home to the former for now.
- As awesome as the TJ Oshie moment(s) was, of course it leads to more shootout propaganda like this.
- Speaking of which: Five reasons why the NHL will never leave the Olympics. [Puck Daddy]
- We have an answer, and Keith was right: The organist/dj's for the two Sochi rinks are NHLers, the guy from Madison Square Garden and the guy from the place where the Kings play. [Yahoo]
- A good read on Dan Bylsma, who I'm sure was also "uncommonly introspective" when he "tried" to keep his players from leaving the bench to jump Micheal Haley after his entire team had been punked on the scoreboard and in the ring.
- I mean, basically David Backes would adopt every stray dog in Russia if he could, so I'm not surprised to see this happening.
- Fresh off taking over NHL rights, Sportsnet has a 12-year deal with the CHL. I guess the Canadian version of the FCC has been neutered too.
So anyway, enjoy the games you're able to catch.
