Who: USA (3-1) vs Canada (4-0)Where: Canada Centre Metula, Israel
When: 1 PM (local Israeli time; 6 AM EDT)
Audio/Video: Not Available
Livestats: Maccabiah (be careful, often doesn't work)
The Maccabiah Games Hockey Overview
USA Round Robin Recap
USA Semifinal against Ukraine
The Lowdown: This ones for all the...
In case you haven't heard, there is such a thing as the Jewish Olympics aka The Maccabiah Games. For the second time in the history of the event - the first time being in 1997 - the Jewish Olympics has hockey. Team USA is comprised mostly of NCAA Division I and Division III athletes, including two of the NESCAC's own : Colby's Ben Chwick and Middlebury's Max Greenwald. Team Canada is a hodgepodge of major juniors, Division I, minor league and former D-III players.
Canada and the USA faced off on Tuesday in the final game of round robin play. The Canucks pumelled their southern neighbors 6-1, despite multiple 5-3 power play chances early and 44 shots from the USA. Overall, Canada has not been tested in the tournament, outscoring opponents 41-4 in four games.
The U.S. has a chance to sweep the gold medals in all three levels of hockey (Junior, Open, Masters). The USA Masters (40+) team, which included Amherst alum John Linder ('80), defeated Canada today to win the gold. The Juniors (18U) division features another USA/Canada final in the gold medal game tomorrow.
Key to the Game: Speed Kills
The U.S. enters the game off an "impressive" (according to U.S. coach Billy Jaffe) 6-0 win over the Ukraine in the semis. After the game, Chwick said they used their speed extremely well. Team manager Josh Richelew said their speed would be a key to the game. Sensing a theme? The U.S. will need to employ their fleet of fast feet to pull off the feat of upsetting Canada - and make no mistake it would be an upset - and return stateside with gold medals around their neck.
Otherwise, the usual keys to a championship game apply: goaltending, composure/aggravating your opponent and executing on special teams. That last point is especially true for an underdog, even more so for one that couldn't capitalize on 5-3s in the first matchup.
Players to Watch (provided you could actually watch)
Ben Chwick (F) and Max Greenwald (D) Hey, this is a NESCAC site. Also, Ben and Max have done their part to help the patriotic cause. Greenwald has two points (1-1-2) and Ben has one (1-0-1).
Players to Watch (not from the NESCAC)
Ben Rosen (D/F) The recent BU grad has played well in the tournament, racking up several points, including a goal in the second period of the semis that broke the 0-0 deadlock and opened up the onslaught for the Americans. Exactly how many points does Rosen have? We'll let you know if the Maccabiah site ever gets its sh*t together.
Rosen also has several ties to the 'Cac. He came directly to Israel from Islanders mini-camp, where he played alongside Hamilton's Bennet Schneider. After graduating from BU, he signed an ATO with the Bridgeport SoundTigers (Islanders AHL affiliate), where he played one game with Bowdoin grad Jon Landry ('06), who just signed a two-way contract with the Minnesotta Wild.
Adam Henrich (F) The 28 year old from Toronto leads the Canadians in scoring with 15 points (8-7-15). We know this, because the Canadian team page actually has its sh*t together. Anyway, the journeyman minor leaguer, who has 83 career points in the AHL (32-51-83), earned first star honors for his three points (2-1-3) in the first matchup of US/Canada.
Tweet, tweet
Our first pre-game tweet comes to us from Kristina Carbonneau, presumably the daughter of Canada's head coach Guy Carbonneau. Mike Keenan, coach of the Rangers 1994 Stanley Cup team, was supposed to coach Canada. But when Keenan had to back out because of personal reasons, Carbonneau stepped in. Carbonneau coached the Canadians for three seasons and won three Stanley Cups as a player, so not a bad backup plan.
#TeamCanada hockey is kicking serious butt at the #Maccabiah games!!! #Canada vs. #USA in tomorrow's finals! #Proud #CoachGuy #GoForGold👆
— Kristina Carbonneau (@K_Carbonneau) July 25, 2013
The next comes from defenseman Colby Cohen, who was supposed to play for Team USA but ended up having to back out, most likely because he signed a contract to play in the Finnish pro league a few weeks before the tournament. Cohen played three games in the NHL with the Avalanche in 2011 before being traded to the Bruins, where he earned a Stanley Cup ring without ever playing in a game. Not a bad deal. The tweet is at US coach Billy Jaffe and Ben Rosen, a former teammate of Cohen's at BU.
Good luck @BJaffe @BRosen8 an the rest of the USA boys against the Canucks in the gold medal game. Wishing I was there. #greggoldberg
— Colby Cohen (@ColbyCohen36) July 25, 2013
You were born to be Jewish American Hockey Players
And finally, in honor of the underdog USA team going for gold, we present four year old Josh Sacco's Herb Brooks' pre-game speech from the 1980 Olympics, which he learned from watching Kurt Russell's portrayal of Brooks in "Miracle." Sacco's adorable video, complete with a Brooks replica suit, went viral four years ago and he has given the speech on talkshows, an NHL game and even a baseball version at a Red Sox/Yankees game at Fenway. Enjoy and go U-S-A!
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