At the conclusion of the Olympic hockey tournament at Canada Hockey Place on Sunday afternoon it was a time to unveil the three stars.

Instead of announcing the three stars of the gold medal game we’ll take a look at the three stars of the entire tournament.

With the third star is the most outstanding defenceman of the tournament, American Brian Rafalski. The 37-year-old Detroit Red Wing led all defenceman with eight points, four goals and four assists in six games. Not only did Rafalski provide an offensive spark for the Americans he also was a strong presence on the blue-line, posting a +7 plus/minus rating, good enough for third best in the tournament.

Canadian Jonathan Toews , would take home the second star being named the most outstanding forward of the tournament. Toews came a long way from the pre-Olympic summer camp where he was regarded as the 13^th forward in the mix. He proved to be much better than that, leading the tournament in assists with seven while posting a crucial goal in the gold medal game, giving him eight points in the tournament. His plus/minus rating of +9 was tops in the tournament and the 22-year-old Chicago Blackhawk showed why he was the right selection by Coach Mike Babcock and GM Steve Yzerman.

Finally, claiming the first star has been the most talked about individual of these Games, goaltender Ryan Miller of the United States. Despite allowing three goals in the gold medal game Miller has been nothing short of spectacular in the Games, posting an impressive 1.35 goals-against average. Miller also led the tournament in save percentage, stopping 94.56% of shots faced. The Buffalo Sabres net-minder was awarded the MVP as well as the most outstanding goaltender of the tournament.

Honourable mention goes to a pair of teammates from Slovakia. Forwards Marian Hossa and Pavol Demitra provided the Slovaks with phenomenal play, producing nine and ten points respectively. The two NHL all-stars were one and two in the total points leader standings in six games on way to their fourth place finish.

Leading the tournament in goals against average was Sweedish goaltender Henrik Lundqvist, just a shade below Miller with a 1.34 GAA. Lundqvist’s save percentage of 92.73% was good enough for fourth in the tournament, but a shocking upset to Slovakia in the quarter-finals robbed Lundqvist an opportunity to play for a medal.

Sidney Crosby scored the game-winning goal 7:40 into overtime to lead Canada to a 3-2 win over the United States in the gold medal men’s hockey game at the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games.

Crosby, who had not had a point in nine periods heading into overtime was able to latch on to a Jarome Iginla pass and shoot it past American goaltender Ryan Miller to send Canada Hockey Place into bedlam.

“I can’t even remember what happened, I know I just shot the puck from somewhere around here and it went in,” Crosby told CTV after the game

Remarkably, the game would not have reached that stage if not for a Crosby breakaway miss a few minutes earlier that allowed the United States Zach Parise to jump on a rebound from a Patrick Kane shot and slot it past Canadian goaltender Roberto Luongo to tie the game at two with 24 seconds remaining in the game.

Revenge was on the minds of both Canadian players and fans after the Americans had beat Canada 5-3 in round robin play and the game began with excitement running through the air.

Rick Nash took a pass from captain Scott Niedermayer for the game’s first real chance but broke his stick and was unable to get a shot on Miller

The United States nearly broke the scoring deadlock but Canadian defenceman Duncan Keith made a great play with his stick to keep the puck from crossing the line before the whistle was blown after Luongo had come up with the original save.

Jonathan Toews opened up the scoring at 12:50 of the first period after Mike Richards stole the puck from the United States Brian Rafalski in front of the U.S net, allowing Toews to capitalize on the rebound from Richards original shot and beat Miller on the glove side.

Toews goal marked the first time that the United States trailed during the tournament.

Tension and anger began to build as a late hit on Canada’s Ryan Getzlaf after the first period had come to a close caused a skirmish between the players on the ice.

“All tournament I have been waiting for a chance like that. The game is really physical, both ways,” Toews told CTV during the first intermission.

U.S forward Ryan Kesler turned the puck over early in the second period forcing Miller to stop Iginla’s slap shot in close to start the second.

Ryan Malone’s high sticking call sent Canada to it’s second power play of the game at the 2:33 mark of the second. Shea Weber was the focus of the United States penalty killers as they would not allow Weber the opportunity to get his blistering slap shot off from the point and Canada was unable to take advantage of the power play.

Eric Staal was called for interference at 4:41 of the second to send the United States to it‘s first power play. They also were unable to take advantage of the opportunity due to a persistent Nash scrambling to get the puck out on more than one occasion.

His persistence paid off as soon after fellow Canadian Corey Perry found himself with the puck in the slot in the U.S zone after Patrick Marleau was unable to handle a Getzlaf pass and he quickly fired the puck over Miller’s glove to put Canada up 2-0 at the 7:13 mark of the second.

Down by two goals, the Americans began to pressure the Canadians intensely and were rewarded.

Kesler tipped a Kane shot past fellow Vancouver Canuck team-mate Luongo to cut the Canadian lead to 2-1 at the 12:44 mark of the second.

American Ryan Suter nearly tied the game for the U.S but his backhand from in close went just wide.

Staal broke in on a breakaway with under a minute to go in the second but shot the puck over the net for the final chance of the period.

“They are going to fade as the game goes on, Slovakia was able to make the game 3-2 and Luongo is fighting the puck out there, we are going to tie the game,” proclaimed a brash Kesler to CTV during the second intermission.

Weber and Chris Pronger were unfortunate not to add to the Canadian lead as each hit the goal post in the first two minutes of the third period.

After the opening surge in the period both teams were content on not allowing each other any space or opportunity until Miller was called into action at the midway point of the period turning away Canada’s Dany Heatley twice in the matter of seconds.

Rafalski who scored twice against Canada in the round robin game came close to tying the game with five minutes to go but was unable to beat Luongo after he was able to latch on to the puck from a scrum and shot the puck.

Miller stopped 36 of 39 shots for the United States while Luongo stopped 34 of 36 shots for Canada.

Neither team scored on the power play going a combined 0-for-4

With the gold medal win, Canada set the record for most gold medals ever won at an Olympic Games with 14.

Canadian hockey fans found themselves cheering for the Americans today in hopes that they would emerge victorious to set up a possible Canada vs. U.S. gold medal grudge match.

But not a single Canadian wanted to see them play this well.

The American offense was on fire as they scored all of their six goals in the first period in a 6-1 dismantling of the 2006 Olympic silver medalists, Team Finland, at Canada Hockey Place on Friday afternoon.

Finnish goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff will face the blame for the Finns defensive collapse, allowing the Americans to score the crucial first goal on a brutal giveaway.

As American skater Phil Kessel was closing in quickly on the Finnish netminder, Kiprusoff left his crease to clear the puck, but instead, gave it to American Ryan Malone.

Malone made no mistake and fired the puck into the back of the net, opening the scoring (and the floodgates) just 2:04 into the game.

In the next nine minutes, the Americans got goals from Patrick Kane, Zach Parise and Erik Johnson, finally chasing Kiprusoff from the net after stopping only three of the seven shots he faced.

He was replaced by the Minnesota Wild’s Niklas Backstrom, whose introduction to the Americans was just as painful.

Backstrom allowed goals from Kane and Paul Stastny in his first three minutes of “relief”. Backstrom didn’t allow a goal in the second and third periods and finished the game with 16 saves.

The Americans played a full sixty-minute game despite their hot start and got good play from their goaltender Ryan Miller through the first 49 minutes, then allowing Tim Thomas to take them home through the remainder of the third period.

Antti Miettinen scored a power-play goal for the Finns with just over five minutes left to break the Miller/Thomas shutout bid.

The duo combined to make 23 saves.

The Finns will now play in the bronze medal game and will have to make a quick goaltending decision before taking to the ice again tomorrow night, as both Backstrom and Kiprusoff appeared shaky in this game.

With the win, the Americans have moved on to the gold medal game, and will face the winner of tonight’s Canada vs. Slovakia semi final.

Canada was hoping for a repeat of the 2002 Olympic final but Ryan Miller got in the way – 42 times.

He made 42 saves and lead Team U.S.A. to a 5-3 victory in a high-energy game against the home team.

Jim Craig, the American goaltender who made 39 saves against the Soviets in the 1980 Olympic final, was in the audience on Sunday night.

It was 30 years ago on Monday that the American Olympic team beat the Soviets 4-3 in the “Miracle on Ice.”

But it was Miller who shocked an entire nation on Sunday as a multitude of Canadian superstars were stopped time and time again by the hot Buffalo Sabres goalie.

“I feel good,” Miller told CTV. “I got a lot of support from the boys, we huddled in there and really battled for each other. Overall we played a good game.”

“He’s the best goalie in the world,” U.S. defenceman Jack Johnson said of Miller to CTV. “He was absolutely phenomenal and the reason why we won that game. He bailed us out when we were on our heels.”

American defender Brian Rafalski scored two goals and added an assist on the night.

His first, a point shot just 41 seconds into the game, silenced the heavily Canadian crowd. He scored another silencing goal at 10:45 of the first period as it was just 22 seconds after Canada’s Eric Staal had tied the game.

Dany Heatley scored his fourth goal of the tournament at 16:28 of the second period. He’s now tied for first place with Rafalski in both goals and points, with five.

Goaltending was the main problem for Canada as Martin Brodeur stopped 18 of just 22 shots. The Canadian team dominated in all other aspects of the game making big hits, quick passes and taking plenty of quality shots.

The Americans may have been pressured but they were never behind on the scoreboard. They increased the lead to 4-2 when Chris Drury scored with 3:16 remaining in the second and Jamie Langenbrunner scored on the power play at 12:51 of the third.

Sidney Crosby brought Canada within one goal on the power play from Rick Nash and Duncan Keith at 16:51 of the third.

Canada’s hope for a comeback was dashed when Ryan Kesler swiped his stick at the puck in a race with Corey Perry to score the empty-net goal and make the score 5-3.

Jonathan Toews had two assists on the night.

The loss makes Canada’s road to gold harder as they now must play a qualification game against Germany on Tuesday. If they win they will potentially meet Russia in the quarterfinals on Wednesday.

Day 10 in Vancouver proved to be a remarkable day of highs and lows for Canadian athletes, in what is proving to be a remarkable Winter Games.

Kristina Groves added some more hardware to her Vancouver 2010 collection today as she scooped up silver in the women’s 1,500m event with a time of 1:57.14, only 0.25 seconds behind Dutch skater Ireen Wust.

Groves, who won a silver medal in the 1,500m four years ago, won bronze medal last week in the 3,000m event and narrowly missed the podium in the 1,000m event.

“I’m happy with the result obviously, but to be honest with you I really wanted to win, it was really close,” she told CTV. “I just kind of faded on that last turn. I’m still really happy… I think it will feel good eventually.”

Canadian teammate Christine Nesbitt, was favoured for the gold but faded down the last stretch and finished sixth with a time of 1:58.33.

Winnipeg’s Cindy Klassen, gold medal winner in 2006, placed 21^st with a time of 2:00.67. Fellow Winnepeger Brittany Schussler placed 35^th with a time of 2:04.17.

In curling action, it took only seven ends for the Canadian women to defeat the Americans 9-2.

Cheryl Bernard remains the only undefeated skip in the tournament as Canada improved to 5-0 in the round robin while the Americans fell to 2-6. The win puts Bernard’s rink in first place facing China later Sunday night and Sweden on Monday afternoon.

Kevin Martin, Canada’s men’s skip, claimed first place after his rink’s seventh-straight win, defeating Switzerland 6-4.

On Monday, Canada will take on the 2006 bronze medallist U.S. rink, who is struggling at 2-5 in tournament play.

In the men’s super combined, Montreal, Que., native Ryan Semple was the top Canuck, placing 15^th with a time of 2:52.13.

Teammates Michael Janyk placed 26^th while Louis–Pierre Helie of Berthierville, Que., had a finish time of 2:51.58 which put him in 30^th position.

First year Olympian Tyler Nella of Toronto, Ont., came in 32^nd place with a time of 2:52.65.

Men’s ski cross proved to be disappointing for Canada’s Chris Del Bosco, who was the favourite to win gold. He placed fourth after falling on the final jump on the gold-medal race.

Teammate David Duncan was injured in his first training run at Cypress Mountain and broke his collar bone ending his Olympic gold medal hope. Brady Leman was set to replace Duncan but he too suffered from a leg injury. Davey Barr was brought in as a last minute substitute.

Barr had a spectacular race despite not having sufficient time to train and yet, found himself racing in the small final with a 6th place finish.

Contender Stanley Hayer of Canada didn’t make it past the quarterfinals. He bumped into another skier during his heat and he failed to qualify for the next heat.

In the highly anticipated Canada versus U.S. hockey game, the American goaltender Ryan Miller lead his team to the 5-3 win over Canada.

Seemingly never recovering from the first U.S. goal less than two minutes into the first period, the home team was constantly playing catch-up.

Despite great attempts during the final minutes of the third period, Miller was a brick wall that could not be penetrated.

Team Canada will take on Germany Tuesday in an attempt to make their way into the quarterfinals, where they would face Russia.

Canadian figure skater Joannie Rochette faced heartbreak of another kind on Olympic Day 10. Rochette’s mother died from a heart attack early Sunday morning after only just arriving in Vancouver Saturday to watch her daughter compete.

Canadian team officials said Therese Rochette, 55, died suddenly after being rushed to Vancouver General Hospital.

At about 1:15 p.m. PT, Sunday, Rochette stepped onto the ice for practice.

Officials said Rochette will still compete on Tuesday in the women’s short program at the Pacific Coliseum.

Brian Rafalski scored two late goals consecutively as the United States pounded Norway 6-1 in men’s Olympic hockey on Thursday.

Rafalski’s goals both came with the game well in hand in the final three minutes. The first one came on a power play with a one-timed blast from the slot, while the second was another one-timer, this one from the centre of the blue-line.

Phil Kessel started the scoring for the United States (2-0) a little more than two minutes into the game with a blistering wrist shot that rattled off the top right post and into the net.

At 13:04 in the opening period Chris Drury followed up with a goal that went in off of a rebound right in front of the net after a David Callahan shot.

Close to within six minutes into the second period, Patrick Kane made the score 3-0 for the United States, burying the puck past an out of position Paal Grotnes.

The American’s fourth goal came from Ryan Malone at 14:19 in the third period by batting the puck out of the air after a shot by Jack Johnson rebounded off the Norwegian backstop.

Five American players recorded two points, while seven more had one, including goaltender Ryan Miller who assisted on the Malone score.

Before the Malone goal, Norway (0-2) had been able to close the gap to 3-1 at 8:37 in the second period with a short-handed goal by Marius Holtet on a two-on-one break, beating Miller with a shot over his right shoulder.

The goal was the first for Norway in men’s Olympic hockey since the 1994 Games in Lilehammer, the last time they played hockey in the Games.

Two-on-one breaks became a theme for the Americans during the course of the game. A weak back check lead to five odd-man rushes for Norway.

Miller was able to neutralize these mistakes, making 10 saves. Even though he did not see a lot of shots come his way, only 11, almost all of those shots were quality chances, forcing the American net minder to come up big many times during the game.

On the other hand, Grotnes was assaulted the entire game, stopping 33 shots of the 39 he saw.

Neither team was very effective on the power play, the United States finished 1-for-5, while Norway was 0-for-2.

The U.S. will play Canada next in a game many believe will decide Group A’s winner on February 21 at 4:20 PM PST.

Norway’s next contest will be against Switzerland on February 20 at 12:00 PM PST.

The passion and pride Canada carries for its homegrown sport of hockey will be given a whole new light during the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Canada’s men’s hockey team may be under immense pressure to bring back gold, but nobody will be more scrutinized then their general manager, Hall of Fame forward and two time Canadian Olympian Steve Yzerman.

“We are very confident in the team we have put together. Hopefully luck is on our side and we will get the goal we want,” Yzerman told CTV “I’ve found this to be a lot of fun.”

Yzerman has spent over a year putting together what he feels is the proper mix of veterans and youth to carry Canada to the gold medal game and coming out on top on home ice.

The winter games are at home in Vancouver and as important as it may be for all of Canada’s Olympians to perform well, it’s even more important for the Men’s Canadian Hockey Team to strike gold.

Last winter Olympics in Turin, Team Canada went in needing to defend its gold medal from the 2002 games in Salt Lake City, but ended up seventh place, the worst showing by the Canadian National team since 1920.

This year, having home ice advantage, the team needs more then redemption, they need to prove they are the premier country for hockey in the entire world.

Yzerman should have a blast watching his selection of forwards, which has plenty of firepower to make games exciting.  The one player under the closest examination by the Canadian people is centre Sidney Crosby, who will be in his first Olympic games.

Crosby will be wearing the alternate captain’s “A” on his jersey along with Jarome Iginla, who will suit up for his third Olympic stint.

Canada’s blue line holds just as much defensive skill and offensive ability as the forwards, and is anchored by Captain Scott Niedermeyer and his former teammate Chris Pronger, who was also named an alternate captain.

Hockey’s most important position is something Canada needs not worry about with Martin Brodeur, in his fourth Olympic competition, and Roberto Luongo between the pipes.

The competition is fierce and there is no doubt that Canada will have a bull’s-eye on its jersey’s when other countries visit Vancouver.

One country most competitors will fear the most will be Russia as it boasts five of the most dangerous forwards including Ilya Kovalchuk, Evgeni Malkin, Pavel Datsyuk, Alex Semin, and the two time reigning MVP, Alex Ovechkin, who said he is not worried about the competition.

“When you play in an Olympics or world championship, you don’t look forward to play against one person, you look forward to playing some great teams and winning those battles,” Ovechkin told CTV.

Russia’s weak link is easily their defense, but with world class goaltenders Evgeni Nabokov and Ilya Bryzgalov, it’s almost not even worth fretting over the weakness in the Russian blue-line.

Sweden will be looking to defend its gold medal and is always a country that can be considered a threat.  The forwards are headlined by the Sedin twins, Henrik Zetterberg and the return of Peter Forsberg.  Sweden also holds one of the top goaltenders in the 2006 Olympics in Henrik Lundqvist and the blue-line is anchored by six time Norris winner Nicklas Lidstrom.

Even Finland, the silver medalists in 2006, won’t be easy in a tournament where a hot goaltender can easily win for a team, and they boast a deadly one-two punch in net with Miikka Kiprusoff and Nicklas Backstrom.

The dark horse of the tournament Team USA is a group of young, speedy talent with a few older vets mixed in for leadership.  With only two players on team USA having Olympic experience, the pressure may get to some of the young guns.

All-star Ryan Miller, a goalie who can easily guide this team to victory if he continues his stellar play, will be heavily relied on if USA has any hopes of competing for a medal.

One aspect that must be burning in the mind of Team USA is the fact they were defeated by the Canadians on their home turf in Salt Lake City in 2002, so they will be looking for revenge

Canada is a well rounded team with its perfect mix of grit to shut down the big scorers, speed to out maneuver and fly by opposing teams, and the experience that can help them make a repeat of 2002 in Salt Lake City.

This is no longer the seventh place team that left Turin ashamed, this is a new crop of youth and experience, and in the end can be the team that makes the country of Canada proud of its hockey team.

Tim Connolly scored twice, including the overtime winner, as the Buffalo Sabres defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-2 on Friday night at the HSBC arena.

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Cody McCormick capped off a three-goal second period as the Buffalo Sabres defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-2 on Wednesday night at the HSBC Arena.

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