Latvia just scored...1-1 against Canada.

If we could put another one up before the period, it could really tip this thing. The Czech's are old and they had to play yesterday...that and our depth/talent could do it.

Every now and again ESPN will have sumo wrestling on. I will watch that but not for the typical ones. Turns out they have different weight classes and there is absolutely nothing funnier than 2 130 pound men wearing diapers sumo wrestling each other. You seem them charge and when they get locked up your thinking that if the air kicked on it would probably blew them both out.

I see both hockey and soccer as a combination of baseball and basketball. It has the back-and-forth action and constant pace of basketball with the anticipation of baseball (stuff might not happen all the time, but when it does its huge). Eventually you learn to recognize a scoring chance building rather than just seeing when the ball/puck goes in the net - its just not as obvious as bases loaded and a full count, and it happens in a flash.

AND THERE IT IS BABY!!!!!

Mexican soccer announcer voice:

GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL

That's an absolute backbreaker, IMO.

There are two key rules you need to understand: icing and offsides. Here's a diagram to help understand the two (but ignore the orange one in the middle - they got rid of that rule).

http://old.bpsd.org/ims/Tech_Ed/8th%...s/oofrink1.jpg

Everything else is really pretty intuitive overall. Don't trip people. Don't hit people unless they have (or recently had) the puck. Don't "hook" people to prevent them from getting to the puck. Don't hit people in the back when they're up against the boards. Those kinds of things.

What an impossible shot he just made. Amazing.

And while I was typing that up...

Those types of goals are devastating for the defensive team. Huge momentum shift there.

Thanks.

Backes is just playing like a beast right now.

Those rules are small in a sense, but they really determine the strategy of the overall game. You want to hold the puck inside the blue line because, if it comes out, your entire team has to get out or it'll be offsides.

And while on defense, you have to control the puck to get it out of your zone. If you chuck it down the ice, that's icing, and the puck will be brought right back down into your zone again.

Wtf, icing.

In soccer isn't that called clearing and a perfectly viable strategy?

In hockey, it makes the game suck. Teams can kill all semblance of offense by just chucking it down the ice every time they touch it.