Will the Boys from Switz Give Team USA Fitz?

As I sit...okay, as I lounge lavishly in my cozy boudroir typing this blog entry, the Canadian Hockey Nationals are in the process of taking out their frustrations on the overmatched Germans, who (Photo Courtesy of Mark Humphrey, AP) have struggled to score goals -- 3 in 3 games, 2 in which they were denied any -- throughout the preliminary round of Olympic games. So far, Thomas Greiss, the German netminder who backs up Russian star Evgeny Nabakov for the San Jose Sharks, is doing his best Ryan Miller impersonation stopping all but one of the 30 or so shots already fired towards the cage of the white-clad, black-helmeted German squad. By the way, does anyone else think the "home" unis for Germany resemble the wrapper of a Fifth Avenue candy bar? But alas, it is only a matter of time before the Germans are ousted from the qualification round of these Olympic Games. Meanwhile, the American hockey heroes try to forget about how great they played Sunday night against Canada and redirect their focus on the plucky band of upstarts from the nation of Switzerland.

Can the Americans remain resolute and avoid a huge psychological let-down in the wake of such an intense and emotional game? Will they evade the trap of looking ahead to the semi-finals of the Olympic tournament and a potential show-down with either the feisty Finns or a formidable Czech Republic team, who has already bested neighbor Slovakia and battled favorite Russia to the bitter end in a hard-fought, nip-tuck contest of wills? In my humble opinion, they will be ready. They will not stumble just yet. This team isn't so supremely talented to fall prey to their own hubris and arrogance (petulance should not be confused with arrogance in the case of Patrick Kane or Ryan Kesler) and they seem to possess the requisite level of gritty determination to mitigate any overconfidence that creeps into their locker room.

The good news? Two full days to rest and prepare for their next opponent. Also fortuitous for the U.S. Team is the fact that they get to play a team, the Swiss, with whom they should be very familiar after disposing of them in the first game of Round Robin play one week ago today. The bad news? The Swiss National Team. It works both ways. The Swiss have competed valiantly all tournament long and even came within a shoot-out save and goal of upsetting the mighty Canadians before the Americans had the chance to enjoy the honor of doing so.

Switzerland is a team that cannot be taken lightly. In the first contest with the U.S., they limited the Americans to 24 shots on goal. And they made things quite interesting in the 3rd period as the U.S. went into a protective shell to guard a 3-goal lead that eventually was cut to 2 and nearly 1 in a couple of near-miss instances. But the Americans perservered and in the process, probably learned a lot about themselves. They know how staunch of an opponent the Swiss can be and they know how stingy Jonas Hiller can be when it comes to allowing goals. Knowing is perhaps more than half the battle. And execution is made easier when you know the danger that lurks behind the curtain.

At least that's what I like to believe. Go U.S.A!!! Poke holes in them Swissies!!