Olympic report
Hockey Americans Ryan Malone, Zach Parise, Erik Johnson and Patrick Kane all scored in the first 10:08, sending Finland goalie Miikka Kiprusoff to the bench and pretty much sealing any doubt who’d win. Just to make sure, Kane and Paul Stastny greeted his replacement with goals 15 seconds apart just a few minutes later. The U.S. men’s team will play for the gold Sunday against Canada, a 3-2 winner over Slovakia. Patrick Marleau, Brenden Morrow and Ryan Getzlaf put Canada ahead 3-0 after 24 minutes, but Slovakia hung tough. Now comes the intriguing rematch. And it’ll be played on the 50th anniversary of the U.S. beating Canada for the gold medal at the 1960 Olympics. The U.S. hasn’t won Olympic gold since the Miracle on Ice in 1980. Slovakia and Finland will meet for bronze today.
•The Canadian Olympic Committee basically said their women’s hockey team made only one mistake while swigging champagne and beer, and lighting cigars, on the ice, in celebration of their gold medal. Getting caught. COC president Michael Chambers said nobody would’ve known or cared if it hadn’t left the locker room.
Speedskating Seattle native Apolo Anton Ohno, the most decorated U.S. Winter Olympian of all time, missed his chance to grab the record-breaking medal when he was disqualified in the short-track finals of the 500 meters. In a short race often filled with spills, Ohno knocked Canada’s Francois Louis-Tremblay into the boards during the last half-lap, then crossed second behind Charles Hamelin of Canada.
•More agony for Sven Kramer, lots of joy for the United States. The American men upset Kramer and the powerful Dutch team in one team pursuit semifinal, and the U.S. women knocked off Canada in their quarterfinal. The men will face Canada in the gold-medal race today. The women will face defending Olympic champion Germany in a semifinal today.
Bobsled Driver Steve Holcomb and his sleek, black four-man bobsled known as the “Night Train” are halfway to gold. Officially known as USA-1, the sled set track records on both its runs, putting it in first place going into the last two heats tonight.
Slalom Germany’s Maria Riesch’s victory made the German women 3 of 5 in Alpine events. Sarah Schleper was the top American in 16th – after a team doctor sewed five stitches in her bloodied chin before her second run.
Biathlon Norway’s Ole Einar Bjoerndalen added to his tremendous Olympics résumé by anchoring a victory in the men’s biathlon relay. This was the 11th medal of his career. The Americans were 13th.
Curling Canada was denied another gold medal on home ice, getting taken down by a Swedish team that captured its second consecutive gold medal in women’s curling in extra ends. China, competing in its first Olympics, beat Switzerland for the bronze.
Snowboarding With rain turning the event into hydroplaning, Nicolien Sauerbreij of the Netherlands won the women’s parallel giant slalom race. Rider after top rider kept going out, unable to handle the strange conditions.