2010 Olympic Hockey: Kane, Backes Keys For USA To Upset Canada

February 19th, 2010 by TAB BAMFORD Leave a reply »
After watching the last few days of Olympic hockey, it has become clear that there are two players on the United States team who are the keys to an upset of Canada on Sunday: David Backes and Patrick Kane.

Backes has been the only skater for the United States who has clearly made a visual impact to the viewing audience in both of the USA's games. He's been the most consistent physical force on the ice for the United States, "politely" coming to the defense of teammates after questionable hits and also cleaning up the trash in corners when the puck needs to move.

He has also been a fantastic contributor on the offensive end of the ice. In the first game, he sparked the offense by taking a rebound from Ryan Miller coast-to-coast and scoring a pretty goal despite cotton hanging from his bloody nose.

On Thursday, Switzerland gave Canada all it could handle by playing a physical game. The Swiss played the United States the exact same way, and to the credit of the Americans, it didn't impact their style of play as much as it appeared to impact what Canada was trying to do.

A big part of the US being able to stay with its plan of attack was ...

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