By: Joe Ballway, YawkeyTalkies Staff Writer

It’s tough to endure two Bruins-free weeks, especially considering how well they played heading into the break. But, as you all know, there’s still hockey to be watched. I present you with five reasons to pay attention to the men’s Olympic ice hockey tournament:

5) Because it’s so much better than the alternative
Yes, involving the NHL in the Olympics makes for a terrible regular-season schedule, replacing the short all-star break with a
two-week gap. Yes, the competitive nature of the tournament itself hangs a shadow of injury concern over every team sending their best players to participate.

But Olympic hockey in itself is pure entertainment–something that isn’t really offered in the all-star game, which currently serves no purpose other than to collaborate the league’s top talents for a series of cheesy interviews and a painfully dull two-hand-touch scrimmage. Players actually put forth effort in the Olympics–which of course makes sense, because so much more is on the line. And the fact that something is at stake creates a spectacle that captures the interest of the viewing audience.

4) Offense!
On most nights, putting the puck in the net has been as puzzling as rocket science for the Bruins, who still rank 30th in the league in scoring. So it’s a bit refreshing to see the high-octane offenses of super-teams like Canada, Russia, Sweden, Czech Republic, and even the United States create dazzling plays and score clutch goals on an international stage. The ease with which chemistry is created among such talented players is astounding. It even has me feeling a little greedy–imagine if Patrice Bergeron had Sidney Crosby and Rick Nash alongside him in Black and Gold, as he did on Team Canada at the start of the Olympics? Unrealistic, of course, but we can always dream.

3) Bruins in the mix
Tim Thomas may be firmly planted on the bench for Team USA–and thank God, because he wouldn’t have handled Team Canada’s shooting gallery nearly as well as Ryan Miller did–but he isn’t the only Bruin in Vancouver. David Krejci has seen plenty of ice time up front for the Czechs, averaging 15:05 per game and adding a goal in the preliminary round. After starting out with Crosby and Nash, Bergeron (though it’d be a lot cooler if his name was Stills) has been relegated to fourth-line duties, but the fact that he’s even on Team Canada has to be an incredible honor. Zdeno Chara is representing Slovakia and has currently recorded the third-most ice time in the tournament, and Marco Sturm and Miroslav Satan are also participants, representing Germany and Slovakia, respectively.

2) A source of national pride
Hockey is Canada’s sport. As popular is it may be here in Boston (on occasion) and in other northern cities like Chicago, Detroit and Minneapolis, there’s no legitimate comparison to the hockey-mania that takes place in Canada. It’s a society-consuming ordeal, much like football is in the US. But the Olympics turn hockey into something more than a sport–a source of national pride, something that people without the slightest interest in hockey can still take stock in. The implications may be far fewer
than a victory over the Soviets during the Cold War era, but being able to trump “America’s Hat” in its own sport is an incredible feeling for American fans. Everyone loves to see the underdog win–especially when the underdog is their country.

1) Miracle Part Deux?
It probably won’t earn a Disney remake, but Sunday’s thrilling 5-3 upset over Canada was the most defining moment for the U.S. Olympic team since 1980. Sure, it didn’t even take place in the medal round, but it was the first time the Americans beat the Canadians since 1960, a seemingly impossible feat against the world’s greatest collection of all-star players. The Americans now enter the medal round with a whole new set of expectations, as well as a buzz that decades. A gold medal isn’t entirely out of the question–and we all know when they last won one. Stay tuned.

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