Day One of Olympics Men's Hockey

Video Highlights from Last Game

In the first day of Olympics Men's Hockey, six out of the eight San Jose Sharks Olympians took to the ice. Not playing against one another, it was easy to root for Team USA, Team Canada, and Team Russia as they took on Team Switzerland, Team Norway, and Team Latvia respectively. For Team Teal fans, all of our boys won last night which was great as this experience will hopefully give them confidence throughout the Olympics and Stanley Cup playoffs.

For Team USA, Joe Pavelski wore #16 and was on the ice for roughly 14 minutes. The young forward didn't score any goals or put up any assists; however, Lil Joe was able to get on the scoresheet as he was called for Hooking early in the third period. Fortunately, Team USA was already up by three at that point AND Team Switzerland wasn't able to convert with Pavelski in the box.

As for Team Canada, the Sharks played a big role in thier victory over Team Norway. With the line of Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau, and Dany Heatley intact, Team Canada was able to put a full line out there knowing that chemistry wouldn't be an issue. Well, it resulted in two goals coming from Heatley. On the night, Number 15 scored two goals, earned two minutes for Slashing, and skated for roughly 14 minutes. Marleau, who wore Number 11 and assisted on Heatley's second goal, skated for almost 17 minutes. As for Jumbo Joe, he picked up an assist and just over 13 minutes of ice time in his first Olympic match of 2010. Not to be forgotten, Dan Boyle also had a very productive night. Often skating with his San Jose teammates, Number 22 had two assists and led the team in icetime with just over 20 minutes.

It was weird to see our boys hugging and celebrating with players such as Chris Pronger, Corey Perry, and Ryan Getzlaf, but when it's the Olympics, all NHL loyalties appear to fade away. One cool note was that Team Canada's top powerplay unit featured all four Sharks and Shane Weber. Watching the Nashville defenseman skate out there with our guys made me realize how good he really is...I wish he was on our team.

As for the final game of the night, Team Russia vs Team Latvia, Evgeni Nabokov got the nod to start in goal and performed relatively well. Number 20 made 18 saves on 20 shots...not great, but good enough for a victory. On the first goal allowed, Nabby was partially screened as the puck beat him down low. As for the second goal, Evgeni was simply beat on a very good rising shot.

So, after one day of Olympics Men's Hockey, our boys are doing well. Tonight, we get to see the other two remaining Sharks who have yet to take the ice; Douglas Murray for Team Sweden and Thomas Greiss for Team Germany. The two will be facing off against eachother on CNBC at 5pm, so don't miss it!

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