We Begin. Finally.

Game On!  Here's the teevee schedule for today's hockey games:

3-6 pm ET—U.S. vs. Swiss men, USA
5:30--8 pm ET—U.S. vs. Russia women, MSNBC
8-10 pm ET—Canada vs. Norway men, CNBC
10 pm-12:30 am ET—Finland vs. China women, CNBC
12:30-2:30 am ET (Wed)—Russia vs. Latvia men, CNBC

Wow.  We'll be in a hockey coma by day's end!  And yes, I DO realize there's more to these Winter Games than hockey just in case you're wondering, Gentle Reader.  But nothing else really matters, yanno?

More hockey stuff...  Here's Pierre LeBrun, writing about Team USA at ESPN:

The question almost always draws a smirk or a knowing smile. It's as if these players know something nobody else does.

How do you feel about nobody picking your team for the gold medal, Team USA?

"We have no problem [with] people thinking we're not going to be a contender, but all of us, to a man, believe we are," Olympic captain Jamie Langenbrunner told ESPN.com with a smirk.

"I think when teams play us they'll be thinking they should watch out for us, they'll be thinking we're a capable team with some skill," said forward Joe Pavelski. "But it's always fun to be an underdog, because everyone in our locker room knows what we're capable of."

It would indeed be a mild surprise if this edition of the U.S. Olympic hockey team captured gold in Vancouver. They don't have the overall talent and experience of Canada, Russia and Sweden. But they've got skill, the right level of cockiness and, most importantly, the best goaltending since the Mike Richter era.

RTWT. Team USA is nothing if not confident about their chances and it would be beyond cool if they're right.  But I ain't holdin' my breath.

Speaking of hot goalies... John Keating of Fox Sports Detroit calls the Olympic hockey tournament "The Hot Goalie Open."  Our man in Dee-troit is less than impressed:

Much like Arsenio Hall, it was fun while it lasted.

Vancouver is the fourth Olympiad that has held a hockey tournament of NHL players. It should be the last.

What are we proving here? This is a league that has determined that the only fair, or really possible way, to determine a championship is to play a seven-game series and that each of those games will go to overtime, if needed.    

Yet, what we have here is "The Hot Goalie Open." A one-and-done collection of All-Star Games. For the right to determine the best on the planet, we allot the teams a grand total of one practice together and then it's game-on.

The Miracle on Ice team of Herb Brooks was a once in a lifetime fluke. But they played together for seven months. Their opponents were likely together for longer than that.  But how novel that a team competition was actually played by, ya know, teams.

I'm thinking Mr. Keating prolly pulls wings off flies in his spare time, just for fun.  But he is NOT alone as I've noticed several of you Gentle Readers share his opinion about the Olympics in general, if not Olympic hockey.  But if the Olympics is all about being the best... and it IS... why not have NHL'ers?  I'm not buying the amateur and "pure sport" arguments.   You're either the best or you're not and no one should be excluded.  Except for druggies, of course.