CANADA 0 RUSSIA 2

What happened to Team Canada?

Hockey is a team sport, and the Canadians did not play as a team.

Canada didn't play the physical, forechecking style it wanted for any sustained period and had trouble defending faster opponents on the Olympic-size ice.

A Canadian outfit that was stock-piled with NHL scorers – they didn't even have a true checking line – couldn't beat Finland's Antero Niittymaki, Switzerland's Martin Gerber and Russia's Evgeni Nabokov. The first two weren't even Number 1 goalies in the NHL before this season.

Another disappointment was Canada's undisciplined play. Too often, players took penalties that proved costly.

How about Canada's power play? It was horrific, going 0-for-8 against Russia and converting just five of 40 chances in the tournament.

Team Canada will have to regroup and be ready for 2010. At least we can look forward to than.