All the Single Ladies! U.S. girls dance on Finland

First, the mundane.
A number of significant things emerged from USA's 5-1 wipeout of the Finns last night in C. Springs: 1) Finnish goalie Nora Raty is NOT in the heads of the American shooters. Not only did they pour in 5 goals on the 20 year old Olympic veteran, but forward Kelli Stack's sensational deke on her to open the scoring may have dented Raty's prodigious confidence; 2) Team USA is unified behind coach Johnson at least in terms of staying on message; in every interview you could here the coach's lament about the unacceptable amount of penalties (8 minors, 5 in the first period); and 3) this is a team that is having a TON of fun. The lasting images from this national telecast was that of Erika Lawler doing a full dance rendition of Beyonce's "All the Single Ladies" taped prior to warmups. Without a hint of inhibition, she knocked it out of the park. The 5' dynamo rocked and gyrated unabashedly for the NHL network cameraman, safely surrounded by her adoring teammates. The network aired the footage in both of its intermissions, used it going to commercial and during its final video rollout. Myths were dispelled. Any preconceptions of women's hockey being played by camera unfriendly, macho cavewomen dripping in sweat was shattered by her pre-game performance. And when she tallied early in the third period, her teammates were nearly as delighted as she was and the route was on. But there was more. Kelli Stack took off her helmet for an interview and suddenly the hockey world had another brilliant smile to enjoy along with her supreme stickwork skills. She got lots of extra playing time due to star Hilary Knight's "lower body" injury, and made the most of it, earning player of the game honors. When she rocketed a shot off the crossbar that careened 20 feet straight up in the air, her reaction was priceless--agony and hilarity.

This team is loose, they're on message with their coach, and they are incredibly happy. They have all stated how they would be peaking in February. Thanks to a torturous training regimen imposed by Teena Murray (the girls broke down in tears pushing 70 pound sleds last month) they are in peak physical shape, and can just relax and play. "Now they can just be athletes," was how commentator Jim Rich paraphrased coach Johnson.

Does this mean they will beat Canada? Impossible to say, almost certainly not without a healthy Knight. HOWEVER, from the intangible category, USA's evident joy of life can only be a good thing for the Americans. Their free and easy loving attitude could represent a potentially significant edge if Canada feels pressure defending gold on home soil. Every reader knows how USA was affected by that scenario in SLC, and this pressure will be significantly greater. Canada still has a slight edge in depth and speed and team defense, but only slight. They are the hunted, USA is the hunter. Canada has a lead in a race approaching its final turn, but their chief rival is fresh and happy and breathing down their outside shoulder. Canada has won their last 6 exhibitions against the USA. The Yanks couldn't be happier. This might be fun.