The Other World Cup

No, it’s not the World Cup. It’s not even the one that MLB has yet to get off the ground. No, this World Cup is the last bastion of quality, organized hockey. The tournament opened yesterday with Finland shutting out the Czech Republic, 4-0. The United States opens their early play with a game tonight against Canada in Montreal. For those of you who missed it, which I would guess is most of you, the U.S. team is backstopped by Flyers’ goalie Robert Esche and is populated with several holdovers from the 1996 World Cup-winning team (Brian Leetch, Tony Amonte, Mike Modano and cheap shot artist extraordinaire Chris Chelios). Looking at the rosters on paper, I would say the tournament is Canada’s to lose. The only problem with this is that those of us from Philadelphia know all about what happens when you only take into account how things look on paper. That being said, I still say it’s Canada’s tournament. They’re led by 39-year-old Mario Lemieux, who is playing for king and country probably for the last time. Throw in the fact that Canada lost to the U.S. in the last World Cup final I think it all adds up to a tourney win for the Great White North.