Now this has to mean big trouble for the Americans, right? The bear has awoken, the Canadians just thrashed the Russians, certainly a better team than the U.S., and this can only end horribly for Team USA, right? Not necessarily.

While, the Canadians are certainly the team to beat, the Americans are still in a good spot. Canada isn’t as bad as they looked against the U.S., but they’re not as good as they looked in dominating Russia either. Taking nothing away from the Canadians, but that was a boat race. They got up on early and Russia just quit. The Canadians never felt any pressure. But, we saw how they reacted when Brian Rafalski scored that early goal against them. And you know the Americans aren’t going to quit or back down when the Canadians get physical with them the way the Russians did.

Sure, the Canadians have rounded into form and are playing better than they were when the U.S. beat them, but it’s easy to play with a three goal lead and no pressure. I still want to see what happens if the Americans get up early again, or keep it close late. Ryan Miller stole that first game from Canada, and can do it again. And his counterpart Roberto Luongo still hasn’t been in a gold medal game or a huge Stanley Cup Finals game, so who really knows how he’ll react? He could come up big, or he could melt-down completely. No one knows, because he hasn’t been asked to do it yet.

The Canadians are still the team to beat, but I don’t buy this rap that the Americans are in trouble. They’re not! They can still play better and they’re dangerous. And the Canadians know it.