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Winter Olympics Update: Medal Counts & Men's Hockey Preview
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00:00My favorite part of the Winter Olympics is finally underway.
00:02It's men's ice hockey.
00:04Yesterday, Joe, we saw Team Canada and Team USA with nice victories there to start.
00:08Author Milano, Cortina, action here with both getting wins here.
00:12Weak expectations, I should say.
00:14Both of these teams get to the medal rounds, and both of these teams will meet in the gold medal
00:17game.
00:17Winner gets gold, loser gets silver, and away we go.
00:20But the question is, Joe, are people watching the Olympics en masse?
00:24Front Office SportsCenter tweeted out yesterday that said the Winter Olympics viewership on NBC platforms
00:28is averaging 26.5 million viewers through the first five days of competition.
00:33NBC Sports didn't get the viewership bump it was hoping for from Super Bowl 60,
00:37but the network is up big on its Olympic coverage so far.
00:40What bump were they supposed to get to a Super Bowl, and how does it even correlate, Joe?
00:43Come on.
00:45Well, I mean, the Super Bowl was on NBC, but I don't know.
00:51Yeah, I'm not quite sure on comparing apples to oranges there.
00:54But, yes, I do.
00:55Listen, they've got a lot of different ways to be able to check it out, Donnie.
00:58I will say that, like, if you're trying to catch up on what happens during the day,
01:03it's not that hard on either your, you know, your smart TVs or the apps.
01:07It's not that hard to get the highlights and get caught up with what's happening.
01:11It's not.
01:12By the way, do we need some more, like, performances here, like Bad Bunny at the Super Bowl?
01:15You know, the Super Bowl is a big event, but it's a Super Bowl.
01:16You put a halftime show on.
01:18People like to enjoy it.
01:19Watch.
01:19It wasn't too long ago, Joe.
01:20What, Salt Lake City in the United States?
01:22I want to say maybe 2002.
01:23They busted out in sync for a big concert.
01:25That's how you get the ratings up.
01:26Put me a big concert out there.
01:28Who can sing out there?
01:30Well, Chelly, for, like, a nice little one-and-a-half stint.
01:32Man, people will watch that.
01:34Absolutely.
01:35Three tenors.
01:35Get them out there.
01:36Yeah.
01:37Absolutely.
01:37Let's go.
01:38A little reunion tour, Donnie.
01:40That's what I'm talking about.
01:41Yeah, you get a lot of people, actually, to watch that.
01:44That's right.
01:44Come on now.
01:45Get the people back out there.
01:46Give them what they want here, and then we'll get back to some snowboarding and all that good stuff here.
01:49New York Times sent out a tweet yesterday from The Athletic.
01:52The medal counts, Joe.
01:53We check in each and every day right here on the SportsCrit Network.
01:56After day number six, Italy.
01:58The home country has moved ahead in total medals with 17, followed by 14 for Norway, 14 for the U
02:04.S., 12 by Austria, and 10 by Japan.
02:07Gold medal count.
02:08Norway still in first place with seven gold medals.
02:11You got to love it, man.
02:13The home country is showing up, showing out here.
02:15Six, three, and eight, Donnie.
02:17Six gold, three silver, eight bronze.
02:20They are the kings of the bronze medals right now here.
02:24But still, I believe Norway, far and away here, ahead in the gold, right?
02:29Eight gold medals.
02:30I think that's your gold medal leader right now.
02:32But the U.S., still a lot of events coming up here that they should be able to hit gold
02:37in as well.
02:3914 total medals, certainly in the count for gold medals to see if they can come back.
02:43Because, once again, keep in mind those team competitions.
02:44Team USA and hockey expected to finish high.
02:47The U.S. women's team here expected to win gold medal.
02:50Those numbers will certainly change from those sports here.
02:52But you got to hang around, like the skeleton and the luge and the bobsled coming up.
02:56We'll see if Team USA can do that.
02:5714 medals, Joe, so far here for the Olympiad.
03:01Yeah, I mean, listen, impressive run here at this point.
03:05Again, Donnie, what?
03:06Day six, right?
03:07So, you know, they head into today with plenty of opportunities to rack up a couple of more medals and
03:14maybe even a gold or two.
03:15So, it's heading into this weekend, Donnie.
03:18I like where the U.S. sits right now.
03:21Yeah, by the way, the Olympics does end on the 22nd.
03:24And today is the 13th, so plenty of time left there to get on that podium here and get yourself
03:28an Olympic gold, silver, or bronze.
03:31Khloe Kim took the silver, which is really good, but she was expected to win gold medal.
03:36I'm looking for a third consecutive in the Olympic Games.
03:39No shame in your game to get silver, but she was hoping for gold and came up just short.
03:44Yeah, unfortunately, too.
03:45But, hey, listen, again, hit the podium.
03:47It would have been nice to have the gold.
03:48I know she was the favorite, but you know what?
03:51We'll take it.
03:52That's all that matters.
03:53Just take it.
03:53We'll keep racking up those medals here.
03:55A lot of us have the over in medal counts here for Team USA.
04:01That's how you get it done.
04:02And by the way, Myles Garrett, who is the boyfriend of Khloe Kim, was out there cheering her on.
04:08Wasn't able to come up with gold here.
04:09We'll see what happens next.
04:11How about this one?
04:12The underdog, Cooper Woods, produced the performance of a lifetime to win Australia's first medal
04:17of these Winter Olympics, and what a way to win it.
04:19Woods gave a huge roar of, let's go, as he received his gold medal.
04:24And no, this gold medal was not in breakdancing for Australia, Joe.
04:28Yeah, no, no.
04:29It's, yeah, it looks a little bit like our good friend, Dubs Anderson.
04:33I'm just saying.
04:34It might actually be Dubs.
04:37Yeah, no, kudos there.
04:38You got to love it, man.
04:39You got to love the excitement, though, Donnie.
04:41I mean, it's truly, there's nothing contrived here.
04:44Like, the excitement, especially from athletes from countries that, you know, aren't exactly
04:50racking up the medals.
04:52It is a lot of fun to watch.
04:54Now, what would have been better if he said, instead of let's go, let's just say, like Tom
04:58Brady would say.
04:59If he said, Cleveland, this is for you.
05:02Or if he said, anything's possible.
05:06Like, he could have did that, too, right?
05:08One of those two.
05:08Yes, absolutely.
05:10But either way, he's going to be a meme and can probably sell t-shirts back in the homeland.
05:15I like the yellow, man.
05:16The yellow is a nice little contrast against up the white snow here.
05:18Good for Australia.
05:19Getting some gold here.
05:20Getting us caught up here on a little bit of Olympic hockey action that's going on live
05:24right now.
05:24Finland, 3-1 up on Sweden at this point right now.
05:27It should be a mild upset, I believe, there.
05:29And Italy is down.
05:30Actually, it just scored.
05:312-1 now.
05:33Slovakia and Italy live.
05:34But come on now.
05:35Let's have some fun on a Friday.
05:37It's Donnie Wright said it's Joe Raniero.
05:38Let's welcome in Tom Vecchio.
05:39You know he has an eye on the Olympics and also another eye swirling around looking at
05:44Major League Baseball about to begin here.
05:47Yeah, a lot going on right now.
05:49Olympics getting underway on Wednesday with the men's games.
05:53Really exciting games.
05:55I will say some of the lines that we're seeing for them are crazy.
05:58When it comes to the standard puck lines, they're not just one and a half most games
06:01because these teams are, you know, minus 1,500 on the money line.
06:04Some of these teams are laying three and a half in some of these games later today.
06:08Oh, they certainly are.
06:09And by the way, yesterday, men's hockey, which I do quite enjoy at the Olympics here.
06:13Switzerland 4-0 over France.
06:15Canada blasted Chechi of 5-0.
06:17The U.S. sort of struggled early on, but I guess VAR kept tapping them here early.
06:225-1 eventually.
06:23So they got a win over Latvia, Germany 3-1 over Denmark, and Canada 5-1 over Finland
06:28in women's hockey there.
06:30Let's take a look here.
06:31Again, having fun with this, Tom, and saying where the Olympics is going to go.
06:35I'm going to ask you again.
06:37USA versus Canada, men's and women's.
06:40How do both sides work out here for us?
06:42Yeah, I think both teams, both the men's and women's, both team USA and Canada,
06:46they're all on a collision course to meet in the gold medal game.
06:49That's just really what it comes down to.
06:51The bracket play gets underway for the women's later today.
06:54Team USA will be taking on Team Italy.
06:57I was talking to Gabe last night.
06:59Frankly, the way Team USA has been playing, he thinks that they can win that game 8-0 or 8
07:03-1,
07:03whatever it might be.
07:05When it comes to the men's, that's the same thing.
07:07They're both on a collision course to meet in the gold medal game.
07:09It really comes down to bracket play and hoping that they don't have to meet in the semifinals
07:14before the finals.
07:16I think it's really that simple.
07:19It feels like, I know, I think that total was 6-1⁄2 of the U.S. game yesterday,
07:24and I think it came up just short there.
07:27Is that what we're going to see?
07:28So you think, Tom, 6-6-1⁄2 for the rest, especially in the group stages?
07:34Or is it too high?
07:35Do you think the unders are in a better look?
07:37I think the unders could be okay today in some of the games.
07:42I don't mind the over in Canada, Switzerland.
07:44Chechia, France, I'm also maybe leaning towards the over.
07:48And here's what it comes down to.
07:49Chechia, Donnie, as you say, got blasted by Canada yesterday.
07:52Switzerland beat France 4-0, and all those teams are in the same group.
07:56So Chechia now has to worry about goal differential.
07:59So they can't just beat France.
08:01They have to win by margin in order to try to secure the number two seed overall.
08:05Because, again, there's three groups.
08:07The top seed from each gets a bye.
08:08And then that next best team out of any group gets that fourth seed, that fourth bye.
08:13So Chechia needs to win today, and they need to win by margin.
08:15So them winning this game 6-1 is certainly on the table.
08:19But as we move into bracket play, that's where I really think unders will start to come into play.
08:24And especially once we have four of the elite teams, Sweden, Finland, Canada, U.S., anytime those teams are playing
08:30each other in bracket play, it's all about the under.
08:32Let's get back to the Winter Olympics, Joe.
08:34Most silver medals, USA, 75% they're trading at right now.
08:39The next closest is Austria and Norway.
08:41If we look at the medal count from yesterday, Joe, the U.S. has seven silver medals.
08:46They lead the way right now in both medals and also in chances to gain the most silver medals in
08:53this competition.
08:55Yeah, and currently right now, that's kind of where they're on track.
08:59I mean, right now with Italy kind of beating everyone, certainly to the podium in the bronze category.
09:06I don't know how many people had them being number one or number two when it came to total medals,
09:11but still a lot of events to go.
09:13But if you wanted to take a dark horse, Donnie, you know, why not go a little further down the
09:19board there and see if you can't take a flyer?
09:23Men's ice hockey today live, Joe.
09:26Finland and Sweden in the third period have a 3-1 score.
09:28Let me hit the refresh button here to make sure I can get the latest for the people who are
09:32live on the air.
09:32Okay, 11-35 left in the third period here.
09:35Finland, 3-1 over Sweden.
09:36And then Italy and Slovakia.
09:38The Slovakia with a 2-1 victory over the home team Italians, Joe, with 13 and a half minutes to
09:44go there.
09:44A little bit later today, you're going to have Czechia and France play and also Canada back out on the
09:49ice again to take on Switzerland.
09:51How about that?
09:52Looking forward to it.
09:54I mean, as this hockey revs up here and we got a little taste of it yesterday from the two
09:59leaders in the clubhouse there with Team USA and Team Canada.
10:03I mean, how dare Team USA allow a goal in, Donnie?
10:06How dare they?
10:08And by the way, shout out ESPN, who I just got those numbers from.
10:11Yeah, there's six minutes to go in the Sweden-Finland game.
10:13Finland's up 3-1 and Slovakia is now 3-1 over Italy with seven minutes to go.
10:18So no problem being six, seven minutes behind.
10:20It's not a real big deal when you're doing a live show at this point.
10:23Thanks a lot for that.
10:23And by the way, Canada-Switzerland today, they're going to take place minus 7-8 Canada in that game on
10:30the money line.
10:31More hot topics, raring to go on a Friday edition right here.
10:35It's a Friday right here on the early line.
10:38And yes, it's the Sports Grid Network.
10:39We always have fun.
10:40We like interesting topics in the Olympics that are going on right now.
10:43We need some help.
10:44It's Donnie Wright said it's Joe Renino.
10:45Let's bring in Chris Meany here.
10:46Always willing to help and lend a hand.
10:48When hockey is here, Chris Meany is here to the rescue.
10:50What's good, Chris?
10:52What's going on, fellas?
10:53Happy Friday.
10:54Thanks for having me.
10:55Awesome stuff.
10:56Tomorrow, you got a lot of love in the air here and a lot of love of hockey, which includes
11:00action taking place right now.
11:01About a minute to go, Slovakia and Italy 3-2.
11:04And we just saw a game completed here a little bit early on for another game.
11:08But the focus, of course, is going to be on the big two nations here.
11:12It's Canada and U.S.
11:13Let me start here, Chris.
11:14Before we get to the final scores yesterday, coming into the Olympics, your thoughts.
11:18And then, after watching those two games yesterday, any changes?
11:21Any tweaks?
11:23Not really.
11:24You know, those are the two powerhouses, of course.
11:26Canada the favorite and USA just right behind them.
11:29And I think the biggest questions that a lot of people had with Canada and the squad was Jordan Bennington
11:35in between the pipes.
11:35We all know that they're loaded up front with Connor McDavid, who had three assists.
11:39Nathan McKenna, who scored.
11:40Kale McCarr hit the score sheet.
11:42Sidney Crosby had a couple helpers.
11:44There's no issues with this Canadian offense.
11:46But yesterday, I thought Jordan Bennington was on point.
11:49He was sharp.
11:50He was great controlling the puck.
11:52He stopped all 26 shots from Czechia.
11:54And also, you know, after the game, John Cooper, head coach of Team Canada, was asked,
11:59how long have you known that Bennington would be your starter?
12:01And he said, you know, since Four Nations face-off, which is roughly a year ago.
12:05So, his guy showed up.
12:08I don't think we'll see him play today when Canada faces Switzerland.
12:12And as for the Americans, you know, we didn't get to see Quinn Hughes at the Four Nations face-off.
12:17And he was all over the ice.
12:19I thought the Hughes brothers were dancing last night.
12:21You know, Jack had two primary helpers playing on the fourth line with Brock Nelson, who scored two goals.
12:26So, convincing wins for Team USA and Team Canada, but not surprised to see those outcomes.
12:32And for Team USA, I think, you know, this is a team that I thought would lead the Olympics in
12:37goals.
12:38Their path is pretty solid.
12:41And if they can get that one seed, that'll go a long way in really just probably playing in the
12:46gold medal game.
12:47You know, Chris, watching Team USA, even with Team Canada, it feels like the speed of the game compared to
12:55the guys that they're deems that they're playing.
12:58It's like by the time they get to the third period, the guys they're playing seem to be, you know,
13:03they're a second slower.
13:04They're a little skater.
13:05It's like they are flying.
13:07Every line is flying up and down the ice.
13:10It's not a bad strategy, right?
13:12Just make sure everyone is wiped out by the time you get to the end of the period.
13:17Yeah, absolutely.
13:18And when you look at those two squads, they're so deep, right?
13:21I mean, every other nation here in the Olympics, they don't have the bottom six that, you know, Canada or
13:28USA has.
13:29And when you look at Canada in particular, you look at some of the edge stats over at NHL.com,
13:33speed bursts.
13:34You see the top players in the NHL.
13:37Connor McDavid has nearly 200 more than Nathan McKinnon, who's the second fastest player in the NHL.
13:42Then you have Dale McCarr there as well.
13:44And then for Team USA, as I mentioned, Quinn Hughes and Jack Hughes flying around the ice.
13:48There's a lot of speed up and down the lineup, especially on the blue line with Jake Sanderson, Zach Karenski.
13:53Those are two horse, you know, for Team USA.
13:57So, yeah, over time, the third and the fourth lines.
14:00And that's what we saw yesterday, guys.
14:01The fourth line, Brock Nelson, two goals.
14:04Some questions whether Brock Nelson, Vincent Trochik should be on the squad.
14:07And they were great.
14:08And the same thing for Team Canada.
14:10Bo Horvat, fourth line, you know, going back and forth, rotating between him and Sam Bennett, who needed an injury
14:17to get on Team Canada.
14:19This is a guy who won the Conn Smythe, you know, and, you know, for the Stanley Cup playoffs as
14:22the MVP.
14:23And Bo Horvat scored a goal yesterday, too.
14:25So, you're right, guys.
14:26It's just the depth that those two nations have.
14:28And, you know, there'll be some tougher competitions moving forward.
14:31Yeah, it's so fun.
14:32Like, we were talking about it yesterday before these games even started, Chris.
14:35It's like, okay, yes, there's superstars in the U.S.
14:37But it's like, okay, who do you pick a goal in Canada?
14:39And it just reads as like a Hall of Fame sheet from start to finish with the best players in
14:43the world.
14:43It should be a great collision course if they do get there.
14:46But today, as we take a look, Canada does return to the ice against Switzerland as a heavy favorite at
14:50minus 800 here versus Switzerland.
14:52Another day later, what are we looking for Canada moving forward?
14:56Still working things out?
14:57Will they try a different goalie?
14:58Or is this the type of tournament where you're in trying to win the gold medal?
15:01You just stick with what works at this point, Chris.
15:04I think that they will try a different goalie.
15:06I don't have any confirmation on that.
15:08But I do think that Logan Thompson will be between the pipes today.
15:11All three goalies were on the ice today.
15:13Team Canada didn't practice, but all three goalies were there.
15:16Logan Thompson was the first off the ice.
15:18So that kind of, to me anyways, is an indication that he will start this game against Switzerland, which will
15:24be a tough game.
15:25I did have Canada on the puck line two and a half yesterday against Czechia.
15:28I would back him again today to beat Switzerland by three goals.
15:33They're just so sound guys defensively.
15:35They don't give up a whole lot.
15:36Logan Thompson's had a better season than Jordan Binnington.
15:40Switzerland won't be an easy game.
15:42Like they still have some, they have some pretty good NHLers.
15:44Timo Meyers scored two goals in the opener.
15:46Roman Yossi is going to log a lot of minutes.
15:48They have Nico Heischer, Kevin Fiala.
15:49So there's a lot of good NHL players on that team.
15:52But Canada is so sound.
15:53Look for Macklin Celebrini and the youngest player for Team Canada.
15:58And getting an opportunity to play with McDavid, what an opportunity for this kid who was second in ice time
16:04among Canadian forwards in the game yesterday behind McDavid, who I mentioned had the three assists, 10 plus shot attempts
16:10and six shots.
16:11Looks like a man on a mission.
16:12But for Celebrini, the fourth teenager to score a goal in their first Olympic period involving NHL players.
16:18He was also the seventh teenager to record a point in a single Olympic tournament involving NHL players as well.
16:24So you can look for McDavid, two points.
16:26It's around minus 110.
16:27You can get on on Celebrini as well.
16:29Maybe to pick up a helper and assist or to find the back of the net again.
16:32He looks very, very impressive.
16:34What about Team USA?
16:36I mean, Hellebuck got the got the start, right?
16:38But I believe Swayman was his backup, leaving Ottinger as maybe the third guy.
16:43So are we going to see mixing and matching?
16:46You think of that for them also?
16:49I think so.
16:50Yeah.
16:50You give Hellebuck a break.
16:52You know, they're the three and a half point favorites here.
16:54Goal favorites minus 122.
16:56I'm seeing roughly against Denmark, who I thought had a pretty good game yesterday against Germany.
17:00I think Germany's a sleeper team, especially if Philip Grubauer continues to play the way that he did yesterday and
17:06for the crack in this season.
17:07But, yeah, I like this American team.
17:09And I think we will see Swayman.
17:11I think he's been a little bit more consistent than Jake Ottinger.
17:14They have the three best goalies, I think, in the Olympics.
17:16But I look for those Americans.
17:19Again, that top line with Jack Eichel and the Kachuk brothers picked up where they left off in the Four
17:24Nations faceoff.
17:25And, again, Quinn Hughes, another guy to take a look at for two points.
17:28He's all over the ice.
17:29He wants the puck.
17:29He's playing significant minutes.
17:31And it feels like all the offense goes through him.
17:35It's been fun to watch so far to certainly get better as the level ramps up at this point as
17:40a chance for a gold medal.
17:41As we said today, Canada's going to take the ice against Switzerland.
17:43Then on Saturday, 310 Eastern start.
17:45Denmark taking on Team USA.
17:48Canada still the favorite at a minus 105 to get the gold medal.
17:51He's Chris Meany.
17:52Follow him on X at Chris Meany.
17:53Love to have you, Chris.
17:54Hope to talk to you soon here.
17:56We'll see who's going to win that gold medal.
17:57We'll be right back after this short break.
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