Hellebuyck Starts & Finland Upset

Season 3 rolls on at the Milan Games and it’s a LOADED Morning Cuppa Hockey as the guys break down a wild opening day on the men’s side — upsets, scares, lineup drama, and Canada getting set to drop the puck.

At 9:00, it’s news from this morning as Connor Hellebuyck gets the start — to no one’s surprise — but Mike Sullivan makes it clear that “performance really matters.” Does that mean a short leash if something goes sideways? What are you looking for in Game 1 vs Latvia, and would it dent your confidence if it’s not a blowout? Plus, Tage Thompson lands on PP1 just like Jonny asked for, and after Finland loses and Sweden gets a scare, the guys remind everyone you can’t take anyone lightly in a short tournament — especially with Latvia icing six NHLers, including Zemgus Girgensons, Teddy Blueger, Uvis Balinskis, Elvis Merzlikins and Arturs Silovs.

Slovakia shocks Finland. Juraj Slafkovsky continues his international heater with 9 goals in 8 Olympic games, Samuel Hlavaj turns aside 39 of 40 and sets a Slovak record, and Dalibor Dvorsky becomes the youngest Slovak to score at an Olympics featuring NHL players. Is Slovakia a legit medal threat again, or did Finland just fail to finish? Now Finland vs Sweden feels borderline must-win.

Sweden survives Italy 5-2, but it was far tighter than expected. William Nylander breaks the tie despite not being 100 percent, Rasmus Dahlin posts three assists, Mika Zibanejad adds a goal and two helpers, and Sweden fires 60 shots — the most ever in an Olympics with NHL players. But Damian Clara’s 46 saves kept Italy alive before his injury. Does Sweden’s goaltending make them vulnerable? And how do OEL logging zero shifts and Forsberg getting just one even happen?

Canada opens its tournament. Jon Cooper still hasn’t named a starter, the projected forward lines are stacked — Macklin-McDavid-Wilson, Hagel-MacKinnon-Reinhart, Marner-Crosby-Stone, Marchand-Horvat-Suzuki — and the blue line features Toews-Makar, Morrissey-Parayko, Harley-Doughty and Theodore. Is Bennett really the extra? And is this gold or bust for this group?

Grab your coffee, jump in the comments, and subscribe for daily Milan Games coverage.

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