In what was ultimately no surprise to anyone back home, the Russians continued to do their thing, downing the Americans 8-0. I still don't have final details, but I can't imagine there's anything of worth even in that.

Russia is the hands-on favorite to win the gold this year, so it's no real shame to lose to them. Also note that there is a lot of top talent on that team, including a kid who was, oh look at that, drafted in the 3rd round (#73 overall) of the 2008 NHL Entry Draft by the New York Islanders. Word is the only reason he hasn't found his way stateside yet is because he has a couple years left on his contract with his Russian league team. The entire Russian team isn't like this, but it's a start to see that the Russians have put together a team with a much higher level of talent than what the ACHA currently can offer.

In other action in the group, the Japanese downed the Koreans in regulation. Final games for this stage are on Wednesday - USA v JPN and RUS v SVK. To finish second, USA will need to win in regulation (very feasible) and have Slovakia lose in regulation (also very feasible). Current standings through today's games:

Team W-OTW-OTL-L - PTS
Russia 3-0-0-0 - 9
Slovakia 2-0-1-0 - 7
USA 0-2-0-1 - 4
Japan 1-0-0-2 - 3
Korea 0-0-1-3 - 1