Wednesday Whatnot: Twenty Days and Counting

The 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver will be underway before we know it, and I, for one, am freakin' pumped for some ice hockey, United-Fucking-States-of-America style. Granted, we're not gonna get mega-excited until the U.S. squad has advanced some, but know that the House of Georges will be bringing you extended coverage.

For example, the U.S. is in Group A, along with Switzerland, Norway, and Canadia. Group B includes Latvia, Slovakia, the Russian Federation (whatever the hell that means), and the 2006 bronze-medalist Czech Republic. In Group C we have Belarus, Germany, 2006 silver-medalist Finland, gold-medalist Sweden.

Your U.S. roster looks like so:

Defense:

•Brian Rafalski, 36 (Detroit Red Wings)
•Ryan Suter, 25 (Nashville Predators)
•Paul Martin 28 (New Jersey Devils) Ryan Whitney, 26 (Anaheim Ducks)
•Mike Komisarek, 28 (Toronto Maple Leafs) Tim Gleason, 27 (Carolina Hurricanes)
•Erik Johnson, 21 (St. Louis Blues)
•Brooks Orpik, 29 (Pittsburgh Pittsburgh)
•Jack Johnson, 23 (Los Angeles Kings)

Alternate Candidates:

- Matt Niskanen (Dallas)
- Ron Hainsey (Atlanta)
- Alex Goligoski (Pittsburgh)
- Matt Carle (Philadelphia)
- Rob Scuderi (Los Angeles)


Forwards:

•Zach Parise, 25 (New Jersey Devils)
•Chris Drury, 32 (New York Rangers)
•Dustin Brown, 25 (Los Angeles Kings)
•Jamie Langenbrunner, 34 (New Jersey Devils)
•Paul Stastny, 24 (Colorado Avalanche)
•David Backes, 25 (St. Louis Blues)
•Patrick Kane, 21 (Chicago Blackhawks)
•Phil Kessel, 22 (Toronto Maple Leafs)
•Ryan Kesler, 25 (Vancouver Canucks)
•Bobby Ryan, 22 (Anaheim Ducks)
•Joe Pavelski, 25 (San Jose Sharks)
•Ryan Malone, 31 (Tampa Bay Lightning)
•Ryan Callahan, 24 (New York Rangers)

Alternate Candidates:

- Jason Pominville (Sabres)
- David Booth (Panthers)
- Scott Gomez (Canadiens)
- T.J. Oshie (Blues)
- Brian Gionta (Canadiens)

Goaltenders:

•Tim Thomas, 35 (Boston Bruins)
•Ryan Miller, 29 (Buffalo Sabres)
•Jonathan Quick, 24 (Los Angeles Kings)

Alternate Candidate:

- Craig Anderson (Colorado)

There you have it, and so mark your calendars, kids: Tuesday, February 16 at 2 p.m. Central, it's Switzerland as the home team, your U.S. squad the visitors. Game. Fucking. On.