VANCOUVER (Reuters) - The panic that gripped Canada a few days ago swung to giddy optimism on Thursday as the men's ice hockey team's path to the Olympic gold suddenly looked a lot less daunting. After Sunday's loss to the United States forced Canada into a qualification game against Germany, the hockey mad nation was facing a bumpy ...

A Slovakian hockey squad that has already shocked Russia and ousted 2006 champion Sweden enters Friday's Winter Olympic semi-final against host Canada eager and confident they can reach the final. "We will be playing a Canadian team with a lot of confidence," Slovakian defenceman Lubomir Visnovsky said. "They also have big pressure. For us it's a lot of ...

VANCOUVER (Reuters) - Slovakia pulled off the biggest ice hockey upset of the Vancouver Games on Wednesday, knocking out defending gold medalists Sweden 4-3 to advance to the men's semi-finals. Tomas Kopecky put in the winning goal past a sprawling Swedish goalie Henrik Lundqvist in the third period to set Slovakia on the way to a showdown with Canada in ...

South Korea world champion Kim Yu-Na drew first blood in the Asian glamour battle for Olympic Games figure skating gold as Canada restored its battered hockey pride and celebrated a new national heroine. Kim scored 78.50 points on Tuesday - a new world mark - skating to a James Bond theme while fellow 19-year-old Mao Asada of Japan, the only woman ...