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Canada v. Norway GameDay Thread: Pietrangelo And Bouwmeester Face Scrappy Compeition

The Norwegian team has two NHLers on it, but they're not terrible. Think of them as the New York Islanders of the Olympics.

Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

Everyone writes Norway off, especially now that Tore Vikingstad has retired. Mats Zuccarello and Ole-Kristian Tollefsen are the only two names on the roster who will probably be easily recognizable. They're a country that you would expect to have an excellent hockey program, and then you watch them, and wonder where it went wrong.

They're still fun to watch though, scrappy, and willing (but usually not able) to stand up to the big boys. Boy, do they have some big boys to stand up to on their first day of play. Team Canada has nearly everyone you can think of on their roster, and still had to leave guys like Joe Thornton and Claude Giroux at home. They're stacked up like phonebooks under Martin St. Louis' butt while he drives.

The Blues' top defensive pairing, Alex Pietrangelo and Jay Bouwmeester, won't be split up in the Olympics. Remember, it's ok to root for individual players to play well, so it's to be forgiven if you get excited if (when) Canada wins. Just for now.