KISS Guide To Olympic Hockey

When it comes to winning Olympic hockey games, KISS is a good policy. No, not the iconic band. And no, Patrick Kane, it does not have anything to do with pretty Vancouver girls.

KISS - Keep It Simple, Stupid. Words to live by. There's a whole series of books (they politely say silly instead of stupid, though) about how to master many undertakings by keeping it simple. With that in mind, I'm introducing my own KISS guide to winning Olympic hockey.

Hockey really is a simple game. Get the puck out. Get the puck deep. Put the puck on the net with traffic. Whether it's a peewee tournament in Thunder Bay, Ontario or the gold medal game at the Olympics, hockey really is a simple game.

Team Canada players will hear this from Mike Babcock repeatedly, and most coaches will have the same message. Don't be too fancy. Don't worry about trying to set up your fellow all-star linemate. Keep it simple and get the job done, the earlier the better. Shoot the puck!

The teams that KISSes the best win early in the tournament, enhancing team cohesion. It is not about scoring highlight reel goals. It is about scoring goals that will get you on the ultimate highlight reel - winning hockey gold!

Thoughts On Canada vs. Norway

I think Team Canada did a good job of playing KISS Olympic hockey against Norway. They played a disciplined game with attention to game plan detail. Puck on net, make it tough on the goalie. Think shoot first, not pass, although they're still working on that one. And defensively short quick passes to start the transition.

Good job Canada. While some of the ignorant talking heads will be disappointed that Canada did not blow Norway away, I'm more than happy with what I saw in game one. This is a game about establishing a game plan and establishing an identity. This is about building a team. The win is necessary, but not necessarily the most important objective tonight.

For more thoughts, join me on Twitter @HockeyLegends.

KISSer of the Day - Bobby Ryan, USA - Early in the game against Switzerland Bobby Ryan made an unnecessary cross-slot pass attempt to, I believe, Ryan Callahan. It would have been a nice goal had it not been so easily deflected away by the Swiss defenseman. Ryan should have just wired a shot on net in an attempt to give USA the desired 1-0 lead. Later in the first period Ryan learned from this, firing a missile up top on Swiss goalie Jonas Hiller. This gave a USA the lead against the pesky defensive Swiss, forcing them to open up their game plan just enough to exploit it for 2 more quick goals in the second period. Great job Bobby Ryan!

Tune back in later and we'll see how the supercharged Russians play? Will they play disciplined KISS hockey, or will they run and gun against a weak Latvian team and get away with it?