U.S.A. Over D.N.A., Part II
>The planet’s top eight hockey playing nations began a two-week quest for international bragging rights this week, as the 2004 World Cup of Hockey got underway in arenas across North America and Europe .
> The United States , Canada , Russia and Slovakia are squaring off in the (pardon them, Rand McNally) North American Division, while the Czech Republic , Finland , Germany and Sweden comprise the European Division.
> For our Canadian friends who may have conveniently suffered amnesia, the U.S. stunned the Great White North in the championship of the 1996 World Cup. The Americans rallied from a 4-3 overtime loss in Game 1 of the best-of-three finals to claim the next two games by identical 5-2 scores, causing a spike in the prescriptions of Prozac from British Columbia to the Maritime Provinces .
> Canada is now out to settle the score, with the help of Detroit ’s Kris Draper and Kirk Maltby . Numerous other Red Wings will try to lead their homelands to the cup, including the Swedish triumvirate of Nicklas Lidstrom , Tomas Holmstrom and Henrik Zetterberg , the United States’ Chris Chelios , Russia’s Pavel Datsyuk and the Czech Republic’s Jiri Fischer .
> Unless you have access to ESPN2 or CBC , you’re out of luck as far as watching any game involving the U.S. or Canada, but here’s the complete schedule for what could be the last NHL -caliber hockey you see for a while (all times are Eastern). Keep track of results by visiting www.wch2004.com.
| >Date | >Site | >Matchup | >Time | >Network |
| >Round-Robin | ||||
| >Aug. 30 | >Helsinki | > FIN def. CZE, 4-0 | ||
| >Aug. 31 | >Stockholm | >SWE def. GER, 5-2 | ||
| >Montreal ( Bell Centre) | >CAN def. USA , 2-1 | |||
| >Sept. 1 | >Stockholm | >SWE def. CZE, 4-3 | ||
| >Montreal | >CAN def. SLO, 5-1 | |||
| >Sept. 2 | >Cologne | >GER vs. FIN | >1:30 p.m. | >ESPN2, CBC |
| >St. Paul ( Xcel Energy Center ) | >USA vs. RUS | >7 p.m. | >ESPN2, CBC | |
| >Sept. 3 | >Prague | >CZE vs. GER | > 1 p.m. | >ESPN, CBC |
| >St. Paul | >SLO vs. USA | >7 p.m. | >ESPN2, CBC | |
| >Sept. 4 | >Helsinki | >SWE vs. FIN | >1 p.m. | >CBC |
| >Toronto (Air Canada Centre) | >RUS vs. CAN | >7 p.m. | >CBC | |
| >Sept. 5 | >Toronto | >SLO vs. RUS | >7 p.m. | >CBC |
| >Quarterfinals | ||||
| >Sept. 6 | >Home arena of E1 | >E1 vs. E4 | >1 p.m. | >CBC |
| >Sept. 7 | >Home arena of E2 | >E2 vs. E3 | >1 p.m. | >ESPN, CBC |
| >St. Paul | >NA1 vs. NA4 or NA2 vs. NA3 | >7 p.m. | >ESPN2, CBC | |
| >Sept. 8 | >Toronto | >NA1 vs. NA4 or NA2 vs. NA3 | >7 p.m. | >ESPN2, CBC |
| >Semifinals | ||||
| >Sept. 10 | >St. Paul | >7 p.m. | >ESPN2, CBC | |
| >Sept. 11 | >Toronto | >6:30 p.m. | >ESPN2, CBC | |
| >Championship | ||||
| >Sept. 14 | >Toronto | >7 p.m. | >ESPN2, CBC |