Olympic Final Four and TGIF Notes

Olympic hockey's version of the final four kicks off this afternoon when USA plays Finland at 2 p.m. CST (NBC-don't expect postgame coverage due to Oprah at 4:00) and finishes tonight when Canada will play Slovakia at 8:30 p.m. CST (CNBC).

If the US and Canadian teams take care of business today, it will lead to the showdown on Sunday that fans in both countries have been waiting for after last Sunday's USA upset of Canada in the qualifying round.

Don't forget about Section 303's viewing party at Bleachers on Sunday where there will be plenty of giveaways and good fellowship. To respond via Twtvite go here.

Shea Weber for Canada and Ryan Suter for Team USA are the two Predators left in the competition and both have been impact players for their teams.

Weber has two goals and three assists and provided the best memory of the tournament so far when he blew a puck threw the net on Tuesday night.

Ryan Suter has four assists and has led Team USA in minutes played and seemed to be on the ice for the last half of the third period against Switzerland.

It should be a fun final three games to the tournament and hopefully will get Pred fans in the mood to pack the Bridgestone Arena on Tuesday night when the Preds return against Edmonton.

In Pred Nation...

John Glennon has the schedule for the Olympic returnees and news that Cody Franson may not be ready by Tuesday. He also has the lowdown on the Dan Hamhuis trade rumors and Barry Trotz's view of the Olympics.

Jas Faulkner asks the question that many have wondered. Why are Weber and Suter more dominant on the world stage than they are playing for the Preds?

Jim Diamond discusses no touch icing. Sully thinks it's a good idea after getting nailed at MSG before the break.

David Boclair discusses injuries and returns.

Congrats to Dirk for one year of On The Forecheck. He celebrates with the same poll that he ran on day one.

AJ tackles a variety of topics at PMFF and gives a nod to POTG and OTF as being "meat and potatoes". I won't speak for Dirk, but I do appear to have had my share.

Rachel says it's getting down to the wire.

Eric Kent has the sad news of the Ad's 4-1 loss to Rockford last night.

Ryan Suter is doing a little pickin' and grinnin' with his new Gibson Dust Tiger.

Prospect Ryan Ellis was named the Golden Horseshoe Athlete of the Year.

Max Preps compares the 1980 Men's team and and this year's mens team that are connected by the name Suter.

Olympic Notes...

Team Canada's women's team smothered Team USA in a 2-0 win last night. The two teams are so much better than the rest of the world, there is serious discussion about booting the event out of the Olympics. The post victory celebration got too rowdy for the IOC and they will investigate the "behavior" of Canadian women hockey players who celebrated gold by swigging beer champagne on ice.

LeBrun and Burnside discuss how Slovakia could upset Canada and Finland could beat Team USA.

Puck Daddy has more on the Mike Milbury's "Eurotrash" comment including the clip.

The NHLPA is running a contest to give away a free jersey. Go here to enter. I'm not sure why they are doing this but I would take a free jersey. PS: US and Quebec residents are prohibited from entering.

Michelle Kenneth writes about the Slovakia win and the upcoming final four.

A look at the World Rankings shows that Finland is rated higher than Team USA.

Around the NHL...

There appears to be a difference in how NHL commissioner Gary Bettman views the relationship with the KHL and how KHL commissioner Alexander Medvedev sees it.

SI has a good story about Brian Burke attending to his Olympic duties in spite of his son Brendon's death. I'm not sure I could have done it.

Matt Reitz continues his look at all 30 teams at the trade deadline and gives his take on the Central Division this morning. This has really been a good series.

Puck The Media has the release for the added games on Versus next week. Sorry DirecTV customers. Steve also has info on the 70th anniversary of the first hockey game on TV. Also from Steve comes this @stevelepore: NHL Network will air TSN Tradecenter from 10am-6pm this year.

Congrats to Brandon Worley who is leaving SB's Defending Big D for a new gig doing a hockey Blog for NBC.

Odds and Ends...

Tom Petty announced a new album and a Summer tour that will stop at the Sommet Center on August 12. There is also a stream of a song off the new album for you to sample.

If you are one of the few that haven't heard @ConanOBrien is a verified Twitter account that is adding about 10,000 followers an hour.

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass