MEDALS ROUND
Single-elimination quarterfinals
SWEDEN VS. BELARUS
E Center
Wednesday, 11 a.m.
TV: MSNBC
SLAP SHOTS: No. 1 seed Sweden, the only team to win all three games, and ex-Utah Grizzly Tommy Salo are the surprises of the tournament . . . He was brilliant against the Dream Teams he faced, Canada and the Czech Republic . . . Belarus coughed up 22 goals in three losses, but Ruslan Salei, the country's only NHLer, is confident: "I think we've got a chance against Sweden." He might be the only one.
FINLAND VS. CANADA
E Center
Wednesday, 8:15 p.m.
TV: NBC
SLAP SHOTS: The Canadians might have gotten the best of both worlds Monday — they rallied to tie the Czech Republic, thus avoiding Russia in the quarterfinals, and got an inspiring two-goal outing from Mario Lemieux in the process . . . Goalie Martin Brodeur has played solidly in back-to-back games . . . Finland has been on a tear since suffering a 6-0 shellacking by the U.S. . . . Finland beat Canada 3-2 in the bronze-medal game in 1998.
CZECH REPUBLIC VS. RUSSIA
The Peaks Ice Arena
Wednesday, 1:30 p.m.
TV: MSNBC
SLAP SHOTS: This is a repeat of the 1998 gold-medal game, which the Czechs won 1-0 . . . Goalie extraordinaire Dominik Hasek carried Czech to that gold, but he has been almost human here — seven goals against in three games. That's still pretty dang good . . . Go ahead, try to figure out the Russians. They squeaked by bottom-feeder Belarus, played a magnificent game against the U.S. and then flopped at Finland's feet . . . Russia's Nikolai Khabibulin has been so-so, allowing three goals a game.
UNITED STATES VS. GERMANY
E Center
Wednesday, 4 p.m.
TV: NBC
SLAP SHOTS: The U.S. comes into the quarterfinals on fire, holding three foes to three goals with three different goalies . . . The Americans scored tournament-best 16 goals in the final round . . . The U.S. beat Germany in their last Olympic meeting, 2-0, in Albertville 10 years ago . . . Team USA hasn't been beaten on its own Olympic ice in 70 years . . . Forward Keith Tkachuk missed Monday's game and is questionable with a bruised thigh . . . USA went 1-3 in Nagano but is 2-0-1 in Salt Lake. That's the Americans' best start since 1980, the last time they medaled.
