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That's what we chanted last night at the Canada vs. Slovakia game and tomorrow we're gonna get it. With the USA's stomping over Finland and Canada's win over Slovakia, the Olympics may have written itself one of the greatest stories the NHL could ask for in a gold medal game: Canada vs. USA rematch

Tomorrow's game has so many great story lines that will culminate in one game that will actually be aired on NBC live. Yes really, it will actually be aired live, so those hockey mad people in California don't have to wait 3 hours for the tape delay of NBC trying to avoid hearing or reading what the score is like they've had to do this past week. NBC is calling this a 'classic rematch' and with it being less than 24 hours away, the anticipation is huge.

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More photos » DENIS PAQUIN - AP

7 months ago: FILE -- This is a Feb. 17, 1998, file photo showing members of the U.S. women's hockey team celebrating their gold medal win against Canada during their finals match at the XVIII Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan. Former NHL stars Tony Amonte, Tom Barrasso, John LeClair and the 1998 U.S. Olympic Women's Ice Hockey team will be inducted into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame, USA Hockey announced Tuesday July 28, 2009.(AP Photo/Denis Paquin, File)

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A version of this post was first published at Cycle Like the Sedins on 22 February 2010.

There’s been a lot of discussion about women’s ice hockey lately. The United States will meet Canada to play for the gold medal – again – tonight at 6:30 Eastern, and it was pretty much a foregone conclusion that they’d be playing each other for the gold from the beginning. For both teams, their opponents appeared to be nothing more than speed bumps on the way to this game.

Scores like 18-0, 13-0, 12-1 were common for those two national teams. Because of this, many people have been questioning whether women’s ice hockey should be an Olympic event because of the lack of suitable competition. So let me explain about women’s hockey. I used to play, so I know how this goes.

First off, there’s a very good reason why the US and Canada have easily out-played their competition. Canada has had a women’s hockey program in place since least the 1980s. The US has had a women’s hockey program for probably just as long as Canada has. And both countries have has girls playing on boys teams for a lot longer than that.

The very first international women’s hockey tournament was held in 1990. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1992 made women’s ice hockey a gold medal event at the 1998 Olympics in Nagano, Japan. Only six countries participated in that first Olympics for the sport in 1998: The US (gold), Canada (silver), Finland (bronze), China, Sweden, and the host country, Japan. So women’s hockey is a relatively young sport.

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Team Canada and Team USA's women's hockey teams have been handing out blowouts to teams in the Olympics like they are free candy. Because of that, a lot of talk has arisen about whether blowouts hurt hockey tournaments or whether there should be a mercy rule introduced. With Team Canada winning over Slovakia 18-0 in group A and the US handing the Russian women a 13-0 loss in group B, it shows the Canadian and American squad's are at a level entirely on their won.

But should a mercy rule be introduced?

As someone who has been attending some of the Games, I say no.

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"...At this stage of my career I don't think I'm ever going to be really healthy again so I'm just going to do my best and see how it goes."

-Forsberg still hankers for NHL future

A very true, but probably very painful, admission from one of the greatest hockey players ever.

I watched much of this game, and while Forsberg is no longer the dominant player he once was, he was still quick and had some good moves. Oh, and his passing skills haven't diminished one bit - which was always one of his biggest strengths. On pretty much any team in the NHL, given what I saw, he'd still be considered a solid #2 centerman.

He didn't skate the same, tho. I'd heard prior to the Olympics that he'd has some rib problems, and he skated like it. His upper body was held stiffly and he tended to shy away from hits along the boards. He did not seem to have any problems with his infamous foot, however.

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I have made it through my first weekend of festivities and now that the late games of the hockey tournament have started to kick in, the tiredness has started as well. When you get told you look tired, it's almost like a badge of honour because you know that means you've been enjoying to events to their fullest.

It's not like I only care about hockey since in the last few days I've learned a ton about speedskating and moguls skiing, but since it's tournament style over a two week span, hockey will become something that the whole city will get in to. It also helps that Team Canada has the potential to do well and that this city is hockey mad. The game on Sunday against Team USA is one of the most talked about in the tournament and should promise to be a good game.

So what have I learned so far in 6 days of the Olympics?

Team Canada has sold a lot of jerseys and Russian tracksuits are kinda awesome, let me explain

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More photos » Paul Battaglia - AP

about 1 month ago: Minnesotans from the gold-medal winning 1960 Olympic hockey team: Jack McCarten, from front, John Mayasich, Richard Meredith and Paul Johnson, leave the ice after being honored before an NHL hockey game between the Minnesota Wild and the Vancouver Canucks, Sunday, Feb. 14, 2010, in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Paul Battaglia)

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Here is a list of the games we play on having game threads for. The games were determined by level of interest and also be level of competition. I don't know about you, but I know that I'm not interested in sitting through a hockey game that ends 18-0.

Any elimination rounds, semifinals, or various other playoff / medal games will be determined once the brackets are set.

Tuesday, 16 February: USA vs Russia (women) at 5:30 pm Eastern

This probably won't be a very competitive game, but it's the USA versus Russia. Trying to work with the nostalgia appeal here. The men's games going on on this day should be blowouts. This women's game shouldn't be so bad.

The men's games going on this day are: USA vs Switzerland, Canada vs Norway, and Russia vs Latvia.

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Olympic Torch - Getty Images

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There are just mere hours until the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics begins and the city of Vancouver is buzzing. You can literally feel the excitement in my city right now. I felt it walking around town, I felt it while taking the bus to work this morning and among family and friends, well we can't stop talking about it. It's like you feel like you and your city are part of something bigger, like something great could happen during these Games.

You can feel the excitement in little things like the flags on cars or the different country flags hanging on the balconies at the Olympic Village. Seeing people wearing something that says Canada or something to do with Hockey Canada makes me smile. You can strike up a conversation with anyone on the street and be able to be excited about something together is amazing in a city where that isn't the norm. It's in the flood of people from around the world speaking different languages, even if they are taking photos of things for some reason that us locals can't seem to understand.

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While most of the NHL and the Tampa Bay Lightning will be relaxing on a beach somewhere after this weekend, we here at Raw Charge will be diving into the Olympic hockey experience.

We have three excellent writers joining us for the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics. All three are located in Vancouver, British Columbia, and they will be providing the local view of these winter games. While we will certainly be following how the Lightning Olympians will be doing, our infamous Vancouver Lightning contingent will also be giving us fresh perspective of how things are going in this western Canadian city.

Hockey will be first and foremost, as always. And we will be including some space for the women’s national teams as well as the men’s. But there will also be stories about the city, the locals, the tourists, and the overall games. We hope to bring to Florida, the East Coast of the United States, and everywhere else this site reaches the Pacific Northwest (or, should I say, the Sunshine Coast?) flavor of these Games.

We look forward to providing you coverage of the Olympics and the city in which they’re taking place. Not only do we intend to write about it and have game threads available for select hockey matchups, but we will also hopefully include pictures and perhaps video as well. And if there’s anything anyone’s has questions about, or are particularly interested in, please leave a comment and we’ll see what we can do.

Raw Charge will be here to help you through these rough two weeks without the NHL or the Tampa Bay Lightning. Please check back often to see what new Olympic tidbits we may have – as well as for any Lightning news that becomes available during this time span. Thank you for reading and participating on our site, and we hope you enjoy the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic Games with us!