Olympic Hockey = NHL Hockey? Screw That.

I was so looking forward to Olympic hockey -- men's and women's. I am a life-long fan, but am kinda weird in that I don't pay attention to trades and rules and hype. Like Chance said, I just like to watch.

Tonight, Canada v. USA. Men's.

It was a pretty boring game between two middling-skill NHL teams.

Because it was all NHL style. Same ice size, same rules.

Here:

Changes from previous tournaments

The 2010 tournament marks the first time since NHL players have been allowed to compete that the Olympics will be held in a city with an NHL team. For the first time, Olympic games will be played on a narrower NHL-sized ice rink, measuring 61 m × 26 m (200 ft × 85 ft), instead of the international size of 61 m × 30 m (200 ft × 98.4 ft). This change is expected to save $10 million (CAD) in construction costs and allow more spectators to attend games.

This will also be the first Olympics in which the four-official system, with two referees and two linesmen, will be used during the men's tournament.[2] The NHL began using the two-referee system in the 1998–99 season,[2] while the IIHF first started using it in its major men's championship tournaments in the 2008 IIHF World Championship.[3] However, for the women's tournament in Vancouver, the IIHF still plans to only use the standard three-official system with one referee and two linesmen, saying that the four-official system is not currently needed in women's international hockey.

Who knew?

The fun of Olympic hockey used to be not just the jingoism. But watching the hot-shit stars of the NHL deal with bigger ice, different rules.

It's official. I'm done with the fucking Olympics.