from the IIHF,

(Lucas) Aykroyd, who has covered every Winter Olympics and IIHF World Championship since 2000, is offering another long-range forecast for the 2014 Winter Games. History, current trends, available talent, and a little bit of intuition are all factored in. Just like last time, these predictions are solely the writer’s and do not reflect any official views of the IIHF.

Preliminary Round

Wednesday, February 12

Game 1: SWE 3, CZE 2: Zetterberg paces Tre Kronor with three points, Czechs limited to six shots in third

Game 2: SUI 4, LAT 1: Hollenstein scores twice, Ozolins earns first Olympic point since 2006

Analysis: Remarkably, the well-organized Swedes haven’t lost an Olympic opener since 1964 (3-1 to Canada), and that streak should continue here, with Tre Kronor taking the edge over the Czechs in goal and on defence. Switzerland, coming off a historic silver medal performance at the 2013 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship, should handle the Latvians with relative ease in their first-ever Olympic meeting. Latvia has lost six out of its last eight World Championship games with the Swiss, dating back to 1999.

read on including the All-Star team...