U.S. hockey team general manager David Poile is recovering from a third surgery after being hit with an errant puck to the face Feb. 6 that broke his nose and cracked bone around one of his eyes. Poile, also GM of the Nashville Predators, had surgery Feb. 14 at Vanderbilt University Medical Center so doctors could evaluate the damage around his eye. He was hurt while standing in a tunnel behind the bench in Minnesota during a Predators' pregame skate when a deflected puck hit him. He needed two surgeries in Minnesota, and the injuries preventing Poile from traveling to Sochi.

When Sidney Crosby went through the entire preliminary round of the Olympic men's hockey tournament without scoring a goal, it set off waves of concern back home. Canadians should know better than anybody that Crosby is more into big Olympic finishes. ''I think you always want more,'' Crosby said when asked if he was doing enough for Canada. The NHL's top scorer has two assists while playing with a rotating cast of wings, and coach Mike Babcock appears ready to shake it up again Tuesday, perhaps reuniting Crosby with his much-criticized Pittsburgh teammate, Chris Kunitz.

T.J. Oshie, the mild-mannered forward who morphed into Superman and single-handedly outscored Russia in a shootout for the ages, won't sneak up on anyone again soon, let alone against the Americans' next opponent in Wednesday's Olympic quarterfinals. In the days since the win over Russia, Oshie has become the hottest U.S. import here since the iPad. He got a shout-out from President Barack Obama as part of his star turn on Twitter, talked to the ''Today'' show and met what he called ''some pretty influential people.'' Just as his teammates let up on the needling and things began to slow down, his jerseys started flying off store shelves and his agent's phone nearly blew up.

When Alexander Radulov pumped both fists and let loose a jubilant scream, an entire hockey nation also exhaled for a day. Radulov had two goals and an assist, and Russia survived its first elimination game in Sochi with a 4-0 victory Tuesday over Norway in the qualification round. Sergei Bobrovsky made 22 saves in the second straight shutout victory for the fifth-seeded Russians, who earned a meeting with Finland in the quarterfinals Wednesday. ''It is do-or-die games right now,'' said Alex Ovechkin, who hasn't scored a goal in three games.

Only one game went ahead in the Cumbria League and Egremont deserve huge credit for getting their pitch playable.