First, a brickbat to the managers of www.vancouver2010.com for a job badly done. Want to find out what the matchups are for the men's quarterfinal ice hockey round on February 24? Especially if you hold an expensive ticket to one of these games? Well, you won't find it on their site; all they have is a bunch of "TBD"'s. Instead, I found the information on NESN.com: Olympic Hockey Bracket Could Set Up Canada-Russia Quarterfinal Matchup .

To save you the trouble of clicking the link, it's

• United States vs. Switzerland/Belarus winner at noon (I've converted the times to PST)
• Finland vs. Czech Republic/Latvia winner at 4:30 PM
• Sweden vs. Slovakia/Norway winner at 7 PM (this game is at Thunderbird Arena, another piece of information that's difficult to find on the official site)
• Russia vs. Canada/Germany winner at 9 PM

Now, to the main event. One of the most quoted people here among the hard-core ice hockey fans is Alex Ovechkin, the Russian/Washington Capitals superstar. He said he would play in the 2014 Games in Sochi, Russia, even if the NHL refuses permission: "I'll go play in the Olympic Games for my country. If somebody says to me you can't play, see ya."

Good for him, and let's hope more players follow his example. The NHL has long had their priorities backwards; they shouldn't be so concerned about keeping a franchise in Phoenix when Winnipeg, Hamilton, ON and Quebec City don't currently have teams.

Olympic ice hockey should return to the way it was before the NHL was involved. Ask players who want to be Olympians to commit to a year. Have training camps and pre-Olympic warmup games. We'll have a better hockey tournament. This is what Real Ice Hockey Fans want; having NHL players matters only to the TV people.

Good article on the same subject by Joe Lapointe at the Huffington Post: Olympic Hockey Heaven