Canada and the United States, once hot favourites to battle for men’s ice hockey gold at the Beijing Winter Olympics, will watch on television or from the stands after quarter-final disasters sent them crashing out of the competition.
Action at the National Indoor Stadium on Wednesday began with a stunning upset and ended late in the evening with a surprise.
Slovakia started the day by pulling off the shock of the Olympic tournament when they beat the US team 3-2 in a shootout to reach the last four for just the second time.
The day ended with Canada, gold medal winners in two of the last three Olympics, shut out 2-0 by Sweden in a rematch of the 2014 Sochi final.
In between, defending gold medallists the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) eased past Games debutantes Denmark 3-1 and Finland thumped Switzerland 5-1.
The ROC will now face off against the Swedes, while Friday’s other semi-final will see Finland try to end Slovakia’s storybook run. (Reuters)