US, Canada both out of men’s hockey at Olympics

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)