The main event: Men’s hockey begins at Olympics with plenty of big names on hand

Main event: Men’s hockey begins at Olympics

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Crosby. Ovechkin. Jagr. Selanne.

At most Olympic events, you can’t tell the players without a scorecard, but the men’s hockey tournament is a different story. The NHL is taking a break in the middle of its season, and hockey’s biggest names are on hand at the Vancouver Games.

The preliminary round begins Tuesday, with the U.S., Canada and Russia all in action on CNBC and USA. Although the knockout round doesn’t start until next week, intensity will be at a fever pitch from the beginning.

“It’s kind of cool to have the whole country at your back and not just your city but the country rooting for you,” American forward Patrick Kane said. “I think that’s exciting.’”

Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin, the NHL’s two top players, are the biggest stars here as well. Crosby is being counted on to lead Canada back to the top after a seventh-place finish at the 2006 Olympics. Ovechkin and the Russians will try to end their own slump. Since the breakup of the Soviet Union, Russia’s best finish was a silver medal in 1998.

Somehow, Sweden has managed to stay under the radar despite winning the gold in 2006.

“I think it’s a good thing everyone’s talking about Canada and Russia,” Sweden’s Nicklas Backstrom said. “We can be underdogs and maybe surprise some teams.”

The tournament has included its share of upsets in recent Olympics. In 1998, the first year the NHL stopped play for the Winter Games, the Czech Republic beat Canada and Russia in back-to-back games to win the gold.

Jaromir Jagr, a member of that Czech team, will play in Vancouver even though he left the NHL to play in Russia two years ago.

“I know it’s probably my last tournament,” Jagr said. “I’m not the same guy I was 10 years ago.”

Another old-timer, 39-year-old Teemu Selanne, is back after helping Finland to a silver medal in 2006.

The Americans are bringing an inexperienced team to Vancouver, but goaltender Ryan Miller could give the U.S. a shot at only its second medal since winning gold in 1980. The Americans also won silver in 2002, when Canada won the gold.

Steve Yzerman played for Canada that year, helping the hockey-obsessed country win its first Olympic title in 50 years. Now, he’s the team’s executive director.

“You do whatever you can. If that means diving in front of a shot to block it, you do that. If that means playing in a certain position you do that,” Yzerman said. “If that means that you play more minutes than you’re accustomed to, you do that. In some cases that means less minutes, you do that as well. … This event is so big and the guys want to do so well, they’ll do whatever they have to.”

The NHL kept playing through Sunday, so these Olympic all-star teams haven’t had much time to prepare.

“It’s not like the women’s hockey team … where they’ve been together for six months playing 25, 30 exhibition games,” U.S. coach Ron Wilson said.

Teams are divided into three groups for the preliminary round, although that’s basically a warmup. Every team advances to the knockout stage.

The U.S. and Canada are in the same group, meaning no matter what happens, they’ll play Sunday in a TV-friendly showdown.

Although it might be overshadowed by the start of men’s hockey, the men’s figure skating short program takes place Tuesday. NBC plans prime-time coverage of it, along with women’s snowboardcross, the men’s Alpine super-combined and women’s speedskating.