VANCOUVER - Think of it as "The Rubber Match."

That's what Team Canada head coach Mike Babcock calls it - the deciding game in world hockey supremacy in a winter in which the United States captured the World Junior Championship, Canadian women retained their gold medal and, today, the United States and Canada will meet to decide the Olympic champion in men's hockey.

The North American rivals met once before, 2002 in Salt Lake City, with 10.6-million Canadians tuning in to see a game that actually wasn't much of a match, Canada winning easily 5-2.

Many more millions will surely watch today - and much more is expected of the game.

Back in 2002 a fluke bounce by Belarus put the best team in the tournament, Sweden, out. But no such argument exists this year. After Canada's 7-3 bashing of pre-tournament favourite Russia, after little Slovakia dumped defending champion Sweden, and after unbeaten U.S.A. nuked Finland 6-1, there can be no debate as to whether the two best teams, the two most-deserving teams, are in the final.

And so, before the puck drops, let us count the ways in which one team might be superior to the other:

(bold)Goaltending: (end bold) U.S.A.'s Ryan Miller is the goaltender of these Olympic games. Second place would go to Switzerland's Jonas Hiller, third to Slovakia's Jaroslav Halak. That leaves Canada somewhat down the line. Martin Brodeur played in Canada's 5-3 loss to U.S.A. one week ago and hasn't played since. Hometown hero Roberto Luongo had an easy time against Germany (the team that never attacks) and seemingly so against Slovakia right up until the dying minutes. The weak goal he let leak in the side brought all the old can-he-win-the-big-game questions up all over again. Advantage U.S.A. - at least until Luongo proves he can win a big one.

(bold)Defence: (end bold) This is surely the most fluid area of measure, as so much seems to change each game. Canada's Dan Boyle was thought to be a mistake in the early games but against Germany and Slovakia he suddenly raised his game - including defence - to new levels. U.S.A. has youth - the two Johnsons, Erik and Jack, Ryan Suter and Tim Gleason - but also one old man, 36-year-old Brian Rafalski, who has played brilliantly and personally put Canada on the ropes last week. Canada, however, has depth and rising superstar Drew Doughty. If Duncan Keith and Shea Weber continue their standard of play, it's advantage Canada.

(bold)Attack: (end bold) Normally, we would be talking about Sidney Crosby and Jarome Iginla, but Crosby has been quiet on the scoresheet, if still good on the ice, and Iginla has faded in and out of focus like cheap binoculars. It's been the footsoldiers carrying most of the attack, which is admirable but also a bit worrisome. U.S.A.'s Patrick Kane put on the display of the Olympics against Finland, seemingly stickhandling at will through pylons. Zach Parise (Canadian blood, U.S. passport) is a pure scorer. Advantage slightly U.S.A.

(bold)Irritants: (end bold) U.S.A.'s Dustin Brown drew two Finland penalties in the early going Friday and his team scored on both power plays to effectively end the game before anyone had even perspired. But Canada's Mike Richards and Brenden Morrow have continually driven other teams to distraction with their forechecking and little-guy big hits. Advantage Canada.

(bold)Speed: (end bold) This was the difference maker in the World Juniors. U.S.A. has Kane, Paul Stastny, Phil Kessel, Bobby Ryan, Parise, Ryan Callahan. Canada has its own speed, but not nearly the (ital)quickness(end ital) that the young Americans possess. Advantage slightly U.S.A.

(bold)Calm: (end bold) We have seen both teams in full panic mode - potentially disastrous for any team. The Canadians seemed completely shell-shocked in the dying minutes of Friday's 3-2 win over Slovakia. The sense was inescapable that if the game had gone on two more minutes, or if the Slovaks had started their challenge a couple of minutes earlier, the game would have gone into overtime, where anything can happen. The Americans have panicked only once, and that was in the third period against Canada when it seemed Canada had a five-man advantage and only Miller stood between them and a comeback victory. Given that the Americans panicked when the Canadians attacked, it has to be advantage Canada.

(bold)Coaching: (end bold) Both Babcock and U.S.A. head coach Ron Wilson have healthy egos - they can both sound at times as if they (ital)invented(end ital) the game - but Wilson's ran off with his Friday when, in a press conference, he began reading his own resume off to reporters. Truth is, coaching at this stage means practically nothing. The players will decide the game on their own. Advantage neither.

(bold)Luck: (end bold) In the end, when two teams are so close, the deciding factor is often chance. A bounce here, a whiff there, heart-stopping for both sides. Advantage fans.

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