Sochi Day 14: Five things to watch

1) Canada-USA: After narrowly managing to advance past Latvia in the quarterfinals, there are more than a few question marks surrounding the Canadian men’s hockey team heading into Friday’s semifinal against Team USA. Against the Latvians—and Finland in the previous game — Canada’s inefficient offence and inability to finish around the net is cause for major concern. Some of it can be attributed to the defensive game plans put in place by those two teams, and while Canada can expect a more open game against the Americans, their forwards and captain Sidney Crosby will have to step up if they have a shot. USA, meanwhile, has been the most impressive team of the tournament, an offensive juggernaut capable of racking up goals in rapid succession. Against a more familiar style of play, you would expect the Canadians to look more fluid and comfortable out there, but there’s no question they are the underdogs, and it will take their best performance of the tourney to advance to Sunday’s gold medal game. 1 p.m. AT

2) Finland-Sweden: All of the goalies remaining in the men’s tournament are among the best in the world, but the matchup of Tuukka Rask and Henriq Lundqvist might just feature the tournament’s best. Both teams have a clear-cut identity and execute their respective game plans to perfection. Keep an eye out for 21-year old Mikael Granlund, the Finnish forward who is coming into form at just the right time and has developed killer chemistry with 43-year-old linemate Teemu Selanne. 8 a.m. AT

3) Another curling gold?: It wasn’t the perfect (read: undefeated) tournament that Jennifer Jones and the Canadian women put in, but Brad Jacobs and his team are coming into today’s gold medal match riding their best play of the tournament following a 10–6 win over China in the semifinals. Great Britain, meanwhile, narrowly edged Sweden to advance to the finals, where they are the underdogs having previously lost to Canada 7-5 during round robin play. 9:30 a.m. AT

4) Ladies ski-cross: While the French swept the podium in the men’s race, they likely won’t repeat in the ladies ski-cross event Friday, although France’s Ophélie David is always a threat with four podium finishes already in the 2013–14 FIS season (including a gold in the last race before Sochi). However, Canadians Marielle Thompson and Kelsey Serwa are legitimate medal threats as well –Thompson already has two FIS golds to her name this season (to go with a silver and a bronze), while Kelsey Serwa, the 2011 World Championship and X Games gold medallist, earned a silver in December in her first season back after injury. The qualification, quarters, semis, and finals will all go down today. 3:45 a.m. AT

5) Working on his third: Denny Morrison already has two medals in speed skating—a silver in 1,500 and bronze in 1,000. On Friday, he competes alongside Mathieu Giroux and Lucas Makowsky in his best event, the team pursuit, in which he is the defending Olympic champion. The Canadians will meet the Americans in the quarterfinals; semis will be held later in the day. 9:30 a.m. AT