The other night this blog touched on the disappointing first week for the Canadians in the overall medal race, but how the "action sports" -- snowboarding and freestyle skiing -- could get the host nation back in contention.

Right on cue, Canadian Ashleigh McIvor took care of business in women's ski cross on Day 12. But the U.S. is winning the Cypress Mountain medal race, which could end up deciding the overall medal count.

Those are the words of Slovakian forward Pavol Demitra, spoken after Slovakia's shootout win over Russia in their second game at the Olympics.

Indeed, finally, since goaltending has long been Slovakia's biggest weakness. They've got the scoring ability, with Demitra and the Marians Gaborik and Hossa, to name a few. And monster defenseman Zdeno Chara has done a respectable job running things on the blueline (he's also the team's captain).

But until Vancouver, the team's best finish at the Olympics was fifth, accomplished in Torino. There, they posted five wins in group play, but lost in the quarterfinals to the Czech Republic 3-1. But in 2010, Slovakia can't finish lower than fourth after beating the defending champ Swedes in the quarterfinals.

A big finish in figure skating and women's hockey. A turmoil-infused giant slalom continues. And Cypress Mountain goes into "Hurricane" warning mode.

Here's a closer look at what to watch on Day 14 in Vancouver:

The reason Lydia Lassila was yelling: She had just flown off an aerials jump and landed the wrong way on her knee, which was being tenuously held together by a cadaver's Achilles' that had been grafted onto her ACL.

It's safe to say you won't find the video clip of Lassila's cries of anguish on any freestyle skiing promotional videos.

Here's a breakdown of some of the key moments from Johnny Weir's own version of Meet the Press on Wednesday:

Earlier this week, Dutch speed skater Sven Kramer was a lock for gold in the 10,000m. But in the middle of his race, Kramer switched into the wrong lane based on his coach's advice. The miscue got Kramer was disqualified. His coach admitted the mistake. but Kramer is already looking past it, vowing to keep his coach.

Put yourself in Kramer's shoes. Do you imagine yourself making the same decision to forgive your coach? Do you say 'accidents happen'? Or, given that you should really have two gold medals from Vancouver, is this too big of a mistake to forgive?