TEAM USA UPSET; THIS IS GETTING OLD

The bad karma of America's Losing Year apparently carried over into Day 1 of the 2007 World Junior Hockey Championship -- highly touted Team USA was knocked off 2-1 in overtime by Germany today in Sweden.

The Americans outshot Germany 39-16 -- the exact shots-on-goal count from the 1980 Miracle On Ice game. Seriously. Goalie Sebastian Stefaniszyn was a major hero for the Germans.

That's the same Germany who played in the relegation round last year and whom James Mirtle picked to finish 10th -- in a 10-team tournament.

Let's not get too cocky, since Team Canada plays the U.S. tomorrow. Canada was just OK in a 2-0 shutout of Sweden, although goalie Carey Price played well in making 31 saves for the goose egg.