One of the great things about Olympic hockey is that you get to root for players you'd normally jeer. It often gives you a new appreciation for a once-villain and can even make you empathize with rival fans (Crosby? Why? Whyyyyyyy?).

With that in mind, there are some players whom I'll have a lot of trouble rooting against after the United States' Cinderella run to the silver medal. Here's a list of some players who I'll be rooting for individually, even when they're playing against the Penguins.

(And, for fun, a few players from other countries who really caught my eye)

US players who are now (temporarily) bulletproof:

Ryan Miller - well, obviously. Miller was great in this tournament (a bit shaky at times in the gold medal game but made some huge saves when it mattered). I've been a fan of Miller's for quite some time and he's made a serious case for "best goalie alive" status. Either way, he was amazingly poised and kept the US in some tough games.

Brian Rafalski - despite being a member of the Detroit Red Wings, it's going to be hard to hate on Rafalski for a while. He was by far the steadiest influence on the red-white-and-blue line and also had an amazing performance in the first Canada-US game. I thought he had lost a step recently, but he was great during the Olympics.

Ryan Callahan/David Backes - those two threw their bodies around with reckless abandon. Respect.

Chris Drury - while his contract is still absurdly bloated, Drury was a shot blocking machine in the Olympics. It's hard not to like a player who puts his body on the line like that.

Zach Parise - even before he scored that amazing last-minute goal against Canada, Parise was easily one of the best forwards for the US. Maybe he's not really an American, but we'll take him.

David Backes is a bad ass.

Patrick Kane - he didn't have a very consistent tournament, but man oh man did he play a great game today. Kane is simply a delight to watch and is one of the league's slickest stick handlers. Parise scored that game-tying goal, but Kane made a bunch of big plays in that sequence. The kid is special.

Ryan Kesler - his amazing empty net goal was the cherry on top of a gritty, high-IQ Olympics sundae. I have a serious Kesler man-crush.

Not quites:

The Johnsons - Erik and Jack (no relation) had some great moments but also made some huge blunders. I'm particularly smitten by Erik, but he still has a ways to go before he meets #1 pick expectations. He certainly has the physical tools to do that, though.

Joe Pavelski - I don't think he had a "standout" tournament, but I still have a ton of respect for Pavelski.

Stinkers:

Phil Kessel - while Kessel can skate like the wind, he's a turnover machine who could probably benefit from making more "simple" plays. Just about every time he had the puck, I expected either a) nothing to happen or b) something bad to happen. Boston might have made the right choice, even if there will be some short term pain.

Ryan Whitney - he wasn't god awful but he made his trademark horrible turnovers. I'm probably, at times, a bit hard on Whitney but still. I can't help but think he sucks.

Other countries (good):

Shea Weber - is a man. That guy really can do it all. He really worked over Alex Ovechkin, which doesn't happen very often. Even if he didn't shoot through a net he'd still be a monster, but that was his "Larry Robinson checks someone hard enough to dent the boards" moment. What a beast.

Jonas Hiller - already was "on my radar" after his amazing performance against the Sharks in last year's playoffs. He was even better in this tournament and was the only reason the Swiss gave the US and Canada serious headaches. The Ducks have to feel pretty good about Hiller being their future in net after seeing how well he handled such pressure.

Mark Streit - quite possibly the most underrated defenseman in the NHL.

Pavol Demitra - although he missed two golden opportunities to tie Slovakia's semi-final match with Canada, Demitra seemed revitalized in these playoffs. Perhaps Demitra can get healthy enough to be a productive NHL player again?

Other countries (bad):

Team Russia - really stunk up the joint and didn't help matters by blowing off the media. As an at-the-moment nonpracticing journalist, the interview snubs don't bother me personally but those actions indicate a lack of maturity. Really, the team paid for being arrogant enough to think that their star power could push a KHL-heavy roster through the best teams in the world.

It wasn't one player's fault and almost no one played well. So much for Russia being a hockey juggernaut.

Kipper- sure, Finland won the bronze, but Kipper's meltdown against the US team was very telling. You think he'll be able to demand a starter's role in 2014?

Sweden - wow, did Sweden get old all of a sudden? It's still stunning that Lidstrom was shut out of the playoffs and the team didn't even make it to the semi-finals. Russia got the most heat for crapping out of the Olympics, but Sweden was pretty underwhelming themselves.

Final thoughts:

He might not have lit up the scoreboard, but Sidney Crosby sure received a lot of criticism on Twitter (Twittercism?) after scoring a gold medal winning goal. No doubt about it, he receives too much attention but what else can he do on the ice to justify the hype? He's 22 years old and already has a gold medal, Cup, scoring title and Hart trophy on his resume. What else does he have to do before people say, "it's annoying that he gets so much attention, but he is really good."

Alex Ovechkin had a tough Olympics, but he had his fair share of high points (clobbering Jaromir Jagr and Zdeno Chara, in particular).

Maybe Ovechkin and Crosby putting up "human" numbers might indicate that, you know, there are a lot of other great hockey players in the NHL. Just compare the talented Olympic teams to Olympic basketball and you'll see that hockey talent is wonderfully spread across the globe.

Some people get so caught up in homer behavior (either for their NHL team, national team or both) when this tournament should be a celebration of all things hockey. Sometimes, you need to just enjoy the sport and get over your puck prejudices.