International:

The English midfielder, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, scored the two needed goals to move Arsenal back into top place last Sunday, February 2.  After an uneventful first half, Oxlade-Chamberlain floated a shot past goalie Julian Speroni of Crystal Palace. He continued to impress and later in the second half, completed a perfect give-and-go pass with teammate Olivier Giroud to drive in the second goal of the match against Crystal Palace.

With the 2-0 win against Crystal Palace, Arsenal secured their number one spot in the Premier League with 55 points. Closely following in the Premier League is Manchester City and Chelsea, both with 53 points. The best teams in the Premier League will move on to the Champions League next year, Arsenal likely to be one of them.

National:

The US Olympic National Hockey team, led by Captain Zach Parise, begins their 2014 Olympic battle in a game against Slovakia February 13. During Parise’s nine years in the NHL, he has collected 482 points in his career, as well as a silver medal in the 2010 Olympics.

Head coach, Dan Bylsma of the Pittsburgh Penguins, makes his first appearance in the Olympics. The US National team include Patrick Kane, the only Blackhawk, Jonathan Quick and Dustin Brown of the LA Kings, and Max Paciorietty of the Montreal Canadians.

The US hockey team is in Group A with Slovakia, Slovenia and Russia. The top two teams from each group move into the medal qualifying rounds. Group A will be a three team battle between the USA, Russia and Slovakia. The Gold Medal game airs on Sunday February 23 at 7 a.m. on NBC.

Local:

The Northwestern Wildcats are 12-12 this season, and 5-6 in the Big 10 conference. The team’s leading scorer and rebounder is forward Drew Crawford. The Wildcats hired head coach Chris Collins at the start of the season. Northwestern is currently in seventh place in the Big 10.

Collins spent the last 13 seasons with Duke University, assisting head coach Mike Krzyzewski. The next two games for Northwestern are conference games. Northwestern played Michigan State on the 13and will play Minnesota on the 16 of February. Northwestern’s main goal is to just qualify for the NCAA tournament.