Olympic Hockey

[Gargantua]

Well Finland just nuked Russia from the tournament. And canada is tied with Latvia 1-1 going into the 2nd period!!! -gulp-!

[Witt]

Kazakhstan greatest country in the world.
All other countries are run by little girls.…@Mallery29:

The ���� pulled in Nagano turned me off rooting for USA except when playing Russian….that’s it…I’ll root for Kazahkstan over USA any day.

[Young Grasshopper]

Not a big fan of the way Canada has been playing overall, we won many international titles by being physical and that seems to missing over the past decade. Right now they’re in a 1-1 tie against Ted Nolan’s Latvia team, and with all the side stories between Ted Nolan and Canada’s assistant coach, Lindy Ruff, it could get very dramatic. I think Mike Babcock is making a big mistake by not replacing Sidney Crosby on the top line with John Tavares, an adjustment that should be made IMO. AS for the US team, they are definitely the gold medal favorites now that Russia is out and the way they have been playing up to this point. After the Americans, it’s a split between the last remaining teams Canada, Sweden, and Finland as the next best team so far. However, there’s still the powerhouse Latvians making a case to medal in Sochi. With all that individual skill and talent, the Russians still can’t play as a team, GO CANADA GO!

[LHoffman]

@Gargantua:

Well Finland just nuked Russia from the tournament. And canada is tied with Latvia 1-1 going into the 2nd period!!! -gulp-!

Yeah, tell me about it. I wanted a gold medal rematch from Vancouver just to make the victory that much sweeter… but I suppose a semi-final match will have to do…  That is, if Canada can grit it out against LATVIA of all countries!!! Geez guys.

[Young Grasshopper]

So Canada VS, U.S.A, and Sweden VS. Finland… 2 big rivalries to set up the Gold medal game. Price will have to stand on his head for the Canadians to beat the Americans.

[LHoffman]

@Young:

So Canada VS, U.S.A, and Sweden VS. Finland… 2 big rivalries to set up the Gold medal game. Price will have to stand on his head for the Canadians to beat the Americans.

Price has been one of their best so far… wouldn’t worry about him. The forwards need to learn that you win by putting the puck in the net.

[Young Grasshopper]

@LHoffman:

@Young:

So Canada VS, U.S.A, and Sweden VS. Finland… 2 big rivalries to set up the Gold medal game. Price will have to stand on his head for the Canadians to beat the Americans.

Price has been one of their best so far… wouldn’t worry about him. The forwards need to learn that you win by putting the puck in the net.

Even if the Canadian forwards explode for 5 goals, Carey Price will still need to be great against that American offense.

[LHoffman]

@Young:

Even if the Canadian forwards explode for 5 goals, Carey Price will still need to be great against that American offense.

Probably true… though I have been wondering if for some reason the Canadian team will have an easier time against the Americans because they are more familiar with them and they all play in the NHL so their styles should be similar, that sort of thing. I hope that is not the case, but it seems plausible. I mean, how long can Canada not score with all the guys they’ve got?

[Gargantua]

LOL…

The Lativian Goalie had to take “medical” breaks to avoid exhaustion.

What a bad a$$!

[Mallery29]

To what are you referring?

Hoff, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/sports/longterm/olympics1998/sport/hockey/articles/trash20.htm

Puck American Hockey players!  BTW, Russia was overrated….Did you not watch the 2010 Olympics and how Russia was supposed to be awesome??  Oh yea, Canada put 6 on them…And didn’t Canada start off 2010 slow?  Please remind me WHO won the gold?  I’m still saying Sweden v. Canada.

[Young Grasshopper]

Canada was facing a very suffocating euro style defense that the Americans will refuse to employ. Therefore, The Canadian forwards should see more run and gun chances, but so will the US. This game might come down to who can defend the odd man rushes better, and which goalie has the most ice in his veins. My prediction is Canada over the US 4-2 with an empty net goal.

I bet against the Fins during the WJHC, so I’m not making that mistake again… Finland VS. Canada for gold.

[LHoffman]

@Mallery29:

Hoff, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/sports/longterm/olympics1998/sport/hockey/articles/trash20.htm

Puck American Hockey players!

Oookaaayyyy…. That was 16 years ago. None of the same guys are on the team, the team management is different too. I don’t know why an isolated incident like that would forever prevent you from supporting your country’s team. Seems a little overblown to me. Not to say that what they did was acceptable or in any way okay, but it wasn’t like they killed someone.

What about the story about the US swim team at the bottom of the article? Do you root against the USA swim team still too?

[LHoffman]

@Young:

Canada was facing a very suffocating euro style defense that the Americans will refuse to employ. Therefore, The Canadian forwards should see more run and gun chances, but so will the US. This game might come down to who can defend the odd man rushes better, and which goalie has the most ice in his veins. My prediction is Canada over the US 4-2 with an empty net goal.

I bet against the Fins during the WJHC, so I’m not making that mistake again… Finland VS. Canada for gold.

I am not really into making predictions, because literally anything could happen. That and my heart tends to speak for my head.

So I am saying (hoping for) US vs. Sweden gold medal game.

Really, it does not matter to me who the winner of the other game is. I always want the US to be crowned as champs fair and square, which should mean facing the toughest competition and winning. Looking strictly at the rosters, Sweden is the more formidable team, and one that was a favorite for gold at the outset. Seems like a victory over them will cement the US’s place as olympic champions; then having defeated Russia, Canada and Sweden… all three favorites for gold. However, the Finns have played so well that if they beat Sweden they obviously were better than them and deserve to play for the gold. Either one will be a worthy opponent.

Hopefully I do not get ahead of myself here.

[Young Grasshopper]

There’s one player that could change everything for the US, Sweden, and Canada…. Rask for Finland.

2-0 for the American girls in the 3rd for Gold.

[LHoffman]

@Young:

2-0 for the American girls in the 3rd for Gold.

Yeah, they utterly blew it in the 3rd… Almost as bad as TOR vs BOS. Terrible.

Overtime wasn’t so bad for a while… until the really garbage calls against the US. Seriously, were either of those call worthy? Really soft call with a slash on the Canadian goalie. Equally poor on the breakaway call. Crosscheck  :?.. please… In the replay, it looked like she barely even touched her, let alone cross-checked her.

[Gargantua]

Hey guys, do you hear a WAAAAAAAAH sound in the background?

[Mallery29]

There’s more than just gold on the line….
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/olympics-fourth-place-medal/team-usa-vs--canada-hockey-game-inspires--loser-keeps-bieber--billboard---photo-190901911.html

[LHoffman]

@Gargantua:

Hey guys, do you hear a WAAAAAAAAH sound in the background?

Yeah!  :-P    Damned Canucks!

[LHoffman]

@Mallery29:

There’s more than just gold on the line….
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/olympics-fourth-place-medal/team-usa-vs--canada-hockey-game-inspires--loser-keeps-bieber--billboard---photo-190901911.html

What if the US wins today? Then who keeps him?

Mexico? Might be a good fit.

[Young Grasshopper]

@LHoffman:

@Young:

2-0 for the American girls in the 3rd for Gold.

Yeah, they utterly blew it in the 3rd… Almost as bad as TOR vs BOS. Terrible.

Overtime wasn’t so bad for a while… until the really garbage calls against the US. Seriously, were either of those call worthy? Really soft call with a slash on the Canadian goalie. Equally poor on the breakaway call. Crosscheck :?.. please… In the replay, it looked like she barely even touched her, let alone cross-checked her.

LHoffman,

I know that this sounds completely bias, but the calls in overtime were completely fair. Canada got the first penalty for body checking at the side of the net, that was a good call. Wicker was on a clear breakaway when she was pulled down, that was a good call (although it should have been called interference, not crosschecking). Also, if we are talking about bad calls, how does Wicker not get awarded a penalty shot there? I think we can all agree that she had a clear breakaway, and even if she was skating slow, she still would have reached the net all alone. As for the controversial slashing call… the Americans were warned repeatedly through out the game to stop slapping the goalie after the whistle. This type of behavior was obviously promoted and encouraged by the coaching staff and I blame them for that, I think the ref should be commented for having the balls to follow up on a call after all the warnings, even in overtime. This particular call reminds me a lot of the woman’s soccer game between Canada and the US during the summer olympics, where the Canadian goalie was warned not to hold on to the ball for so long, and she was later called for a penalty… which lead to an American goal that cost Canada the game. The truth is the US had many opportunities to win the gold medal from being up 2-0 with only 3 minutes left, from hitting the post on an empty net after the ref interfered with the Canadian defenseperson (imagine that controversy if the puck went in?), to getting the first powerplay in overtime. The refs were not the factor in this game, at least not to the capacity of Vancouver when the Canadian girls were called for 13 penalties, 9 in a row, but they still won gold… that game was disgusting.