seriously, Canada places 6th?! what is going on, and we got outplayed by the fins, the czechs and by the russians. We were slow, hesitant and without any spark, since when do the russians out-hit us, thats horseshit. What a fucking embarassement.
The US did about as well as was expected. Canada was a disappointment but that Russian team has looked amazing. Solid goaltending, explosive goal scoring, the usual speed and it seems that the Russian youth is grittier than in the past. It should have been Canada and Russia in the gold medal game with the Fins in third in my opinion. I expect that for 2010 the Canadians will put a lot more emphasis on Olympic camps in the summer in an effort to test out chemistry and leadership in advance.
[quote]J.Boogie wrote:
Canada & US No Hockey Medals
[/quote]
So, the chicks GOLD doesn’t count?
|/ 3Toes
We still have better players.
Y’know, though, it was almost worth it just to hear Don Cherry’s stance on the games to be played after…
-FC
[quote]FlawlessCowboy wrote:
Y’know, though, it was almost worth it just to hear Don Cherry’s stance on the games to be played after…
-FC[/quote]
What did he say? I love how he insults the Europeans but I haven’t seen him in years.
A bit of trivia, he was my neighbor when I was about 3 years old.
[quote]paul bunyan wrote:
We still have better players. [/quote]
Yea but we got the motherfuckin bombs.
[quote]paul bunyan wrote:
We still have better players. [/quote]
We can’t really say that since we lost…
Take a look at the top scorers in the NHL. Patrick Marleau, Crosby, Marc Savard, Staal, Tanguay, all in the top 15, all young and strong. People wonder why we couldn’t fucking score…we didn’t send our best players!
You don’t pick the players who played best a year ago, you pick the players who are playing best NOW. Most of the blame should rest with Gretzky, in my opinion.
add to that list phaneuf, kariya, shannahan and spezza and take out bertuzzi, draper, st loius and Mccabe.
[quote]CaptainLogic wrote:
You don’t pick the players who played best a year ago, you pick the players who are playing best NOW. Most of the blame should rest with Gretzky, in my opinion.[/quote]
Kinda deja vu, isn’t it? Second time around he pulls the same trick. The secret isn’t picking the best players, it’s about picking the guy who’ll select the players
[quote]Zen warrior wrote:
Kinda deja vu, isn’t it? Second time around he pulls the same trick. The secret isn’t picking the best players, it’s about picking the guy who’ll select the players
[/quote]
Good call. Hopefully Gretzky is thrown out on his overrated ass.
I really think Darryl Sutter should be involved in some capacity. What he did with Calgary last year was genius, and I love how that team plays.
[quote]CaptainLogic wrote:
Zen warrior wrote:
Kinda deja vu, isn’t it? Second time around he pulls the same trick. The secret isn’t picking the best players, it’s about picking the guy who’ll select the players
Good call. Hopefully Gretzky is thrown out on his overrated ass.
I really think Darryl Sutter should be involved in some capacity. What he did with Calgary last year was genius, and I love how that team plays.
[/quote]
I like Sutter and all but I don’t think it’s realistic to expect a disciplinarian to work with a group of allstar volunteers who only practice together for a week or two in the entire year preceding the games.
[quote]CaptainLogic wrote:
Zen warrior wrote:
Kinda deja vu, isn’t it? Second time around he pulls the same trick. The secret isn’t picking the best players, it’s about picking the guy who’ll select the players
Good call. Hopefully Gretzky is thrown out on his overrated ass.
I really think Darryl Sutter should be involved in some capacity. What he did with Calgary last year was genius, and I love how that team plays.
[/quote]
Gretzky overrated! That there is blasphemy. Best hockey player that ever lived. He can’t be overrated.
You can’t blame the guy who picked the team because the team was fucking amazing. They just didn’t get the job done.
St Louis, Iginla, Gagne, Heatley, Nash, Thornton, ect.
On paper Canada had a vastly superior team. You can’t judge a country based on this tournament. The players don’t train and work hard to achieve in the olympics. Their goal is to win a stanly cup. A stanly cup victory is preceeded by a schedule and process that is very different from the olympic tourny.
The blame lies with the players themselves. They had the ability to win every game and get gold. They just looked flat. Aside from the odd scoring chance their play was uninspired. Yet if you look at these same players in the NHL, they dominate.
You guys know that if Gretzky had gone with youth and we had lost that everyone would be blasting him for not picking exerienced players.
What I’m really steamed about is that the Canucks top two healthy defensemen were hurt yesterday. With the standings so close I’m pretty worried.
[quote]Zap Branigan wrote:
What did he say? I love how he insults the Europeans but I haven’t seen him in years.
A bit of trivia, he was my neighbor when I was about 3 years old.[/quote]
http://winnipegsun.com/Sports/2006Games/2006/02/23/1458108-sun.html
That article’s last line essentially captures it, but not near as great as the way he said it on TV. The tone of voice was great, as were his mannerisims. Then, he went on about wanting to commentate short-track speed-skating and not being there on Friday, despite his co-host saying he was essentially contractually obliged.
Alright, so I guess you had to see it. I admit it.
-FC
[quote]The3toedSloth wrote:
J.Boogie wrote:
Canada & US No Hockey Medals
So, the chicks GOLD doesn’t count?
|/ 3Toes
[/quote]
have you seen the womens team? 46 to 2 goals for and against, if they would have won silver they would have been tied wnd quartered
yeah but we didn’t even play like Canadians. The russians, the fins and the czechs are better puck movers, especially on the olympic ice surface and we have all this size we didnt use, foote, bertuzzi, pronger, nash thornton, seriously why are they there if they arent going to at least try to put somebody in the hospital? The hardest hit I saw was Kasparitis on Gagne. We added these guys because they are physical players with skill, if you take away the hitting why not send kariya, staal, crosby etc in their place?
[quote]FightinIrish26 wrote:
paul bunyan wrote:
We still have better players.
Yea but we got the motherfuckin bombs. [/quote]
Hahahahaha, isn’t that Dennis Leary?
[quote]paul bunyan wrote:
Gretzky overrated! That there is blasphemy. Best hockey player that ever lived. He can’t be overrated.
[/quote]
I meant as a GM.
[quote]
On paper Canada had a vastly superior team. You can’t judge a country based on this tournament.[/quote]
Why not? Every other team had it the exact same way. They all play in the NHL too.
I disagree. They’re Canadian, they grew up dreaming of playing in the NHL and watching re-runs of high intensity international competitions. To accuse them of not doing their best is ridiculous. The russian forwards just looked much faster and more skilled out there.
Definitely, but at least they would have gotten some international experience. It seemed like that’s what we were missing out there, youth energy.
I heard a commentator say, and I agree, Canada has the size, but not the skill that Sweden, Russia and Chec Rep. exhibit. For Canada and US to return to the podium, a greater emphesis must be placed on skating and passing the puck. Not the battling on the boards. Look at the women. They pass better than the men. Hockey is about to go from brute to skill, and it’s about time. Remember Wayne Gretzky? That was skill. Not size. Maybe this will finally be a wake up call.
The U.S. and Canadian teams were both colossal disappointments. I’d rather go back to the old days when the Russians were pros and everyone else were amateurs. I was shocked that the Canadians got shut out in three straight games, although the ref helped in the Swiss game by taking away a goal. But still, what a disaster.
The U.S. team was slow, with exception of Cole and couldn’t put a friggin shot on net for the life of them. To dominate in faceoffs and score as little as they did is silly.
Let’s face it, the European style of play worked better this year.
DB