GDT: Exhibition • Canada vs. Sweden • Dec. 20 • 8 PM ET • 2 AM CET

[Davebo*]

You've been quoting me all night long, so here, i'll quote you back so you'll feel like you've been seen

Hey - turnabout is fair play - you have an opinion, and so do I.

Neither team were angels, but other than Cormier I'd say we held the edge in playing a disciplined game. No way can you dispute that!

 

[Tiranis]

I think it should be questioned whether Cormier should be the captain of this team or not. It sends a poor message to all the other teams when your captain does stuff like this and, honestly, I'm not all that surprised that Sweden didn't shake hands after the match. Any other player does this and I don't think it would be such a big issue, but when a captain does it, it becomes almost symbolic, IMO.

Think about it, would you have much respect for the Rangers if Avery was their captain?

 

[Ribban]

Hey, how's the view from up there?

Not looking good.

Would you agree that a lot of the crap, like no handshakes, is not only a result of recent antics, but very likely an initiativ from someone who's been around a lot longer and through the years seen several Canadian teams in various competitions skate off the ice, without shaking the opponents' hands when they had taken an issue with the officiating?

"So, now we're going to do the same..."

Seriously....

 

[Ribban]

I think it should be questioned whether Cormier should be the captain of this team or not. It sends a poor message to all the other teams when your captain does stuff like this and, honestly, I'm not all that surprised that Sweden didn't shake hands after the match. Any other player does this and I don't think it would be such a big issue, but when a captain does it, it becomes almost symbolic, IMO.

Think about it, would you have much respect for the Rangers if Avery was their captain?

He is also 19 years old. Please.
No reason for the Swedish coach, three times the kid's age, to be like that. I bet many of the Swedish kids felt weird about it, and it certainly is a bad message to send other kids watching this game.

 

[espo*]

I'm not sure about the bitterness over Canadian schenanigans because i don't believe it to be very accurate, i think that is mostly a fan seeing what they want to see.I know i am capable of doing it from time to time regarding European Hockey teams and tournaments over the years. Some of it i believe to be warranted and some of it i just think is ingrained over the years prejudice on my part after being through the hockey wars for so long.

But i am in total agreement with you on these points: 1.Cormiers hit is a suspendable offense

2.The Swedish staff blew it big time refusing to shake hands.

3. Canada soundly outplayed Sweden

4. Sweden needs to keep their nerves and look at why such a talented team lost 6-2.

They still have a team capable of winning gold, but not by playing like they did that game.

I believe that is what the coaches and players need to stay focused on, not Patrice Cormier.

to me, it seems they are already losing their focus. They won't win if they allow that to happen. They need to put silly stuff behind them and get back on track.




What I see from the other fans here is not frustration about winning or losing though. I hear people being fed up with "yet another incident" of unsportsmanlike conduct from Team Canada.

I agree that the Swedish coach needs to have his boys shake hands after the game.
Moron move not to. All he is doing is firing these kids up, the wrong way, so that instead of focusing on playing hockey, they might get so wrapped up in bitterness that they lose all concepts and do something really stupid. Who knows? These are young men in a quite stressful situation. How a responsible adult can encourage and setting this tone for his team is beyond me. Tons of respect lost for him.

But from a Swedish perspective, Team Canada needs to clean its act up quite a bit before the sportsmanship issue will be taken for real. We're talking about decades of Canadian players, officials, and managers doing anything from busting into practices and meeting rooms, screaming, threatening, and sabotaging to crap moves with serious intent to hurt. So, to hear about how upset people are becasue a team didn't see it being worthwhile to shake hands, is rather easy to dismiss to say the least.

That being said, none of that was going on last night, and Canada won the game because they played much better. I thought Team Sweden would have learned something from last year, but I guess they didn't. [/B

 

[Novak Djokovic]

I think it should be questioned whether Cormier should be the captain of this team or not. It sends a poor message to all the other teams when your captain does stuff like this and, honestly, I'm not all that surprised that Sweden didn't shake hands after the match. Any other player does this and I don't think it would be such a big issue, but when a captain does it, it becomes almost symbolic, IMO.

Think about it, would you have much respect for the Rangers if Avery was their captain?

Oh, c'mon.

Patrice Cormier is a heart-and-soul guy that does everything for a team to have success. Yes, that was a dirty play, but every NHL player has done that in their career at some point. He probably wishes that he hadn't done this, and I bet he's the one feeling most shame right now for that incident.

 

[Riddarn]

They did the same thing last year, in the finals... and the year before... and so on...

They never learn.

You can't play one style 355 days out of the year, and then come to the WJC's and try to play another with great success.

Their idea of standing up for themselves should be connected to efforts that make a positivie difference on the scoreboard, and the jackass coach telling the kids to not shake hands after the game, is telling me that he has no intention on focusing these kids head's on playing hockey, but rather how to worry about things they have no control over, like Team Canada, refs, or whatever. They are out of their league when trying to pull off this kind of crap.

Canada is clearly in their heads for all the wrong reasons, and it shows.

Great post. I'm glad I'm not the only one who sees it this way.

 

[Tiranis]

Oh, c'mon.

Patrice Cormier is a heart-and-soul guy that does everything for a team to have success. Yes, that was a dirty play, but every NHL player has done that in their career at some point. He probably wishes that he hadn't done this, and I bet he's the one feeling most shame right now for that incident.

I understand that comparing Cormier to Avery is ridiculous, but then again, most of these players don't follow Cormier or for that matter any of the Canadian prospects. All they will know about him is that he cheap-shotted an unsuspecting player that didn't even have the puck. I don't care if it's the first time, it should be taken seriously.

 

[Ribban]

I'm not sure about the bitterness over Canadian schenanigans because i don't believe it to be very accurate, i think that is mostly a fan seeing what they want to see.I know i am capable of doing it from time to time regarding European Hockey teams and tournaments over the years. Some of it i believe to be warranted and some of it i just think is ingrained over the years prejudice on my part after being through the hockey wars for so long.

Absolutely. I'm not saying there is truth to it. I am trying to say exactly what you put down here, there is a disconnect between reality and bias. However, fans aren't the only ones subjected to it. Coaches and players fall victim of this too, hence the B.S.

I earlier lamented the Swedish decision of not including their promissing talents playing in North America. A handful of those kids could easily help the group to focus on hockey.

By the end of the day, it's so much easier to talk about one elbow and unrelated incidents than why the team lost 6-2, and really 6-0 unless we are going to paint a prettier picture of the game using two "garbage time" goals.

 

[NeverGoingToWin]

I don't know why you guys have these arguments. Europeans seem to think every dirty play should be a life-time ban and Canadians think it should be nothing or 1 game. Those views will never change and these arguments are pointless.

 

[espo*]

Agreed.

Anyway, it's time to move on for both teams fans. These clubs will meet again and the next one will be a much closer affair, should be fun to watch.

Absolutely. I'm not saying there is truth to it. I am trying to say exactly what you put down here, there is a disconnect between reality and bias. However, fans aren't the only ones subjected to it. Coaches and players fall victim of this too, hence the B.S.

I earlier lamented the Swedish decision of not including their promissing talents playing in North America. A handful of those kids could easily help the group to focus on hockey.

By the end of the day, it's so much easier to talk about one elbow and unrelated incidents than why the team lost 6-2, and really 6-0 unless we are going to paint a prettier picture of the game using two "garbage time" goals.

 

[Davebo*]

I earlier lamented the Swedish decision of not including their promissing talents playing in North America. A handful of those kids could easily help the group to focus on hockey.

Semi - OT, but why does Sweden use these type of strong arm extortion type tactics on their young players. "Stay in Sweden or no National Team for you"! Seems a bit over the top - I'd want the best players for the particular tournament that's being played.

Has that decision ever been challenged in a court of law? Seems like a pretty arbitrary decision...

 

[Zam Boni]

Semi - OT, but why does Sweden use these type of strong arm extortion type tactics on their young players. "Stay in Sweden or no National Team for you"! Seems a bit over the top - I'd want the best players for the particular tournament that's being played.

Has that decision ever been challenged in a court of law? Seems like a pretty arbitrary decision...

Id say its basically economics.
There arent a lot of money in junior hockey in Sweden so having them play a few years in the SEL is pretty much the only way to get some of the money invested in player development back.
I guess canadian junior teams dont pay any transfer fees but i could be wrong.

 

[Ribban]

Semi - OT, but why does Sweden use these type of strong arm extortion type tactics on their young players. "Stay in Sweden or no National Team for you"! Seems a bit over the top - I'd want the best players for the particular tournament that's being played.

Has that decision ever been challenged in a court of law? Seems like a pretty arbitrary decision...

It's crazy, but an attempt from the federation to keep some talent in Sweden to help drive the interest for the sport.
However, the SEL and the HA (second tier) teams rather sign old has been's or never were's, so many of the kids are reduced to a completely ignored U-20 league.
So for a kid in Sweden, you have a choice:

Go to North America and play a style that will develop and prepare you for a shot at the NHL in front of 100's of scouts in a season but lose your golden boy status with the Swedish Hockey federation, and lose their attention and consideration for Jr. National Teams.

OR

Stay in Sweden, and play on large ice, trapping till you puke, in front of 1 or two scouts every so often in a league that nobody cares about.

Now there are exceptions such as Tedenby, MPS, and OEL, who all get nice ice with the bigger clubs, but they still don't learn the skill sets required to effectively comptete and win in North America, as they are on large ice and miss out on a lot of the physical play and how to manage puck possession on small ice, among other things.

 

[Davebo*]

Thanks for the information - it's pleasant to get back to a sense of civility.

 

[Jeffler]

Guys? Can we just stop *****ing?

Seriously. Cormier's elbow was pretty bad, thats universally accepted. But its not exactly like Sweden played clean themselves.

 

[embracedbias]

Guys? Can we just stop *****ing?

Seriously. Cormier's elbow was pretty bad, thats universally accepted. But its not exactly like Sweden played clean themselves.

More people should be using the Panic Button.

Perhaps I should become the "Whining Button"?

 

[Hybbe]

I'm not sure about the bitterness over Canadian schenanigans because i don't believe it to be very accurate, i think that is mostly a fan seeing what they want to see.I know i am capable of doing it from time to time regarding European Hockey teams and tournaments over the years. Some of it i believe to be warranted and some of it i just think is ingrained over the years prejudice on my part after being through the hockey wars for so long.

But i am in total agreement with you on these points: 1.Cormiers hit is a suspendable offense

2.The Swedish staff blew it big time refusing to shake hands.

3. Canada soundly outplayed Sweden

4. Sweden needs to keep their nerves and look at why such a talented team lost 6-2.

They still have a team capable of winning gold, but not by playing like they did that game.

I believe that is what the coaches and players need to stay focused on, not Patrice Cormier.

to me, it seems they are already losing their focus. They won't win if they allow that to happen. They need to put silly stuff behind them and get back on track.




What I see from the other fans here is not frustration about winning or losing though. I hear people being fed up with "yet another incident" of unsportsmanlike conduct from Team Canada.

I agree that the Swedish coach needs to have his boys shake hands after the game.
Moron move not to. All he is doing is firing these kids up, the wrong way, so that instead of focusing on playing hockey, they might get so wrapped up in bitterness that they lose all concepts and do something really stupid. Who knows? These are young men in a quite stressful situation. How a responsible adult can encourage and setting this tone for his team is beyond me. Tons of respect lost for him.

But from a Swedish perspective, Team Canada needs to clean its act up quite a bit before the sportsmanship issue will be taken for real. We're talking about decades of Canadian players, officials, and managers doing anything from busting into practices and meeting rooms, screaming, threatening, and sabotaging to crap moves with serious intent to hurt. So, to hear about how upset people are becasue a team didn't see it being worthwhile to shake hands, is rather easy to dismiss to say the least.

That being said, none of that was going on last night, and Canada won the game because they played much better. I thought Team Sweden would have learned something from last year, but I guess they didn't. [/B

You pretty much summed up my thoughts about this whole ordeal, which really wasn't much of an ordeal to begin with, I mean it's just an exhibition game for crying out loud.

I'm still really excited about the WJC, even though my team didn't look like winners last night.

 

[Novak Djokovic]

How long till the next game?

 

[skogsstar]

Horrible defense from sweden in this game and some looked nervous last night. Im sure it will get better.

I continue to like the way Pietriangelo plays.

big LOL at the ref looking at Cormiers elbow.

 

[SouthSwe]

Can u watch the whole game again somewhere?

 

[Novak Djokovic]

I just found out that Credit Union Centre (where Canada will play) has a seating capacity of 15,000 for this tournament. That's almost three times as much as Regina where this game was played.

The whole time I was thinking that the atmosphere wouldn't be as good as compared to Ottawa due to almost 20,000 people in the building....I thought CUC held around 11,000.

 

[Novak Djokovic]

Can u watch the whole game again somewhere?

http://tsn.ca/world_jrs/feature/?id=4124

Click WATCH.

 

[Davebo*]

Can u watch the whole game again somewhere?

I know TSN will be hosting these games for some time. You'll probably need a Canadian proxy to make it work, though.

http://watch.tsn.ca/Redirect/?ClipId=248495

 

[Cappo40*]

Next Canada game is Tuesday vs Finland in Calgary..