Pre-Game Talk: Olympic Hockey non-NHLer edition

[dasaybz]

Slafkovsky with Slovakia's only chance of the period............and man, he beats Mann clean as a whistle. Great shot.

Possible Sabres target?

 

[Zman5778]

Possible Sabres target?

At this rate, he'll be gone by the time we get to pick.

 

[Old Navy Goat]

Possible Sabres target?

He's going top 5

 

[Dingo44]

Tough shootout loss for the USA after having a bunch of power plays including a 5-3, the Slovaks tying it with less than a minute left in regulation, Matty Berniers having a ton of chances in OT, and then just not being able to put a puck past Patrik Rybár. Team USA's tournament is over.

 

[joshjull]

That’s awesome

 

[Chainshot]

That’s awesome

One hopes it kindles the imagination of Slovakian youth and we get the benefits of that down the line. Good on Slovakia for that win.

 

[Doug Prishpreed]

He's going top 5

Top 3 is almost a lock at this point. A good chunk of teams already had him at the #2 spot in Bob's mid-season ranking (20%).

 

[Old Navy Goat]

Top 3 is almost a lock at this point. A good chunk of teams already had him at the #2 spot in Bob's mid-season ranking (20%).

Rankings don't always align especially when given the choice between drafting C and D over wings

 

[Doug Prishpreed]

Rankings don't always align especially when given the choice between drafting C and D over wings

It's not a ranking, it's a poll of teams. 20% of the teams said they would pick him in the #2 slot when asked in December, well before he lit it up in the olympics. Also, all of the centers in the top 10 are under 6', so a bunch of them will end up being wingers anyway. I could see slavkovsky being a unanimous #2 if he keeps playing like this.

 

[Fjordy]

What a clown show, they call a young guy to China and don't let him play, Levi agreed to this in vain, and they promised him to play at least two games, but they deceived him.

 

[Willgamesh]

3 shots in the 3rd for Canada. Down 1-0 3 mins left.

 

[Willgamesh]

Reiterating the Levi pain. What a waste of this kids time.

 

[Doug Prishpreed]

So funny to see them lose after not playing their youngest goaltender becaue of his age -- and the person who scores the winning goal to knock them out is the other team's even YOUNGER goalie. It's poetic justice if I've ever seen it.

 

[jc17]

Maybe they should have tried him at forward

 

[Fjordy]

LMAO goodbye clown show

 

[jcbeze]

So happy Canada is out.

 

[GOALOFSSON]

Did he even dress as a backup at all?

 

[Dingo44]

Canada women have a goal called back on a good challenge for offsides by the US.

 

[Dingo44]

Canada back up 1-0

 

[EichHart]

Canada looks better

 

[Kyndig]

So funny to see them lose after not playing their youngest goaltender becaue of his age -- and the person who scores the winning goal to knock them out is the other team's even YOUNGER goalie. It's poetic justice if I've ever seen it.

Apparently the old boys' club isn't exclusive to the men's game. I follow team Japan on the women's side and they left some notable youngsters at home in favor of women pushing 40. Example:

and her linemate, who outscored her in the 2020 YOG Ito Makoto. Hell, she outscored a good chunk of the Japan's women league in 2018 when she was 13/14.

In other news USA is choking as usual. Wide open net? Clink. Meanwhile, shoot from anywhere and you will probably beat Cavallini.

 

[EichHart]

Nice shorty there for usa

 

[Jim Bob]

IIHF, NHL officials hoping for early deal for 2026 Olympics