OT: Sochi 2014 Olympics - Hockey Discussion Thread Part II

[Qward]

Bobby Ryan would have scored on those penalty shots

 

[PatrickEaves]

I'm wondering where the nay sayers & unpatriotic Canadian fans are now on this Forum????

They seem to be pretty quiet since their loom & doom prediction of Canada losing to USA!

Pfft. I never even predicted Canada would lose. I said I was perfectly fine with the Canadian Mens Hockey Team losing, because I have no emotional attachment to the team.

 

[Super Cake]

lol at the USA. No goals in 5 periods. This team just does not know how to spell intensity.

 

[Six Assets]

4-0 finns

 

[Six Assets]

haha

 

[Nac Mac Feegle]

Wow...really expected more heart from the Yanks. But damned good on Finland. They're really emerging as one of the big boys in hockey.

 

[Back in Black]

Pfft. I never even predicted Canada would lose. I said I was perfectly fine with the Canadian Mens Hockey Team losing, because I have no emotional attachment to the team.

Pffft. With a name like Petersson, it's understandable. And nobody is calling you out on not predicting Canada losing.

Absolutely nothing wrong with predictions, it's the way some members were insulting Canada, that is frustrating. It shows they have no pride, and obviously DO NOT KNOW Hockey!

I'm certainly not guaranteeing Canada will win Gold Tomorrow, but I think they will, and I certainly will not insult them if they lose. Big difference.

GO CANADA GO!

 

[Topside]

Shut out in back to back games. Intensity.

 

[Powdered Toast Man]

Shut out in back to back games. Intensity.

The important thing is they gave one hundred percent every shift. They lost horribly...with dignity.

 

[bacon25]

Rask...the difference, or did the US just not care?

 

[Qward]

Americans "We are going to crush everyone!!!"

Doesn't even place.

 

[littleD]

Anyone know of places in Westboro area opening for the game tomorrow?

 

[ChocolateLeclaire]

Should have brought Bobby Ryan.

 

[PatrickEaves]

Not taking Yandle was a much bigger issue for the Americans than not taking Ryan.

Ryan may or may not have managed to score (though, he had a better chance than half of that roster), but Yandle would have actually helped them get out of their own zone and retain puck possession in those last two games.

 

[Nac Mac Feegle]

You know, it's really starting to look like the 'big3' in international hockey is Canada-Sweden-Finland, in pretty much any order. The Russians are dropping like a rock, and the Americans have hit a plateau.

 

[General Zodd]

Americans "We are going to crush everyone!!!"

Doesn't even place.

Un-freaking believable! Who'da thunk that??

 

[HavlatMach9]

USA would have a hard time winning a medal no matter who made the team, but when Burke or anyone talks the talk, they gotta walk too.

 

[pepty]

I am sorry they didn't show Burke sitting in the stands after the game as they did yesterday.

Looks good on ya Burkie, you blow hard.Time to go home and practice your spelling.

 

[Major Might]

People are still hung up on the whole Bobby Ryan thing here? Really? lol....

 

[CanadianHockey]

I was one of those naysayers, but it is not totally unwarranted. Be honest with yourself, Canada before playing the US was not having a good tournament whereas the US were doing very well. Canada couldn't score and Price looked shaky on a lot of shots. Hardly unpatriotic to think that they might lose against a high scoring American team with a better goaltender. I'm glad to be proven wrong but if anyone hear says they had complete faith in this team to win that game is delusional.

I don't think Team Canada played poorly. I think Denmark, Latvia, etc played their best defensive games against us, which made our offence look stifled and led some to question whether Team Canada was even any good.

But, those games demonstrated, to me at least, that we have one of the strongest defensive teams we've ever assembled. The forwards and D were great at backchecking, we were great on breakouts and zone entry, and we were had very good zone time. We won damned near every loose puck and were dominating faceoffs. The only thing we couldn't solve were the collapsing D strategies, but even then, it was simply a matter of shooting enough pucks on goal and we'd get one.

I was pretty confident we'd beat the US. Either they would be less committed to D, and allow our forwards to finally run up the score, or they'd be forced to play on their heels and get beaten by our stifling defensive play.

Although I do agree that I was not 100% sure we'd win, and think it's silly to guarantee anything in these tournaments.

 

[Healfezza]

USA was looking down on playing for Bronze, the were gunning for gold and they lost the wind in their sails after losing in the semi's.

Finland was playing to get Bronze, they came and brought it.

Canada hasn't been bad at all. We haven't given out the traditional shellings that we are used to (7-1, 8-2, etc) but that can be attributed to a few things.

- Playing on international ice naturally favours players playing overseas as NHL players are used to making fast decisions with less space. If they play on NHL size ice the Canadians would obliterate international players more then likely.

- Everyone brings their A game against Canada, we are the big bad wolf.

- Everyone's strategy vs. Canada is to turtle (outside of the powerhouses perhaps) as they will dominate play. They will play defense first, so we should expect to get low scoring games.

- Let's face it, the gap between the NHL and other hockey in the world is getting smaller. There are a lot of quality players out there that we never see.

 

[Micklebot]

USA was looking down on playing for Bronze, the were gunning for gold and they lost the wind in their sails after losing in the semi's.

Finland was playing to get Bronze, they came and brought it.

Canada hasn't been bad at all. We haven't given out the traditional shellings that we are used to (7-1, 8-2, etc) but that can be attributed to a few things.

- Playing on international ice naturally favours players playing overseas as NHL players are used to making fast decisions with less space. If they play on NHL size ice the Canadians would obliterate international players more then likely.

- Everyone brings their A game against Canada, we are the big bad wolf.

- Everyone's strategy vs. Canada is to turtle (outside of the powerhouses perhaps) as they will dominate play. They will play defense first, so we should expect to get low scoring games.

I'm thinking having so many close games was a good thing for Canada in that the won't be complacent. They've pretty much had to remain focused in every game, so hopefully that means no bad habits that tend to pop up in these kind of tournaments.

 

[Legend Killer]

People are still hung up on the whole Bobby Ryan thing here? Really? lol....

Yep... I guess they think he would have been a difference maker in the Bronze medal game...

 

[Qward]

People are still hung up on the whole Bobby Ryan thing here? Really? lol....

naw, we are using it in a sacarastic, laughing at the American failing sort of way.

Pretty sure 99% of us were over it back in January.

Edit: also Ryan tied Pacioretty for goals scored these Olympics with zero lol

 

[Indrew]

Yep... I guess they think he would have been a difference maker in the Bronze medal game...

They probably mean for the game before that.

He is hurt so this worked out for the best.