Swedes win, while the NHL loses

[Accord]

TURIN (Reuters) - While Sweden celebrated a gold medal win over Nordic neighbors Finland in Olympic men's ice hockey it is unlikely Detroit Red Wings supporters were as excited. Neither were fans of the Ottawa Senators, New York Rangers or Tampa Bay Lightning, who all saw their Stanley Cup dreams dented by the punishing Olympic tournament that may well signal the end of NHL participation in the Winter Games.

Henrik Zetterberg, Niklas Kronwall and Nicklas Lidstrom each had a goal as Sweden capped an unpredictable Olympic tournament with an unlikely 3-2 win over their archrivals from Finland just hours before Sunday's closing ceremonies.

But the three Swedes and Red Wings team mates will have little time to savor their accomplishment, heading directly back to Detroit where NHL action resumes on Tuesday.

Having crammed eight games into 12 days, the Olympic tournament exacted a heavy toll on several teams' Stanley Cup aspirations sending fatigued and injured players back to unhappy NHL teams.

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[thefiestygoat]

I hope they keep NHLers in the Olympics. Just start the NHL season earlier so the break is bigger. Its a win-win.

 

[TOPGUN]

I wouldn't be surprised if Mike Babcock would rest some players during our 4 game road trip.

Datsyuk has a broken finger and that is really bothering him, so he might get a week rest

 

[Towelie*]

How he didn't mention the Canucks as losers in this is beyond me.

 

[Phanuthier*]

I hope they keep NHLers in the Olympics. Just start the NHL season earlier so the break is bigger. Its a win-win.

I could be wrong, but is the start date of the NHL season written in stone in the CBA?

I had heard rumblings that one thing the players/owners were talking about is shortening training camp and starting the season earlier, but that didn't happen. It sounded like both wanted that... could it be building contracts not allowing it?

 

[SChan*]

TURIN (Reuters) - While Sweden celebrated a gold medal win over Nordic neighbors Finland in Olympic men's ice hockey it is unlikely
Detroit Red Wings supporters were as excited.

This is BS. the Wings supporters on various messageboards I checked are happy and proud over their players. Way to assume things

 

[Phanuthier*]

How he didn't mention the Canucks as losers in this is beyond me.

Because they have a kick-*** blueline now

 

[Epsilon]

Funny, I'm a Red Wings fan, and I sure don't feel like a loser today. The performance our players put in should help to inspire them throughout the rest of the season. I'm very happy for all our Olympians and their success.

Funny how all these articles like this weren't popping up in 2002. Even Bob McKenzie posted one with a lame "I'm not just saying this because Canada and the USA are out, I felt the same way in 2002" excuse, which raises the question as to why he didn't write the same thing in 2002.

 

[norrisnick]

Babcock has already announced that Lidstrom and likely a couple other Swedes will get Tuesday off.

'98 Olympics with NHL participation = Detroit Cup
'02 Olympics with NHL participation = Detroit Cup
'06 Olympics with NHL participation = ....

I, as a Red Wing fan, am thrilled with the Olympics. The Wing participants played well and came out of it relatively healthy (it's rumored Datsyuk broke his finger before ever heading over).

 

[SChan*]

Funny how all these articles like this weren't popping up in 2002. Even Bob McKenzie posted one with a lame "I'm not just saying this because Canada and the USA are out, I felt the same way in 2002" excuse, which raises the question as to why he didn't write the same thing in 2002.

exactly.

 

[Towelie*]

Because they have a kick-*** blueline now

Its going to be a coming out party for McCarthy.

 

[The Mars Volchenkov]

I enjoy the Olympics, but the entire time I was worried that the Sens were going to lose someone to injury, and 10 minutes into the first game we did.

 

[Fugu]

Yes it is tough on the players but they all wanted to be there and looked like they had no regrets. The only NHL player who complained was Modano- and that was after he got benched.

I too am very proud of our Red Wing Olympians. We drafted and developed the majority of the Wings players who were stellar in this tournament:

Lidstrom (3rd round '89)
Zetterberg (7th round '99)
Homer (10th round '94)
Kronwall (1st round '00)
Datsyuk (6th round '98)


... and recognized the value of the others all of whom were acquired in trades which includes Chelios, Schneider, Draper and Lang. Samuelsson was a player no one else wanted who we signed last summer as an UFA.

We also would've had Jiri Fischer on the Czech team (1st round draft in '98), but we all know his health precluded that.

I was very proud of the Wings organization for having found and developed such an exceptional group of players. Hat tip to our scouts, coaches and GM too.

 

[Zero]

I wouldn't be surprised if Mike Babcock would rest some players during our 4 game road trip.

Not that it "exacts a heavy toll on several teams' Stanley Cup aspirations", but I just noticed Detroit is the only team playing on both 2/28 & 3/1 (then get a couple of days off between Anaheim & Phoenix).

 

[therealdeal]

This isn't the fault of the Olympics, this is a fault of the massive failure that is the NHL scheduling.

 

[misterchainsaw]

I'm proud of the Sabres silver medalists...but Buffalo has the most games after the break of any NHL team (tied with a few others)...

I just hope Teppo and Lydman (especially the geezer Teppo) don't wear down late in the season

 

[Maelmoor]

There are no whatsover proof that the olympics affects the teams, actually the ones with most players in the finals usuallly plays well in the play-offs....

 

[Slitty]

Well they should really start the Olympic tournament on the first day of the Olympics instead of waiting til the halfway point or whatever. Some of the meaningless games can be eliminated by making it a 10 or even 8 team tournament. Finally, NHL should break earlier, and perhaps even give the players a few days rest after the Olympics... whats the big rush to cram 82 games into the shortest timespan possible?

 

[GKJ]

I hope they keep NHLers in the Olympics. Just start the NHL season earlier so the break is bigger. Its a win-win.

Start the season October 1 end it on April 30. The regular season after the lockout in 1995 ended May 4 and the playoffs were still done and over with around the same time they would be scheduled to do so now, so it isn't that big of a deal.

 

[ladybugblue]

I think one of the biggest problems this year is that the NHL just came off of the lockout where everyone lost a year...there are more injuries this year than I ever remember seeing...i.e. more players hurting and a more minor injuries probably due to the one year layoff. This will hurt teams this year for the playoffs hence the concerns...it is not the players fault but it is a concern. I think next time out though hopefully everyone is conditioned better and there won't be injuries to worry about...

in 2002 maybe I am wrong but the only players I remember hearing about being injuried was Yzerman and Lemieux and from what I remember they were already injured and NOT injured in the tourny...that didn't happen this time out but I think what four-five players were injured this time out...just a thought.

 

[octopi]

I'm a Red Wings fan and I'm not worried. The last time they sent 8 guys to the Olympics, they won the Cup. I'm sure resting players shouldn't be too much of a problem, as long as its not all on the same night.

 

[AndersEriksson*]

I think one of the biggest problems is the North American press writing a bunch of crap

 

[kmad]

Its going to be a coming out party for McCarthy.

Negatory, McCarthy's injured too

 

[Tricolore#20]

I think one of the biggest problems this year is that the NHL just came off of the lockout where everyone lost a year...there are more injuries this year than I ever remember seeing...i.e. more players hurting and a more minor injuries probably due to the one year layoff. This will hurt teams this year for the playoffs hence the concerns...it is not the players fault but it is a concern. I think next time out though hopefully everyone is conditioned better and there won't be injuries to worry about...

in 2002 maybe I am wrong but the only players I remember hearing about being injuried was Yzerman and Lemieux and from what I remember they were already injured and NOT injured in the tourny...that didn't happen this time out but I think what four-five players were injured this time out...just a thought.

The major complaints arise because the games were played in Europe and that there were too many games packed into such a tight schedule. In Salt Lake City games, travel was not an issue for the NHL based players. This time around, the fact that players have to travel overseas, and commute back to play in games as early as 2 days later is what many pundits view as a problem. Furthermore, in Salt Lake, there were only 3 preliminary round games (after the initial qualification tournament), followed by the elimination round. This time around, each team played 5 games before the elimination round started.

I agree though, the NHL should start somewhat earlier every 4 years. If they could hold the World Cup in late August, then why not start camp a bit earlier every 4 years to allow the Olympics to happen. Part of me thinks that the NHL is afraid that if it were to start earlier, it would be overshadowed by the opening of the NFL season, and the pennant races of MLB.

I would really hate for the NHL to abandon the Olympics. It is an interesting concept, and for the past 3 Olympics, it has truly been the best "best on best." If the NHL were to abandon it, part of my thinks it would illegitimize international hockey.

 

[ScottyBowman]

I posted before the olympics started that the NHL should have given them 2 extra days at the start and gave them an extra day at the end. Bettman must not realize how hard it is to travel from Italy to the US and even worse for the Red Wings as they play in San Jose on Tuesday night. It took me like 4 days to get my sleep pattern back when I came home from Europe this summer and these guys are thrown onto the ice in a different time zone to boot.