What does Canada have to do to win gold?

[ShaneDoan]

You beat me to this. Indeed a mistake on Gretzky's part. They lack game breakers like these four kids as you mentioned. I'm starting to eat crow pie by agreeing that Sid the Kid should not be there.

I agree that Canada has lot of superstars in this squad, but are they hungry??Im not sure, some Crosby&Spezza would have been very motivated to play.

 

[LePoche69]

I would say : stop being so far appart from each other. That way, they should be able to carry the puck in the middle zone by passing it.

I found now that they're playing sor far appart that they often try passes from a board to the other, which is wrong on a so wide surface facing slick moving d-men.

The five players on the ice should try to always be in the same zone.

 

[sabresrat]

The goal of the trap is to MAKE the skilled player to try to carry through 3 or 4 guys, making him give up possession of the puck in the neutral zone for a counterattack and NEGATING the skill advantage

The goal of the trap is to make internet message board flame wars more exciting

 

[The Sensation]

1. Play as a freaking team

2. Start HITTING

3. Start playing defence

4. Get Neidermeyer over to Torino

5. Shoot the Puck!!!(Not just any radom ####, shooting the puck with authority.)

6. Let the Playmakers be Playmakers, and the Snipers be Snipers.(I'm mean Jarome Iginla is more effctive shooting the puck at the net, than trying to set up Sakic every chance he gets... Yeah, I know thwey are sapposed to be playing as a Team, but come'on, Iginla just takes that too far...)

 

[Westlander]

You beat me to this. Indeed a mistake on Gretzky's part. They lack game breakers like these four kids as you mentioned. I'm starting to eat crow pie by agreeing that Sid the Kid should not be there.

Don't start this yet. If Canada crashes out in the QF's, then it's time to dump on Gretzky/Quinn/the players etc. But not before.

Talent is not the problem here. Quinn should show some tapes of the 2006 World Junior team. If Team Canada came out with half the intensity that the juniors did, we wouldn't be having this discussion.

 

[mr gib]

gotta play ugly - bring the lunchbox and bear down - couple of clean hits off the top ( no penalties please - ) screw the perfect play - lob it at the net or the corner and crash - ( no penalties tho ) - on the edge

 

[Steveorama]

Canada has to dump it in, race to the puck at top speed and arrive in ill humour. Tuesday you will see a lot of soft dump-ins to the weak defensive side and Iginla, Bertuzzi, Doan, Smyth, Thornton, Heatley, Nash, et al. making the defense pay a price.
The ability of Canada's defense to get out of their own zone is another problem. They could certainly use a Niedermayer or a Jovanovski back there.
But that can be overcome by proper puck support, i.e. forwards coming all the way back to accept passes. Nash was floating by the offensive blue line in yesterday's game and that is why Quinn sat him.

 

[Garp]

HIT BANG AND HIT AGAIN

Like the Junior team does.

 

[Rabid Ranger]

I think people are putting too much attention on what Canada isn't doing as opposed to what other countries ARE doing. Canada had plenty of chances against both Switzerland and Finland but Gerber and Nittimaki stood on their heads. In a short tournament like this hot goaltending is what most often is the deciding factor, and that is what Canada has ran into.

 

[God Bless Canada]

You beat me to this. Indeed a mistake on Gretzky's part. They lack game breakers like these four kids as you mentioned. I'm starting to eat crow pie by agreeing that Sid the Kid should not be there.

And when you do that, you get into situations that have been quite evident from watching women's hockey. In 1998, we left Angela James, considered by many to be "the Wayne Gretzky of women's hockey." When you watched Canada play at that tournament, you could tell they were missing something, and that something was Angela James. This year, the U.S. Women's team left Cammi Granato, maybe the greatest women's hockey player ever to come out of the U.S. Not to say that all of the blame for the U.S. women's team lies on the coaches for not picking Cammi, but if you don't think her leadership, experience and savvy would have been beneficial in a close game, you're mistaken.

Any reports on how Canada's practice today went? Because that will go a long ways in determining our success, if there was any. It's important that they get on the same page, because if they don't, our players will be boarding flights back to North America on Thursday. I wish it were as easy as "we didn't take the best players available" or "we don't have enough gunners." Those are fallacious statements. Reality is, we haven't been playing like a team, or with enough desperation, and we haven't made the little adjustments to succeed on international ice. I don't know if there's enough leadership in the room, either. Getting guys to play as a team is likely the toughest problem to solve in a short tournament like this. We have more firepower than the Swiss and the Finns, and we couldn't beat them, so the problem isn't offensive upside.

As for Rabid Ranger's points (points from a credible outsider), Canada didn't deserve to win those games. While they ran into a hot goalie in Martin Gerber, they didn't deserve to win those games. A flat first 30 minutes. You trail the Swiss 2-0 halfway through the game, you're likely going to lose. The hot goalie in the Finland game was Luongo. Canada's down 5-0 or 6-0 after the first period without Luongo. Canada had no business being in that game. Finland is the perfect example of what happens when you play a textbook team game in every aspect of the game.

 

[artilector]

I am not a fan of Canada, but I think they are still favorites.

In their 5-minutes bursts, they have been dominant. If they'll do it for 60 minutes, they'll be fine. Aside from Doan, the physical aspect has been very inconsistent.. this is your primary asset. Canada cannot win if it does not crash the boards on offense, just like Russia cannot win if its lines do not establish a passing rhythm.

You don't have to go crazy and dump the puck in every time and become predictable. If they skate hard enough, Canada has enough talent to gain the zone in every imaginable way. Its what happens once you're inside the zone that is the issue.

Maybe Canadians have done themselves a favor by saving energy and injuries for the final round.. But nobody is afraid of their physicality anymore, which is a big psychological boost to give away. Nobody's going to break down anymore, Canada can expect war the rest of the way.

Good games lie ahead!

 

[David]

I am not a fan of Canada, but I think they are still favorites.

In their 5-minutes bursts, they have been dominant. If they'll do it for 60 minutes, they'll be fine. Aside from Doan, the physical aspect has been very inconsistent.. this is your primary asset. Canada cannot win if it does not crash the boards on offense, just like Russia cannot win if its lines do not establish a passing rhythm.

You don't have to go crazy and dump the puck in every time and become predictable. If they skate hard enough, Canada has enough talent to gain the zone in every imaginable way. Its what happens once you're inside the zone that is the issue.

Maybe Canadians have done themselves a favor by saving energy and injuries for the final round.. But nobody is afraid of their physicality anymore, which is a big psychological boost to give away. Nobody's going to break down anymore, Canada can expect war the rest of the way.

Good games lie ahead!

WHATEVER IT TAKES, BABY!!!!

GO OUT AND DO IT!!!!

GO CANADA GO!!!!

 

[Force]

Let the opposition play offence.
In the CAN vs. GER game germany came out hot and wanted to impress the canadians by actually appearing in their defensive zone. Then canada dished them a cold shower by scoring on the counter attack.

Against SUI, CAN played like a big white shark that is biting into a metal cage like crazy. Sure looked impressive but did nothing but hurt.

Lure the victim out.