TLeafsFan
A True BeLeafer
I and about 5 million other Finns don't.
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LOL, yeah I'd say that's fair.
I and about 5 million other Finns don't.
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Gotta wonder if other nations start looking to hire NHL coaches for international tournaments held on NHL ice. Looking at the Swedish roster they are all NHL players so there wouldn't be a language barrier plus the players are used to playing the systems their NHL teams use, which are probably a lot different than what an international head coach would try to set up.
Looking at other sports like soccer you see all the time national team coaches being from different countries so it isn't something farfetched.
So out of the last 7 big tournaments, Sweden has 1 Gold and Silver.
Okay. Czech has 1 Gold.
And Canada has the rest.
World Championships have nice variety.
Coaching is a big issue.
If I had to guess why, I'd say it's because it difficult to bring in a "national" coach who likely spends little to no time with or watching his players, and then expect everything to fall into place. The vanilla system is likely due to the coach not knowing his roster, and instead of utilizing its strengths, tries to play it safe.
Babcock at least spends his time game planing around Crosby and such to know what he's getting into. The players also get to play against Babcock's teams and see how they work. Grönborg likely just has reputation and highlight packs to go by. Not to say he's a good coach, but it's definitely a massive issue to deal with.
If all/most of your roster is NHL based, perhaps a more NHL-centric coaching staff is needed.
Canada only has 4 out of 7, USA has 1 win along with Sweden and the Czech Republic.
Which? As far as I know the USA hasn't won a senior tournament in over 20 years.
What?!? Price was hardly tested in 2014 since Canada mostly played in the attacking zone; all off Canada's opponents barely had good chances in the Canadian zone.I think it has got better from the 2014 Olympics and onwards. Canada was a tough opponnent in the Olympics (especially with some key players missing) and Price played like a God in that tournament. Yesterday's loss against Team Europe wasn't as bad as people seem to think. Europe has been playing good the whole tournament and I doubt that Sweden would've won against Canada anyway.
I'd say that the top 6 best on best rankings are something like this:
1. Canada
2. Sweden
3. USA (they would've been way better without the NA U23 team)
4. Russia
5. Finland (just wait until the juniors are top notch NHL players)
6. Czech Republic
Canada only has 4 out of 7, USA has 1 win along with Sweden and the Czech Republic.
So they can learn to pick themselves up.
Gotta wonder if other nations start looking to hire NHL coaches for international tournaments held on NHL ice. Looking at the Swedish roster they are all NHL players so there wouldn't be a language barrier plus the players are used to playing the systems their NHL teams use, which are probably a lot different than what an international head coach would try to set up.
World Cup 96, loss against Canada in semifinal.
Olympics 98, loss against Finland in qf.
Olympics 2002, loss against Belarus in qf.
World Cup 2004, loss against Czech in qf.
Olympics 2010, loss against Slovakia in qf.
Olympics 2014, loss against Canada in final.
World Cup 2016, loss against Team Eu in semifinal.
How is it possible to fail so often with so good teams?
My take on it, is that Sweden is playing to non-physical and with to little energy.
What?!? Price was hardly tested in 2014 since Canada mostly played in the attacking zone; all off Canada's opponents barely had good chances in the Canadian zone.
World Cup 96, loss against Canada in semifinal.
Olympics 98, loss against Finland in qf.
Olympics 2002, loss against Belarus in qf.
World Cup 2004, loss against Czech in qf.
Olympics 2010, loss against Slovakia in qf.
Olympics 2014, loss against Canada in final.
World Cup 2016, loss against Team Eu in semifinal.
Canada has more if you factor in the Canada cups
Failing by what standards? I don't consider making the finals at the Olympics or losing in the semi finals during this tournament failing. At what point are people gong to admit that other teams are no longer collapsing and that Team Europe actually outperforming their expectations?
I don't see Sweden as failing at all. I think they put together a decent team and have a promising future.