Olympics: Why was Canada so nonchalant in its Sochi victory?

[End on a Hinote]

After re-watching our golden victory against Sweden this past February for the millionth time, I noticed something odd that perhaps played a role in the non-dramatic fashion of the victory (along with the 3-0 score).

Notice how the Canadian players reacted after the final buzzer, you'd think they merely advanced to the second round in a 4-0 series sweep.

Why?

Team don't react this laid back in the Stanley Cup. Boston's 4-0 game 7 drubbing of Vancouver in 2011 didn't cease them from piling on top of each other when the game ended.

Does it have to do with the whole "Olympic spirit" with sportsmanship? Or was it maybe, perhaps due to them being Canadian, that they felt they would have appeared classless had they done that?

Click to read more...

 

[1Gold Standard]

I think if the outcome had been in doubt (Vancouver 2010 OT) then there would have been a different reaction. All in all, I rate the Vancouver gold medal more significant than Sochi.

I know the nonchalant, ho-hum reaction of players did irritate some European fans.

 

[End on a Hinote]

I know the nonchalant, ho-hum reaction of players did irritate some European fans.

Talk about a double edged sword!

 

[Siamese Dream]

Probably because they didn't beat a rival (USA or Russia) in the gold medal game, and it was an uncompetitive 3-0 game

 

[wishywashy19]

Probably because they didn't beat a rival (USA or Russia) in the gold medal game, and it was an uncompetitive 3-0 game

They knew the game was over at 3-0.
not like it was pins and needles or overtime. They aren't kids or Russians.

 

[The Bad Guy*]

That's just how we roll.

Just far too much class to do something like freak out and jump all over the place and scream at the camera in a win wrapped up like that.

They did their job and they knew that was all that was expected of them.

Mission accomplished.

 

[OttawaRoughRiderFan*]

Xokkeu was at the GMG and mentioned this. He said the Canadian men, as apposed to the women who went crazy, were blasé about their win.

Perhaps, because they were always in control, the win was anticlimactic. They acted like they'd been there before and that's not a bad thing.

 

[Erikfromfin]

It's our fault (rest of the world) that we couldnt compete harder against the number 1 team. Maybe in future...

 

[JackSlater]

1. Nearly half of the team had already won gold four years prior, and probably most of the players came in pretty confident of winning. Not an entirely new experience. It wasn't surprising that Duchene and Subban seemed most elated after winning.

2. The players had to know that the game was over for quite some time before the final whistle. Just less exciting. Very different from 2010.

3. Atmosphere in Sochi wasn't great when Russia wasn't playing

4. It's only a two week tournament. In many cases the more time you put into something, the more you want to win it. You can probably also assume that many players value another hockey prize (Stanley Cup) a little bit more.

 

[End on a Hinote]

Xokkeu was at the GMG and mentioned this. He said the Canadian men, as apposed to the women who went crazy, were blasé about their win.

Perhaps, because they were always in control, the win was anticlimactic. They acted like they'd been there before and that's not a bad thing.

But even still, look at the 1998 Red Wings. They are the best example. Up 3-0 in games, won the cup the previous year, 4-1 in the dying seconds of game 4. You wouldn't have guessed that they were that in control based on their celebration.



Jump to 10:06

4. It's only a two week tournament. In many cases the more time you put into something, the more you want to win it. You can probably also assume that many players value another hockey prize (Stanley Cup) a little bit more.

Agreed. Probably a big reason.

 

[UsernameWasTaken]

Canada had the game in the bag well before it was over so the final buzzer was a bit anti-climactic. Same with watching the game...it wasn't as exciting as Vancouver.

 

[YMCMBYOLO]

They seemed just as, maybe if not more, excited when they beat the USA.

 

[OttawaRoughRiderFan*]

They seemed just as, maybe if not more, excited when they beat the USA.

Lots of reasons for that...

1) The game was less competitive;
2) Russia (the home team) was not playing;
3) The hockey wasn't as good as 2010 and no one, players or fans, seemed as into it.

 

[Xokkeu]

Xokkeu was at the GMG and mentioned this. He said the Canadian men, as apposed to the women who went crazy, were blasé about their win.

Perhaps, because they were always in control, the win was anticlimactic. They acted like they'd been there before and that's not a bad thing.

They seemed a lot more nervous for the US game but maybe that's just my bias.

Against Sweden the game was only close for a period and then we all knew what the result was.

 

[londonHK]

I agree with the reasons listed in most of this thread - not an OT win, not against a big rival, they kind of knew they were going to win for probably the third period, etc. But even if the game had been closer or against the US, we weren't going to see the same reaction from the boys this year as we saw in 2010, because that was a once in a lifetime emotional game on home soil, not likely to be seen again in Canada in my lifetime. No international game that Canada could play would ever beat an OT win on home soil against their #1 rival (I know the Soviet Union used to be the #1 rival but by 2010 it was clear that America was the new #1 rival) for emotional impact.

I have to admit that I'm a bit torn - I love how dominant Team Canada was this year, but with a certain level of "dominance" (sorry to use that word; I don't mean it as a slight to the other national teams at all) comes less emotional impact when you do win. The Miracle on Ice wouldn't have meant half as much to America if it wasn't such an underdog win, for example. The close game that was 2010 was such a rollercoaster of emotion for both sides, and that's what made that game an instant classic. I watch Crosby's golden goal once in a while when I'm having a bad day. It is absolutely my favourite hockey moment (I'm too young for the other "big" hockey moments in Canadian history) but if all of our wins were so dependent on a chance goal, it would make our position in international hockey rather precarious. So since I want to keep seeing our boys sing O Canada at the Olympics every 4 years for the rest of my life , if it means less emotional wins like 2014, I'll take it!

 

[fallsviewafro*]

Literally nothing could possibly ever hope to even come close to topping beating the USA on home soil in overtime for the gold, especially after losing to the USA earlier in the tournament, hence the diminished reaction.

 

[YMCMBYOLO]

Literally nothing could possibly ever hope to even come close to topping beating the USA on home soil in overtime for the gold, especially after losing to the USA earlier in the tournament, hence the diminished reaction.

Yeah, i think everything will be anti-climatic after the USA-Canada Gold Medal Game in Vancouver.

And hopefully South Korea is a bit more energetic when it comes to their fans for hockey

 

[Xokkeu]

There was actually a lot of fear in 2010. Team Canada looked pretty disjointed and confused in the round robin games. Remember they had to beat Switzerland in a shootout and lost to the US. I remember some people were actually considering what would happen if they lost Germany? It wasn't like they had the previous Gold Medal to fall back on either. Failure in Sochi meant oh whoops we lost a game. Failure at home, in Vancouver and now we have only won one gold in four Olympics. Obvious the rest is history and they won, but there was some palpable nerves in 2010 that there was not in Sochi.

 

[Get North]

I never really gave a loud cheer either. When we scored the first couple of goals I was really excited but then I knew Sweden wasn't coming back because that defence was great that year, shutting down USA 1-0 and letting in 3 goals the whole tournament.

I think the team felt the same way.

 

[Mehar]

Canada had the game in the bag well before it was over so the final buzzer was a bit anti-climactic. Same with watching the game...it wasn't as exciting as Vancouver.

100% agree. Canada dominated the game in Sochi and were in control for the majority of it, in comparison to 2010, where the game went into OT on home ice against a big rival like the USA.

 

[JoeyBeans]

That's just how we roll.

Just far too much class to do something like freak out and jump all over the place and scream at the camera in a win wrapped up like that.

They did their job and they knew that was all that was expected of them.

Mission accomplished.

This.

 

[m4tt145]

These threads are funny. Keep it up.

 

[The Bad Guy*]

I don't see what is funny about it, it is a legitimate question.

 

[xxxx]

There was actually a lot of fear in 2010. Team Canada looked pretty disjointed and confused in the round robin games. Remember they had to beat Switzerland in a shootout and lost to the US. I remember some people were actually considering what would happen if they lost Germany? It wasn't like they had the previous Gold Medal to fall back on either. Failure in Sochi meant oh whoops we lost a game. Failure at home, in Vancouver and now we have only won one gold in four Olympics. Obvious the rest is history and they won, but there was some palpable nerves in 2010 that there was not in Sochi.

Well, I admit that even I was worried, but I knew that the games against the Swiss and the US were just a bad luck. We won the third period against the US 14-4, and against the Swiss 18-3, that's saying something. It wasn't like the team played badly. They just needed a bit of a luck. Also, the team was facing two hot goaltenders. Besides the Canada game, Hiller got only one goal in the QF game against the US, and Ryan Miller was tournament MVP.

 

[Xokkeu]

Well, I admit that even I was worried, but I knew that the games against the Swiss and the US were just a bad luck. We won the third period against the US 14-4, and against the Swiss 18-3, that's saying something. It wasn't like the team played badly. They just needed a bit of a luck. Also, the team was facing two hot goaltenders. Besides the Canada game, Hiller got only one goal in the QF game against the US, and Ryan Miller was tournament MVP.

I don't really know why you're trying to justify their play four years later.