AAA 2011 Assassination Thread

[seventieslord]

Also, if what it takes for you to have the energy to be active in here is to talk about your team, then at least do that. it helps in the voting process and helps other GMs to make comparisons between your team and others, where the margins can be razor thin.

For example, I might make the case that Earl Robinson is the best offensive winger here. I could put up some data to support that, but the guys who have Semin, O'Neill and Svetlov might beg to differ and will come in and point out whatever flaws they see in that.

Just do anything to generate some discussion/controversy! It will be appreciated.

 

[BillyShoe1721]

Jeff O'Neill is the best power forward in the draft.

Pelle Eklund is the best two-way #1 center in the draft.

 

[BenchBrawl]

Jeff O'Neill is the best power forward in the draft.
Pelle Eklund is the best two-way #1 center in the draft.

Strongly disagree , I think this title belongs to Alexander Semin.

if someone answer this seriously he really thinks I'm stupid

 

[tony d]

Throwing this out there:

Was wondering if I should start any of the 4 guys on my bench (Nathan Horton, Ed Carpenter, Zbynek Michalek or Billy Bell) and if do start them who would I sit in favour of them?

As for comments on my team, once again I struck the balance of a goal scorer, playmaker and glue guy on each line. I really like my 3rd line, Dumont was a better playmaker than what most may realize (3 seasons of 40 or more assists), this should complement the goal-scorer Sylvan Turgeon (A 2-time 40 goal scorer).

I might try to do a couple assasinations tomorrow, see what happens.

 

[Velociraptor]

As BBS stated, I think my first line will be sufficient offensively, as well as defensively. As Anderson and Mondou are both strong two-way forwards at this level.

My second line, alike the first, has a one-dimensional player along with two-way forwards. Klima will benefit from having the two defensive forwards on his line as he is somewhat of a defensive liability.

My third line features three players who are proficient defensively, and should match up well against the oppositions top lines.

My fourth line has a defensive presence, with an offensive flair. McCreary and Smith are rugged wingers, in between is Bill Derlago, who was a forward with intangibles, the line should be able to perform at both ends of the ice.

My first defensive pairing includes a solid defensive leader in Al MacNeil, and a two-way defenseman who has offensive prowess in Paul Cavallini.

Ed Kea, a hard-hitting defenseman is paired up with the pint-sized, speedy two-way Yuri Shatalov on the second pairing.

The final pairing is a classic contrast pair, with a one-dimensional defensive player in massive Dale Rolfe, and the offensive juggernaut Jean Potvin.

Jake Forbes is a good starter in the AAA, as he was a shining star on a very dismal hockey team. Frank McCool had a short, but prolific career.

For spares, Real Chevrefils is a flat out offensive player, that can fill in and provide offense. Dennis Ververgaert is a two-way player who focused on defense towards the end of his career. Todd Gill is a proven leader who is very tough, and Brent Burns is a hulking defenseman who can play well at both ends of the ice.

Bruce Boudreau took a last place team and made them into a serious contender in his first year of coaching, which earned him a Jack Adams. He tends to get the most out of his high-scoring players, as well as very impressive play from his depth players and defenseman.

 

[chaosrevolver]

Tommy Salo is most underrated goalie in the draft in my opinion.

We all remember for that one Olympic Games against Belarus..but a quick look at his international record and his exceptional career prior to that incident..and he is no question a great goalie at this point.

 

[TheDevilMadeMe]

Tommy Salo is most underrated goalie in the draft in my opinion.

We all remember for that one Olympic Games against Belarus..but a quick look at his international record and his exceptional career prior to that incident..and he is no question a great goalie at this point.

Very slightly worse regular season record than Guy Hebert, with a much better international record. (Neither has much of a playoff record).

 

[tony d]

Garnish Pride

Coach: Sid Abel
Captain: Greg Malone
Assistants: Keith Brown, Dave Hunter

Yevgeny Mishakov-Christian Bordelau-Glenn Brydson
Dave Hunter (A)- Greg Malone (C) - Donald Audette
Sylvain Turgeon-Yanic Perreault-JP Dumont
Brent Gilchrist-Ron Wilson-Bill Collins

Keith Brown (A)-Rick Lapointe
Jeff Norton-Tom Reid
Pekka Marjamaki-Randy Ladouceur

Richard Brodeur
Don Simmons

Extras: Ed Carpenter, Nathan Horton, Zbynek Michalek, Billy Bell

Let me say a few words on my team:

1st Line: Mishakov will be the featured scorer on this line. He scored 183 goals in 400 Soviet League Games. Christian Bordelau will be his playmaker and what a playmaker he should be, Bordelau had 3 WHA seasons of 50 or more assists and ranks 8th all time in the WHA in both assists and points. Brydson is the glue guy of my 1st line but he could be counted onto score as in 4 seasons in the low-scoring early days of the NHL he scored 10 goals.

2nd Line: Dave Hunter is a tremendous pick-up for my 2nd line, he played the gritty role for the championship Oiler teams of the 80's and I look for him to play a gritty role on my team. Greg Malone is another solid playmaker among my centres, he doesn't have the assist numbers Bordelau does but he should still be able to feed the puck to his opponents effeciently. Donald Audette will be the goal scorer on this line, throughout his career he proved to be an efficient goal scorer. He should have no trouble scoring goals at this level.

3rd Line: I previewed my 3rd line yesterday but will say a few more words about it here: Turgeon is a tremendous goal scorer at this level, Dumont is the playmaker (A much better playmaker than I thought he was, this after looking at his stats) and Perreault as my #3 centre is effective offensively but was drafted for his uncanny ability to win faceoffs. This should be helpful late in games if the team needs to win a key faceoff to either keep the lead or tie the game late.

4th Line: This line takes a break from the goal scorer-playmaker-glue guy mentality of my top 3 forward lines but it's a great shutdown line. Gilchrist was known as a good defensive guy during his career. Ron Wilson was an adept penalty killer during his career. Bill Collins scored 17 short handed goals during his career which shows his great skill on the penalty kill.

Extras: Nathan Horton will bring grit and scoring to the lineup in case he has to come off the bench. Billy Bell will provide a defensive game to my lineup should someone get injured.

1st defensive pairing: Keith Brown will be my #1 option for offense from my defense, he also plays a good defensive game. Lapointe will be the defensive cog on this 1st pairing. Much like Brown he can play some offense but I drafted Lapointe more for his defense than his offense.

2nd defensive pairing: Norton is a good 2 way defenseman similar to Brown, he'll play the offensive role on this pairing. Unlike Rick Lapointe on my 1st pairing Tom Reid is going to be staying in his own zone here which is something I want out of a defensive defenseman.

3rd defensive pairing: Marjamaki is a good offensive defenseman, in the Finnish league he had 5 seasons of 10 or more goals. He should provide an offensive sparkplug to my 3rd pairing. Much like Tom Reid I drafted Ladoucer to be a defensive cog on a pairing, that's a role that suits Ladoucer quite well.

Extras: Carpenter was one of the good early era offensive defenseman, in case one of my offensive defenseman should falter or get injured Carpenter should be able to step in and fill in quite well for them. Michalek adds shot blocking to my lineup should he have to start in case of injury.

Goaltending: In Richard Brodeur I have the 2nd winningest goalie in WHA history, he was also the #1 goalie for the Vancouver team that went to the Cup final in 1982. Don Simmons is a pretty good backup for me to have in case Brodeur falters.

Coaching: I really like Abel as a coach, he was the type of coach that allowed his players to play up to their abilities which is good on a team such as mine.

Overall: This is my 2nd draft on my own and I like this team better than I did my MLD team, it has the right balance of offense and defense. This draft is wide-open, IMO, and any team could win it. I think my team stands as good a chance of any other team to win. Good luck to all the other teams in this, looking forward to more discussion as we get to the playoffs.

 

[BenchBrawl]

so when are we voting? seems like we are due since no one really makes any assassination , might as well take the discussions to the playoffs!

 

[jkrx]

Very slightly worse regular season record than Guy Hebert, with a much better international record. (Neither has much of a playoff record).

Well Salo wouldnt have an international career either if he played for any other international team during the putrid era for swedish goalies. Salo would never had played for team USA with Richter and Vanbiesbrouck in front of him.

Hebert atleast helped the mighty ducks to a second round, Salo never was able to get past the first round in the playoff with better quality teams.

Hebert played behind defensive "stalwarts" like Dimitri Mironov, Bobby Dollas, Jason Marshall, Dan Trebil, J.J. Daigneault. The best defenseman that ever played in front of Hebert was Fredrik Olausson.

Salo played with Eric Brewer, Cory Cross, Jason Smith, Steve Staios, McCabe, Berard, Lachance, Schneider, Pilon, Kasparitis, Jönsson.

(Note Im not daming defensemen from their last years as back-ups for the Rangers and Avalanche.)

 

[chaosrevolver]

Irrelevant in my opinion. That doesn't change the fact that when he played internationally, Salo was dominant.

Olympics: 9-4, 2.21, 1 SO
WC: 19-7-2, 1.89, 8 SO

And really? Tommy Salo carried the load for a team who probably would have been closer to the bottom if it wasn't for him. The Oilers got swept in a series that saw him put up a .920 SV% and sub-2.50 GAA. In other words..the Oilers were absolutely putrid for a while. Tell me..what happened in Guy Hebert's other "playoff run"? At least he had Selanne and Kariya running that offense and scoring goals, unlike what Edmonton's forwards were doing for Salo.

Well Salo wouldnt have an international career either if he played for any other international team during the putrid era for swedish goalies. Salo would never had played for team USA with Richter and Vanbiesbrouck in front of him.

Hebert atleast helped the mighty ducks to a second round, Salo never was able to get past the first round in the playoff with better quality teams.

Hebert played behind defensive "stalwarts" like Dimitri Mironov, Bobby Dollas, Jason Marshall, Dan Trebil, J.J. Daigneault. The best defenseman that ever played in front of Hebert was Fredrik Olausson.

Salo played with Eric Brewer, Cory Cross, Jason Smith, Steve Staios, McCabe, Berard, Lachance, Schneider, Pilon, Kasparitis, Jönsson.

(Note Im not daming defensemen from their last years as back-ups for the Rangers and Avalanche.)

 

[TheDevilMadeMe]

Yeah, I don't understand the statement that the Oilers of the era were "better quality teams" than... well, pretty much anyone. The Oilers, more than any other team, were basically a farm team for the rest of the NHL, forced to sell off their talent as soon as they were due for another contract, mostly because of the weak Canadian dollar.

No way they could have afforded to give Selanne and Kariya contracts like they did.

And for all the talk of the "Oilers defense," they were one of the few teams in the dead puck era that never adopted the a defense-first approach - they always played aggressive, fast-skating hockey whether it was Oilers tradition, or to get the most out of the young legs on the team before having to trade them away.

 

[jkrx]

Yeah, I don't understand the statement that the Oilers of the era were "better quality teams" than... well, pretty much anyone. The Oilers, more than any other team, were basically a farm team for the rest of the NHL, forced to sell off their talent as soon as they were due for another contract, mostly because of the weak Canadian dollar.

No way they could have afforded to give Selanne and Kariya contracts like they did.

And for all the talk of the "Oilers defense," they were one of the few teams in the dead puck era that never adopted the a defense-first approach - they always played aggressive, fast-skating hockey whether it was Oilers tradition, or to get the most out of the young legs on the team before having to trade them away.

Where did I say that that Oilers was a defense first team? I was saying that they had quality defensemen compared to the Ducks. The ducks were a farm team with two stars on it.

Edmontons top 10 most played games when Salo was there:
Janne Niinimaa
Jason Smith
Eric Brewer
Tom Poti
Sean Brown
Steve Staios
Scott Ferguson
Roman Hamrlik
Igor Ulanov
Alexei Semenov


Anaheims when Hebert played
Jason Marshall
Bobby Dollas
Ruslan Salei
Oleg Tverdovsky
Dave Karpa
Pavel Trnka
Fredrik Olausson
Randy Ladouceur
Kevin Haller
Pascal Trepanier

Salo never carried anything (Islanders and a couple of WCs might be an exception) you might confuse him with Curtis Joseph though?

Edit: Edmonton was above average in GA for most of the time Salo were there except during the '02 season when they were 2nd behind the Avs. I call that quality defense.

Irrelevant in my opinion. That doesn't change the fact that when he played internationally, Salo was dominant.

Olympics: 9-4, 2.21, 1 SO
WC: 19-7-2, 1.89, 8 SO

And really? Tommy Salo carried the load for a team who probably would have been closer to the bottom if it wasn't for him. The Oilers got swept in a series that saw him put up a .920 SV% and sub-2.50 GAA. In other words..the Oilers were absolutely putrid for a while. Tell me..what happened in Guy Hebert's other "playoff run"? At least he had Selanne and Kariya running that offense and scoring goals, unlike what Edmonton's forwards were doing for Salo.

I doubt any swede will ever tell you that Sweden won anything because of Salo (he obviously were an important piece).

Atleast Edmonton had two lines that could score or are you forgetting that Edmonton had Doug Weight, Bill Guerin, Alex Selivanov, Ryan Smyth, Todd Marchant, Anson Carter, Mike York, Beranek, Grier, Mike Comrie and a rookie Hemsky. Now Anaheims best forwards during Heberts period were Kariya, Selänne, Rucchin two over aged vets in Bellows and Kurri, Sacco, Cullen, Donato, McInnis, Sean Pronger, Tomas Sandström, Scott Young. No one of these players except the first trio would ever produce over 40 points in a season for Anaheim while all of the above mentioned Oilers players did. So yes, Salo played for a quality team compared to Anaheims AHL standards.

 

[chaosrevolver]

Salo never carried anything (Islanders and a couple of WCs might be an exception) you might confuse him with Curtis Joseph though?

Edit: Edmonton was above average in GA for most of the time Salo were there except during the '02 season when they were 2nd behind the Avs. I call that quality defense.



I doubt any swede will ever tell you that Sweden won anything because of Salo (he obviously were an important piece).

Anyone who watched the Oilers play during that time would disagree. Salo was an elite goalie in the NHL for the Oilers, and if it wasn't for him, they wouldn't have even made the playoffs on a regular basis.

And whether or not they won anything or not cause of him..Salo was utterly dominant and did his job. Something that shouldn't be discredited just because Sweden is a solid national team.

Or you could call that the goalie stealing games? That team was all-offense during his time as a goalie there.

I'm not trying to sell Hebert shot. I am a Ducks fan and there is no question I loved the guy. But as someone who watched both these guys regularly, they are around the same in a career wide look at things. That isn't a shot at Hebert, more or less explaining both these guys are two great goalies in this draft.

 

[TheDevilMadeMe]

Where did I say that that Oilers was a defense first team? I was saying that they had quality defensemen compared to the Ducks. The ducks were a farm team with two stars on it.

Edmontons top 10 most played games when Salo was there:
Janne Niinimaa
Jason Smith
Eric Brewer
Tom Poti
Sean Brown
Steve Staios
Scott Ferguson
Roman Hamrlik
Igor Ulanov
Alexei Semenov


Anaheims when Hebert played
Jason Marshall
Bobby Dollas
Ruslan Salei
Oleg Tverdovsky
Dave Karpa
Pavel Trnka
Fredrik Olausson
Randy Ladouceur
Kevin Haller
Pascal Trepanier

Salo never carried anything (Islanders and a couple of WCs might be an exception) you might confuse him with Curtis Joseph though?

Edit: Edmonton was above average in GA for most of the time Salo were there except during the '02 season when they were 2nd behind the Avs. I call that quality defense.



I doubt any swede will ever tell you that Sweden won anything because of Salo (he obviously were an important piece).

Atleast Edmonton had two lines that could score or are you forgetting that Edmonton had Doug Weight, Bill Guerin, Alex Selivanov, Ryan Smyth, Todd Marchant, Anson Carter, Mike York, Beranek, Grier, Mike Comrie and a rookie Hemsky. Now Anaheims best forwards during Heberts period were Kariya, Selänne, Rucchin two over aged vets in Bellows and Kurri, Sacco, Cullen, Donato, McInnis, Sean Pronger, Tomas Sandström, Scott Young. No one of these players except the first trio would ever produce over 40 points in a season for Anaheim while all of the above mentioned Oilers players did. So yes, Salo played for a quality team compared to Anaheims AHL standards.

Your premise was that Hebert > Salo because at least Hebert played in the second round. So what if Salo's defensemen looked better on paper. You need to score goals to actually win games, and Edmonton had nobody even close to Kariya and Selanne up from. You can list whatever names you want for Edmonton, but you're ignoring that the team had to trade those names away as soon as they started getting good.

With all those names you list, only one of them was ever a top 10 scorer - Doug Weight, just once. Bill Guerin was close... in a season when Edmonton had to trade him at the deadline because they couldn't afford to pay him.

Also, as far as I'm aware, Anaheim was not a "farm team." When were they ever known for trading talent at each trade deadline because they couldn't afford it? They gave Paul Kariya 10 million dollars per season, FFS.

Don't get me wrong, neither team was very good. But I really think that "Hebert got to the second round!" doesn't really tell us anything. Salo's international record is much more impressive than either goalie's playoff record.

 

[seventieslord]

The point about salo only having an international record because he was swedish, is a valid one though.

He got to play in a lot of international games that a much more skilled canadian goalie would not have, for example.

How to credit him for his play in these games while acknowledging the circumstances that led to him being there? Difficult.

 

[jkrx]

Your premise was that Hebert > Salo because at least Hebert played in the second round. So what if Salo's defensemen looked better on paper. You need to score goals to actually win games, and Edmonton had nobody even close to Kariya and Selanne up from. You can list whatever names you want for Edmonton, but you're ignoring that the team had to trade those names away as soon as they started getting good.

With all those names you list, only one of them was ever a top 10 scorer - Doug Weight, just once. Bill Guerin was close... in a season when Edmonton had to trade him at the deadline because they couldn't afford to pay him.

Also, as far as I'm aware, Anaheim was not a "farm team." When were they ever known for trading talent at each trade deadline because they couldn't afford it? They gave Paul Kariya 10 million dollars per season, FFS.

Don't get me wrong, neither team was very good. But I really think that "Hebert got to the second round!" doesn't really tell us anything. Salo's international record is much more impressive than either goalie's playoff record.

Who on that Ducks team were supposed to be traded? The had trash nothing was worth trading away except Selänne, Rucchin, Kariya and Hebert. I dont see what economy has to do with it. Edmonton was the better team both offensively and defensively.

Edmonton didnt trade them away when they were starting to get good they got traded when their contracts were up some sooner and some later the point was that Edmonton for most of the time had a rather complete top-6 and while Anaheim had two superstars, Rucchin and a couple of 20-30 something point guys.

 

[TheDevilMadeMe]

The point about salo only having an international record because he was swedish, is a valid one though.

He got to play in a lot of international games that a much more skilled canadian goalie would not have, for example.

How to credit him for his play in these games while acknowledging the circumstances that led to him being there? Difficult.

It's not exactly the same but is it really that much different from a great goalie who never got a chance to excel in the playoffs because of his team? Some players get more opportunities than others; they shouldn't be punished for it - instead we should look at what they did with their opportunities.

I see them as this: Hebert has a slightly better regular season record than Salo, mainly because he finished 4th in Vezina voting (behind Hasek, Brodeur and Roy) once vs. Salo's 6th place finish. Other than that their regular season records are very similar.

Salo has that international career, which should not be ignored. True, Hebert never got the chance, but shouldn't Salo get some credit for doing extremely well with the chance he got? IMO, Salo's International career completely fills the gap. But even if you don't think Salo's international career makes up the gap completely, it has to narrow it, right?

Who on that Ducks team were supposed to be traded? The had trash nothing was worth trading away except Selänne, Rucchin, Kariya and Hebert. I dont see what economy has to do with it. Edmonton was the better team both offensively and defensively.

Edmonton didnt trade them away when they were starting to get good they got traded when their contracts were up some sooner and some later the point was that Edmonton for most of the time had a rather complete top-6 and while Anaheim had two superstars, Rucchin and a couple of 20-30 something point guys.

If Selanne and Kariya were Oilers, they would have been traded, just like every other Oiler who made more than a pittance.

 

[seventieslord]

It's not exactly the same but is it really that much different from a great goalie who never got a chance to excel in the playoffs because of his team? Some players get more opportunities than others; they shouldn't be punished for it - instead we should look at what they did with their opportunities.

I see them as this: Hebert has a slightly better regular season record than Salo, mainly because he finished 4th in Vezina voting (behind Hasek, Brodeur and Roy) once vs. Salo's 6th place finish. Other than that their regular season records are very similar.

Salo has that international career, which should not be ignored. True, Hebert never got the chance, but shouldn't Salo get some credit for doing extremely well with the chance he got? IMO, Salo's International career completely fills the gap. But even if you don't think Salo's international career makes up the gap completely, it has to narrow it, right?

I don't know. I really don't. I try to "compartmentalize" the careers of goalies and defensemen often, in order to make judgment easier. For example, so and so was the 5th best goalie once, 8th-10th a few more times, and a below average starter 5 other times. Say that Salo had a season that would lead me to say he was 10th among goalies. But then he didn't make the playoffs and got to play in the worlds, and did well there. Can I bump him up over a few more goalies now? Say that #7 through 9 were quickly dispatched in round 1, does this now mean Salo had a better season than them? He arguably accomplished more. I dunno.

 

[TheDevilMadeMe]

I don't know. I really don't. I try to "compartmentalize" the careers of goalies and defensemen often, in order to make judgment easier. For example, so and so was the 5th best goalie once, 8th-10th a few more times, and a below average starter 5 other times. Say that Salo had a season that would lead me to say he was 10th among goalies. But then he didn't make the playoffs and got to play in the worlds, and did well there. Can I bump him up over a few more goalies now? Say that #7 through 9 were quickly dispatched in round 1, does this now mean Salo had a better season than them? He arguably accomplished more. I dunno.

Yeah, I hear what you are saying about the World Championships. I used to not count the modern World Championships for anything, but I've slowly come around on them. If they mean so much to Europeans, perhaps they are a decent measure of the "clutch" ability of a player, at least a European. Still, it's difficult to know how much weight to give to them.

The Olympics had nothing to do with his team being knocked out early, though. In 1994 (probably the best moment of his career), he was 22 years old not an NHLer yet. In 1998 (when he also played very well) and 2002 (when he clearly didn't), NHL players could play in the Olympics.

 

[seventieslord]

Btw, I do think the part about Edmonton's skaters being better that Anaheim's is rubbish.

 

[jkrx]

Yeah, I hear what you are saying about the World Championships. I used to not count the modern World Championships for anything, but I've slowly come around on them. If they mean so much to Europeans, perhaps they are a decent measure of the "clutch" ability of a player, at least a European. Still, it's difficult to know how much weight to give to them.

The Olympics had nothing to do with his team being knocked out early, though. In 1994 (probably the best moment of his career), he was 22 years old not an NHLer yet. In 1998 (when he also played very well) and 2002 (when he clearly didn't), NHL players could play in the Olympics.

Actually the WCs meant more before NHLers was there. Now people are getting a bit tired of them playing every year. Well atleast in my group of friends and somewhat in media. The olympics are much more important I've even noticed the WJC getting more exposure.

I'm not saying that Salo is a bad goalie, I just think that Hebert accomplished more with less.

Olympics in '94 was a team effort and Salo wasn't really descibed as an important player.

In '98 he was a choker along with the rest of the team but he did let in a couple of soft goals.

 

[TheDevilMadeMe]

Actually the WCs meant more before NHLers was there. Now people are getting a bit tired of them playing every year. Well atleast in my group of friends and somewhat in media. The olympics are much more important I've even noticed the WJC getting more exposure.

I'm not saying that Salo is a bad goalie, I just think that Hebert accomplished more with less.

Olympics in '94 was a team effort and Salo wasn't really descibed as an important player.

In '98 he was a choker along with the rest of the team but he did let in a couple of soft goals.

Wikipedia begs to differ. Heh.

Also (via hockeygoalies.org):

"Salo's unforgettable performance at the 1994 Olympics - where he led Sweden to the gold medal - had the Islanders excited. The Islanders sent him on to Denver, where he has been the No. 1 goalie and is playing well. [Islanders' GM Don] Maloney is impressed with his quick glove and feet, but thinks he needs a little more adaptation to North American shooters." (Jeff Williams, The Hockey News Future Watch 1995)

This is from an SI article after Salo's choke job in 2002:

Michael Nylander tied it for Sweden later in the period, but Belarus regained the lead when Andrei Kovalev stole the puck at center ice and beat Salo -- the hero of Sweden's 1994 goal medal shootout victory over Canada -- on a breakaway at 2:47 of the third period.

It appears the majority of hockey media considers Salo a key to the 1994 Olympic victory.

 

[jkrx]

Wikipedia begs to differ. Heh.

Also (via hockeygoalies.org):



This is from an SI article after Salo's choke job in 2002:



It appears the majority of hockey media considers Salo a key to the 1994 Olympic victory.

You quote two artcles and now that is the majority of hockey media? The fact is that Salo didn't win a game for Sweden in 94. His save versus Kariya is ofcourse the exception.

So which other great game by Salo are you referring to? The game versus the russians where Sweden led in the third period when Salo started shake and let in two goals or his big play versus the americans where he let in 4 goals? Salo was great however versus the minor national hockey teams.

Edit: I might add that if it wasn't for Salo the swedes would have won in regulation.

 

[TheDevilMadeMe]

You quote two artcles and now that is the majority of hockey media?

What would you have me do? Find every article every written about the 1994 Olympics? Every bio you see of Salo talks about how he was key part of the team.

The fact is that Salo didn't win a game for Sweden in 94. His save versus Kariya is ofcourse the exception.

I'm not sure what you are getting at. He obviously didn't win the Olympics by himself, but he sure did his part.

So which other great game by Salo are you referring to? The game versus the russians where Sweden led in the third period when Salo started shake and let in two goals or his big play versus the americans where he let in 4 goals? Salo was great however versus the minor national hockey teams.

Edit: I might add that if it wasn't for Salo the swedes would have won in regulation.

Well, he was selected best goalie at the World Championships twice by the directorate and three times by the media, so I think he probably had more than one good game... Edit: Or are you still talking about the 1994 Olympics?