GDT: Group B • Dec. 31 • Canada 5, Sweden 6 (SO) • Part 3

[Systemfel]

Continue here. On topic, and keep it civil.

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[Garyboy]

Congrats to Sweden. They were the better team.

 

[littleD]

Didn't read a single post in the first two threads...

Robin Lehner wasn't very good, Olivier Roy was worse, Canada lost in a skills competition and were probably lucky to have made it that far in the game.

 

[Boom King]

Actually you're wrong.

Group games are group games.

Elimination games are elimination games.

We've lost to Norway in the World Championships in the group stages.

They mean nothing provided you are still moving on in the tournament.

A game that decides whether you get a bye into the semis or have to play a quarterfinals means more than nothing. If it meant nothing, why do they even bother playing?

 

[John Price]

It was a tough loss, I'm not going to lie, but this shows Canada isn't infallible. They will straighten things out and reach the gold medal game. They have to.

There is no room for error now. There is no room for shoddy goaltending. You start Roy but if he struggles you pull him and put Visentin in.

This team has way too much talent to be eliminated early. Grind it out and take the gold home.

 

[SFKingshomer]

All this bickering about what Nation is better is stupid and reminds me of Spaceballs. I see your schwartz is as big as mine.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S25Zf8svHZQ

 

[Kamal007]

Registered hockey players in Canada: 499,695

Registered hockey players in Usa: 465,975


Registered hockey players in Sweden: 60,374

What I was trying to get at with the stats is that Americans have more people to choose players from. I don't need numbers to tell me that HAHA.

Sweden? Who said anything about Sweden?

 

[wwvdw]

True. Canada dominated. But Roy was awful.

They only things Canada dominated was the amount of hits and their PK. Otherwise Sweden was better or equal in every category. Canada, and especially their D, looked awfully slow and they cannot handle wingers coming with speed over the blueline (which Sweden was allowed to do often).

I can only hope Canada "dominates" in the same way if Sweden meets them again.

 

[wickedwitch]

It was a tough loss, I'm not going to lie, but this shows Canada isn't infallible.

One of the problems is some thought they were infallible in the first place.

 

[NyQuil]

A game that decides whether you get a bye into the semis or have to play a quarterfinals means more than nothing. If it meant nothing, why do they even bother playing?

That's a good question.

If you had an injured player, you might think about resting him, because either way, you're going on in the tournament.

Considering that 2 of the last 4 teams that have won the Gold have done so through the quarterfinals, I'm not going to lose sleep over this.

Getting the better draw is great, provided you take advantage.

Either way, you have to go undefeated to win the Gold, Canada just has to do it in one more game.

Sweden was better, but a wake-up call for Canada is a good thing too.

I'm on the fence when it comes to whether it was better to lose at this point in time or not. Only time will tell.

It certainly didn't hurt at the Olympics.

 

[oilerfanatic]

pretty funny that americans coming in here and predicting the end of hockey in canada.

I think it's inevitable that canada will not always win everything. When the Czechs won the juniors, the Olympics and the world championships in '98 were we fearing the end of Canadian hockey talent? hells no.

I can see the U.S. having a brief showing like that at one point, but Canada will hang around and then be dominant for another period of time.

I just don't see how the U.S. can ever replace Canada as a main hockey superpower. It's too much a part of our culture.

 

[Nordic*]

Didn't read a single post in the first two threads...

Robin Lehner wasn't very good, Olivier Roy was worse, Canada lost in a skills competition and were probably lucky to have made it that far in the game.

Sweden had more shots and more dangerous chances, I'd say that Lehner was worse than Roy.

One own goal, one really extraordinarily unlucky bounce and a really weak goal from way out with no traffic...Lehner didn't get it together until the last period.

 

[Towmater14]

Great game by Sweden, they had us running around all game. The team that deserved to win won. Congrats to team Sweden and their fans!

 

[John Price]

One of the problems is some thought they were infallible in the first place.

Agreed, the team wasn't the strongest team out there but it had a lot of depth

There is still a lot of talent on this team and anything less than Gold is a shame

Hopefully Canada gets it done. I would greatly relish meeting Sweden again in the championship game with gold on the line.

 

[Phil McKraken]

To lighten up the hateful mood I'll say that Rush and The Band are two awesome Canadian bands.

 

[Muuri]

Getting worked over this tournament is absolutely hilarious. It`s just exhibition tournament for the kids. Whoever wins doens´nt mean too much in the bigger picture.

 

[LiveeviL]

good that sweden won, since they played better.

roy will be criticized a lot, but canada's d-men should be criticized just as much, imo.

Good game and actually deserved win for Sweden despite the stats making it look more even. Canada's D-men were all to immobile when the puck moved at a fast pace.

Lmfao at least roy is an oiler prospect

Did anybody really think Canada would win this shootout with the way Roy has been playing?

Canada needs better goaltending to win this tournament, of course. Certainly when they meet teams with good goaltending, which wasn't the case this game. Lehner didn't even play very well but just average, taken his current development.

so those 4 swedes would make a bigger difference than Hall, Kane, O'Reilly, Duchene, Seguin or Skinner?

Deal it anyway you want, you still got Roy.

God I hope not, just look what Tommy Salo did to us

Yeah make the last and final save for the Gold in Lillehammer Olympics. The Belorussian thing was mostly the team being crap. That sole goal should not have mattered a single ****.

 

[BruceOp]

To lighten up the hateful mood I'll say that Rush and The Band are two awesome Canadian bands.

ABBA

 

[Klaus]

To lighten up the hateful mood I'll say that Rush and The Band are two awesome Canadian bands.

And ABBA was gre--... no, I can't do it.

 

[Novak Djokovic]

2008 and 2010 tournaments have shown that you can win the Gold by going to quarterfinals. I'm not worried about losing against Sweden... more worried about the shaky defense and goaltending.

 

[wjhl2009fan]

Getting worked over this tournament is absolutely hilarious. It`s just exhibition tournament for the kids. Whoever wins doens´nt mean too much in the bigger picture.

People love some tournemants and sports if they get worked up so what.

 

[sabresfan129103]

Getting worked over this tournament is absolutely hilarious. It`s just exhibition tournament for the kids. Whoever wins doens´nt mean too much in the bigger picture.

No, but it means you get to rub it in the face of your fellow HF'ers, which in the end is all that we care about anyways.

 

[Novak Djokovic]

Deal it anyway you want, you still got Roy.

The Swedish defense wouldn't be able to handle Duchene, Kane, Skinner etc..

 

[LiveeviL]

And ABBA was gre--... no, I can't do it.

... the most selling (LP mostly) artists ever.

 

[Nordic*]

What I was trying to get at with the stats is that Americans have more people to choose players from. I don't need numbers to tell me that HAHA.

Sweden? Who said anything about Sweden?

Canada has more players to choose from.

And in USA there are many sports that attracts more athletes than hockey, in Canada that's pretty much all they've got.


And I included Sweden to show you that it's possible to beat Canada despite them having more than 800% more players registered.