OT: PyeongChang 2018 Olympics

[SomeDudeOTI]

I was curious how many of these would happen

 

[LaGu]

Well yes and no. It wasn't a fluke this year getting to the final because they played hard and deserved to be but don't expect this to be a trend . Like i said any team that skates well and plays a good system can be competitive in international hockey and have close games. But Germany had a huge Canadian influence on that team which really helped too. Don't expect it to be a norm having Germany in the medals lol

Ooook...

Are you replying to me or did I miss context? Who said anything about it being a norm for having Germany in the medals?

 

[LaGu]

It was beautiful while it lasted. Didn't really expect Germany to advance against our swiss neighbours, boy was I wrong.. Probably the most exciting week in my life when it comes to international hockey, Silver and just 55sec away from Gold is huge. That being said, I doubt this will have any bigger impact on hockey in Germany, though I'd love to be wrong about this one..

Olympic Silver für Deutschland, **** yeah!!

I thought they were good already last year in the WHC. The Swiss has had on and off success for a while now and I think it is starting to show, starting out with mostly CAN migrants now they have loads (relatively) of home grown talent.

It does not happen in an instant but if success can be maintained for a while it will breed more success.

Hopefully Germany will keep this up for a while so that we can see some real growth in the game.

 

[Captain Fantastic]

Very happy for the Germans. I hope the players are proud of themselves. Tough to lose the game like that and I'm not sure passing it around in the last minute would have worked with Russia. Germany played to win till the end and not hang on to the lead. Can't blame them for that. Wish they worn the full sized Eagle Crest. That's a wicked emblem.

 

[SaltNPeca]

Germany in the QF in the IIHF WHC last year (losing 2-1 against CAN with McKinnon, Duchene, Scheifele etc) and the Olympic final this year. This is good for hockey, I am excited to see the IIHF this year. Drai will probably be playing and I bet Germany will want to show that this was not just a fluke.

I watched that game from ice level.

Canada absolutely dominated possession, but Germany turtled well. Grubauer was a difference maker in their games against Latvia and Canada (much like Lundqvist in the final). Man for man they were clearly inferior, but played strategically and fed off the fans. An exhausted Draisaitl fresh off NHL playoffs would lug the puck into the offensive zone to generate their chances. I felt like they had no business being in that game watching any 2-5 minute segment, but overall they can hold in with the big dogs. Kind of reminds me of old Swiss national teams.

Overall with standout goal-tending, 1 superstar (Drai), and a very cohesive and motivated group they will be competitive in the next ~5-10 year period. For me, they move into USA-Finland-Czech strata below the big dogs Canada-Sweden-Russia. With hot goal-tending they can threaten in these kinds of short tournaments, but normally finish just short of #1 to any of the big dogs.

 

[Drivesaitl]

I watched that game from ice level.

Canada absolutely dominated possession, but Germany turtled well. Grubauer was a difference maker in their games against Latvia and Canada (much like Lundqvist in the final). Man for man they were clearly inferior, but played strategically and fed off the fans. An exhausted Draisaitl fresh off NHL playoffs would lug the puck into the offensive zone to generate their chances. I felt like they had no business being in that game watching any 2-5 minute segment, but overall they can hold in with the big dogs. Kind of reminds me of old Swiss national teams.

Overall with standout goal-tending, 1 superstar (Drai), and a very cohesive and motivated group they will be competitive in the next ~5-10 year period. For me, they move into USA-Finland-Czech strata below the big dogs Canada-Sweden-Russia. With hot goal-tending they can threaten in these kinds of short tournaments, but normally finish just short of #1 to any of the big dogs.

Nice rundown. If I can add that they really got questionable goaltending in the AOR final. 3 shots all designed to go high beating a goalie that chronically showed too low of a crouch.

Also 2 goals in the final where the goalie failed to seal even short post.

Got away with a goalie with a lot of fundamental flaws earlier in tournament but Russian snipers tend to be good at fatally exposing those types of flaws.

Really with even a goalie as bad as Scrivens Germany probably wins that same final. Not that OAR had good goaltending either. Both teams were really let down in the final.

Agree with your other assessments and that Germany seems to be having a good period.

 

[rboomercat90]

Does this mean Germany gets their own team in Bettman’s next World Cup or do they have to hook up with the Slovakia’s and Slovenia’s of Europe again?