Iginla for Mayor said:How cool would it be to see Russia and Canada go to a shootout one day?
Kovalchuk
Ovechkin
Federov
Datsyuk
Kovalev
v.s.
Lemieux
Sakic
Lecavalier
Nash
Iginla
I love Iggy as much as the next guy... but he should NOT be in the shoot out!
i have to admint i don't like canada's chances in a shoot-out.... yes canada creates more well-rounded players, but russia has THE best stick handlers and danglers in the world. But if we did go to shoot-outs it should look like this:
Kovalchuk
Ovechkin
Federov
Datsyuk
Kovalev
vs
Lemieux
Sakic
Healtey
Karyia (if he makes the team) otherwise Nash
St. Louis
Osprey said:This is such a lame argument. Everyone knows that any team can beat any other team on any night. I don't mean to join the dogpile on you, RoyIsALegend, but I imagine that you thought last season that your Avs would "steamroll" the Wild in the 2nd round. Not only did the Avs not steamroll them; they lost to them.
Iginla for Mayor said:Just compare the ones he mentioned to the ones I mentioned:
Thorton > Kovalchuk. ... Kovalchuk = better scorer... thorton = better overall player
Crosby < Ovechkin now.... but crosby will be better in a year or so!
Heatley >>>>>> Malking
Nash > Frolov
Spezza > Semin
Gagne > Zherdev
That still leaves Staal, Ryder, Richards, Carter, Perry, Getzlaf, Tanguay, Marleau ect.ect.ect.
Iginla for Mayor said:Heatley >>>>>> Malking
roshiajin said:Pretty nice depth but not on defense or goaltending.
Petey21 said:Can someone please sum up what the article in the first post said? I hate those sportsnet articles, first they tell you to select region (what for??) and then it takes you to the main page and not directly to the article, and I had no clue what article it was in that long list. Sportsnet's website sucks!
Sorry, I got the year and round incorrect ('03 1st, not '04 2nd), but my point still stands.RoyIsALegend said:Colorado has never played Minnesota in the 2nd round, and it was San Jose they lost not, not the Wild.
greatwhite101 said:When Russia brings top notch players into NHL like Ovechkin, Kovalchuk, Malkin, Zherdev and others they can not get a fair deal or what they think is right? Why not?
There are more than enough quality teams to make the Olympic tournament top notch. That sounds like your "hero" Don CHerry.
O yeah? Like who? Today, what country can challenge Canada except Russians or Czechs?
USA? Finland? Slovaks? Swedes? Germany or Ukraine? Give me a break…
Russian hockey is on the rise again. When was the last time Russians won anything? Bronze in 2005 when Russians lost a very close game to Canada but beat Czech who then beat Canada in finals. Here is the roster I’d play in Olympics. If you think you know a lot of TOP NOTCH countries who can beat this roster I would like to know. Took me 7 minutes to come up with this roster....
Iginla for Mayor said:Just compare the ones he mentioned to the ones I mentioned:
Thorton > Kovalchuk. ... Kovalchuk = better scorer... thorton = better overall player
Crosby < Ovechkin now.... but crosby will be better in a year or so!
Heatley >>>>>> Malking
Nash > Frolov
Spezza > Semin
Gagne > Zherdev
That still leaves Staal, Ryder, Richards, Carter, Perry, Getzlaf, Tanguay, Marleau ect.ect.ect.
RoyIsALegend said:Again, I'm _extremely_ confident that the likes of Chris Pronger, Rob Blake, and Scott Niedermayer, whom have Norris trophies, Art Ross trophies and Stanley Cup rings between them, can "position" themselves fine with an extra few feet.
Resolute said:I dont care what roster Russia could bring, and I dont care if Russian hockey is rebounding. My argument was surrounding what Russian hockey would do to itself if it wanted to use the Olympics to prove a political point. The talent Russia would be leaving behind is not really a factor to this argument. That Russia would leave it behind is.
About the World Cup, I was very frustrated at the Canadian coaching because our grinding line was used way more than the other better offensive lines. Thank goodness that Joe Thornton was on the grinding line but still, Canada was being dictated by the opponent because we kept matching the best Czech line with our grind line and that reduced our firepower greatly.Alfons said:Fedorov, Kovalev, Ovechkin, Datsyuk, Kovalchuk, Samsonov, Mogilny, Malkin, Frolov, Afinogenov etc. would provide much more speed and skill upfront than Canada could ice, sorry. Yes they have bigger players but if those russians would decide to play their best Canada (especially on big ice where guys like Pronger have serious difficulties) would be in trouble.
And if you remeber, Canada was outplayed by the Czechs in last years World Cup and olny saved by luck and Brodeur. So much for Canada beeing head and shoulders above ohter teams. What Canada has got over the others is depth and probably the best defensmen (but not on big ice).
In a few years Russia will have the better forwards compared to Canada with Ovechkin, Kovalchuk, Malkin, Frolov, Semin and Zherdev.
Canuck21t said:About the World Cup, I was very frustrated at the Canadian coaching because our grinding line was used way more than the other better offensive lines. Thank goodness that Joe Thornton was on the grinding line but still, Canada was being dictated by the opponent because we kept matching the best Czech line with our grind line and that reduced our firepower greatly.
When it comes to the Canadian youngsters, during the '90s, Team Canada won 5 straight Gold Medals at the WJC yet I was never impressed with the Canadian forwards. I could see that Canadians didn't skate as well as the Europeans, neither could they pass and stickhandle as good. The reason that Canada was able to win those Gold medals were due to amazing goaltending and a little bit of luck. Now for the first time since the Greztsky and Lemieux era, I am confident at our young Canadians. Canadians now skate as fast and have great skills. I can only see a few elite Russians having better skills. In fact, I always thought that the very best individual forwards were Russians, but as a unit, there was always something wrong with them. I don't know if the new generation of Russians have changed but I still see a lot of individualism in them. Because they have so much skill, they think that they can do it all alone. Well, it doesn't work that way, sorry. Canadians on the other hand tend to use their linemates more often and I like that better. I also believe many Russian fans are underrating Canadian players. Our players are alot less flashy but that doesn't mean that they're less effective. I don't know for sure who will have the brighter future but for a very long time I was worried but I am now finally happy with Canada's talent.
greatwhite101 said:What political point??? What are you talking about?
Russians want to get compensated for future players like Ovechkin Zherdev Malkin Kovalchuk Semin Frolov. If they feel 500K (or whatever the amount) is not enough for compensation well maybe it’s not (in their mind). That what it’s all about.
It’s all about greed. Owners greed. Players are not getting the money they used to. Pay roll is 39 million but look at the ticket prices.
Actually, there would be another problem..DanyHeatley#1Fan said:The only thing I am pretty sure about is that NO other national team could beat Team Canada in a seven games series. On any given night somebody could beat us and that's why Olympic gold is not won yet. Anyways, upsets happen in the NHL and could very well happen with Team Canada, but on paper NO BODY could beat us in a seven games series.
The only problem: internation tournaments are not 7 games series...
DayWalk3r said:as for now, Sweden has 4 players among Top-9 in pointscoring, 3 among the Top-10 in +/- and 1 goalie that top's the Goalie-stats.