WC: May 05 GDT - USA vs. Norway

[The Imp]

HEJA NORGE!!!!

Dude, Norway getting a point out of this game is bad - for Denmark, that is. Get your priorities straight.

 

[gamera]

i am only watching the updating scoresheet...

i notice the clock was not reset for the start of the 2nd period...is that customary? in the olympics it counted up...but started over with each period

it took me awhile to get used to it, but i finally did and then it took me ahwile to get used to the nhl clock after the break

doh!

 

[Haaland]

Dude, Norway getting a point out of this game is bad - for Denmark, that is. Get your priorities straight.

No matter. We'll beat you too...!

 

[gamera]

looks like Andy "Penalty Please" Hilbert redeemed himself somewhat by assisting on the PP goal to tie the game, and managed to stay OUT of the box for 20 whole minutes!!!

 

[Shameus]

Looks like the US won 2-1 on a Brown PP goal. Brown the offensive juggernaut.

 

[Realm]

Its not over yet, 2-1 in the 3rd.

 

[Reaper45]

Thata boy Brownie!

 

[Realm]

3-1, Hat trick for brown.

 

[Burger]

3-1 Brown again.

 

[Reaper45]

Jesus Brown!

 

[SmokeyClause]

According to the IIHF you have 435 000 registered players. I know it's not a popular sport in your country if divided by your total population...But still 435 000 is second only to Canada and almost about 350 000 more than the Czech the Russian the Swedes and The Finns so there is no excuse for such bad showing.The minor programs must be horrible it's unconceivable. Appart from a couple of "lucky" wins on US soil you have been most of the time terrible elsewhere.

Unfortunately, those statistics are misleading. In many countries that are international powers, the best athletes migrate to hockey. Or at the very least, hockey is near the top spot along with soccer. With the United States, it's completely different. The best athletes rarely end up in hockey as they are encouraged to play the more popular sports such as football/basketball/baseball. And most athletes, especially those in the U.S. where the wealth and support is there, are multisport stars at younger ages. This is true with hockey players. Many of the best hockey players that I knew where also baseball or football players. And when push came to shove and they reached the point in their career where they had to pick a sport and focus on it, hockey loses out. This is why the U.S. does not have the talent to match up with their numbers. The U.S.' best hockey players are in other sports. But things are slowly changing. Since 2002, the U.S. has had a strong presence in the NHL draft could take two or three of the top 5 spots in the upcoming draft. There was a blip in the radar during around the 70's that saw very little U.S. hockey talent produced. That's why you see the lack of international success.

Hockey has unique demographical and geographical limitations within the U.S. Only a small percentage of the U.S. has a wintery climate such as Canada, Norway, Finland, Russia, Czech Republic, Sweden, and Slovakia. Excluding Canada, only Russia has land as close to the equator as the U.S.'s farthest point (excluding Alaska). Russia's southernmost point is roughly equivalent to Chicago. And a majority of their people live considerably further north than this point. The U.S. is by far the closest hockey country to the equator and has by far the mildest winters (on average) of any of the big hockey nations.

And traditionally, hockey's biggest success is not in the urban areas of major cities. It has been in the rural areas where frozen ponds reign supreme. But a sizeable percentage of the wintery climate populations rest in big cities. Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston, New York City, etc all hold a large percentage of the U.S. citizens in what could be considered as hockey climate. Access to ice time in these areas is severely restricted as many kids don't have the luxury of a large frozen pond in their back yard. Ice time is absolutely critical to the development of top hockey players.

When you factor in the overall drawing power of hockey to youths with a climate/environment that is not conducive to hockey, I think it's a testament to the U.S. that they are even competing at the higher levels. The only reason why anyone would think the U.S. could possibly compete is based on the sheer volume of people that live in the country. Every other sign points to this being a bad hockey nation.

 

[King'sPawn]

Great job, Brown! Hopefully you can show some of that scoring touch when you come back to the Kings!

 

[Jaded-Fan]

Did Kessel get any points?

 

[Burgs]

No he didn't. But Malone and Hilbert each had an assist.

 

[Jaded-Fan]

No he didn't. But Malone and Hilbert each had an assist.

Just saw the answer. And saw the Malone and Hilbert points. Great news for Pens' fans. As for Kessel, apparently he did well even though he did not hit the score sheet:

Phil Kessel, the American collegian who is expected to be among the top three draft choices next month, made his first start with the senior team and didn't look out of place. "It was nice getting the debut out of the way," he said. "I was impressed with Norway. They were better than I thought."

http://www.ihwc.net/english/article/recaps/?artId=2235

 

[heygarebear]

how did Kessel look?

 

[Rise from the Ashes]

how did Komisarek do?

 

[CDeeps]

It wasn't pretty, but a win's a win and I'll take it. Nice game by Brown and Anderson!!!!