OT - NO POLITICS Winter Olympics - NO politics - Peter Cehlarik eliminates Team USA

[JOKER 192]

And all that is also undeniable. And yet, I love it. As almost all Australians love it. We're raised on the triumphs and tragedies of Olympic competition. Our gold medallists are sporting heroes forever. The TV ratings for every Olympics are massive. We even love watching the Winter Olympics even though we completely suck at it. It's just how it is here.

We're not naïve, well most of us aren't anyway. The corruption of the IOC is pretty bleeding obvious, the disparity between rich and poor nations is stark, and the scourge of doping is always lurking. But the thing is, when you see the sheer joy and relief and pride of the medallists, often of even someone who has 'only' won a bronze, and you know that years of incredible effort and sacrifice have gone into that one event and that one piece of metal, and the stories that often come out of how that person got to that position, then all the corporatism and corruption behind the scenes simple ceases to matter. It's all about the moment and the willpower of the human spirit to excel, find our limits and then go beyond them. The enormous boost to national and personal morale that both Tokyo games have given this country in the midst of Covidized crisis is invaluable. There's definitely some rose-tinting in all that, but sometimes you just have to drop the cynicism and enjoy what's put in front of you. It gives people some excitement and hope, and it inspires kids to pursue good health, fitness and athleticism. And that is a very good, very tangible thing.

No different in Canada, Olympics are very popular as are the athletes, especially the ones that succeed. I'm that fuddy duddy that's is old enough to remember when they did it right.

Montreal Hosted the 1976 Olympics and we just finished paying for them a few years ago. Somehow our taxes didn't go down though , they were just re-directed to more corruption. There is no other reason to host the Olympics because it makes zero economic sense.

 

[DominicT]

No different in Canada, Olympics are very popular as are the athletes, especially the ones that succeed. I'm that fuddy duddy that's is old enough to remember when they did it right.

Montreal Hosted the 1976 Olympics and we just finished paying for them a few years ago. Somehow our taxes didn't go down though , they were just re-directed to more corruption. There is no other reason to host the Olympics because it makes zero economic sense.

You obviously ten remember the $10 Olympic Lottery tickets in '76. Ontario had Wintario start a year earlier that sold for a buck. But those Olympics was the start of the Interprovincial Lottery Corp And was only suppose to last for the 76 Olympics. Today its a billion dollar industry

 

[bbfan419]

The Canada Cups were the only true best on best even before the Olympics. That 76 Canada Cup led by Bobby Orr was a thing of beauty and the world got to see the best player after he couldn't play in the 72 summit series.

I will never forget Larry Robinson saying just a couple of years ago that Orr was the best player who ever laced up skates.

He also went on to say Orr was the most difficult player he was paired with in his career because Robinson didn't know what to do and he never had that happen before. Said it took him a couple of games to figure out that he just had to let Bobby be Bobby and if he came to my side of the ice, just go to his. He closed the interview by saying the world was robbed of watching Orr play.

Yeah, times have changed and you can watch any player anywhere in the world now. But let's not co.pare those Canada Cups to the World Cup.

That 1976 team Canada had to be the most talented roster ever put together and Ken dryden did not play due to injury, but Vachon was outstanding. In 1972 had Orr been healthy and Bobby Hull been allowed to play, I doubt there would have been the need for the dramatic come back, Canada would have won at least 6 of those 8 games.

 

[bbfan419]

And all that is also undeniable. And yet, I love it. As almost all Australians love it. We're raised on the triumphs and tragedies of Olympic competition. Our gold medallists are sporting heroes forever. The TV ratings for every Olympics are massive. We even love watching the Winter Olympics even though we completely suck at it. It's just how it is here.

We're not naïve, well most of us aren't anyway. The corruption of the IOC is pretty bleeding obvious, the disparity between rich and poor nations is stark, and the scourge of doping is always lurking. But the thing is, when you see the sheer joy and relief and pride of the medallists, often of even someone who has 'only' won a bronze, and you know that years of incredible effort and sacrifice have gone into that one event and that one piece of metal, and the stories that often come out of how that person got to that position, then all the corporatism and corruption behind the scenes simple ceases to matter. It's all about the moment and the willpower of the human spirit to excel, find our limits and then go beyond them. The enormous boost to national and personal morale that both Tokyo games have given this country in the midst of Covidized crisis is invaluable. There's definitely some rose-tinting in all that, but sometimes you just have to drop the cynicism and enjoy what's put in front of you. It gives people some excitement and hope, and it inspires kids to pursue good health, fitness and athleticism. And that is a very good, very tangible thing.

Australia such a sports crazy country, love their love for the games.

 

[JOKER 192]

You obviously ten remember the $10 Olympic Lottery tickets in '76. Ontario had Wintario start a year earlier that sold for a buck. But those Olympics was the start of the Interprovincial Lottery Corp And was only suppose to last for the 76 Olympics. Today its a billion dollar industry

Yes if course. Just like anything, taxes were supposed to be a temporary measure after WW2.

 

[Aussie Bruin]

No different in Canada, Olympics are very popular as are the athletes, especially the ones that succeed. I'm that fuddy duddy that's is old enough to remember when they did it right.

Montreal Hosted the 1976 Olympics and we just finished paying for them a few years ago. Somehow our taxes didn't go down though , they were just re-directed to more corruption. There is no other reason to host the Olympics because it makes zero economic sense.

I'm aware of the trials and tribulations, the politics and financial calamities of the Montreal games. That's never happened here. Yeah Olympics are really expensive and in pure economic terms, no, they're not worth it, but nobody cares. You can argue that olympic money would be better spent on other critical infrastructure and services, but frankly we all know govts waste a fortune on all sorts of nonsense anyway so at least this way people get some enjoyment out of it. Sydney spent billions on the 2000 games and it was deemed worth every cent. Nothing so gross or frankly foolish as a special tax was introduced to pay for it. The government simply diverted public revenue from other areas and this was deemed completely fine.

Now Brisbane has just won the right to host the 2032 games. No-one in either the opposition or the media ever questioned the wisdom of this. Again, we'll spend what's required to get the infrastructure right, have a wonderful 2 weeks, celebrate all our successes and all the highlights, and then happily move on. It's money for jam in terms of how much people appreciate and support hosting the games. What Montreal went through was ugly, but it doesn't have to be that way.

 

[ODAAT]

said it before, say it again, I`d lose precisely 0 seconds of sleep if the NHL never played in the Olympics again. Doesn`t mean I didn`t enjoy watching the Gold Medal games but I`m one of those nostalgic dudes, like sending in amateurs or NHL never have been`s than rich pro`s. Now, that likely means I`d be celebrating less medals in hockey for the men but whatever

 

[goldnblack]

I'm sure this has been buried in some other threads, but in the dull weeks of September it's worth a discussion.

Bergy, Marchy, Pasta, Charlie and Linus are surely obvious choices right? Obviously you'd want your vets to rest when possible, but the world needs joy, and an olympic gold obviously means a lot.

The other huge one is Bruce! I didn't even realize they'd already named him. He's the one I'm most happy for. It's sort of surreal that he'll have Bergy/Marchy on his team (touch wood). I hope they stick with that line with Sid.

Is anyone else from the team possible on some obscure country I'm not thinking of?

 

[RoccoF14]

said it before, say it again, I`d lose precisely 0 seconds of sleep if the NHL never played in the Olympics again. Doesn`t mean I didn`t enjoy watching the Gold Medal games but I`m one of those nostalgic dudes, like sending in amateurs or NHL never have been`s than rich pro`s. Now, that likely means I`d be celebrating less medals in hockey for the men but whatever

I'm gonna disagree with you there. Personally, I thought the 2018 Men's Hockey Tournament was awful. Borderline, unwatchable.

I can go along with the amateur route, provided that the amateur players were solid prospects. For example, you could take the cream of the crop from the NCAA teams, or from Canadian Juniors, and use them for the tournament, and I'd be fine with that.

But these rosters consisting of an assemblage of refugees from the KHL, German, Dutch and Swedish leagues, with a sprinkling of 3-4 college players + Brian Gionta is just freaking awful....Nothing amateur about it. Just awful.

 

[CDJ]

I'm gonna disagree with you there. Personally, I thought the 2018 Men's Hockey Tournament was awful. Borderline, unwatchable.

I can go along with the amateur route, provided that the amateur players were solid prospects. For example, you could take the cream of the crop from the NCAA teams, or from Canadian Juniors, and use them for the tournament, and I'd be fine with that.

But these rosters consisting of an assemblage of refugees from the KHL, German, Dutch and Swedish leagues, with a sprinkling of 3-4 college players + Brian Gionta is just freaking awful....Nothing amateur about it. Just awful.

its not an accurate reflection of our nations skill at the sport, and I feel like that is the point of the Olympics

 

[BruinDust]

I'm gonna disagree with you there. Personally, I thought the 2018 Men's Hockey Tournament was awful. Borderline, unwatchable.

I can go along with the amateur route, provided that the amateur players were elite prospects. For example, you could take the cream of the crop from the NCAA teams, or from Canadian Juniors, and use them for the tournament, and I'd be fine with that.

But these rosters consisting of an assemblage of refugees from the KHL, German, Dutch and Swedish leagues, with a sprinkling of 3-4 college players + Brian Gionta is just freaking awful....Nothing amateur about it. Just awful.

Personally I thought the 2014 Men's Tournament was awful. Outside of Oshie's shoot-out heroics, nothing about that boring tournament stands out. Canada used it's defensive game to dominate from start to finish, which is great for winning hockey games on larger ice surfaces, but sure wasn't much from an entertainment standpoint.

I'm in the minority but I care much, much more about Bruins hockey than I do any of this international best-on-best stuff. If I want to watch international hockey that's what the WJC is for. Shutting down Bruins hockey for 3 weeks in February (a crappy month in general anyways) has zero appeal to me whatsoever. I was fine if the NHL never participated in the Olympics ever again. Also doesn't help that I can't stand the Olympic Games in general.

 

[BMC]

Hate to disagree but the Olympics is supposed to be BEST AMATEUR players in the world. That's not what they do now but that's what it was originally.

ALL Olympic athletes, even in the "minor" sports, are professionals now. This is why you're seeing some athletes participate in 3-4 sometimes 5 Games.

We'll never see another "Miracle" either in hockey or any other Olympic sport again and I think that's sad.

 

[Bruinaura]

ALL Olympic athletes, even in the "minor" sports, are professionals now. This is why you're seeing some athletes participate in 3-4 sometimes 5 Games.

We'll never see another "Miracle" either in hockey or any other Olympic sport again and I think that's sad.

Like the quote from Miracle along the lines of "now that there are Dream Teams, there's nothing left to dream"

 

[PlayMakers]

My crack at the US Olympic Team...

Debrincat-Matthews-Kane (C)
Gaudreau-Eichel-Tkachuk
Guentzel-JT Miller-Boeser
Connor-Larkin-Wheeler
X: Nelson

McDonagh (A)-Carlson (A)
Slavin-McAvoy
Petry-Fox
X: Hughes

Hellebuyck
Gibson
Demko

 

[CDJ]

Wouldn’t surprise me to see a guy like Blake Coleman end up on line 4 for the US

 

[BigBadBruins7708]

My crack at the US Olympic Team...

Debrincat-Matthews-Kane (C)
Gaudreau-Eichel-Tkachuk
Guentzel-JT Miller-Boeser
Connor-Larkin-Wheeler
X: Nelson

McDonagh (A)-Carlson (A)
Slavin-McAvoy
Petry-Fox
X: Hughes

Hellebuyck
Gibson
Demko

Werenski over Petry.

Guarantee they take Suter as well for the leadership and experience

 

[Gee Wally]

All US Winter Olympic hopefuls must be fully vaccinated by Dec. 1 if they want to compete in Beijing - The Boston Globe



Unlike their summer counterparts in Tokyo, all of the hopefuls for the US Olympic winter team will have to be fully vaccinated by Dec. 1 if they want to compete in Beijing in February.
“The vast majority of people that we’ve been talking to are really excited about this and feel that this is the right way to go,” said Dr. Jonathan Finnoff, the USOPC’s chief medical officer.

The policy mirrors Beijing’s own mandate for all athletes except those who receive a medical exemption from Chinese authorities. Even then, exempted athletes must go through a 21-day quarantine upon arrival that effectively would put them out of the Games anyway.

 

[KillerMillerTime]

My crack at the US Olympic Team...

Debrincat-Matthews-Kane (C)
Gaudreau-Eichel-Tkachuk
Guentzel-JT Miller-Boeser
Connor-Larkin-Wheeler
X: Nelson

McDonagh (A)-Carlson (A)
Slavin-McAvoy
Petry-Fox
X: Hughes

Hellebuyck
Gibson
Demko

Pretty representative team. With the advantage of
> 10%, I would plug in Kreider, Terry and Oshie
for Guentzal,Wheeler and Boeser up front.
Werenski for Petry because he and Jones
played together with Columbus on D.

Quick gets consideration with his play this year.

 

[KillerMillerTime]

Werenski over Petry.

Guarantee they take Suter as well for the leadership and experience

I think its less than 50/50 for Suter.
Werenski, Slavin and McDonagh on LD are ahead
of Suter now. Jones, Carlson McAvoy and Fox are
ahead of him and Quinn Hughes is also.

McDonagh and Carlson are in their 30's and
Slavin and Jones are 27/28. Thats enough
experience on D. Suter is well past his prime.

 

[Gee Wally]

Team USA men's hockey roster projection for 2022 Winter Olympics: Strong on defense and in net

Goaltenders

Connor Hellebuyck, Winnipeg Jets
John Gibson, Anaheim Ducks
Jack Campbell, Toronto Maple Leafs


Defensemen

Adam Fox, New York Rangers
Charlie McAvoy, Boston Bruins
Quinn Hughes, Vancouver Canucks
Jaccob Slavin, Carolina Hurricanes
Zach Werenski, Columbus Blue Jackets
Seth Jones, Chicago Blackhawks
John Carlson, Washington Capitals
Torey Krug, St. Louis Blues


Centers

Auston Matthews, Toronto Maple Leafs
J.T. Miller, Vancouver Canucks
Dylan Larkin, Detroit Red Wings
Joe Pavelski, Dallas Stars


Wingers

Patrick Kane, Chicago Blackhawks
Alex DeBrincat, Blackhawks
Matthew Tkachuk, Calgary Flames
Johnny Gaudreau, Flames
Chris Kreider, New York Rangers
Kyle Connor, Winnipeg Jets
Troy Terry, Anaheim Ducks
Jake Guentzel, Pittsburgh Penguins
Max Pacioretty, Vegas Golden Knights
Brady Tkachuk, Ottawa Senators

 

[UConn126]

My crack at the US Olympic Team...

Debrincat-Matthews-Kane (C)
Gaudreau-Eichel-Tkachuk
Guentzel-JT Miller-Boeser
Connor-Larkin-Wheeler
X: Nelson

McDonagh (A)-Carlson (A)
Slavin-McAvoy
Petry-Fox
X: Hughes

Hellebuyck
Gibson
Demko

Great looking team other than giving Kane the C is a complete disgrace given everything that's come out this year.

 

[Aussie Bruin]

Great looking team other than giving Kane the C is a complete disgrace given everything that's come out this year.

To be fair that post was made before the Blackhawks stuff became public. No chance Kane will be captain now. Perhaps it will be Carlson, Pavelski or Matthews.

 

[Bruinaura]

I'd like to see Bergeron get a letter on the Olympic team. He has a very long and very successful history with Team Canada. I wouldn't expect the C, but an A would certainly be appropriate, IMO.

 

[Alicat]

I'd like to see Bergeron get a letter on the Olympic team. He has a very long and very successful history with Team Canada. I wouldn't expect the C, but an A would certainly be appropriate, IMO.

I hope he gets a letter but he probably won't sadly

 

[Alicat]

Team USA men's hockey roster projection for 2022 Winter Olympics: Strong on defense and in net

Goaltenders

Connor Hellebuyck, Winnipeg Jets
John Gibson, Anaheim Ducks
Jack Campbell, Toronto Maple Leafs


Defensemen

Adam Fox, New York Rangers
Charlie McAvoy, Boston Bruins
Quinn Hughes, Vancouver Canucks
Jaccob Slavin, Carolina Hurricanes
Zach Werenski, Columbus Blue Jackets
Seth Jones, Chicago Blackhawks
John Carlson, Washington Capitals
Torey Krug, St. Louis Blues


Centers

Auston Matthews, Toronto Maple Leafs
J.T. Miller, Vancouver Canucks
Dylan Larkin, Detroit Red Wings
Joe Pavelski, Dallas Stars


Wingers

Patrick Kane, Chicago Blackhawks
Alex DeBrincat, Blackhawks
Matthew Tkachuk, Calgary Flames
Johnny Gaudreau, Flames
Chris Kreider, New York Rangers
Kyle Connor, Winnipeg Jets
Troy Terry, Anaheim Ducks
Jake Guentzel, Pittsburgh Penguins
Max Pacioretty, Vegas Golden Knights
Brady Tkachuk, Ottawa Senators

I hope Krug gets on the team. he deserves it.