Silver and Gold: USA-Canada Olympic final [thread]
by Dominik on Feb 28, 2010 1:57 PM EST
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PrintTeam USA and Canada are playing the "they're the favorite / no they're the favorite" game -- which is less gamesmanship, more pressure relief and, to me, building in the feeling that it's okay to lose. That's actually what bothered me a bit about the 2002 final: That U.S. team almost sounded like it was just relieved to have atoned for 1998 and made it through host-country pressure to reach the final under Herb Brooks.
Of course, Canada was the clear favorite then and is the favorite now. They are deeper; if all their stars play their roles according to their abilities, then Ryan Miller is the only thing standing in their way. But it should be close, maybe even a toss-up. Hockey fans deserve a classic.
I'll be gathering elsewhere, but this is our game thread. For an SBN-wide thread, you can also visit this one.
This and that:
- If you didn't see it in the margin earlier, a rehab update on Mikko Koskinen
- FanShot find about Travis Hamonic returning from his shoulder injury for the Wheat Kings
- Befitting the day, a Pittsburgh radio interview with Ken Morrow about, well, you know
The return of Islanders hockey is just around the corner. Tuesday vs. [---]-medal winning Patrick Kane and the Hawks.
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WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Its Miller Time!!!!!!!!
Let Us Go, Islanders! (Ever notice how strange that sounds without the contraction?)
missed shots
USA looks like a team coached by Scott Gordon, lots of missing the net…
by billymac23 on Feb 28, 2010 3:30 PM EST via mobile reply actions
i’m sure a different coach would mean …less missed shots? lol
Get out of the sticks, Charles, move to Queens!!
i’m sure a different coach would mean …less missed shots?
LOL- good one Marty
Let Us Go, Islanders! (Ever notice how strange that sounds without the contraction?)
by TheMetalChick on Feb 28, 2010 4:15 PM EST up reply actions
Kyle Okposo
would have won this game by himself.
He would not PANIC, and sure as hell wouldn’t have his head up his ass.
i got 99 problems, but Streit gettin' hurt in the Olympics aint one!
Considering the fact that this series has turned hockey into a football-rollerball type of brutality, I am glad he isn’t there. It’s amazing that not too many guys have gotten hurt.
Get out of the sticks, Charles, move to Queens!!
KO doesn’t stand for Kyle Okposo!
i got 99 problems, but Streit gettin' hurt in the Olympics aint one!
forget it, ain’t no penalties bein called in this period….
Get out of the sticks, Charles, move to Queens!!
If any of thee never played a game where you were constantly having someone’s arms draped around you, or a stick in the face, chest or feet Not to mentioned running checks, all of which is allowed here in our countries best moments.
Get out of the sticks, Charles, move to Queens!!
Why didnt Luongo get a smothering the puck penalty for stopping the puck?
The ref should have forced him to play it.
Oh wait, that only happens to CURRENT Islanders goalies.
Let Us Go, Islanders! (Ever notice how strange that sounds without the contraction?)
is that an international penalty? Cause you are gonna have to pull a gun and shoot someone to get a penalty call here.
Get out of the sticks, Charles, move to Queens!!
Keep Wilson between the two NY coaches…no love lost there.
Get out of the sticks, Charles, move to Queens!!
3 coaches all in the bottom 5 of the East. mmm
i got 99 problems, but Streit gettin' hurt in the Olympics aint one!
Bottom 5 because of their coaching? I certainly dont think so.
Let Us Go, Islanders! (Ever notice how strange that sounds without the contraction?)
by TheMetalChick on Feb 28, 2010 5:38 PM EST up reply actions
WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Let Us Go, Islanders! (Ever notice how strange that sounds without the contraction?)
I have no voice. None. Think I scared my dog to death.
i got 99 problems, but Streit gettin' hurt in the Olympics aint one!
I bet my neighbors think I was attacked lmao!!!!
Let Us Go, Islanders! (Ever notice how strange that sounds without the contraction?)
by TheMetalChick on Feb 28, 2010 5:32 PM EST up reply actions
Well, whatever happens in the OT, I now know our team delivered when it had to.
Get out of the sticks, Charles, move to Queens!!
exactly.
I am so proud of this team!
Let Us Go, Islanders! (Ever notice how strange that sounds without the contraction?)
by TheMetalChick on Feb 28, 2010 5:58 PM EST up reply actions
except for....
…..annnnnd that’s two.
by Nova Scotia Isles Fan on Feb 28, 2010 6:25 PM EST up reply actions
Ugh
Jokinen last night, Crosby today….
Oh well, considering we were ranked 5th coming into the tourney, not so bad taking home the silver.
Please NBC, Fire Milbury, Hire Roenick Full time!!!
Its a lot better than “not bad”
They made a statement to the WORLD. They didnt lose a single game in regulation and lost 1 game in OT. No other team in this tournament can say that.
Let Us Go, Islanders! (Ever notice how strange that sounds without the contraction?)
by TheMetalChick on Feb 28, 2010 6:11 PM EST up reply actions
:(
Disappointing to come so close, but they played an excellent tournament. With the youngest team in the Olympics, future looks pretty good for the U.S. squad. Still a shame, though.
What an incredible end to a great tournament
I often don’t find myself agreeing with much said on Deadspin since Will Leitch left for The New Yorker, but Barry Petchesky’s piece tonight hit it on the head. While this loss might hurt, it got a ton of people watching and caring about hockey that otherwise wouldn’t and can hoepfully inspire a new crop of players and fans.
I am praying hard that the NHL doesn’t screw up the momentum this game gave it. Knowing the NHL, they will but hope springs eternal. This tournament got me hooked in from the get-go, whether it was the hope that a team I have supported for a long time in Norway finally made the break-through to be a mid-level competitor in the hockey world (Not quite but they acquitted themselves well in the games vs. Switzerland and Slovakia), having the world take notice of what a great all around player Mark Streit is or rooting for the otherwise hated Chris Drury, Ryan Callahan, Zach Parise and Jamie Langenbrunner to bring home gold for the USA, the only thing you could ask for better out of this tourney was USA to take home gold (And Okposo on Team USA).
Hating on NBC since 2010
Unles somebody shows me people outside of hockey markets watched the game, I don’t anyone not expected to watch did.
As long as other sports are going on, and I do mean Nascar, golf and basketball, hockey will still be at the back of the pack in people’s choice to watch in many areas of the USA.
Get out of the sticks, Charles, move to Queens!!
Anecdotally, I’ve heard of tons of people who watched who weren’t “real hockey fans,” so the exposure is there. Problem is, I’m not too confident many will watch hockey outside of the P&G Olympics. Fans of other sports love to say, “Hey, this tournament is alright!” — and then go right back to putting hockey in their personal punchline drawer. It’s a multichannel world, the lines of interest seem largely entrenched.
I’m all for best on best tourneys — and if the players insist on doing Sochi, I’m fine with that — but I wish the IIHF and NHL and NHLPA would go the FIFA route and cultivate their own tourney, with their own TV arrangements, their own sponsorship rules, and leave the Olympics behind.
Lighthouse Hockey: Under contract through 2021, knees and hips be damned.
But that would require there to actually be communication between Rene Fasel and Gary Bettman. Along those lines, I would agree with you that they should develop a World Cup type tournament and also take a page from FIFA and turn the Olympics into a U-23 type of tournament.
That would A) Allow hockey to have a marquee tournament and B) Placate those who bitch about how the tournament “Shouldn’t be pros and we should go back to the time when it was college kids.” the U-23 tourney would allows those players too old for the WJC but still in the developmental phase to play on a big stage.
Hating on NBC since 2010
by David Hanssen on Feb 28, 2010 8:46 PM EST up reply actions
But that would require there to actually be communication between Rene Fasel and Gary Bettman.
Ain’t that the truth.
Hopefully the WJC and World Championship keep growing in exposure, too. Not sure how it would help the IIHF/NHL politics, but more exposure for international tournaments would probably at least provide more data for where the need and demand is.
Lighthouse Hockey: Under contract through 2021, knees and hips be damned.
I did see a couple of commercials on NBC during the game and the closing ceremony advertising that Universal Sports/NBC will be broadcasting the world championships at the end of the year. I was rather impressed, and for once in the past couple of weeks thought NBC did something right.
Hating on NBC since 2010
by David Hanssen on Feb 28, 2010 9:33 PM EST up reply actions
WJC yes, but shit, even I don’t care about the World Championship — and hockey is all that I’ve got in my pathetic “life.”
I’m the other way around — I’d much rather watch the World Championship than the WJC. (But then college sports and youth tournaments never move me much, either.)
The thing with the hockey World Cup and the Canada Cup before it is, it’s completely randomly scheduled and always mercy to politics/money wars. I wonder if the NHL would’ve even pushed for the 2004 one if they didn’t have the lockout in the back of their mind.
Lighthouse Hockey: Under contract through 2021, knees and hips be damned.
WARNING: The following might be found a bit too preachy, read at your own risk
The thing with the WC is its so horribly scheduled, during the NHL playoffs so that really the best players in the world don’t even have the option of representing their country if they wanted to.
But we’re also dealing with a cultural issue here. Like you, AP, most North Americans could care less about the WC while many Europeans like it, enjoy watching it and support their country’s team.
While the WC might not seem that important, it really is for many of the smaller countries like Norway, Denmark, Latvia, Slovenia, ect. They’re fighting for IIHF rankings that determine whether they will be automatically qualified for the next Olympics (Top 8 plus the home nation are the autos) or whether they will host the qualifying rounds. During my research for the fanposts I saw that all three of the play-in tournaments were won by the hosting nation (Norway, Germany and Latvia). If the Isles are out of the playoffs, my attention hockey wise will be fully on the WC.
Hating on NBC since 2010
by David Hanssen on Feb 28, 2010 11:28 PM EST up reply actions
Not too preachy at all.
You’re definitely correct, the WC are a big deal for the hockey non-superpowers in terms of qualifying for the Olympics, etc. I will certainly admit that part of the reason I don’t care about it is that it has almost no bearing on what will happen to the North American teams when it comes to meaningful international competition.
Still, I question whether these teams are doing themselves any good by holding this tournament when they do. It would probably get a bit more attention if held in, say, July. And that would free up any straggling NHL players to play for their home countries if desired.
That’s really what I’d want — WC that is scheduled a little better for NHL participation. Obviously that makes yet another concession to the NHL, but I’d think it’s worth it if it means a small country getting its best players.
Lighthouse Hockey: Under contract through 2021, knees and hips be damned.
Yes, definitely. Would Denmark have qualified for the Olympics if they had Nielsen, Boddker, Hansen, Eller and Regin available? Probably. Would the Slovenians made an impact on the qualification if Anze Kopitar were available? Definitely.
Maybe that NBC is making somewhat of a deal out of the fact they have the WC broadcasting rights now and might actually show some games not on Universal Sports, hopefully will help bring awareness to the tournament and start people thinking along the lines of why the best aren’t playing.
Hating on NBC since 2010
by David Hanssen on Mar 1, 2010 6:05 PM EST up reply actions
Great game, good tourney
Very happy this one went to OT. Not so happy they made OT for the gold medal 4-on-4 (cue conservative play, each team afraid to throw a third man in on the rush, and the refs afraid to call anything lest they create a lethal 4-on-3 PP for the gold).
Eating a bit of crow: This U.S. team surprised me and was nicely constructed. The only real issue I had was Drury and Callahn over Okposo, but that PK tandem worked out just fine, too. Hail Ryan Miller.
I’m a bit worried about Canada and the U.S. dominating this tourney in the future, although maybe that’s unfounded — they’ve dominated the two North American-hosted years and bottomed out in the other two.
Lighthouse Hockey: Under contract through 2021, knees and hips be damned.
I think we would have been alot better if two guys were not injured. Martin and Mike Komiserak were really missed. Our defense would have been strongly better with those two guys.
Get out of the sticks, Charles, move to Queens!!
I was stunned by how well Gleason played, particularly in the gold medal game. Seemed like a lot of guys elevated their play.
Lighthouse Hockey: Under contract through 2021, knees and hips be damned.
great game! Congrads to Canada
wow that was exciting, I really thought we had the luck on our side and would come away with the gold. Especially after the 2 posts by canada in th eearly 3rd. Got hand it to Sid the Kid, he did it.
Got hand it to Sid the Kid, he did it.
All the criticism he takes, he’s still a fantastic player who’s had the opportunity and execution to deliver on the biggest stages — already, in a young career.
Lighthouse Hockey: Under contract through 2021, knees and hips be damned.
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