Olympic Hockey

[solbes]

Oshie gets what, like 4 of 6 on the shootout? Very impressive, that was a blast to watch.

What a weird rule though, where you can keep coming back to the same shooter(s). Although it was fun to watch once, I think they need to deep six that rule quick. The shoot out is circus enough as it is, we don't need to take the team completely out of the outcome. Two pennies.

[Bear55]

Agreed solbes, don't really like either rule that led to our win today. NHL modified the net rule so that goal would have counted for Russia today. Don't like the shootout rule either, I kind of feel like one shot and you are done, test the depth of your team. I remember a great US world Jr team taking Canada to OT a little while back, shootout was close and then Towes scored like 3 or 4 in a row. Great for him and Canada (how we feel after that US win today) but really it wasn't a win, just a shootout competition with some odd rules.

I'm ok with shootouts in the prelims like this but even one gold medal is too many to be decided in a shootout, just leaves a bad taste in your mouth even if you win. No doubt I am happy to see the US get the win today but Russia deserved that game, they were better than us today and we had some rulebook luck.

[Saffer]

I'm with harvey lee, a "W" is a "W" and it's always good when it was a good game to watch. The rules are different but they are all playing by them. Lets take the win and keep on going.

[wormdunker]

Kessel Hattie!

HOME TOWN BOY RYAN "Ovechkins Kryptonite" McDonagh Scores! He is soooo calm and cool. Yep I coached him waaaay back in the day.

USA Rolling.

Harvey Lee not you are incorrect. About 10-15 seconds prior to the shot that went in the net, Quick made a very fast and aggressive butterfly slide from his right to his left in an effort to track the puck. In doing so his skate jammed the left pipe lifting it off the mooring. There was not major threat at the time he as just doing his job and the net came off. The puck then rotated around the back of the net to the far point and the shot went in the net.

The rule is a good one. Truth is the whistle should have been blown as soon as the net was off. Further because the net was sitting on top of the rubber peg it was lifted about 2" higher than it normally would have been. Considering the crossbar was 2" higher than normal can anyone say that shot would have gone in a properly seated net?

No controversy at all, the net was off the whistle should have been blown long before the shot. Quick himself was interviewed, he did not know he knocked it off but replays showed he obviously did and did so with no intention. He said after the goal he turned around and saw it, called it to the officials attention which is why they reviewed the goal.

When that ref stepped out and waved the goal off I nearly spit a mouthful of coffee across the room, my son was laughing at my reaction. IT was a great well played game.

[yakfisher]

There was some trouble with that same goal net in he 2nd when the Russians were defending that end. They ended up dumping piles of anti-freeze into the peg hole that popped out. Great game all in all. Of course, I'm still not a huge fan of the shoot out to pick a winner.

[swamptiger]

Quote:

TJ Oshie was awesome in the Shootout, a good ole Mn boy.

He's a native American, and is also related to Henry Boucha and Gary Sargent, I remember hearing somewhere.

[CaptainMusky]

I like Oshie and all but he wasn't born in MN and only came here for a better shot at playing hockey than stay in Washington where he was and get lost in the mix.

The game today was a very convincing win when it should have been.

Canada and Finland are locked in a battle now and Russia had a tough time today. Considering how some of these teams look right now the USA does have a legitimate shot at gold. Will be fun to watch.

[Bear55]

Win or go home time, if all the top seeds advance we get Canada and Sweden gets the winners of Finland/Russia. Could be some upsets too, Finland and Slovakia almost pulled one off today, the Swiss are always dangerous. Please no shootouts in the medal rounds!!!

[OnAFly]

Too bad we can't play Canada in the gold medal game. But hey, I'll be happy still if we get there

[Bear55]

Ya no matter what you are looking at one close game and 2 extremely hard games that could go either way. You likely have to beat Canada as some point so knocking them out of the gold medal game can be just as much fun.

[10,000 Casts]

Quote:

Too bad we can't play Canada in the gold medal game

does anyone know how they pick the pools and pairings?

just seems like a set up to not only get the the 2 most popular teams not only out of the championship but to draw ratings for NBC in the quarter finals.

[RK]

does anyone know how they pick the pools and pairings?

just seems like a set up to not only get the the 2 most popular teams not only out of the championship but to draw ratings for NBC in the quarter finals.

Pools are based on rankings coming in I think, based in past IIHF performance. Not random, so you can't get a 'pool of death' like you can in say, world cup soccer. From the pool play teams are seeded based on pool results, so the US, Sweden, and Finland all won their pools, while Canada was the next team with the most points from pool play, so those 4 get byes to the quarterfinals. Nobody is eliminated out of pool play - all the teams get one elimination game, and those games are seeded based on pool results, which is why you have Russia, the #5 team, playing Norway.

Hasn't been a real upset yet, unless you count the Sloevnia/Slovakia game, but could see some in the quarter finals. If the seedings hold up though, the semis will be some real dogfights... Fins/Swedes and US/Canada... That's some good hockey right there.

[CaptainMusky]

I wasn't happy to see the USA possibly tie off with Canada prior to medal round but looking at the seedings they all got placed where they should have.

They better not fall asleep on that one.

[cjac]

I'm working on clearng my calendar for Thursday from 11:00 'til 1:30. The women's gold medal game is going to be a helluva battle.

[archerystud]

I like the women's teams chances of beating Canada for the gold.

On the men's side no one has really stood out to me yet. Canada isn't scoring much, Sweden is good but had the easiest pool. If I had to pick one to win it right now I'd go with Russia. I think they outplayed the US but then had a let down in the next game.

US has the talent but I don't think they are all clicking yet. Might be different with a little more time and with the games being one and done as well.

[CaptainMusky]

There was talk over the weekend that the NHL wants to discuss the continued use of "their" players in the Olympics. Changes could be made as soon as the 2018 Games.

I think the men's side is pretty wide open. Goal tending is an issue for Canada IMO, but it really hasnt been exposed yet. The US seems to be able to find the net, but agreed that Russia did hold the edge on play for much of that game. The only goals came on the PP for the US.

Sad deal as Nora Raty of Finland retired from Hockey Saturday. For those that dont know she was the goalie from the Gophers Women's team (graduated last year) and is by far the best female goalie in the world. I guess I really dont blame her because the rest of the team is terrible, but still a bummer.

[bucketmouth64]

There was talk over the weekend that the NHL wants to discuss the continued use of "their" players in the Olympics. Changes could be made as soon as the 2018 Games.

I think combination of college, and hockey minors should be used.

[SkunkedAgain]

IDK - isn't the Olympics supposed to be about the best in each sport? Why limit hockey to just the B-squad?

Bettman is a fool. This is one of the few times that ice hockey gets positive exposure to a wider audience, potentially drawing more fans to the NHL and instead he talks about cutting that link.

[OnAFly]

This will hurt the North American teams most. Russia will dominate the tourney and take home an easy gold.

I understand the reasoning, but the NHL really does gain good exposure from this. How many people in the US watched or listened to the USA-CAN gold medal game in 2010? How many kids became hockey fans after seeing that? Yeah, you risk injury, but I think the risk is higher on the smaller NHL sheets than the big Olympic ones.

Also, Bettman could be grandstanding on this one. Make sure the players think he's serious about keeping them out of the games (despite actually being OK with it) then next time the CBA has to be renegotiated, he's got that in his pocket to get something he really wants. That way he gives nothing and gets something.

[Bear55]

just seems like a set up to not only get the the 2 most popular teams not only out of the championship but to draw ratings for NBC in the quarter finals.

Its all based on the last Olympics, Russia sucked in 2010 so they ended up in our pool. After that the brackets are drawn based on standings of pool play, since Canada/Finland was the last game a lot depended on that. Had Finland won in OT or a shootout is would have been just us and then in one bracket and Canada would have gotten Russia in the quarters in the same bracket as Sweden. If Canada won in regulation they get the #1 seed and we would have had Sweden in our bracket. Because Canada only won in OT/Shootout they got the #3 seed and we got #2 because of goal differential. Had we lost to Russia we would have been in their shoes taking on Finland and likely Sweden. So in short it's legit.

[Bear55]

Not happy about the NHL pulling the plug, if they are going to do I say let the kids battle it out. Skip the world jrs every 4 years and send them to battle for gold, all the best under 20 players in the world, very fun and unpredictable hockey.

[OnAFly]

Problem there is that none of the other countries will do that. We'll have our Junior team against Russia's KHL'ers. There will be a slaughter.

[CaptainMusky]

I don't have a problem if the NHL decides to no longer allow players in Olympics but the trouble is as many have stated countries like Russia would still have "pros" so a distinct advantage for them.

I do think our development programs have come a long ways since the 80 Olympics so it wouldn't necessarily be a scenario like that playing out again.

[solbes]

I kinda like Bear's idea about competetion between the U20 kids.

KHL vs European pro's vs US kids in juniors/college will not be a very level playing field. It would make a medal that much more impressive, if we could manage it.

[Bear55]

Back to the Olympics, Sweden with an easy win and Finland just knocked our Russia 3-1. Granlund and Selanne with a G and A each.

[SkunkedAgain]

Back to the Olympics, Sweden with an easy win and Finland just knocked our Russia 3-1. Granlund and Selanne with a G and A each.

That sucks. I really wanted to see another USA v Russia game

[Bear55]

A USA/Russia rematch might have actually motivated them but they had to get there first. With this loss Russia has pretty much cemented their reputation as a top 2 talent but as fragile as broken glass. A shootout loss crushed them, they needed a shootout win to get past Slovakia. Had it been the US or Canada that lost in a shootout you can bet they would be coming our twice as hard the next game. Just have to shake your head, same thing happened in 2010, I think Canada destroyed them by 5 goals.

[OnAFly]

Russia is Russia these days. Tons of talent, can't play as a team.

Remember guys, one bad game and your done. Lets not carp the bed today

[harvey lee]

I would think Russia would want to close the place down after that loss. One can have a whole team of stars but if they do not play as a team, then they are nothing.

Good to see Russia out.

[gunner55]

I didn't see the whole game but I'm with you Harvey.Even the annoucers said they seen a noticable lack of effort after they fell behind 3-0.