PGT: USA 5 - Canada 3

[Machiavelli]

Is there a way to roundhouse kick Perry off the team? What a piece of crap; he tried his ridiculous spinorama play AGAIN today which is full of nothing but fail.

And on the empty net goal by Kesler? There are no words. I hope Babcock absolutely roasted him the dressing room (that is if he has enough hockey sense left to realize how hilariously awful that play was).

I want Stamkos. Or even the hobglobin St. Louis. Anyone but this selfish, lazy, a-hole Perry. Get the hell off my team, you d-bag.

[CGY12]

Could you imagne a line of Nash - Getzlaf - Stamkos??

That line has everything. Staple Perry to the bench Babcrap.

[Flame Of Liberty]

I am not sure why are people surprised that Perry was the 6th attacker when Brodeur was pulled, obviously Babs wanted him to imitate Holmstrom out there. It backfired, it happens.

Best game I've seen so far, very entertaining. Team USA looked like one unit, working hard, skating hard, no passengers on that team, althought I expected more from Parise. Miller unreal, that goes without saying.

I wish Iggy would take a page from Langenbrunner's book. Obviously Babs want him to create space, battle in front of the net and frankly he's not doing that. He looks more like Brett Hull out there, tries to find open space and unload a bomb. That's good, but if coach wants you to play differently you either do that or you don't play, no? There's only so many snipers you can have on one line...

[3 Justin 3]

Originally Posted by Flame Of Liberty

I am not sure why are people surprised that Perry was the 6th attacker when Brodeur was pulled, obviously Babs wanted him to imitate Holmstrom out there. It backfired, it happens.

Best game I've seen so far, very entertaining. Team USA looked like one unit, working hard, skating hard, no passengers on that team, althought I expected more from Parise. Miller unreal, that goes without saying.

I wish Iggy would take a page from Langenbrunner's book. Obviously Babs want him to create space, battle in front of the net and frankly he's not doing that. He looks more like Brett Hull out there, tries to find open space and unload a bomb. That's good, but if coach wants you to play differently you either do that or you don't play, no? There's only so many snipers you can have on one line...

Because they're all getting it done. Oh wait...

Iginla isn't that big to be pounding people in front of the net when we have guys like Getzlaf, Staal, Perry (all on one line mind you), Nash, etc. who would all do a better job.

[transplant99]

Tuesday’s elimination round games shape up this way:
5. Czech Republic vs. 12. Latvia
6. Canada vs. 11. Germany
7. Slovakia vs. 10. Norway
8. Switzerland vs. 9. Belarus

Here’s how the quarterfinals Wednesday will shake out:
1. USA vs. winner, Switzerland/Belarus
2. Sweden vs. winner, Slovakia/Norway
3. Russia vs. winner, Canada/Germany
4. Finland vs. winner, Czech Republic/Latvia

Here’s how the semifinals Friday will shape up:
1. Winner, USA vs. Switzerland/Belarus vs. winner, Finland vs. Czech Republic/Latvia
2. Winner, Sweden vs. Slovakia/Norway vs. winner, Russia vs. Canada/Germany

[HOZ]

I am wondering what the hell people were watching. You'd think the Canucks mailed it in. The US of A is one hell of a team but they were thoroughly outplayed in that game. Canada gave Miller's crest one helluva workout. Nobody seemed to be going for corners. If it weren't for Miller and Rafalski's stupid-ass goals....we walk away with the win.

Have a seat people. Smoke something. Kick your neighbours children. We're Russia's worst nightmare.

[3 Justin 3]

Damn, we got to play the 2nd game of a back-to-back against Russia. We'll need two goaltenders just to keep the goals against in single digits !

[EnosBones]

Who says Babcock is a good coach? He took over a good Detroit team and won a cup and now he might not make the playoffs.

Problem with team Canada are the braintrusts; Yzerman, Lowe, etc.. They still tend to pick players based on reputation and not who is playing well in the NHL. Guys like Pronger, Niedermayer, Morrow could be replaced by guys actually having good years. Thornton is a proven big game no-show. Get rid of the management guys picking the team - they didn't learn their lesson 4 years ago.

An extra game against Germany is a good thing, and extra game to help the lines mesh. If we lost that game, then its best this team doesn't get to play against one of the big boys becasue we would get toasted.

[3 Justin 3]

I wonder where I would apply to pick the team for 2014.

I think I need to be a "Canadian Icon of Professional Hockey" though. Too bad they don't know what they are doing.

(minus 2002 of course)

[Flame Of Liberty]

Originally Posted by 3 Justin 3

Because they're all getting it done. Oh wait...

Iginla isn't that big to be pounding people in front of the net when we have guys like Getzlaf, Staal, Perry (all on one line mind you), Nash, etc. who would all do a better job.

Iginla had little to do with Crosby's goal.

Again, if Langenbrunner can be a net presence, Iginla can be one too. They're the same size.

Look I'm not saying Iginla shouldn't be playing with Crosby/Nash. But he needs to adjust his game a bit.

[RandomDad]

Another thing is that Luongo actually has a excellent record against Ovechkin. So he should be starting against Russia.

[madmike]

Why was Perry out there at the end? He's been one of the worst players on the team the whole tournament.

In the end though, this loss is on Brodeur. Yeah there were some bad bounces, but he didn't help matters with his poor puck play.

[VladtheImpaler]

Gak - so many tears. Stop complaining because Precious didn't get 25 minutes of ice time with Crosby. There was really nothing wrong with Canada in that game - Miller was fantastic, and Brodeur was mediocre - otherwise, Canada was dominant, and all the lines worked just fine.
Yes, there is too much deference to seniority in selecting Canadian teams (I have a feeling having recently retired players in charge has something to do with it), but guess what? If they had picked the team more along the lines how Americans chose theirs, Iginla might not be there at all...

Anyhow, onto much more important things, who is giving me the best odds to take Soviet Russia in the QF? I may have to start a new thread for that.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by OILFAN #81

Patrice Bergeron to me is still the biggest mystery. What the heck does he bring to the table? There are atleast 10 guys who should be on the team over him.

Bergeron was Yzerman's twist. Bring in a player out of nowhere in hopes he excells and you can be looked at as a genius. There's no secret he wants to be an NHL GM and to bring in the obvious players would be too easy so he brought in Bergeron when Stamkos was clearly the superior player and snubbed Bouwmeester for players that aren't nearly as effective Neidermayer, Pronger, Seabrook. He talked about doing things differently from Turin yet they brought back the worst defenseman from Turin in Pronger who's been bad again. A lot of people ragging on Babcock but if this team fails to win a gold or silver you have to point the finger squarely at Yzerman, Lowe, and the rest for not bringing the best players possible.

[VladtheImpaler]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

Bergeron was Yzerman's twist. Bring in a player out of nowhere in hopes he excells and you can be looked at as a genius. There's no secret he wants to be an NHL GM and to bring in the obvious players would be too easy so he brought in Bergeron when Stamkos was clearly the superior player and snubbed Bouwmeester for players that aren't nearly as effective Neidermayer, Pronger, Seabrook. He talked about doing things differently from Turin yet they brought back the worst defenseman from Turin in Pronger who's been bad again. A lot of people ragging on Babcock but if this team fails to win a gold or silver you have to point the finger squarely at Yzerman, Lowe, and the rest for not bringing the best players possible.

Yep, take last night as an example. Canada had vastly superior talent, but the Americans looked like a team, whereas Canada looks like a mish-mash all-star game group.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by VladtheImpaler

Gak - so many tears. Stop complaining because Precious didn't get 25 minutes of ice time with Crosby. There was really nothing wrong with Canada in that game - Miller was fantastic, and Brodeur was mediocre - otherwise, Canada was dominant, and all the lines worked just fine.
Yes, there is too much deference to seniority in selecting Canadian teams (I have a feeling having recently retired players in charge has something to do with it), but guess what? If they had picked the team more along the lines how Americans chose theirs, Iginla might not be there at all...

Anyhow, onto much more important things, who is giving me the best odds to take Soviet Russia in the QF? I may have to start a new thread for that.

I agree but this isn't the first time Team Canada has lost to a hot goaltender in the Olympics. The best teams overcome all obstacles. Really outside of Salt Lake City Canadian players have just haven't been able to bring their 'A' game together as a group in the short Olympic timeframe.

[VladtheImpaler]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

I agree but this isn't the first time Team Canada has lost to a hot goaltender in the Olympics. The best teams overcome all obstacles. Really outside of Salt Lake City Canadian players have just haven't been able to bring their 'A' game together as a group in the short Olympic timeframe.

Isn't that pretty much true for Canadians at Olympics, period, with a few exceptions? I cheer for Soviet Russia in hockey, so I think I'm fairly objective on this topic - I think it hurts Canada that they keep putting recent ex-players in charge, who are steeped in the "old boys" culture, so they keep picking guys for seniority as opposed to merit. Your point re Yzerman and Bergeron is a good one - I mean, really, if they wanted a designated face-off guy, take Draper - at least he won't hurt you defensively. And they only picked 2 players who are actually playing LW this season (Marleau, Morrow) and left Stamkos, and, dare I say, Smyth, off the team. So, now they try to plug Nash and Staal/Richards/Toews into positions they are not suited to.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by VladtheImpaler

Isn't that pretty much true for Canadians at Olympics, period, with a few exceptions? I cheer for Soviet Russia in hockey, so I think I'm fairly objective on this topic - I think it hurts Canada that they keep putting recent ex-players in charge, who are steeped in the "old boys" culture, so they keep picking guys for seniority as opposed to merit. Your point re Yzerman and Bergeron is a good one - I mean, really, if they wanted a designated face-off guy, take Draper - at least he won't hurt you defensively. And they only picked 2 players who are actually playing LW this season (Marleau, Morrow) and left Stamkos, and, dare I say, Smyth, off the team. So, now they try to plug Nash and Staal/Richards/Toews into positions they are not suited to.

Yep. I know all our athetes try their best and don't mean to discredit all the hard work they put in but we are chokers in the Olympics. Every nation has the odd athlete that is ranked number one in their sport and heavy gold medal favorits that don't bring their 'A' game when it counts but it seems to happen to top Canadian athletes much more.

The day they announced team Canada I didn't have a warm and fuzzy feeling about the team and that's not because of the Flames snubs with the exception of Bouwmeester. It seemed to me like they just overanalyzed the players and where they would fit. You can still see three games in that Babcock doesn't have a clue how to use half the players.

[GreenLantern]

Putting Luongo in net is like taking down the fattie at a frat party when you are loser wasted and her hot friend already burnt you..

Nobody wants to talk about it, before during or after, but we all know it has to be done.

[Cowperson]

This tournament was always going to come down to the fact most of the major contenders have better goaltending than Canada, even as we have better depth.

In one shot games, superior goaltending can be a frightening opponent, the great equalizer.

We're not helping ourselves by playing Brodeur, hoping the past can somehow be resurrected. I can see him on this team in the third starter role, as a mentor to Luongo and Fleury but he shouldn't be the number one guy.

It's always been a weakness of those selecting the lineups for Canada to show too much respect to the great players of the past rather than favouring players who would be better in the present and the future.

Cowperson