[OOT] Mens Hockey, Feb. 18 with 4 games.

[Tinordi]

Is Arturs getting the start?

[Red John]

Originally Posted by CaptainYooh

Sweden vs. Slovenia
USA vs. Czech Republic
Canada vs. Latvia
Finland vs. Russia

This means Sweden vs. Russia or Finland and Canada vs. USA in the semi-finals. If Finland wins over Russia, my predictions for these semi-final pairing would be 100% true.

I did not see Latvia beating the Swiss. I don't think anyone did though.

Tough pairing for us against the US in the semi-finals. There will be blood...

Get on the Slovenia bandwagon now while you can. 18-1 underdogs to beat Sweden, those are excellent odds. Even a small $5 bet would win almost $100.

Slovenia is having the cinderella tournament right now, Kopitar has picked that team up on his shoulders. The Swedes haven't looked all that impressive despite running the table so far. Slovenia should at least beat the spread of 3.5

Canada should beat Latvia though it probably won't be a blowout. Hopefully they score a few though for confidence's sake though - lots of talk about how they can't score right now.

Americans will blowout the Czechs who are hot garbage at this tournament.

Russia-Finland is too close to call - suspect the Russians get it done perhaps in OT or shootout but Rask will keep it close.

Hopefully we get some crazy quarterfinals!

[CaptainYooh]

Meh, there's no way Sweden is going to lose to Slovenia; there's just too much talent on the Tre Kronor team in all three zones.

Russia barely beat Norway. On the contrary, Finland was very impressive against Canada. I am going to bet against Russia in this match-up.

[Hemi-Cuda]

Originally Posted by CaptainYooh

Meh, there's no way Sweden is going to lose to Slovenia; there's just too much talent on the Tre Kronor team in all three zones.

Russia barely beat Norway. On the contrary, Finland was very impressive against Canada. I am going to bet against Russia in this match-up.

For how badly the Russian hockey team got crucified for their Vancouver performance, if they don't even medal at home I would honestly start to fear for some players/coaches safety

[Red John]

Agreed that Russia's been unimpressive so far, but the champ has lost in round robin each NHL-olympics except 1998.

In a short tournament it always seems that a team that starts slowly but picks it up tends to do well.

Would absolutely LOVE if Russia lost but you have to wonder if they're just getting warmed up now.

[habernac]

everyone is chirping about how little Crosby has done, where's the talk that Ovechkin is flatlining in his home country?

[dash_pinched]

I really have nothing to add except the gif below which I find hilarious:

[CaptainYooh]

Originally Posted by habernac

everyone is chirping about how little Crosby has done, where's the talk that Ovechkin is flatlining in his home country?

Not only that. How come nobody is talking about how bad Kovalchuk and Radulov are playing? These two were supposed to prove that leaving NHL was a good thing for their professional career development. Yeah, right.

[MissTeeks]

Originally Posted by habernac

everyone is chirping about how little Crosby has done, where's the talk that Ovechkin is flatlining in his home country?

It's all his sticks' fault!

Dmitry Chesnokov‏@dchesnokov20m

Q: You haven't scored in a few games. Ovechkin: My sticks keep breaking. They will get fixed. I'll get it done when it matters.

[trackercowe]

Originally Posted by CaptainYooh

Not only that. How come nobody is talking about how bad Kovalchuk and Radulov are playing? These two were supposed to prove that leaving NHL was a good thing for their professional career development. Yeah, right.

Both of them are actually playing pretty good. Been more noticeable in some games than others, but still two of Russia's better players thus far.

[Sylvanfan]

I actually thought Rask gave up two weak goals against Canada...Canada had a lot of zone time against Finland but generated very little in terms of scoring chances, and even less in terms of rebound type shots. The Fins did a good job of letting Canada control the puck in the part of the zone that really isn't dangerous and kept them out of the scoring zone.

Still in a one game takes all format...that one day where your goalie is on and the other teams goes Tommy Salo on you can kill off a gold medal favorite before you realize it. The gold medal isn't won for playing your best game today...but you can lose it if your opponent does. That's what makes this a tough tournament, particularly when you have to face a so called lesser team in one of these rounds. To a team like Latvia or Slovenia this is like a gold medal game to them. To Canada...it's another game on the path.

[puffnstuff]

Havent seen all the Russian games, but when I have watched, the players look/seem disinterested. Maybe its just me. I recall when Russian hockey was all speed, puck control, amazing passing and team play. The last few years, not so much.

[hwy19man]

Originally Posted by Red John

Get on the Slovenia bandwagon now while you can. 18-1 underdogs to beat Sweden, those are excellent odds. Even a small $5 bet would win almost $100.

Slovenia is having the cinderella tournament right now, Kopitar has picked that team up on his shoulders. The Swedes haven't looked all that impressive despite running the table so far. Slovenia should at least beat the spread of 3.5

Canada should beat Latvia though it probably won't be a blowout. Hopefully they score a few though for confidence's sake though - lots of talk about how they can't score right now.

Americans will blowout the Czechs who are hot garbage at this tournament.

Russia-Finland is too close to call - suspect the Russians get it done perhaps in OT or shootout but Rask will keep it close.

Hopefully we get some crazy quarterfinals!

Yes, check the odds. There can be some bizarre odds that the lottery corporation sets.

I will never forget the Russia-Finland game twelve years ago today! The odds on BCLC for the oddset were 1.05 Russia and 9.05 on Finland with a tie being 5.35. I was shocked when I saw that and with a friend we bet on Finland to win along with USA over Belarus, Sweden over Germany and three other NBA games (Utah over Cleveland, Detroit over Toronto, and a tie on the Trailblazers-Clippers game). Together we did a 28 dollar wager and won $2362.45. The only reason we did that ticket were the ridiculous underdog odds on Finland and they had a good team. Had it been 3.75 or something close to that, I would not have selected the game.

[hwy19man]

Originally Posted by CaptainYooh

Meh, there's no way Sweden is going to lose to Slovenia; there's just too much talent on the Tre Kronor team in all three zones.

Russia barely beat Norway. On the contrary, Finland was very impressive against Canada. I am going to bet against Russia in this match-up.

Bet on Finland to win and read my previous post.

[CaptainYooh]

Originally Posted by getbak

Yes. Tomorrow's schedule...

SWE vs SLO: 1:00am MT
FIN vs RUS: 5:30am MT
USA vs CZE: 10:00am MT
CAN vs LAT: 10:00am MT

CBC TV published broadcast times for Calgary (Mountain Time):

Russia vs. Finland - 4:00 am
Canada vs. Latvia - 8:00 am

[trackercowe]

^ Those times are wrong. The games always go 1:00, 5:30, and 10:00 MST.

[Tsawwassen]

Originally Posted by CaptainYooh

CBC TV published broadcast times for Calgary (Mountain Time):

Russia vs. Finland - 4:00 am
Canada vs. Latvia - 8:00 am

Where did you get those times? Those times are Alaska Standard time.

[CaptainYooh]

On CBC website. Go figure.