[News] USA announces Olympic roster

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Ashasx

Wasn't that Gomez

Damn, I think you're right.

Either way though...

[Table 5]

I doubt I'll be getting up in the middle of the night to watch the games live, but on some level I'd rather cheer on a bunch of these middling pluggers than overpaid NHLers.

It's also nice to go into a tournament having no real idea what to expect. With Canada being so far ahead of everyone else at the last couple of elite men's tournaments, it's become almost as boringly predictably as the women's game.

[Philly06Cup]

IOC already has way to much politics and scandals. Time to embrace the world cup of hockey, for real.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Table 5

I doubt I'll be getting up in the middle of the night to watch the games live, but on some level I'd rather cheer on a bunch of these middling pluggers than overpaid NHLers.

I's also nice to go into a tournament having no real idea what to expect. With Canada being so far ahead of everyone else at the last couple of elite men's tournaments, it's become almost as boringly predictably as the women's game.

John Scott for Team Canada Captain?

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by Philly06Cup

IOC already has way to much politics and scandals. Time to embrace the world cup of hockey, for real.

Agreed. Hockey had a World Cup in 1996 that other sports could only dream about and threw it away for the corrupt IOC. They needed to right a wrong. The first non-NHL Olympics will be painful but it'll be better.

[Strange Brew]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

Agreed. Hockey had a World Cup in 1996 that other sports could only dream about and threw it away for the corrupt IOC. They needed to right a wrong. The first non-NHL Olympics will be painful but it'll be better.

I think there is another sport with a fairly successful World Cup. I understand your point, but the corruption of the IOC is not directly relevant to the product on the ice. What makes Olympic hockey great is how much the players care. And when is the best players, it’s obviously better. The fact that it’s in the middle of the season is a positive to me as players are in peak form.

As long as the World Cup is an NHL product there will always be limitations. And there is already a world championships. Just don’t know what it would take to crate a proper World Cup.

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by Strange Brew

I think there is another sport with a fairly successful World Cup. I understand your point, but the corruption of the IOC is not directly relevant to the product on the ice. What makes Olympic hockey great is how much the players care. And when is the best players, it’s obviously better. The fact that it’s in the middle of the season is a positive to me as players are in peak form.

As long as the World Cup is an NHL product there will always be limitations. And there is already a world championships. Just don’t know what it would take to crate a proper World Cup.

The players care about best-on-best no matter what it is. Canada Cup, World Juniors, World Cup or Olympics. It would take simple NHL cooperation to have a true world cup. There is already a world championship structure at many levels. The NHL could have years ago moved their season forward in order to finish earlier and send the best players to the annual world championships. But they ignored it. The IIHF has even moved the championships from April in the 80s to May presently to get more NHLers. The NHL continues to ignore it and play into the middle of June. All leagues (including the CHL) can co-exist with the IIHF, why can't the NHL?

The other World Cup that you mentioned works because all the leagues cooperates with FIFA and it's in player contracts that they must be released for international matches. The NHL and NHLPA severs this relationship.

[CaptainCrunch]

I know that you guys are all young punks and all that but I still remember going to watch hockey at the pre-pro Olympics and it was still hockey. I would love to see them re-constitute the national team program that had the Olympic team playing and training together for a year before the Olympics

Here's Canada's lineup for 1988

• Head coach: Dave King
• Ken Berry
• Serge Boisvert
• Brian Bradley
• Sean Burke
• Chris Felix
• Randy Gregg
• Marc Habscheid
• Bob Joyce
• Vaughn Karpan
• Merlin Malinowski
• Andy Moog
• Jim Peplinski
• Serge Roy
• Wally Schreiber
• Gord Sherven
• Tony Stiles
• Steve Tambellini
• Claude Vilgrain
• Tim Watters
• Ken Yaremchuk
• Trent Yawney (C)
• Zarley Zalapski

They finished 4th

Here's the not so miracle on ice 1980 Canadian Mens team

• Head coaches: Lorne Davis, Clare Drake, Tom Watt
• Glenn Anderson
• Warren Anderson
• Dan D'Alvise
• Ken Berry
• Ron Davidson
• John Devaney
• Bob Dupuis
• Joe Grant
• Randy Gregg (C)
• Dave Hindmarch
• Paul MacLean
• Kevin Maxwell
• James Nill
• Terry O'Malley
• Paul Pageau
• Brad Pirie
• Kevin Primeau
• Don Spring
• Tim Watters
• Stelio Zupancich

[doctajones428]

Originally Posted by memphusk

That doesn't make sense. I said it. Plus you're a negative Nancy.

Savage burn right there

[Johnny Rotten]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

I know that you guys are all young punks and all that but I still remember going to watch hockey at the pre-pro Olympics and it was still hockey. I would love to see them re-constitute the national team program that had the Olympic team playing and training together for a year before the Olympics

Here's Canada's lineup for 1988

They finished 4th

Here's the not so miracle on ice 1980 Canadian Mens team

I’m old enough to remember these teams too, and I enjoyed them-medal or no medals. I don’t know if it is feasible to reinstitute the program, but I wouldn’t mind seeing it happen again.

[GirlySports]

I went to an Olympic tuneup game. The Soviets beat the US 9-3 or something

[Strange Brew]

I remember it well CC. I interviewed Kevin Maxwell for a school project.

[Strange Brew]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

The players care about best-on-best no matter what it is. Canada Cup, World Juniors, World Cup or Olympics. It would take simple NHL cooperation to have a true world cup. There is already a world championship structure at many levels. The NHL could have years ago moved their season forward in order to finish earlier and send the best players to the annual world championships. But they ignored it. The IIHF has even moved the championships from April in the 80s to May presently to get more NHLers. The NHL continues to ignore it and play into the middle of June. All leagues (including the CHL) can co-exist with the IIHF, why can't the NHL?

The other World Cup that you mentioned works because all the leagues cooperates with FIFA and it's in player contracts that they must be released for international matches. The NHL and NHLPA severs this relationship.

Hockey is not the global sport that soccer is and there’s just no way the NHL cares about the IIHF. You make a good point on cooperation but anything that starts with the NHL moving it’s season just isn’t going to happen.

To say the players care equally about the tournaments you named doesn’t seem right. I remember when the Canada Cup was a big deal, but to say the players cared about the recent best on best World Cup the same as the Olympics?

The players want to go to the Olympics. They will play Canada Cup’s etc. for money and no doubt will still play hard, somewhere in between NHL regular season effort and all star game effort.

[Oling_Roachinen]

Originally Posted by memphusk

Wasn't Arcobello an Oilers savior at one point?

Probably just proved a lot of Oiler fanboys from 2012 right now that he's a literal Olympian.

[JD]

Originally Posted by Table 5

I doubt I'll be getting up in the middle of the night to watch the games live, but on some level I'd rather cheer on a bunch of these middling pluggers than overpaid NHLers.

But why? It's not like the players loafed around at the last Olympics because they're overpaid. Who cares how much money they make if the hockey is good?

I understand people like the unique stories that come out of these kinds of teams but does it make the on-ice produce more entertaining?

I remember being frustrated over pre-1998 Olympics because I believed Canada would win gold if we actually got to send our best hockey players. It was a sentiment shared by many. It's what made losing to the Czechs in Nagano so crushing and winning in SLC so glorious.

If we don't medal in these games, people will shrug and say "well we didn't send our best players". If we win gold, people will shrug and say "well, those weren't the best players we beat". It will be a nice story for the winners and an oh well story for the losers.

At least some of the athletes in other sports will get more of the spotlight.

[Oling_Roachinen]

https://www.instagram.com/p/BdbR3nzH...nhlonnbcsports

Bobby Butler telling his dad he made the team.

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by Strange Brew

Hockey is not the global sport that soccer is and there’s just no way the NHL cares about the IIHF. You make a good point on cooperation but anything that starts with the NHL moving it’s season just isn’t going to happen.

To say the players care equally about the tournaments you named doesn’t seem right. I remember when the Canada Cup was a big deal, but to say the players cared about the recent best on best World Cup the same as the Olympics?

The players want to go to the Olympics. They will play Canada Cup’s etc. for money and no doubt will still play hard, somewhere in between NHL regular season effort and all star game effort.

Players care about best on best. Canada Cup was the only chance Gretzky could play for Canada. Rebooting the World Cup was painful even before it was announced that they were not going to the Olympics. After a few more missed cycles the World Cup will become important. It would be hard to have both as people would just watch one over the other.

[Parallex]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

Players care about best on best.

Sure but they care most when it's at the Olympics.

Originally Posted by GirlySports

After a few more missed cycles the World Cup will become important.

A: I doubt there will be a few more missed cycles. I think the NHL will be back before long.
B: It won't ever feel important so long as the folk who thought Team U24 North America & Team Europe were good ideas are still around.

[TheIronMaiden]

I don't get what the grumbling is about. Watching atheletes give their best effort to win is entertaining at any level. These players will be passionate and that will create exciting hockey regardless of the fact that they aren't the best players in the world. Who cares if big names are there hell, I have no clue who the competitors are in the other sports but it doesn't make their effort and enthusiasm any less impressive.

[thefoss1957]

I have long hated the Olympics as a corruption of "sporting ideal." The politics, the bribery, the doping, the cheating, the flag waving proxy wars based on "medal counts." As far as Olympic Hockey, I am glad that there will be no disruption of an NHL season, and no dilution as far too many guys from my favorite team played far too many games, that for this fan, had no meaning, and led to needless exhaustion.

Posting anti-Olympic sentiments is the limit of my interest in the whole endeavor, as I am sickened at the thought of judged exhibitions, like ice dancing or figure skating, being passed off as "sports". (Bring back BARREL JUMPING! at least this has an objective way to judge success!), and it harder to buy off officials when success is easily measurable. And for those that think Hockey games can't be fixed, I invite them to read on the shenanigans that occurred in the finals of the 1972 Men's Basketball game, one of the first events to begin to spoil the Olympics for this sports fan.