PGT: USA 5 - Canada 3

[simmonjam1]

I thought Canada dominated this entire game.

Miller was effing AWESOME!.

Brodeur; not so much...

I'm not coming down too hard on Babcock yet. He's only had 3 games to find chemistry with these guys. Now that Nash/Crosby/Iginla shows some signs of gelling and dominating; I hope Babcock sticks with what works.

[d_phaneuf]

So Canada is having problems scoring, look at the top 30 scorers in the NHL

6. Martin St.Louis
7. Steven Stamkos
11. Brad Richards
20. Mike Green
25. Vincent Lecavalier

good thing none of those guys are there! and these guys are

100. Patrice Bergeron
134. Brendan Morrow

[flip]

I would have taken the Tampa line over Getzlaf, Perry and Bergeron. I like what Morrow brings.

Even Stamkos and St Louis with Brad Richards over Getz, Perry and Bergeron.

[pepper24]

Luongo deserves the start against Germany but assuming we win the coaches have a tough decision about who to start for the Russia game.

Luongo gets the benefit of playing inferior teams of Norway and Germany while Brodeur gets tougher opponents in the Swiss and Americans. Apples vs. Oranges.

[d_phaneuf]

Originally Posted by iggysback05

Yes, great point.

The reason that the new breed of butterfly goalie's have had so much success is not a fluke. The difference between the butterfly goalie and the hybrid goalie is pretty simple.

The butterfly goalie (Luongo, Giguere) doesn't always need to see the puck to make the save. Marty generally must be able to see the puck to stop it.

At least two goals tonight would have probably (God I hate myself right now) been routine saves for Luongo.

ya the 2nd and the 4th I have no doubt any butterfly goalie stops them, especially someone as tall as Luongo with his pad size. The 1st and the 3rd Luongo wouldn't have even bothered to play the back, he either lets it go or stops it behind the net.

[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by pepper24

Crosby and Nash both with -3 so they that means were both on the ice for 4 goals against as the got 1 point each. Time to break them up. I am sure Babcock will find a way to blame Iginla instead.

Three goals against. Crosby scored on the powerplay.

Crosby and Nash were on for the first three American goals. The fourth was Bergeron and Morrow on the PK, and the fifth was the Sharks line and Perry.

And seriously, WTF is Corey Perry doing out there as the extra man?

[Igottago]

Originally Posted by Bouw N Arrow

I find it pretty weak that nobody is giving the American's credit tonite. They made their breaks.

Rafalski had a legendary performance. As did Miller. They weren't always the better team but they were hungry and opportunistic. Even the ###### Kesler made a great effort on the empty netter.

[minnow]

Originally Posted by simmonjam1

I thought Canada dominated this entire game.

Miller was effing AWESOME!.

Brodeur; not so much...

I'm not coming down too hard on Babcock yet. He's only had 3 games to find chemistry with these guys. Now that Nash/Crosby/Iginla shows some signs of gelling and dominating; I hope Babcock sticks with what works.

It worked in game one. I guess that didn't convince him enough.

[moon]

Originally Posted by Rubicant

For those complaining about the 'international' officiating tonight, it was an entirely NHL team.

I said that I hate international reffing even with the NHL guys involved.

Reffing wasn't the reason for the loss but the reffing was terrible.

Not so much in the calls they made but the ones they didn't make. When Canada was killing the States in the second period there was a lot of penalties that should have been called let go and then in the third they start making those calls against Canada.

Not the reason for the loss but still terrible. Whether NHL guys or not terrible reffing seems to happen more often than not in international games.

[Erick Estrada]

I don't know about you guys but all three players off from the Ducks haven't been very good. Getzlaff has been awful, Perry's had a few chances but he has a low hockey IQ (much like Bourque) and Neidermayer looks old and washed up much like he has all season.

Also how many Olympics must we endure Chris Pronger's pylon act until they come to the conclusion that he's too slow for international competition? He was awful in Turin and terrible again. For all the talk about learning from Turin it seems like they have learned nothing.

It was obvious that Yzerman was trying to use this Olympic gig as a springboard to an NHL job with the cute move to bring in Bergeron and questionable defensive picks. If you can't get the Canadian Olympic roster correct you have no hope assembling an NHL team.

[zamler]

Originally Posted by pepper24

Luongo deserves the start against Germany but assuming we win the coaches have a tough decision about who to start for the Russia game.

Let's say Luongo stands on his head and gets a shutout against Germany. Babcock will instantly go with Marty Brodeur. Just watch.

[d_phaneuf]

Originally Posted by zamler

Let's say Luongo stands on his head and gets a shutout against Germany. Babcock will instantly go with Marty Brodeur. Just watch.

My thinking as well, unless he wants to go even more outside the box and puts a forward in net

its like the management wants to win in a way that makes them look smart for their hunches, not just giving the right players the chance to win it

[Winsor_Pilates]

Originally Posted by Ro

OK, here's what I've figured out so far. The 1, 2, and 4 seeds are up in the air. USA will be either 1 or 2. Russia is 3 no matter what. Seeds 5 through 12 are decided.

If FIN wins in regulation:

Seeds:
1 - Finland (on goal differential)
2 - USA
3 - Russia
4 - Sweden
5 - Czechs
6 - Canada
7 - Slovakia
8 - Switzerland
9 - Belarus
10 - Norway
11 - Germany
12 - Latvia

Matchups on TUE:

CZE/LAT, CAN/GER, SVK/NOR, SWI/BEL

Assuming the favorites win, matchups on WED:

FIN/SWI, USA/SVK, RUS/CAN, SWE/CZE

------

If SWE wins:

(in all probability)

1 - USA
2 - Sweden
3 - Russia
4 - Finland
5 - Czechs
6 - Canada
7 - Slovakia
8 - Switzerland
9 - Belarus
10 - Norway
11 - Germany
12 - Latvia

Matchups on TUE:

CZE/LAT, CAN/GER, SVK/NOR, SWI/BEL

Assuming the favorites win, matchups on WED:

USA/SWI, SWE/SVK, RUS/CAN, FIN/CZE

----

Think I got that right. From a CAN standpoint, if FIN wins vs. SWE, the path to the gold medal game is likely:

GER->RUS->USA->GMG

If SWE wins:

GER->RUS->SWE->GMG

So Finland is through to quarters regardless of tonight's game? damn Kipper is good!

[moon]

Originally Posted by BigRed

And Marleau. And Heatley.

These guys are scoring machines, but they play with as much intensity as some guys on the backyard rink after Xmas dinner. These are not gutsy players; there's a reason they dominate the season, and never go anywhere in the playoffs ...

Heatley has arguably been the best forward for Canada and at worst is top 3. He also went to the Stanley Cup Finals and was the Sens leading scorer in the play-offs.

Thornton has disappointing and I can't count how many chances Marleau has wasted, but Heatley should not be included in that list.

Originally Posted by Bouw N Arrow

I find it pretty weak that nobody is giving the American's credit tonite. They made their breaks.

They got three lucky bounces and a PP goal, not sure how they made their breaks.

Outside of their lucky goals they had what 2-3 good chances at best.

The team was supposed to be dangerous because of its speed and barely used it at all.

They won so full marks for that but they certainly didn't do much if anything to earn it and didn't do anything to earn their breaks.

[SixtySix]

Being a Flames fan and a Canada fan is probably bad for my health... it gets pretty frustrating.

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by Winsor_Pilates

So Finland is through to quarters regardless of tonight's game? damn Kipper is good!

Unless they lose by 10

If Sweden loses in regulation, they'll be 5th.

I'm not sure I'd want to win tonight if I were Sweden.

[BigRed]

Originally Posted by 3 Justin 3

Note: Luongo > Fleury in so many ways.

Except the one and only thing that actually counts ...

[Yappin Tappin]

Anyone hear that not-so-bright caller on overtime just now? Saying how Iginla's A was stripped from him today and it shows his lack of leadership? I'm PRETTY sure the A's are just rotated between the 3 assistant captains, just as it has been in the past couple olympics. But the guy just keeps mouthing off about he lacks leadership and it's the reason he isn't getting ice time etc. Sorry kind of off-topic but some people just make me wonder about their hockey IQ's...

But ya as painful as it is to say, Luongo should start. 3 of the 4 goals scored on Brodeur would have been stopped by this magical invention called the butterfly position.

[Patrick]

Originally Posted by jschick88

Doughty is nothing short of freakin amazing.

I disagree. He looks outmatched and his constant inability to use a 1 timer on the PP when he gets sweet 1 timer feeds is very frustrating to watch. IMO, he should not be here.Maybe in 4 years but there are other Candian D better than him right now not on this team.

[Ro]

Originally Posted by Winsor_Pilates

So Finland is through to quarters regardless of tonight's game? damn Kipper is good!

Yup.

But looking at my little chart there, I think I screwed up- if Finland wins by a couple goals, the Czechs would get the #4 seed instead of Sweden. So a lot really does rest on this late game.

That said, it looks like failing to get 3 points in the SWI game might have really cost Canada- they could have been the #4 seed with a regulation win in that game.