Mike Babcock is the worst International Coach Calgary bar has ever seen

[Vinny01]

Originally Posted by ah123

I think Yzerman, Babcock et al want Crosby to be the leader, but he has not been able to take that role on. My guess is that the "old guard" is hesitant to take charge, since everyone wants Crosby to be the leader...

If they really wanted Crosby to be the leader they should have given him the C. This is Neids team to lead with Crosby, Iginla, Pronger all taking roles in the leadership. Neidermeyer might take some of the heat since he has played horribly all season and in the tourny.

Yzerman's first gig as a GM is not going so great. The team has under performed and some of his questionable choices are not panning out.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by ah123

I think Yzerman, Babcock et al want Crosby to be the leader, but he has not been able to take that role on. My guess is that the "old guard" is hesitant to take charge, since everyone wants Crosby to be the leader...

To be fair, I dont think anyone has been able to take charge because they're getting ridiculously little ice time.

Babcock has to pull his head out of his ass and run this like an NHL team and not an All-Star team. First line gets the lion's share of ice time, 20-25 minutes, second line gets between 16-20, third line 10-13 and 4th line gets whatever is left and they like it.

No more of this ridiculous 'we're all winners today' everyone gets 12-14 minutes BS.

Seriously, give the 'Big Boys' (Iggy-Crosby-Nash) some goddamn serious ice time and they WILL carry this team on their backs, but no one can do anything with half of the required ice time.

As much as I criticized some selections this is a team with talent, but its being brutally mismanaged.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by REDVAN

...who is leading this team? I know it's hard to have a leader when everyone is a leader on their other teams... but this team lacks a leader. Neids is not the kind of leader this team needs. Need more than Neids, ha! I don't think Iggy could do it either, and Pronger wearing the A makes me barf in my mouth. Crosby, frankly, should be the captain, and he needs to get his ass in gear to prove it for the next Olympics...

Originally Posted by ah123

I think Yzerman, Babcock et al want Crosby to be the leader, but he has not been able to take that role on. My guess is that the "old guard" is hesitant to take charge, since everyone wants Crosby to be the leader...

Perhaps there is something to this, but let us also not kid ourselves when discussing the leadership of the current group, especially when compared to the 2002 Gold Medal team. Sidney Crosby IS NOT—and will probably never be Mario Lemieux; hell, the alternates for that team were Steve Yzerman and Joe Sakic! Leadership is a problem, and given the void that was left by that team, perhaps we should not at all be surprised.

[Resolute 14]

Crosby is trying, there is no doubt about that. I think he has been the most noticeable player on the team. His effectiveness has been limited by the rotating door on one wing, and Nash playing like a boat anchor on the other. Interestingly, while everyone talks about how they need a right winger to play with Crosby, it is, I think, actually someone to play with Nash that is needed. Nash has been useless for most of the tournament, except when he was playing with Iginla. Crosby is good enough that he will fit in well with anyone, but the ability of Nash and Iginla to work together has made the entire line better in a way that nobody else has managed.

[REDVAN]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

Perhaps there is something to this, but let us also not kid ourselves when discussing the leadership of the current group, especially when compared to the 2002 Gold Medal team. Sidney Crosby IS NOT—and will probably never be Mario Lemieux; hell, the alternates for that team were Steve Yzerman and Joe Sakic! Leadership is a problem, and given the void that was left by that team, perhaps we should not at all be surprised.

Originally Posted by Resolute 14

Crosby is trying, there is no doubt about that. I think he has been the most noticeable player on the team. His effectiveness has been limited by the rotating door on one wing, and Nash playing like a boat anchor on the other. Interestingly, while everyone talks about how they need a right winger to play with Crosby, it is, I think, actually someone to play with Nash that is needed. Nash has been useless for most of the tournament, except when he was playing with Iginla. Crosby is good enough that he will fit in well with anyone, but the ability of Nash and Iginla to work together has made the entire line better in a way that nobody else has managed.

So maybe it's Nash that needs off that first line... interesting point. Bob MacKenzie, with his Nash hard-on would disagree with you. Because Nash and Crosby have soooo much more chemistry than Iginla-Crosby (source: twittah).

Crosby is the best player on the team, and he is trying. Good for him. How much ice does he get? Whatever he gets he should get more.

And as for Lemiuex... every knows Lemieux is the man. When Lemiuex is on the ice, he IS the team. Niedermayer is just not that player. Iginla isn't either... I was against naming Crosby captain, but I think it should have happened now. Iginla has been marginalized by Babcock every time he does anything good. Bitter for Iggy being awesome or what? Pronger is no captain, it disgusts me he wears an A. When you have a team of leaders, you need someone who everyone else respects to lead them- Nieds probably lost respect among players when he pulled his "I don't know if I want to play" stunt. That would bug me if I was playing with him after. If he has a questionable drive and motivation, how can he lead the others to victory?

It's totally different to lead an all-star team like this. When each player is a leader of their own team, you need to have someone special to be captain, or someone ridiculously awesome at coaching. As of right now, team Canada has niether.

[Schmidtyboosh]

Originally Posted by minnow

Maybe he just doesn't know these players as well as he thinks he does? Maybe he's relying on reputation instead of reality? But, he should know things like SJ Joe disappears in the playoffs every year.

He had no idea how to coach top tier NORTH AMERICAN players.

[shadetree]

Originally Posted by fotze

The thing I have noticed is that there is very little consensus on even who is playing good or bad on the the team.

Mostly consensus:
Pronger, Niedermayer, Perry, Brodeur bad
Heatley, Crosby good

Absolute zero consensus
All the other players.

How can this be?

I think part of it is that most players haven't gotten enough ice time to make a judgement. Morrow and Toews have looked good, but they're barely playing. Toews got 2 assists last night, but barely played in the third. Same deal with Seabrook - he hasn't been brutal (no worse than Pronger, IMO), but he hasn't gotten enough ice time to be impressive.

[Azure]

Considering Doughty is 20 years old, I have no problem with the way he has been playing. The sad part is that he's being relied on more than he should be because the other defensemen are playing like a bunch of morons.

Heatley, Toews, Crosby and Iginla have been the forwards that have stood out to me.

Play Heatley on the left side, Iginla on the right and get Crosby to center them. See how it goes.

[ben voyonsdonc]

Just one more over-reaction thread. Honestly, does the viewpoint of the drunken patrons of a Calgary bar really merit a thread?

Adversity might be a good thing for this team. Yes, it will be good to start Luongo from here on out but I certainly wouldn't have pulled Brodeur after a couple of goals. You need to show some confidence in one of the most decorated goalies in NHL history. Unfortunately, things didn't work out in the end but the Canadian team definitely dominated the 2nd and 3rd periods.

[AvengeR]

Originally Posted by zunie75

Which big games has "Lou" won?

I honestly think that Marc Andre Fleury would be a more efficent answer than Luongo. Fleury has played in big games with meaning and has come out a champion. Luongo has not.

I agree 100%. 7uongo hasn't won anything. Fleury has won a Stanley Cup and been to the finals two straight years.

[REDVAN]

Something everyone is missing, is that this is Vancouver. If there is ever a time where Luongo is going to be awesome, it's in front of his homecrowd... playing the next two games- if he wins- could give him the confidence needed to become that world-class winning goalie he's hyped to be.

His skills are far better than his credentials show. Maybe now's when that changes?

[sa226]

One guy who I have been quite impressed with is Toews, he has been really good, aside from scoring.

[Scooter]

Originally Posted by fotze

The thing I have noticed is that there is very little consensus on even who is playing good or bad on the the team.

Mostly consensus:
Pronger, Niedermayer, Perry, Brodeur bad
Heatley, Crosby good

Absolute zero consensus
All the other players.

How can this be?

Cause 1/2 the *mod edit* on the forum watch nobody, but, Iggy whether he is on the ice, or riding the pine.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Scooter

Cause 1/2 the *removed* on the forum watch nobody, but, Iggy whether he is on the ice, or riding the pine.

I dont see why that would be, clearly that useless chump shouldn't even have made the team.

Canada doesnt have players taking the game by the berries because no one has the opportunity. Team Canada management made a lot of sacrifices on the altar of chemistry, but only one line is complete so in essence it was a bit of a waste of time and perhaps erroneous logic during the decision making process.

Fact of the matter is, for the 3 of 4 hybrid lines (including the first) you cant get any chemistry if they arent out there together for any stretch of time or have only 12 minutes a game to play together.

Give the first line their spots and run em for 20+ minutes a game.

[Redliner]

Originally Posted by sa226

One guy who I have been quite impressed with is Toews, he has been really good, aside from scoring.

And in keeping with the theme of lack of consensus, I think Toews has been terrible. Gets knocked off the puck easily and looks like he's wandering around out there with no idea what to do.

The biggest problem I see is that the team keeps trying to play Harlem Globetrotters hockey. Tons of giveaways due to them trying to force low-percentage passes, and the powerplay needs to shoot the puck. For all the talk of chemistry, the SJS line has really not delivered. I expect a win over Germany but will actually be surprised if we beat Russia.