i think the comparisons to the 80 team are pretty absurd as well. the reasons have been mentioned several times already.
i think canada still has a shot at medaling, but it is a tough road for them. a hot goalie can do wonders for teams and most of the top nations have goalies capable of taking over games. the USA is in a great position IMO because they can have sweden, russia, and canada beat up on each other. i saw them as the top 3 teams coming into the olympics, and being able to avoid them until the gold medal game could be huge. as mentioned, it can be silly looking so far ahead, but the draw is pretty nice for USA.
regarding american exposure, i think it could be a good thing for hockeys future for america to do well. however, nbc is really killing the chances. watching hockey on cnbc and msnbc has been really frustrating. on directv, i get cnbc in HD, but msnbc is just standard. not to mention for me, the channels are way up in the 300's and hidden pretty well with the other news type channels. hockey could really draw well, but i do understand it being hard for them to devote 3 hours to a game on nbc. but i still think they could do better.
solid olympic coverage could help build on the popularity of the winter classics and even last years finals. there has been quite a lot of good tv ratings recently for hockey, and thats good news for everyone. while i understand the gut reaction for many folks to say 'who cares if americans watch' it is important to at least try and build the US tv numbers. getting the subsequent revenue from american tv can help stabilize the nhl. every dollar the nhl can make will be important if the khl can continue to poach decent talent back to europe.
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Originally Posted by New Era
This individual is not affluent and more of a member of that shrinking middle class. It is likely the individual does not have a high paying job, is limited on benefits, and has to make due with those benefits provided by employer.
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