[OOT] Mens Hockey, Feb. 19 with 3 games.

[HelloHockeyFans]

From the sounds of it, the Americans are playing like how most expected the Canadians to play, dominating their opponents in their games.

Should we be worried?

[Dion]

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by HelloHockeyFans

From the sounds of it, the Americans are playing like how most expected the Canadians to play, dominating their opponents in their games.

Should we be worried?

no more than before, they are a good team. Canada is also dominating just not putting the puck in the net which could change with one break

[Passe La Puck]

Originally Posted by HelloHockeyFans

From the sounds of it, the Americans are playing like how most expected the Canadians to play, dominating their opponents in their games.

Should we be worried?

USA 25-23 CZE shots on net.
CAN 57-16 LAT shots on net.

I'd say we're dominating as well, just going up against the hot goalies.

[19Yzerman19]

Of course we should be worried. Just like we should be worried if they end up playing the Swedes or the Finns in the finals. Totally conceivable that any of those teams beats us, and the USA is the best of the bunch right now. They meshed as a team more completely and quickly than anyone else in the tournament. Most likely because very few guys on the team are the elite, go to guys for their NHL squad and despite being top-tier players are comfortable playing a supporting role rather than trying to do it themselves.

[flames_fan_down_under]

USA's only goals against the Russians were on the PP and the Czechs have been horrendous the entire tournament.

Canada has won all of their games dominating the shot/possession/faceoffs the only thing that doesn't stand out to certain people is they are not scoring a million goals. However we are outscoring our opponents 13-3.

Judging by some of the talk going on in some of these threads you would think Canada was 0-4.

[flames_fan_down_under]

Originally Posted by 19Yzerman19

Of course we should be worried. Just like we should be worried if they end up playing the Swedes or the Finns in the finals. Totally conceivable that any of those teams beats us, and the USA is the best of the bunch right now. They meshed as a team more completely and quickly than anyone else in the tournament. Most likely because very few guys on the team are the elite, go to guys for their NHL squad and despite being top-tier players are comfortable playing a supporting role rather than trying to do it themselves.

Parise, Kesler, Kessel, Kane, Suter are all heavily relied upon for their respective NHL clubs, and I would certainly classify them as elite players. I don't know how you can say they have meshed more than any other team to be honest.

Sharp, Kunitz, Vlasic, Hamhuis, Bergeron etc are all role players for their respective NHL clubs as well...

[trackercowe]

I would love for Burke to take a shot at picking up Leo Komarov in the off-season, he's played great this week, and would add an element that the Flames could use (a true pest).

Obviously Burke has some ties to him already, so hopefully he'll look into that.

[19Yzerman19]

Originally Posted by flames_fan_down_under

Parise, Kesler, Kessel, Kane, Suter are all heavily relied upon for their respective NHL clubs, and I would certainly classify them as elite players. I don't know how you can say they have meshed more than any other team to be honest.

Sharp, Kunitz, Vlasic, Hamhuis, Bergeron etc are all role players for their respective NHL clubs as well...

They just appear to be very businesslike, and there isn't the disconnect and timing errors we see from Canada amidst flashes of brilliance.

I would say that Kessel and Kane are clearly elite players in the league. You could argue Parise, but his style of play isn't the same, being more of a two-way guy. Kesler's a second line center and Suter is a defense-first defenseman who spent much of his career in Weber's shadow, but sure, he's clearly their top D. So there's really only a couple of them, which is, surprise surprise, what everyone's used to from the NHL: a couple of guys who are being relied on to carry the load, while everyone else chips in.

I guess what I'm saying is with a team like Canada, and also with the Russians, you get a sense of too many cooks in the kitchen. There are a lot of guys who, when they're at home, are THE GUY who their teammates are trying to get the puck to when they're on the ice. They understand that role. So when you put them with another one of those guys, it's a bit awkward; they seem not to be 100% sure what to do with the puck. If I'm Jamie Benn, do I take the shot or do I pass it over to Ryan Getzlaf? If I'm Tavares, do I defer to Sid? They're not used to being in that situation, and there's been a bit of that noticeable especially the first couple of games. It's gotten gradually better, and today was actually very good, though you could see some frustration seeping in.

As for Sharp, Vlasic, Hamhuis, Bergeron, I personally thought in the early games that Bergeron and Hamhuis were excellent at what they did, while Sharp and Vlasic were good. Kunitz is a different story because I simply don't think he should be here at all. But those weren't the guys who were starting slow.

I'm absolutely NOT suggesting that Canada shouldn't take all of these elite guys. You HAVE to take your best players, and in the end, it pays off - just look at 2010. I'm just saying it's one possible explanation for the time it seems to take these guys to gel, relative to the Americans who seemed to hit the ground running in a full sprint.

[killer_carlson]

Originally Posted by flames_fan_down_under

Parise, Kesler, Kessel, Kane, Suter are all heavily relied upon for their respective NHL clubs, and I would certainly classify them as elite players. I don't know how you can say they have meshed more than any other team to be honest.

Sharp, Kunitz, Vlasic, Hamhuis, Bergeron etc are all role players for their respective NHL clubs as well...

How is Kessel's role with Vancouver different from:

Sharp's role in Chicago
Bergeron's role in Boston

?


It is more than a stretch to say that Kessel is an elite player, yet players with similar roles, more success, and better health over the last 4 years - and on more successful teams - are "role players"

[PlayfulGenius]

Does Babcock designate a specific line and/or pairing to go up against Kessel's line?

If so, who gets the gig?

[19Yzerman19]

Originally Posted by PlayfulGenius

Does Babcock designate a specific line and/or pairing to go up against Kessel's line?

If so, who gets the gig?

BennPerryGetzlaf, IMO. Such puck possession. Very grinding. Wow.


Either that or Toews and Marleau, who are very good positionally. Put Bergeron with them and call it a day.

[iLoveLamp]

Perhaps I'm getting a little ahead of myself here, but does anyone know which bars in Calgary are opening early for the gold medal game on Sunday?

[Flamenspiel]

^^Yes, your getting ahead of yourself.

[SOMBRI2]

i tweeted flames central, they may be...obvisouly that has to involve team canada for all the bars. puck drop at 5am.

ship n anchor has premier league. i suspect rose n crown as well.

others may be but you better check...limericks, metro, shanks....and some casinos. just 2 cents.

Originally Posted by iLoveLamp

Perhaps I'm getting a little ahead of myself here, but does anyone know which bars in Calgary are opening early for the gold medal game on Sunday?

[djsFlames]

5 AM puck drop for the gold medal game? Damn. Thankfully it's on a Sunday.

[Zach]

A lot of early money coming in on the Americans.....

I like Finland and Canada to go through to the Finals.

[Flamenspiel]

I don't think its a coincidence that Canada finally scored after we began harassing the Latvian goalie in third period.

I wonder if that will continue in the US game. In the NHL playoffs there appears to no limit on what the players will do to win, I am not sure that is true at the Olympics as these guys have to get back to their teams.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by 19Yzerman19

...I'm absolutely NOT suggesting that Canada shouldn't take all of these elite guys. You HAVE to take your best players, and in the end, it pays off - just look at 2010. I'm just saying it's one possible explanation for the time it seems to take these guys to gel, relative to the Americans who seemed to hit the ground running in a full sprint.

Good post. Of course, what matters most is not how you start, but how you finish, and when comparing Team Canada to Team USA over the course of the NHL Olympic dram there is no question which team historically has the better finish. It is interesting that Team USA looks very similar again this year to their silver-medal winning iterations in 2002 and 2010. They started VERY strong, but ended up second best both times. (If you will recall, the US actually beat Canada in the round robin in 2010, and outscored Canada in both Salt Lake and Vancouver).

Team USA could win on Friday, but I wouldn't count on it. Further, I am very sceptical that even if they do win, they will probably end up with yet another silver medal, as per usual. My money is on Canada or Finland for the gold medal.

[GirlySports]

Nash is the Canadian shadow, he can shutdown anyone.