[GDT] Canada vs USA - Gold Medal Game - Men’s Hockey

[GioforPM]

I'm more OK with the loss because the Canadians were the better team, and 3 on 3 is a dumb way to decide it. Copium maybe, but IMO the Canadians showed they were the better team.

[Muta]

Originally Posted by btimbit

Meh, not relevant, he'll bring it up but in the middle of a completely unrelated rant about China or something

Lol, you underestimate the extreme pettiness of the orange #### gibbon.

[CalgaryFan1988]

Originally Posted by habernac

I’d argue it was on two guys from the Avalanche but fill your boots.

Argue until you’re blue in the face. You’re still wrong.

[Jiri Hrdina]

Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague

There are a few things on the coaches. First, they are partly to blame for selection, and not having Bedard on this team makes a difference. Do they score on a the 5v3 with him out there? How about the late power play? Does he pot one of those 41 shots as the best pure finisher available to put on this team? Who knows, but the team spent the entire medal round hunting for a goal in the third period and this time they came up empty.

Second, line combos. I'm beating a dead horse but the McDavid / MacKinnon / Celebrini line is just not what you should be doing, especially without Crosby. 97 and 29 at center on different lines is more than half a hockey game with guys who should be decisively winning their minutes, and when you play them with lesser (but still all-star calibre) linemates, they know what to do - they take charge and don't wait and pass off or defer. Celebrini was the only guy who seemed to really want to shoot the puck with those 3 out there.

There are other more minor questionable decisions - one clear one for me is that after Crosby gets hurt you absolutely have to have Bo Horvat on PP1 to take the draw. He's arguably the best bumper spot guy in the league and he gets you possession off the faceoff more often than not. Failing to use Marner in the top 6 for most of the tournament, especially given how good he looked in terms of chance creation, was also a clear miss.

The coaching is not blameless here by a long stretch.

I was talking about that one play, not overall.
The team had enough talent, and were the better team in the gold medal game.
I don't see player selection as an issue.
Sometimes you just lose.

[Manhattanboy]

Originally Posted by Jiggy_12

Correct. Nothing will ever feel worse than that Jays loss. That’s a lifelong haunting nightmare abyss

Flames in 04 still stings.

[FanIn80]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

Cooper is a great coach. Fantastic. One of the best.
So is Maurice.
This wasn't on coaching. Not everything has to be about the Florida Panthers.

What does this have to do with the Panthers?

We needed a motivator and possession play, not a stack your top line play to the outside guy. All that talent and we only scored one goal in the final game, and in 3 "playoff" games we only had the lead twice. 5 mins in one game and then a whole 30 seconds in another game.

Cooper's a good coach, but we could have had a better one for what we needed.

[Table 5]

Canada didn't lose because of coaching, or roster construction, or even because people tried to be hilight heroes in OT.

Canada lost because of missed opportunities on open nets, and Connor Hellebuyck.

This game shouldn't even have gone to OT.

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by Muta

Lol, you underestimate the extreme pettiness of the orange #### gibbon.

After he was too scared of getting booed to attend the game

[browna]

Originally Posted by CalgaryFan1988

Not sure how people who watch hockey think like this.

3 on 3 is about possession and McDavid 2 times in a row went 1 on 3 and turned the puck over. One time the puck almost ended up in the back of the net and the second time it did.

Makar and MacKinnon were defending a 3 on 2 and had a bad bounce

Not every shot goes is on a 3 on 3 no matter if it’s taken 1 on 3 or whatever.
And doing it 1 on 3 also means you have two defenders behind you.

So, as Makar being on of those two defenders retreats back after possession looks to have been given up as opposed to making a pinch inside the blue line, it ends up being a nothing play for the Americans because Hughes likely doesn’t jump up into the play because Makar is back in the neutral zone, not still in the US zone.

[UKflames]

What a great game of hockey, sadly didn't go the right way for you Canadians. They dominated for a lot of the game, but it was fun back and forth hockey to watch from a neutral point of view.

No one is to blame for the loss, once a game goes to 3-on-3 anything can happen.

Now lets get back to Flames hockey.

[trackercowe]

Ah well... At least we can all go back to hating McDavid... Good luck again in four years Connor.

Some extreme over reactions here. Can't win the all, and 3 on 3 was a dumb way to end it. Four Nations was a better way to determine best on best. This ended up as a skills competition.

[3thirty]

The loss didn't have me in tears, but seeing the Gaudreau kids on the ice did.

[OILFAN #81]

Crushing loss. McDavid deserves some criticism for not getting points in the final. Don’t think he was the reason they lost but he absolutely needed to produce. 4 big games in a row and nothing. Deserves criticism for that. MacKinnon wasn’t at his best either. Toews had a brutal day.

Canada made a mistake not bringing in more scoring. Guys like Hagel, Horvat etc did nothing all tournament. Lesson learned bring more scoring.

[Coach]

The lack of 5 on 5 OT is just such a big miss as a spectator. I like the 3v3 for regular season NHL. It's a more fun way to get a result than a shootout. I don't even mind it for prelim games. But in championship games you should be playing the game until someone scores. It's a no brainer I don't understand why they changed that for a IIHF event. Have the other international tournaments been doing this, or is this the first time?

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Johnny Makarov

I still think Canada would have scored in the final 6.5 mins if Bennett doesn't take that stupid penalty.

I'm not a Bennett fan but that penalty was more on crappy ice/boards catching his stick and springing it upwards.

[Flamesfan05]

Yeah it’s crazy with all these weapons

And they shoot like a Flames

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by Table 5

Canada didn't lose because of coaching, or roster construction, or even because people tried to be hilight heroes in OT.

Canada lost because of missed opportunities on open nets, and Connor Hellebuyck.

This game shouldn't even have gone to OT.

Coach had a gameplan that totally dominated the gold medal game...NHL all stars missed empty nets

[habernac]

Originally Posted by browna

Not every shot goes is on a 3 on 3 no matter if it’s taken 1 on 3 or whatever.

If Makar retreats back after possession looks to have been given up as opposed to making a pinch inside the blue line, it ends up being a nothing play for the Americans because Hughes likely doesn’t jump up into the play because Makar is back in the neutral zone, not still in the US zone.

Wasting your time. Oiler bad.

[btimbit]

Originally Posted by trackercowe

Ah well... At least we can all go back to hating McDavid... Good luck again in four years Connor.

And he better not have a C on his chest

[Scroopy Noopers]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

I'm not a Bennett fan but that penalty was more on crappy ice/boards catching his stick and springing it upwards.

I am a big fan… but he’s reckless. Always. Always so ####ing reckless. Frustrating.