Since a surprise 3-2 regulation loss to Slovakia in their opening game, Russia has played 3 games and outscored their opponents by a combined score of 18-3.
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Humphries/George got robbed by their equipment. They had better start times and better driving than the gold medalist Germans.
Not sure if that's an indictment of the team for choosing the wrong gear, of the Canadian program for not spending enough to get the best, or an indictment of the sport for not having a level playing field.
The commentators this morning mentioned that they used the runners from Justin Cripps' sled in their first two heats but they obviously weren't working for them. I don't think you can blame them for choosing the runners off the sled that just won gold a few days ago.
Last edited by Treycal; 02-21-2018 at 08:25 AM.
Reason: Spelling
They had 2 completely different strategies. USA started off as fast as possible while Canada started off slow and picked it up near the end.
Had Canada stepped on the gas pedal half a lap sooner, they would've had it in the bag. The US completely died in the final lap and a half
That is not how it's done for the team.
Bowe & Bergsma are sprinters while Manganello is a slower long distance racer. So their only option is to get as big a lead as possible and hold on. Kind of like what Wust does in her long distance races.
Blondin and Wideman and long distance racers and Spence is a middle distance skater. So their goal is to have a pretty fast opening lap then hold consistent lap times for the rest of the race and eventually take the lead. That's usually the best strategy. But here the lap times just fell off right away.
They can't just turn on the gas as it's not what they're used to.
Humphries/George got robbed by their equipment. They had better start times and better driving than the gold medalist Germans.
Not sure if that's an indictment of the team for choosing the wrong gear, of the Canadian program for not spending enough to get the best, or an indictment of the sport for not having a level playing field.
Again, you shouldn't criticize if you don't watch the sport on a regular basis.
BCS is not underfunded and is among the tops in the playing field. BCS doesn't choose which runners to put on a sled.
A race comes down to start, driving and set up. Set up wasn't there these days. It happens because it can be a guessing game. Perhaps the track conditions changed a bit from training. Training results were much different for most sleds.
As of Rissling and De Bruin - they finished pretty much where it was expected.
Perfect. I'm off Friday so that should mean I can stay up real late to watch OAR Czechia and then get a nap in and watch Canada Germany. Then sleep all day.
Marjamäki is a terrible coach. Most assumed he would be fired last year after Finland lost 5-1 to France. Yet there he still is. Finland has only won one game against a major country under him... and they apparently are still planning to let him ride out his contract, which lasts over the next world championships.