Olympic Hockey Thread

[Flubber]

Originally posted by Pekka
I would also like to point out your overrated estimations of some teams.





. The fact is that the only team that is weaker than us on PAPER is Slovakia from the big 7. But when it comes to these games, the only one stronger I see being Canada, Russia and Sweden. The rest, no problem. The game today? Exhibit A. I said it all along too! IN YOUR FACES!

Well as I said earlier, they were not my rankings they were from the Canadian Sports network and I said in a couple of times that I did not entirely agree with them but thought they were accurate to within two places for most teams.

Lets not yet get excited about prelim results . . . As for previous WC results, I think a lot of people thought Finland would be hurt worse by losing their two top goalies than they were.

Finland has played well but for some reason I just don't see them taking the gold.


Overall its a strong event and there are many teams within striking distance of each other . . . and I'm not at all shocked to see Canada drop a prelim game-- In fact I am sort of glad to see it . . . It might fire the team up a bit

[Tingkai]

Originally posted by Asher
We're referring to different McCabe dumb penalties, obviously. I'm referring to the dumb holding penalty he took, which resulted in a goal after he f*cked up coming out of the box.

Give it up Asher.

McCabe's penalty was over when the Germans scored so you can't say his penalty resulted in the German goal.

If the blame falls on an individual, it would be Pronger, who took a penalty while the Canadians were short-handed, giving the Germans a two-man advantage. It was Pronger who was in the box when the Germans scored their power play goal.

Only a Calgarian would blame McCabe for Pronger's penalty.

Asher, you're definitely the Dashie of hockey.

[notyoueither]

the Dashie of hockey

??

[Flubber]

Lets look at those much maligned TSN rankings again






1 CANADA --Ok they lost to the Swiss!!!! That sucks but other than an inability to score, the team did not perform that badly and I personally would stick with them as favorites for the gold


2 CZECH REPUBLIC -- Two losses and no Hasek. I think no Hasek alone drops this team a few places

3 SWEDEN -- despite their talent-- I personally never believed in this team and would not have ranked them this high-- maybe they will deserve this ranking


4 SLOVAKIA -- Despite a stellar record thus far, I have a tough time seeing this team winning gold so this ranking seems appropriate




5 RUSSIA -- I always fear these guys and would probably rank them higher




6 FINLAND -- Despite a stellar record thus far, I have a tough time seeing this team winning gold -- I'd probably rank them next to Slovakia

7 USA -- I don't believe this team has what it takes-- To me its a shocker if they medal




8 GERMANY -- relegation bound

9 SWITZERLAND -- based on their play this time, they are at least 8th if not 7th-- I'd still favor the Czechs or Canada in a rematch-- I can't imagine them outplaying EITHER of those teams andf you can only expect so many goaltending miracles in a row so I just can't see them doing it twice in a row WHEN IT MATTERS.


So the Flubber rankings (based on my view of a probability of a high finish ) would be

1. canada
2. Russia-- always scare me
3. Finland-- looking good
4 Slovakia-- looking good
5 Czech -- hasek less
6.Sweden --just don't see it
7. U.S -- can upset anyone but I just don't see it
8. Switzerland -- wild ride but findamnetally overmatched at every position except goaltender

Obviously this is NOT a predicted order of finish since it is highly likely that some of my top 4 will meet in the quarters. I just know that despite the past few days, if I could PICK my QF opponent, it would be the SWISS.


But then again-- I've been lousy at picking winners in this prelim round-- maybe I'm fooling myself but I keep thinking that the insanity will end when the games matter. The one thing the last couple of days have shown is that ANY one of the top eight is a challenge in a given game so there seems little point in killing yourself for a top finish. heck the reward for winning B pool will probably be a date with the Canadians or Czechs as it currently sits

[Tingkai]

Originally posted by notyoueither

the Dashie of hockey

??

Da Shi constantly rants about how evil China is and how everything wrong is China's fault.

But I was going to erase the remark because Asher knows a fair bit about hockey.

[notyoueither]

Not to mention it's really poor form to dump on someone who likely isn't reading a thread.

[joncha]

Furthermore, Jaguar is a stinky-head.

[Tingkai]

Originally posted by notyoueither
Not to mention it's really poor form to dump on someone who likely isn't reading a thread.

Yeah right. Let me guess, you're one of the few people here who would never use a poly posters name as a verb, as in fezzed.

[Tingkai]

But let's get back to hockey

Originally posted by Flubber
So the Flubber rankings (based on my view of a probability of a high finish ) would be

1. canada
2. Russia-- always scare me
3. Finland-- looking good
4 Slovakia-- looking good
5 Czech -- hasek less
6.Sweden --just don't see it
7. U.S -- can upset anyone but I just don't see it
8. Switzerland -- wild ride but findamnetally overmatched at every position except goaltender

From what I have seen of the Russians, I think you're right to rank them higher. In the game against the Swedes, the Russians showed incredibly speed. In the World Cup last year, the Russians were down four goals after the first period and almost came back to win the game. Definitely dangerous.

I'm surprised by how poorly the Czechs have been playing. Sure Hasek is out, but Vokoun is a great goalie, but often under-rated because he plays in Nashville. He shut down the Canadians in the gold medal game of the World Cup 2005. They should be doing a lot better than they are.

[Asher]

Originally posted by Tingkai
Give it up Asher.

McCabe's penalty was over when the Germans scored so you can't say his penalty resulted in the German goal.

Please, read more carefully. The goal happened thanks to McCabe's retarded positioning after leaving the penalty box on the dumb penalty. If you watched the game, the commentators point this out rather clearly themselves.

Only a Calgarian would blame McCabe for Pronger's penalty.

Asher, you're definitely the Dashie of hockey.

I didn't blame McCabe for Pronger's penalty at all. And Pronger is definitely being a bit stupid himself, but he's never been one of my favorite defencemen.

I blame McCabe for:
(A) taking a dumb "holding" penalty
(B) not taking the proper position when leaving the penalty box, thereby missing a chance of clearing the puck out of the zone, thereby permitting a goal

Only a Torontonian would be so willingly blind to McCabe's inadequacies.

[Tingkai]

It's not a dumb penalty if they don't score. It's not a dumb penalty when it has no effect on the outcome of the game.

Taking penalties is just part of the game (with the notable exception of Dave Keon).

I was walking into the bar when the Germans scored (I started to cheer thinking the Canadians were in white. I quickly figured something was wrong when I realized no one else was cheering).

What I could see on the replay is that a defencemen clears a German from in front of the net, another German comes in from behind and gets a clean shot.

You can argue all you want about who should have been covering the scorer, but to blame it all on McCabe is just stupid. It's a team effort out there with the problem starting when Pronger takes a penalty.

McCabe's penalty had no effect on the game.

[notyoueither]

Germans?

WWII is a different thread.

[Lawrence of Arabia]

The Russia - Kazakstan game was rough. Those guys were going at each other.

[Pekka]

My rankings are now that the tourney has seen something:

Canada
Russia
Sweden
Finland
Slovakia
Czech Rep.
USA


.....

I can't put the Swiss there, I don't think they'll win the QF game but any of these have a chance to win it so.. and no I don't think we win the gold medal. But maybe we play in the semis? I hope so.

[Flubber]

Russia is just crushing Latvia-- its 4-1 early in the second.

meanwhile the Swiss are tied 2-2 with the Germans