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**Lawrence of Arabia** · February 21, 2006, 15:01

the IIHF sent a FINN to go watch to make sure the SWEDES dont lose on purpose

the IIHF knows all about history I see

**SpencerH** · February 21, 2006, 15:16

Originally posted by Flubber

I doubt it-- If everything is clicking great, maybe but when you have sucked, you really would want to get your game going

I wasnt really suggesting they were laying-back, it was more a comment on their abysmal play in the last two periods (and wondering why it was happening).

**SpencerH** · February 21, 2006, 15:17

Originally posted by Lawrence of Arabia
the IIHF sent a FINN to go watch to make sure the SWEDES dont lose on purpose

the IIHF knows all about history I see

I had a similar thought.

**Wezil** · February 21, 2006, 15:22

Originally posted by SpencerH
I wasnt really suggesting they were laying-back, it was more a comment on their abysmal play in the last two periods (and wondering why it was happening).

Bertuzzi hasn't broken any necks yet.

**Zoid** · February 21, 2006, 15:29

Sweden is playing like a bunch of decapitated chickens, they´re all over the place... It´s a ****ing disgrace

**Flubber** · February 21, 2006, 15:30

Russia 2-1 over US in the second I beleive

Slovaks leading 1-0 over the swedes

**Flubber** · February 21, 2006, 15:38

Originally posted by Kontiki
Here's a good take on the D situation from the Globe and Mail's Eric Duhatschek (in response to a reader's question):

As for the matter of Canada's defensive play, of the seven guys playing defence in this tournament, Jay Bouwmeester can really skate, Wade Redden is pretty good on his feet and the rest probably fall into the category "contain" guys nowadays, except for Bryan McCabe who looks totally lost out there and probably won't see much ice time the rest of the way. But what can you do? The one player that might make a difference, Scott Niedermayer, is out with an injury. Just about every team in the tournament is missing one or two key players that might make a difference between victory and defeat; the nature of hockey is to try to overcome those losses. I've heard people suggest that Canada needs Dion Phaneuf of the Calgary Flames on defence. Phaneuf is in the midst of an outstanding rookie season for Calgary, but his game is about playing the body and shooting the puck; he is more Scott Stevens than Scott Niedermayer; I'm not sure if his presence here would make much of a difference. What seemed to be lacking in the pair of weekend losses was that the team seemed too spread out; the gaps were too wide. By that I simply mean they hadn't adjusted well to the larger international ice surface and found themselves too far apart on the ice; and thus, forced the defencemen to make longer passes than necessary, which often haven't worked. They need to get back to what worked so well over the final three games in 2002 — forwards coming back deeper in the defensive zone; and then having the defencemen make a series of short passes to work the puck up the ice, instead of attempting the longer, 20-plus foot passes that haven't worked here at all. I know a lot of people want to put this mediocre start on the defencemen; I'm not sure if they're getting enough help from their forwards; or they weren't in weekend play. They were better against the Czechs today. Not perfect, but better.

I'd concurr THat McCabe looks "totally lost".

Again I'm not looking for a scapegoat. MCCabe should not be the causes of any further Canadaian losses ffor the simple reasons that he shouldn't play. All the d men are used to playing monster minutes on their own teams so going with 6 D men shouldn't be too tough.

As for Phaneuf, he has decent mobility but he wouldn't "fix" things. What he would do however give Canada a menacing physical presence. Go to an NHL game her is in . .. almost every game he manages to tag someone with a massive bodycheck-- But Phaneuf is not on the team so why don't we just drop that issue

So we go with what we have and play Bowmeester and Redden a lot . ..

**Flubber** · February 21, 2006, 15:40

Slovaks still hold a 1-0 lead heading into the 3rd

If a Slovak win holds up, the Russia game will be irrelevant.

**SpencerH** · February 21, 2006, 15:41

Russia v USA - great game!!!!!!!!

**KrazyHorse** · February 21, 2006, 15:48

RUS-CAN is going to be rough...

**Flubber** · February 21, 2006, 15:48

Originally posted by SpencerH
Russia v USA - great game!!!!!!!!

Good to hear-- It would be nice to see the US actually be competitive

and the reality of this event is that if the US were able to upset Finland tomorrow, views on who had a successful event and who had a failure would change radically (I don't see it but its the nature of the vent that one bad game could invalidate a lot of good ones)

**Chemical Ollie** · February 21, 2006, 15:50

2-0 This is really embarassing!

**notyoueither** · February 21, 2006, 15:50

Originally posted by Flubber
I just don't trust him on the ice at all. Now you are right that he should not be "blamed"- he's the SEVENTH defenseman for cripes sake !! Say nothing and sit him down . . I just thought that given some of Pronger's troubles, getting Boyle dressed might give them another option on the power play

I was worried about sending Pronger to the huge ice with a broken foot. He should be one to be counted on, but...

**Flubber** · February 21, 2006, 15:50

Originally posted by KrazyHorse
RUS-CAN is going to be rough...

Ya I'd actually rather play the Swedes or the Slovaks

GO Sweden!!!!

**Zoid** · February 21, 2006, 16:13

Originally posted by Chemical Ollie
2-0 This is really embarassing!

3-0 this is the worst game I´ve ever seen... A ****ing travesty of hockey

We don´t deserve a medal with this kind of play

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