AHL- Apolyton Hockey League III-- Olympic edition

[Flubber]

One of the things it seems Canada lacks is speed. As much as I hate to agree with Ben even a little bit, I think St. Louis really should have been on this team. Not at the expense of Iginla, mind you, but probably instead of Bergeron or Morrow.

I also questioned the omission of St Louis, as did a whole bunch of commentators and pundits, so its hardly a "Ben thing".

Based on play as it actually happened so far , we would likely have been far better off if they dropped Getzlaf and Perry and had St Louis and Stamkos. But assuming that Getzlaf was going to be on the team, you would have to drop someone and Morrow and Bergeron are the obvious choices . (less name players etc ). I wondered at their inclusion but also knew that team canada wanted guys to fill various roles so you don't necessarily take the 23 "best players"

But wrt Bergeron I put his role as a RH faceoff guy there. Canada wanted him for that reason and in the Swiss game he delivered. I didn't see his numbers last night so I don't know how he did. Its probable that he didn't even take that many draws since a Left shot face-off guy can do all the neutral zone and offensive face-offs regardles of which side the draw is on.

In any event, Canada swiss hiccup and US loss were not because of the role guys. I think they did their job. To look at canada's failings you need to look at the supposed "big guns"-

-- Crosby and Nash-- despite first line ice time and a variety of wingers, almost no production. Their only points outburst was when Iggy buried three against Norway

--Marty Broduer-- simply not good enough
-- Chris Pronger-- I knew he would be on the team but am completely unsurprised by his difficulties

-- Getzlaf line-- Second line type ice time with little to no production over 3 games



The third line or the Shark line has been the only one rolling. To me, you start rolling them as the number one unit and slot Crosby, Nash and Iggy in as number two (this combo has shown more periods of dominance). Perhaps try Toews on the Getzlaf line but until they show some more life I cannot see them getting big minutes

[Kontiki]

I don't have a problem with the "role player" thing at all, it's just that I think one of the key roles they overlooked was a really speedy breakout type guy (or more than one). Personally, I think this is far more important than some guy whose specialty is face offs, especially considering how loaded the team is with natural centres anyway.

I'm also not basing the assessment soley on the US game. Even against Switzerland and Norway I noticed they had trouble breaking into the offensive zone to get set up. I realize a big part of this the type of defenses they're facing, but I've seen more than a few good stretch passes where the forwards just didn't have the speed to blow past the defensive players. You don't even need to shoot in these situations, but rather just get control past the blue line.

[Tingkai]

The best line so far is the Shark line.

Really? From what I've seen, the Sharks line has underperformed.

They're getting tons of ice time and lots of PP time (particularly against the Swiss) and yet they've only had about one PP goal.

Thornton has one assist in three games.

Marleau is getting tons of ice time, and has three points, I think all of them against Norway.

The chemistry aspect is overrated for the Sharks, particularly when Marleau and Thornton usually don't play on the same Sharks line.

And Heatley seems to be working well with Toews (who has been great).

[Asher]

I'm still angry with Perry. I've always not liked the guy, but his play last night on the EN goal still infuriates me. At least pretend to care, Perry...

[Flubber]

Personally, I think this is far more important than some guy whose specialty is face offs, especially considering how loaded the team is with natural centres anyway.

.

Apparently they wanted a good faceoff man who is a right shot so he can draw into the corner if they are to the right of the goalie. The only RH centreman I recall is Getzlaf and his numbers are abysmal on the draw. Bergeron is 8th in the league in FO%.

I'm not saying I agree with it but I think its what they did. IF they beat Russia 3-2 in the quarters with Bergeron winning key draws late to clinch the game, people will say how brilliant it was.

For better of for worse though , when it comes to scoring, this team had hooked its wagon to the Crosby Nash duo, Getzlaf-Perry and the Shark line so they probably saw another offensive threat as extraneous and keyed on shoring up the defensive side of the game

[Flubber]

Really? From what I've seen, the Sharks line has underperformed.

They're getting tons of ice time and lots of PP time (particularly against the Swiss) and yet they've only had about one PP goal.

Thornton has one assist in three games.

Marleau is getting tons of ice time, and has three points, I think all of them against Norway.

The chemistry aspect is overrated for the Sharks, particularly when Marleau and Thornton usually don't play on the same Sharks line.

And Heatley seems to be working well with Toews (who has been great).

I confess I was thinking mainly about the fact that Heatley is scoring , it seems every game and I shouldn't have attributed that to the Shark line without checking back to see who he was out with him--- My bad-- I'm actually not big fans of Thornton or Marleau given their annual playoff disappearances.

Toews? Play that guy more!!

[Ben Kenobi]

Ben seems to think that if he doesn't get a hat-trick every night HE is the big failure

Hmmm?

All I'm arguing is that his performance, 1 shot, no goals no points wasn't stellar. Take him out of the game and Canada gets the same result. It was better then his performance against the Swiss, but he did not play well.

[Kitschum]

So Sweden beat Finland pretty decisively, 3-0.

Finland just couldn't pick it up, had 5 on 3, had chances with PP but no goals. Pretty bad performance. Sweden was better and deserved to win. Now, hopefully that woke them millionaire lazy asses up, who think they can just skate with their backs straight. Sweden killed it pretty good, we didn't have much good scoring chances, and they controlled the center from the first second to the last.

Damn it! Grrrr!

Sweden managed to shut the game down with surprising little resistance, although it felt like to me like the Finns were saving their sisu for down the line. Nobody risked being knocked out in this game, and I hope the Swedish players realize that and don't get complacent. They played a disciplined tactical game, determined PK, lots of puck possession - it was the patented boring, beautiful Sweden. My only real negatives were the untimely often silly penalties, like Öhlund's removing that Finnish player's helmet

Sorry for jinxing the Finnish PP. I'd like to say something encouraging now but I better not.

[Ben Kenobi]

I also questioned the omission of St Louis, as did a whole bunch of commentators and pundits, so its hardly a "Ben thing".

Thanks!

Nice to see not everyone thinks I'm an idiot. I have watched a few hockey games.

It boggles me why they didn't take St. Louis, who is clearly a notch above players like Iginla, Morrow, Getzlaf and Perry.

My thoughts, Toews needs to play more. I'd love to see Heatley/Toews/Nash be the number one line. Getzlaf/Crosby/Staal as the number 2 line. Number three, Richards/Thornton/Iginla. Number 4, Morrow/Marleau/Perry.

[Asher]

Even when you have a half-sensible thought (like St Louis being on the team), you **** it all up with rampant stupidity right after, like:

It boggles me why they didn't take St. Louis, who is clearly a notch above players like Iginla, Morrow, Getzlaf and Perry.

[Ben Kenobi]

He is a notch above those players I mentioned. I don't think that statement is particularly controversial.

[Ben Kenobi]

http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_daddy/post/Source-Roberto-Luongo-to-start-for-Canada-again?urn=nhl,221348

And Bobby Lou gets his start! Yay!

Lets go grab the Gold!

It's a good thing you didn't take my bet. I was right about Bobby Lou vs Brodeur.

[Asher]

http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puc...urn=nhl,221348

And Bobby Lou gets his start! Yay!

Lets go grab the Gold!

It's a good thing you didn't take my bet. I was right about Bobby Lou vs Brodeur.

You were clearly wrong. Brodeur was the starter, he just lost his job. Luongo didn't even dress for all the games.

[Asher]

He is a notch above those players I mentioned. I don't think that statement is particularly controversial.

You don't think a lot of things are how they are.

[Kontiki]

In other critical hockey news, apparently Mike Comrie and Hillary Duff are now engaged.