kipwinger

Just read an article about this. Everyone is changing their lineups today because they've played so much over the last three days. Pretty much every team is using it's reserve forwards and backup goalie in this final round robin game.

Dude, you're barking up the wrong tree. Fact is, the Franzen hate around here makes no sense and never will. Somewhere along the line Franzen got a certain reputation and people ran with it. Now they spend all their time trying to justify this hate post hoc with a variety of silly reasons. Franzen's a floater (he isn't, you don't score as often as he does by not playing), Franzen's streaky (he isn't, or at least not more so than Zetterberg who typically has longer scoring droughts than Franzen), Franzen doesn't play defense (he does, in fact he's so responsible Babs has been using him on the PK), Franzen's contract will be horrible when he's 40 (maybe, but so will every other back diving contract like his. What makes him different?) Franzen's injury prone (he isn't, at least no more so than Dats and Zetterberg and far less so than Kronwall) Now, here's the funny part. People say all these things about Franzen, and then when he's playing and scoring and making a difference (which is nearly every game) you say "I thought Franzen was a bum" and they'll reply "Well he isn't a bum NOW, because he's trying". Soooooo stupid.

Well too bad for the Slavaks, but they played a heck of a game nonetheless.

I really want Tatar to have an Oshie moment, but I don't hold out too much hope for the Slovak goalie in this one.

Tatar has been better than Hossa in this tourney, I agree.

Good win for the USA. Two things. 1) Tighten up that defense, 2) Blake Wheeler stays in the lineup. Also, calling it...Tomas Tatar is the hero over Russia in overtime/shootout.

That looks like a mug shot.

You still don't move Helm. I do not feel comfortable moving forward with Dats, Weiss, Andersson, and Glendening as our centers. Any injury to the top two means you've got guys in way over their heads. And truth is, we need centers worse than defensemen. Hypothetically, if we made zero moves we'd be much better on defense three years from now and much worse at center. Moving a center for a top four d-man just fills one hole by creating another.

I'm starting to suspect that there's no love lost between the Eastern European teams and Russia. It's almost like they've got a history or something.

This picture rules so much. It would only be better if there were a wolf howling at the moon in the background. They wish it was basketball. At least then they'd be able to talk about it. Not talk about it intelligently, but talk about it nevertheless. I can almost hear it now, Steven A. Smith and Skip Bayless arguing up a blue streak about whether or not Jimmy Howard or Jan Mursak is the next Michael Jordan. Cutting edge sports journalism at it's finest eh boys?

What? Tatar...playing defense? Everybody knows that Tatar can't play defense. Just ask Babs.

This is your best post. Your all time best post.

I genuinely thought about saying we should target Oshie, but I thought it would be overboard considering I've pumped his tires in two other threads. But don't think I didn't consider it.

Not Smith, noooooooooooooooooooo! He occasionally punches people between turning the puck over and blowing zone coverage. He's untouchable.

It's hard for me to say how I'd feel if I were a Russian fan in this situation. I mean, I imagine I'd be pretty upset because my team was so close to winning a very high profile game. But then again, having been a Red Wings fan for my entire life I feel like having important goals waved off is sort of "old hat". So in the final analysis... Tough break Ruskies!

At what point does it start to sink in that you've picked the wrong pony?

Sooooooooooo awesome!

Yeah, I commented during the game on the shot blocking, I was very happy to see that. If we don't play that kind of a gritty game we don't do s*** in this tourney. Good to see the guys got the message. Speaking of which, Ryan Kesler played a hell of a game. You have to wonder if it's the Vancouver team/system/culture that breeds his whiny/diving/bs because in the Olympics he plays a hard nosed game.

"Gotta be heavier on the puck. We need every dayers. Keep your compete levels up. I like our stick-to-it-ness." - Babs.

I wasn't punishing Canada, they're obviously a very good team. I just think we need to see how they perform against a good team before we can say they're the best team in the tourney. I do agree that the Russians looked more dangerous than the US for most of the game though. But powerplays are part of the game, and so far ours looked pretty good.

I have to admit that Russia is a better team than I thought they'd be. If Ovechkin buries either of his two post shots they win. And I thought their defense was better than I gave it credit for too. I DEFINITELY wouldn't want to play that team in the medal round. They're the type that could drop 3 or 4 goals on you in the first period. They're also really fast. They'll match up well against Canada, particularly if they just double shift their top two lines for the entire third period like they did against us. So far, of the Big Four I've got to say it's: USA (because we beat a contender) Russia (because they barely lost to a contender) Canada (because they punished a bunch of nobodies) Sweden (because they didn't punish a bunch of nobodies)

Dude, I'd lose my s***...like...I can't even imagine my mental state if that was for the gold. I'm already having a hard time processing how awesome that one was.

I want a framed picture of Oshie grinning before those shootout attempts. There is literally no situation in hockey where there's more pressure on an individual player. No shootouts in the NHL playoffs. This is as high stakes as it gets, and that kid had to shoot what 5, 6 times? And he did it with a smile on his face. That dude rules soooo much. Kudos to quick for standing tall as well. I haven't even spoken about him yet. I absolutely love this hockey team.

If we become sellers...sell the farm for T.J. Oshie.

I'm sorry it took so long to get on here and talk to you guys, I was busy calling everybody I knew. How awesome was that shootout? T.J. Oshie hasf****** ice water in his veins. Him vs. the best that Russia had to offer and he stood tall...WITH A GRIN ON HIS FACE THE WHOLE TIME!!!! What a game. Team USA was picked on swagger, and so far swagger has delivered. p.s. For the rest of eternity T.J. Oshie is aces in my book.