kipwinger

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.

Apparently Russia only has two forward lines, because I haven't seen anyone other than Datsyuk, Ovechkin, Kovalchuk, Semin, Redulov, and Malkin all game.

I have no idea what just happened, but thank fricken god!

Pierre and Edzo giving Radulov the business. I love it.

Damn.

Ryan Kesler laying down to block some shots! Atta boy kid.

Again I ask: Why would a guy who's been playing very well night in and night out in Detroit, take a "two week vacation" rather than captain his country's Olympic team? Just because he might re-aggravate an injury which hadn't seemed to be bothering him the last ten games he played before the break? Nobody was suggesting that Zetterberg was "walking wounded" for the last two weeks while his highlight reel play was making Nyquist look like a superstar. Now all of a sudden it's, "He's been playing injured for weeks and he should have known better". Fact is, he was feeling better and playing well in Detroit, so he came to the Olympics (like anyone would) and re-aggravated a pre-existing condition. Simple as that.

Atta girl. Fair weather fans be damned.

Two sides of the same coin.

Yeah, definitely wouldn't want to miss some crazy old man incoherently muttering quasi-xenophobic remarks in an increasingly desperate attempt to substitute shock value for relevance.

If I was Austria my game plan would be to pass the puck to Grabner ever time we got it, and let Canada try to catch him for three periods. After they were all near death from exhaustion, victory would be assured in the waning minutes of the third. Grabner + Big Ice = Huge pain in the ass for large Canadian team.

I understand your point, but he'd just been asked to captain his nation's Olympic team and he has been playing games in the NHL prior to the break. Why would he say no? Zetterberg and Datsyuk are totally different situations. Datsyuk is a guy who was clearly hurt and rushed back to play in the Olympics. Zetterberg was healthy and playing in Detroit, then came to Sochi and re-aggravated and existing injury. It's silly to think that a healthy Zetterberg should have sat out just because there was a chance his back could be aggravated. It's NOT silly to think that a clearly injured Datsyuk should have sat out of the Olympics rather than risk further injury. Trying to create general conclusions from two very different cases is problematic in this instance. In one case, the decision to play was the right one, and in the other it wasn't.

Look, I'm not here to be Mike Babcock's mouthpiece on the issue of Smith. But my guess, and it's only a guess, is that he hasn't shown out well on the PP in practice, and therefore doesn't get a shot in games. Again, I don't know. But one thing's for sure, both "Babcock is the best" and "Smith's not being given PP time that he deserves" can't both be true at the same time. Either Babs knows what he's doing and Smith isn't playing there because he's not good on the PP, OR Smith has earned a shot and Babs isn't giving it to him to the detriment of the team. While I don't think Babs is the best coach, I don't think he'd keep Smith off the second PP unit if it hurt the team. He's probably seen enough of Smith in practice to know that he doesn't want him there. That's my guess, and guess it is.