toby91_ca

Canada dominated the game. There seemed to be extremely long stretches when Sweden couldn't even get the puck to the red line. I doubt Zetterberg would have swung that into a win.

Do Canadians (myself included) already have a built in excuse if they lose? If Stamkos and Tavares weren't injured........ I absolutely hate excuses, but you konw they will be flying if Canada loses

From the games I've seen of Canada, it seems as though any time Crosby gets the puck, 2 or 3 guys descend upon him...he actually appears to be shadowed at times (something I haven't seen in a while). I'm assuming the US would not do the same as they would be "smarter" and understand that you can't focus only on a few guys, especially with that line up. However, wonder what might happen if they don't pay special attention to a few guys. My guess is that they will do their best to cover the point men without giving up too much space down low in their own end (gotta get that balance). I wouldn't have been surprised one way or another. I thought Finland would probably win the game, even though I thought Russia had the better lineup. Russia's defense simply wasn't good enough and in a tournament like this, goals are not easy to come by against a lot of the teams, so your defense better be good. Also, Finland has beat them 5 of the last 7 times they've played I think.

The two things the Latvians have going for them is chemistry and familarity with the big ice surface. 1/3 of that team actually plays together all the time (they come from the same KHL team). Those two things are very, very signficant, but not signficant enough to overcome their severe lack of skill though. However, as is the case in all matchups, if you run into a hot goalie, anyone can win (especially in one game eliminations).

Yes, I think he had a goal and an assist in the first 3 or 4 minutes of the first game. Not sure he's done anything since then though.

Was he talking about Kulemin? I watched a bit of the game and remembering hearing it. I know he mentioned Kulemin as one of the many players that wouldn't be on the PP in the NHL. If it is Kulemin...yes, he did score 30 goals one year, but that year is way, way outside his norm. Take year away, he averages less than 14 goals over 82 games. I really dislike Healy as well though...but I'd also give him a break on the ice thing. Everyone talks about the ice getting worse as the games goes on (yeah it's common sense....but still). The thing is, the ice has been absolutely terrible. I was watching when they were doing some clean up around the faceoff dot in one end...it was very, very early in the 2nd period and the ice looked like it was in the same condition as an outdoor rink I played on the other day.

Historically speaking, it isn't even close....Canada vs. Russia. Medal counts don't always mean everything, but in this case, it does tell a lot of the story. Total Gold medals in men's World Juniors, World Championships and Olympics = Russia - 50, Canada - 47, Czech - 15. I think the US is around 5 or 6. If you include Silvers, it's even more of a difference. I would agree that Canada vs. US might have a more slight edge in recent years, but it will need to grow greater and last longer for history to be ignored.

No...it is not debatable, not even a little bit. I don't know, most experts have at least Canada and Sweden ahead of them. Russia, from what I can tell, has been ranked no better than 4th by most.

It actually isn't all that unlike voting for NHL awards. 1st place votes count more than 2nd place votes, which count more than 3rd place votes.

For the medal standings, it is listed by who has the most golds, then for teams that have the same number of golds, they are ranked by the most silvers.

Captain not in the team picture???

My guess is that it is posturing at this point. No decisions have been made (that much I know 100% as fact). What I don't know is truly where the NHL is leaning. I think they'll hold off making a decision as long as possible to negotiate terms with the IOC, IIHF, etc. For 2014, they were able to get them to cover insurance costs (big win), they'll look to see what else they can secure. If the deal isn't good enough, they won't send players, if it is, maybe they will.

Anyone catch Datsyuk's interview with Elliotte Friedman? It was pretty strange.

I think you are underestimating how much the owners dislike shutting down their league for 2-3 weeks in the middle of the season. The number of players going to play is meaningless. There are valid concerns regarding potential injuries and lack of "benefit" to the NHL, but I'm led to believe the biggest issue the owners have is shutting their league down, losing momentum, etc. It isn't as big of a deal when the Olympics were in Vancouver because it was still in NA, games in prime time, etc. When you start getting 9, 10, 11 hour time differences, it starts getting lost on the general population you are trying to sell the game to. World Cup / Canada Cup makes way more sense for the league in my opinion.

1 - not many actors making $20M for a TV season....but, whatever they are making....2 - yes, that doesn mean they can't go making a movie if it interferes with the filming of the TV show. That's the whole point of contention here, the NHL does not like the idea of shutting down in the middle of their season. It wouldn't be as big of a deal if the Olympics were in the off-season (some owners would still have a problem with it, but it certainly wouldn't be as big of an issue).

I didn't look too closely, but it's seems a bit skewed. It would appear that all non-NHLers come with a $0 cap hit, which doesn't make sense. Shouldn't you be adding the KHLers salaries as well? Canada would still be way ahead in the salary chart though.

That just sounds so wrong....I can't understand it. I do the same thing when Wing players are playing against other countries, but no way would I cheer against Canada.

Well, that's the argument, I'm just not sure it really works. Who is watching these games? Non fans that all of a sudden start watching the NHL? Or is it already existing NHL fans? There is also a big difference between games in Vancouver and games in Sochi or other parts of the world.

The gap is actually closing a bit. Canada only won 5-0 on the weekend (although they did lead in shots 69-14) and US only beat Finland 3-1....who Canada is currently tied with in the 2nd. Back in the early days (20s), Canada and US were dominant in the Men's division as well. US beat Switzerland 29-0 in the first round, then lost to Canada in the semis and Canada then beat Sweden 12-1 in the gold medal game (they had beat Czechoslovakia 15-0 in the first round). Apparently, it wasn't uncommon to have 30-0 scores back then. Edit...just checked 1924 Olympics....after the first 3 games, Canada had outscored the competition 85-0.

How many other businesses do you know of that would shut down so their employees can go off and do something else without any benefit of all coming back to the company? Initially, the idea was that the participation would help grow the game globally, but I don't think there is much impact at all from that. I don't see it as a greed thing, I see it as a common sense thing. There is no reason, whatsoever, for the owners to want to do it again in the future. Will the players want to? Sure, why not? I'm not sure how important it is to them, but if it is important, it becomes a negotiation item with the league. If the league agrees to it, what do the players give up in return?

Caught the news this morning as well....scary.

I agree, Neal is a punk, but there is no denying his shot / release. He benefits from playing with Malkin the same as Kunitz does playing with Crosby, but Neal has all-world skill in the shot department. In terms of MSL....he's not 6 years old, he understands the process and as upset as he may have been, there is no way he'd be bitter and not want to play.

I know St. Louis is the popular choice, but I'm not so sure they'll go with him. I wouldn't be surprised if they went with Neal. They lost their best pure goal scorer in Stamkos and Neal is probably the best pure goal scorer in the league behind Stamkos and Ovechkin....he's at least Canada's best.

True, but I'm sure there are other examples where the team doesn't actually play in the city (e.g. Ottawa)

Poor league management is allowing teams to spend as much as they need to in order to ice the best team. Even if all teams had the same amount of buying power, if a team is able to buy up all the talent for whatever reason...doesn't make for a very good product.