Zetts

I wonder if he paid for the booze this time.

I agree. I don't know if it's egos per se but these are players who play huge amounts of time with the puck and that's how they dominate. If you put them all together on one line, they can't all have the puck as much as they're used to, so effectiveness goes down. It's something Russia will have to figure out.

There might be some merit in tweaking the rule, but I still say leave it. There's been way too much tweaking already. That god-awful trapezoid still makes me angry. It's so amateur. I'm all for the occasional rule tweak to address problems that might evolve as a sport develops, but other than that leave it alone IMO.

I'm fairly sure the Wings don't have any claim to him anymore. No, you won't be seeing him here again. At least not in a Wings uniform. Mindfly: I'm presuming you've seen more of him than we have. Why don't you like him?

Anything is possible since each "series" is one game. They could win gold. But there's no way to look at the rosters and justify the US beating either Canada or Russia on paper. Or Sweden for that matter. Don't forget, there's also the possibility that someone else takes care of Russia and Canada for the US. Anything is possible. Edit: I'd like to add that I think Russia's defense is grossly under-rated. They're not as weak as they're made out to be.

Wow, this is actually the only roster I've seen where I really don't like the lines. I mean, I love Sweden's roster itself, and they've got crazy skill. Somehow they managed to screw up the lines though imo.

Oh... I agree he's a whiny *****, but am I seriously the only person that thinks he's physically good looking? Well this is embarrassing.

Ovechkin isn't the best looking guy. But it's not just his money that makes up for it. Seriously, the guy is a freaking rock-star. He's got crazy self-confidence and knows how to live. Which makes up for anything else. Oh, and I've heard a story from somebody that used to play with Crosby: he has no game with the ladies. And no, I'm not making it up, I'm dead serious. And let's be honest, he's not a bad looking guy.

Is this game any good? I'm trying to decide if it's worth watching. I imagine it's fairly one-sided?

Yeah, I know even some people who normally support Canada either won't because of him, or will, but are still going to hope that he sucks or whatever. I'd have to completely disagree with your analysis of Canadian hockey, but there's no way to argue it here without completely derailing the thread. There's already enough Olympic threads. I for one, am going to look past the Crosby hate for the Olympics. He already stole a cup from me, I won't let him steal my enjoyment of my team at the Olympics. And if he helps to bring Canada a gold, in my eyes he'll be slightly redeemed for his other faults.

It had to be obvious that when Sidney Crosby appeared in a thread title, this thing was going to go on for a long, long time. The bottom line is very simple: 1. Crosby is really good. 2. Crosby has whined and sometimes still does. It bugs some people more than others. 3. He robbed us of a Stanley Cup. Therefore, nobody here likes him (or nobody should). ...except for this two week period. But after THAT, nobody likes him.

That's fair enough, I understand why you don't like Canada. Everybody (obviously) doesn't have to. I just object to the people who sound ridiculously immature with certain posts about Canada. Seeing those is embarrassing.

I just drooled a little bit. I can't wait to see them in action. Although it is a little odd to see Afinogenov that high up in their depth. Still, he's got skills. This is going to be amazing to watch.

Uh...I'm completely calm. I'm just pointing out how immature some people sound. I'm not going bats*** crazy or anything. Just observations. Analogously to your comment, I'm not getting pissed about Canadians wanting other countries to win too. That's not what anybody has said. ie.:

Uh...huh. Clearly my post is full of anger. /sarcasm I just find it sad. Your post really does look like a juvenile Blue's fan post. "HAHAH, DETROILET!!!111"

...yeah. Thanks for providing a perfect example of what I was talking about.

They more want anybody who possibly can to beat Canada, not just for the US team to beat them. I'm not actually angry at these people - I know there's a rivalry. But if I don't say something now, it won't be nearly as sweet on these boards when Canada steamrolls every other team. Of course, if Canada loses I'll be hearing about it for a while. But that's how it always is. I live in Edmonton where a shocking number of people hate the Wings. I'm used to it.

Yeah, I'd say Canada's dominant. They even have a lengthy history of success like the Wings. Success 1920 onwards: Canada 7G, 4S, 2B = 13 medals US 2G, 7S, 1B = 10 medals Finland 2S, 2B = 4 medals Czechoslovakia/Czech Republic: 1G, 4S, 5B = 10 medals Slovakia nothing Soviet Union/Russia 7G, 2S, 2B = 11 medals Sweden 2G, 2B, 2S = 6 medals And the fact that they tanked last time? Even more like the Wings. They had how many playoff collapses in early rounds? As far as players go, I guess it's up to you guys. Your hate for Crosby over your love for Yzerman. Personally, even if I wasn't Canadian, the whole Yzerman thing would overshadow some douchebag kid. Edit: Besides, the US has Brian Burke. And Patrick Kane. I think Canada's players have the class not to assault a taxi driver. I damn well better see that taxi driver in the crowd waving a Canadian flag during every US game.

Not everybody is indifferent about the Olympics as is evident from all of the Americans who seem to desperately want Canada to lose. And I think Blues fans have a reason for hating on Detroit in particular. If there wasn't, they'd have 28 other teams they'd be having just as much fun berating. You know exactly what I meant. Edit: Actually, the hate for Canada is quite reminiscent of the hate for the Wings. Two dominant hockey teams. I believe that you yourself framed it best when it was asked why a board hated the Wings: http://www.letsgowings.com/forums/index.ph...t&p=1873405

The Americans hating on Canada remind me very clearly of one thing: St. Louis fans hating on Detroit. And we all know why they do that, don't we.

Did you seriously just criticize someone for having a life outside of vicariously living through a hockey team....? I love the Wings, and my voice is gone after a lot of games. But there are other things too.

The whining angle did get old. Personally, I just hate him because he stole the cup from the Red Wings. I hate him quite a bit for it actually. Sadly, I'll have to put that on hold for a couple of weeks for the Olympics.

Maybe if Maltby retires we can trade to get Kopecky back to fill his spot. You can always dream right?

It's something that's gotten better as I've gotten older. When I was younger, how they were doing affected me a lot more. Especially if it was a game I would get to watch. My internet was too crappy to stream and I got to see like 5 games a year outside of the playoffs, so everything was a huge deal. Now, I'm a little more mature and it doesn't affect me much more. And I have Centre Ice. So seeing pretty much every game makes them feel a little less important because watching them becomes like a regular part of life instead of some special thing. ...I definitely never got violent with anyone though. That's a little concerning.

Wow. Those are actually pretty solid lines. I think the Swedes might be a little underestimated with all of the Canada-Russia talk.