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ESPN: NHL Olympics Decision costs Team USA shot at gold

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Dumb premise for an article but the U.S. team with NHLers would have have been a top threat. A lot of top American players this year at all positions. A ton of speed and skill.
 
Nullus Reverentia said:
Did Wyshynski become a horrible writer or did ESPN put him up to this nonsense? The ridiculousness of saying in one paragraph that it's an inevitability the Americans win a gold medal, than in the next making fun of the US roster at Pyeongchang but saying they could still win because it's a short tournament.
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I won't lie, I've come to expect better of Wysh. This was a disappointing little article given that it came from him. It really makes no sense to claim the NHL and IOC were in some way protecting Canada from embarrassment, as Canada still has an elite roster that would be a favorite for gold. It's not like the Swedes, Russians or Americans haven't had rosters that looked darned dangerous on paper in the last two winter Olympics, so why would the Canadians need protecting now but not then? I do think this USA roster was one of the best USA rosters I've ever seen (thought the same back in 2010) but that's no guarantee of gold, either. It's a shame we don't get to see that roster actually get to play, but I'm looking forward to watching the rag-tag group that is going, too.

And even given all this, what reason would those organizations (NHL and IOC) have for protecting Canada's hockey image? An image that, mind you, won't change off of one failed attempt at Olympic gold. Will all of hockey crumble if Canada's best can't win a gold one time? Is there some financial aspect to Canada winning gold that is good for these organizations that I'm just not seeing? I mean, one that is so good that Canada not winning it is somehow equivalent to a financial disaster?
 
They definitely would be better than last time. Lots of young exciting talent.
 
MessierII said:
They definitely would be better than last time. Lots of young exciting talent.
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Truly depends on if the powers in charge of the US Roster leave off their some of their best players again in the name of "intensity".
 
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BagHead said:
And even given all this, what reason would those organizations (NHL and IOC) have for protecting Canada's hockey image? An image that, mind you, won't change off of one failed attempt at Olympic gold. Will all of hockey crumble if Canada's best can't win a gold one time? Is there some financial aspect to Canada winning gold that is good for these organizations that I'm just not seeing? I mean, one that is so good that Canada not winning it is somehow equivalent to a financial disaster?
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Honestly my thinking has always been if Russia happens to win Gold this time we can still claim Canada won when it was a best on best tournament. So it would be like when people in Russia claimed they were the best Hockey nation like when they won the World Hockey Championships in the spring during the Stanley Cup Playoffs, which is still not a best on best tournament.
 
I don't understand the very basic premise of the conspiracy.

Wouldn't the American team winning gold be GOOD for the American hockey market and thus...kinda what the NHL would want?
 
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Snippit said:
I think the author might be on to something here. The Canadians had to have known their streak was coming to an end, so they orchestrated this to save face. After all, the American roster on paper (boasting of a Lemieux-level talent with intangibles) was so clearly superior to Canada's that domination was a foregone conclusion. It's so obvious and so many people don't bother to see it.

Open your eyes, people!
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:laugh: Yeah... Canada conspired to keep the NHL players out of the Olympics.... and not the weasel from Queens, NY who runs the league.

The US probably has a better chance at a medal without any NHLers going.
 
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Why would anyone who knows 'anything' about hockey even think about looking at ESPN for their opinion on the matter?
 
USA is stacked, but that's relative to the old days. Canada is, and always has been, stacked.

Bergeron - Crosby - Stamkos
Hall - McDavid - Giroux
Marchand - Tavares - MacKinnon
Benn - Getzlaf - Seguin
Toews
Simmonds
Monahan
Couturier
Schenn
Marner
.....
 
Why do people post articles from ESPN then talk about how terrible they are then a bunch of people (who have probably done this hundreds of times) say they regret giving that page a hit and continue to bash?

I don't know, I am of the mind that if I don't like a media outlet I don't give it my attention.
 
Snippit said:
The NHL's Olympics decision costs Team USA shot at gold

I won't go so far as to say that the NHL and the IOC conspired to keep players out of the 2018 Games to save Canada the embarrassment of getting dominated by the United States of America. But I won't outright dismiss the theory.

I think the author might be on to something here. The Canadians had to have known their streak was coming to an end, so they orchestrated this to save face. After all, the American roster on paper (boasting of a Lemieux-level talent with intangibles) was so clearly superior to Canada's that domination was a foregone conclusion. It's so obvious and so many people don't bother to see it.

Open your eyes, people!
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I believe that if anything, this gives the US a better shot at gold.
 
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