GDT: USA-Belarus, 7:30 p.m Local Time

[RangerBoy]

For those watching TSN, Gord Miller's reaction to the blooper neutral zone goal was hilarious

It will be interesting to see how the US rebounds from this setback, most notably Montoya. They say he is a big game goaltender, so maybe they had a hard time getting pumped for a game against Belarus. Nonetheless, they may have lost their bye to the semifinals (not sure how the tiebreaker works, if someone could clear that up, it would be awesome).

Montoya was doing his Mike Richter imitation of Ron Francis from the parking lot 12 years ago

 

[Dave is a killer]

Russia/Czech-Canada final

 

[Foppa_Rules]

I'm shocked.

 

[PecaFan]

Fun game to watch. I think far too much is being made of it here though. It was essentially a mean nothing game, and the US took it lightly. Even the Czech game is a mean nothing game, technically.

All that matters is winning in the playoffs. 1st, 2nd, 3rd, doesn't mean a thing, you still have to win.

Seeding only matters if you're not planning on winning Gold.

 

[Lessy]

Fun game to watch. I think far too much is being made of it here though. It was essentially a mean nothing game, and the US took it lightly. Even the Czech game is a mean nothing game, technically.

All that matters is winning in the playoffs. 1st, 2nd, 3rd, doesn't mean a thing, you still have to win.

Seeding only matters if you're not planning on winning Gold.

This is true, but it will be easier to win in the semifinals if you have had that valuable offday you would get by receiving the bye.

 

[The List Of Jericho]

Canada is going to ruin everyone.A loss to Belarus on home ice is brutal for the U.S especially the way Belarus scored half their goals .If Canada continues their play they have gold awaiting them

 

[loadie]

I think this loss will actually give the US a kick in the pants. They haven't been playing that well, and this will only give them a reason to show that they had a off night. Not taking anything away from Belarus, they played awesome, but the USA should be better from here on in.

 

[Jazz]

oh god....

this doesnt mean thats there a chance that the swiss will get knocked out of the 06 tournament right???? There my favourite pool b team (and second favourite team in the tournament!)

No, Expecting both Switzerland and Belarus to enter the Relegation round, Belarus will not be carrying forward the 2 points from the US game - this means that Belarus is still more than likely to get relegated to Div I for next year.

 

[SneakerPimp82]

:lol

Yeah ,yeah.Kostitsyn did nothing in this tournament !!!!

My *************************.

Congrats to Zakharov and his team.They won't forget this win in a WHIIILLE !

They were so physical and they working hard all night long.

They deserve this win.It's showing to people that when you're working so hard , you can win all nights.

How did Zakharov look?

P.S. Go Belarus Go!!

 

[Le Golie]

Before the game I'm sure American fans would have said that being dominated by Belarus would be a disgrace. And after that schooling by a third-world hockey country, I hope they don't lose touch with reality.

Wow. Talk about getting exposed.

 

[kris]

Wow...

Ever since the 2003 WJC's here, I've really liked Belarus, I loved their style of play (tenacious forechecking, playing the body) and Konstantin Zhakarov put on a stickhandling CLINIC, along with Kostsityn in a game vs. Germany. A lot of the people in attendance really liked Belarus, they were the concensus favorite in that meaningless game.

Congrats to Belarus, played VERY well tonight.

 

[Vlad The Impaler]

Kostitsyn stayed on the ice for like 3 minutes.

Damn do I love this kid. Macguire said he would have been top 3 of the draft if it wasn't of these supposed epiliptic problems.

McGuire is out to lunch.

 

[CH Wizard]

How did Zakharov look?

P.S. Go Belarus Go!!

He wasn't bad but He wasn't good neither.

He only got one shot but He never looked out of position.

He wasn't as dominant like guys like Savin or Efyamenka or Kostitsyn.

But He didn't make so much errors defensively.

I don't know why his father got mad at him at the end of the game.(He benched him for a good part of the game)

 

[Evgeny Oliker]

k

saw the game...a few comments:

1. the U.S. defense was horrible once again. they were bad against russia and the swiss...and just as bad today
2. I did not like the goalie change in the middle of the game. Schneider was not at fault on ANY of the 3 goals he gave up...they were all great shots down low...and the U.S. dmen left guys WIDE OPEN on all 3 goals. Making that goalie switch is like telling your dmen that its the goalie's fault...not theirs. It sends the wrong message! finally, Montoya struggled the last 2 games and was bad in this one too so why make the change?
3. Belarus played a VERY gutsy game...and they showed that they are improving their depth and becoming more competitive.

 

[Dave is a killer]

my god the cameras on ESPN2 waited about 3-5 seconds after the final horn ended to pan over to the fight that was about to happen...they s*ck!

 

[stockbroker]

What's the average american player? Around 180? They are too small to compete with team Canada.

Besides, the fans looked like they would rather be at a college football game. Typical.

 

[velimiiro]

How did Zakharov look?

P.S. Go Belarus Go!!

Not good... the coach who is, is own father, was benching him most of the game.. lol pretty sad

 

[McDonald19]

my god the cameras on ESPN2 waited about 3-5 seconds after the final horn ended to pan over to the fight that was about to happen...they s*ck!

I noticed the same thing...I wish they could fight in this tournament. Honestly they could have used a fight in the second period to wake them up.

 

[Cole Caulifield]

McGuire is out to lunch.

Agreed

Fleury, Horton, Staal, Zherdev were assured of being picked before Kostitsyn, health issues or not.

With guys like Phaneuf, Suter, Coburn and Vanek all having a chance at edging him (assuming no disease). Before people jump all over me, Phaneuf wasn't as highly touted as he is right now.

But a case could be made for Buffalo drafting him instead of Vanek. But that's highly hypothetical since we would have to assume that Buffalo would have had scouted Kostitsyn.

 

[Crossroads*]

I'm eagerly waiting nomorekids's reply to this game He probably went into hiding though...

 

[FlyerFire]

looks like

alot of the Canadians are bad mouthing my team(my country) REALITY is we can throw almost any team up any night and be competitive.

 

[Dave is a killer]

alot of the Canadians are bad mouthing my team(my country) REALITY is we can throw almost any team up any night and be competitive.

we lost to effing BELARUS ... I'm bad mouthing my country's jr hockey team...they played like a bunch of pusses

 

[McDonald19]

It's just not USA's year to win this tournament.

Canada is just too good too experienced.

USA's defense is a joke compared to Canada's and the goaltending that was supposed to be USA's strength has been terrible.

Looking for a Canada-Russia game in the finals. Ovechkin and Malkin will at least give Canada a good matchup.

Then again ESPN probably won't show the finals if USA isn't playing.

 

[chicpea*]

alot of the Canadians are bad mouthing my team(my country) REALITY is we can throw almost any team up any night and be competitive.

Yeh, like the way you manhandled the Swiss.

 

[Hockeyfan02]

What's the average american player? Around 180? They are too small to compete with team Canada.

Besides, the fans looked like they would rather be at a college football game. Typical.

I'd rather watch a college football game than watch my team get beat by BELARUS.