I actually feel bad for Canada. (never thought I would say this)

[optimus2861]

I'm not going to feel bad. The guys who should feel bad are the ones who disgraced the uniform they wore by getting shut out three times in four games. I'll exempt Joe Sakic for past exemplary service, Martin Brodeur for excellent play, and Roberto Luongo for having nothing to do with the losses, but just about everybody else should hang their heads in shame when they step back onto Canadian soil.

I'm pulling for Finland now. I want to see Saku Koivu take home a gold medal and then come home and light a fire under the Canadiens' asses!

 

[Caz]

Seriously, will Gretzky keep his post?
Or is he on a life-time contract?

CAN finishes 7th.
I don't know if this was foreseen even
in the wildest Canadian nightmares.

I feel kinda bad for CAN fans, but
truthfully, the real team CAN didn't
really show up in these games.

A truckload of skill, but no real spirit.
Unfortunately so.

 

[Gozer]

What do you mean, for a change? Right now, the only championships Canada owns is the World Cup (which doesn't mean a lot to many people) and the World Junior title.

Salt Lake City was Canada's first gold at the Olympics in 50 years. Canada winning WAS a change.

Relax, jeeze you people are uptight. And I didn't mention them WINNING.

 

[CSKA]

I hope that in the future, no Canadian will ever tell me that the Russians have not heart/play without heart/are selfish/never play as a team.

I thought the same ! Look at Ovechkin for exampe ! The whole team played with so much heart ! Im so proud ! Thank you russia !!!

 

[Ola]

I hope that in the future, no Canadian will ever tell me that the Russians have not heart/play without heart/are selfish/never play as a team.

shawn, previous WCH for example Russia have played like that, without a hear. Its not a opinion its a fact. Id give props to Ovechkin and co. who have come in and changed that way of thinking. This is the best hockey game I've seen russian players play since I saw the Canada Cup Finals from 87' on tape.

 

[Dig Out Your Soul]

I thought the same ! Look at Ovechkin for exampe ! The whole team played with so much heart ! Im so proud ! Thank you russia !!!

I don't think anyone could ever dispute that Ovechkin of all people plays with his heart on his sleeve and is proud to play the game, nevermind just for Russia.

 

[Drake1588]

I do feel a little bit of pity for Canada and to some extent the fans, because while the US and Canada both underperformed and went out in the quarters, this event at the Olympics means a great deal more to Canada than it does to the US. There is national identity wrapped up in hockey in Canada like nowhere else. The second-guessing will last all of about three hours in the US and then the focus will shift to figure skating or snowboarding, or whatever other flavor of the month event happens to be on tonight.

The US brought a team expected on paper to be far inferior to that which won the silver medal in Salt Lake City, so the result doesn't really surprise anyone. For Canada to finish in essentially the same spot is going to smart, and be cause for finger pointing and hand wringing for months, perhaps years.

As mentioned, though, it won't hold a candle to the uproar if this happens again in Vancouver. Man... that would sting.

 

[Fish on The Sand]

Clarke tried to do it in Nagano. Didn't work out too well. Last Olympics they went with the Talented squad, won it.

yes, but they played poorly and only won by a series of VERY fortunate events. Like Belerus beating Sweden, and Russia losing to Finland. Sweden and Russia both would have destroyed Canada, but with Russia losing and finishing 3rd, it left Finland in 2nd to face Canada in the quarters. A game canada narrowly won. Then Belerus beat Sweden giving Canada a bye into the finals. Meanwhile, in the other semi, the two top teams beat the hell out of each other for 60 minutes, and a kasparitus knee on knee took out the best player for the US in keith Tkachuck left the US team short handed and beaten up in the gold medal game. There was no way they could win. Canada won gold, but like I said, played like a 5th place team.

 

[Jazz]

I hope that in the future, no Canadian will ever tell me that the Russians have not heart/play without heart/are selfish/never play as a team.

Huh?
Don't paint with a wide brush..

I can give you examples of Russia not showing heart (St. Petersburg 2000), but why would you take that as an insult? Even objective Russians would tell you that this team is different than previous years, that's a good thing!

This tournament, the Russians played great, and are fully deserving of going forward, and have shown great heart. I hope they will show this type of heart in every tournament from now on!

shawn, previous WCH for example Russia have played like that, without a hear. Its not a opinion its a fact. Id give props to Ovechkin and co. who have come in and changed that way of thinking. This is the best hockey game I've seen russian players play since I saw the Canada Cup Finals from 87' on tape.

Exactly!

 

[Phanuthier*]

Canada deserved to lose

 

[Jazz]

Canada deserved to lose

Clearly the 2nd best team today...

 

[mug3n]

Finally, some of the Canadians can actually get off that high horse of theirs. I'm glad Canada took a loss here, because Canada just expects to roll over the competition after that '02 Gold Medal. Everybody's learned a lesson in Hockey Canada. Perhaps.

Congrats to the Russians though, they were clearly the better team in all aspects in the QF game.

 

[Vic Rattlehead*]

They deserved to lose, but it ******* sucks anyways.

 

[Danny__K]

What do you mean, for a change? Right now, the only championships Canada owns is the World Cup (which doesn't mean a lot to many people) and the World Junior title.

Salt Lake City was Canada's first gold at the Olympics in 50 years. Canada winning WAS a change.

Wait now. prior to this loss Canada had

Gold - World Juniors
Gold - World Cup
Gold - Mens Olympics
Gold - Womens Olympics
Gold - Womens World Championships
Silver - World Championships

how has Canada not been the most successful country in hockey lately?

 

[Bloggins]

I have to agree with many other Canadian Fans here. Team Canada never came together as a team and their early exit is well deserved because of it. Great game from the Russians. They worked hard and pulled off the win.

Go Finland!

 

[Dig Out Your Soul]

Wait now. prior to this loss Canada had

Gold - World Juniors
Gold - World Cup
Gold - Mens Olympics
Gold - Womens Olympics
Gold - Womens World Championships
Silver - World Championships

how has Canada not been the most successful country in hockey lately?

As of right now, (who cares about the women? entirely different point and game altogether) Canada holds two titles, and one of them is rather meaningless, in my opinion.

They've been successful, but only for a couple years. Some people make it sound like Canada hasn't lost a tournament in the last 25 years when clearly that's wrong. Everyone around the world is jumping in joy and dancing in the streets because Canada "finally" lost.

 

[Falloooooon]

I have only joy over Canada's loss. Their sense that it is their birthright to win every hockey tournament makes it very sweet. I can not wait to see the aftermath.

 

[Dig Out Your Soul]

I have only joy over Canada's loss. Their sense that it is their birthright to win every hockey tournament makes it very sweet. I can not wait to see the aftermath.

It's this kind of attitude that really pisses me off. Who thinks it's their birth-right to win every tournament? They are generally regarded by the media as favourites because they have the best teams on paper and the deepest talent pool. People who understand the game know that anything can happen. Don't paint an entire country with the same brush.

 

[McCullogh]

Seems to me that Canada just couldn't catch any breaks in this tournament. They had an all-star team that on paper is maybe even better than 2002. The biggest problem was surprisinlgy the goal scoring. Something that the Canadians never lacked in the past.

Yes I feel kinda bad for them, but I am sure you will rebound

 

[McCullogh]

Seems to me that Canada just couldn't catch any breaks in this tournament. They had an all-star team that on paper is maybe even better than 2002. The biggest problem was surprisinlgy the goal scoring. Something that the Canadians never lacked in the past.

Yes I feel kinda bad for them, but I am sure you will rebound

I agree and feel a bit for Canada.
To bad that the ref disallowed that goal (horrible call) late in the third.

 

[Big Phil]

I am extremely ashamed of the way the Canadians played throughout this entire tournament. I'm ashamed of Gretzky in particular and also Quinn. Yes winning in 2002 was huge we had the best possible players on the team and that's how it should be. So why not go with that again? No they didnt. In '04 Gretzky picked Doan, Maltby, Draper and Morrow. Only two of them ever played but we barely won the World Cup after two close games. So why not go with the same team Wayne thought (and I'm sure Janet and Tocchet and Tocchet's bookie had an input). Wrong idea. Bertuzzi looked slow on the big ice, so did Doan, Draper was invisible and McCabe was played way too much by Quinn. Crosby was sitting at home in Nova Scotia and would have looked very good on that big ice, as would have Staal. What Canada needed was an explosive scorer. But they were either at home or on the taxi squad.

Gretzky should quietly step down IMO. No one should lose with that lineup. Quinn should step down too. If a team with that lineup doesnt win the Gold then it comes down to coaching. Quinn should also be fired from the Leafs considering the only reason he kept his job was because of this team, he failed, so he should get tossed. We relied on Mario too much in '02 and '04, therefore as a coach all Quinn had to do was open the door to the bench and close it. With no awe inspiring leader on the ice the coach was the main motivator and that is not Quinn's expertise.

Bertuzzi, well his mindless penalty led to the game winning goal. I know it sounds like sour grapes but I hope Moore sues him and takes the shirt off his back. hang your heads in shame Team Canada (minus Brodeur and Luongo, oh and Turco I guess), you have disgraced us.

 

[The Legend]

We lost this tournament.

We will loose tournaments in the future.

Although I sincerely believe that the Canadians have the best talent in the world, there are clearly a lot of very good teams out there, any of whome can beat Canada fairly on any given day.

Today we lost to one such team.

Hundred percent true

If you go player by player, Canada is certainly the best.....but as a team its just a huge issue


And also, we definitely didnt get any breaks.....tons of posts, tons of rebounds shoveled wide....just not our tournament

 

[dharmaboy]

Well on the bright side, we won't have to watch piss poor hockey from Team Canada in this tourney.

It was like watching the old 80's Nordiques play.

Kudos to the goalies. Atleast they showed up.

 

[zarathustra1900]

I don't feel bad for Canada and I'm Canadian. They got what they deserved and the better team won. We can't win everything unfortunately but we damn well better win a medal in Vancouver 2010.

You know, I have been living in Europe for some time.

People are very proud of their countries, rather, insecure and defensive...

Italy for example, what an inferiority complex..it is a joke and sad. But I digress.


I realize the Canadians booed when others played their anthem and all of that, but I tell you, I have never given that much thought...

What I do respect is how you guys (gals) respect good hockey, and are never afraid or have a problem defending good hockey no matter who it is (... usually <wink>)

In fact, you are usually the first to criticize yourselves or admit you f'ed up!

It shows why Canda has always been such a force.


Any Gretzky comments down the wire btw? Curious his thoughts...

..panning to him during the game, he knew it seemed. He knew they were not going to win when they were 1-0. He looked really sad if not slightly perturbed..


best regards

 

[UserName]

Everyone around the world is jumping in joy and dancing in the streets because Canada "finally" lost.

PROVE IT