I would just love to see a World Cup of Baseball and see the US have 1 medal in 3 World Cups....Just to see if they will be as gracious in the defeat that most of you are in this thread.
Sure we can't win them all, sure we as Hab Fan can't expect the Habs to win the Stanley Cup every year like we almost had a chance when we all were younger or even were not born yet, trust me we have a lot of practice in waiting.....But having said, we should expect a better effort, and the Russia game had nothing to do with it. Having lost to Russia is not the problem, but finishing 3rd in your group and losing in the Quarters is what hurt the most.
And the ''we didn't click'' excuse could be a good one if we couldn't do anything about it but what if we start to pick players in duo instead of individually and add other complementary players as well. Possible that Thornton would've look better with Bergeron by his side. Maybe Sakic would've love Tanguay as well. Even if they don't play on the same line in their respective teams, at least they know each other better than the guys they are given for 2 weeks like you say.
Maybe we whine because, something had to be done prior to the tournament, most of us weren't too happy with some of the selections and this confirms it so we whine. How Ryan Smith and Kris Draper are automatic choices was and still is beyond me. It's not like everything was fine, we gave it all, scored once in a while and lost graciously. Some of the players that were there didn't produce and should have, you can't click 5 on 5, well it shouldn't be too hard to click on a powerplay and they still didn't too anything in that feel. We have also the right to ask about this team's preparation and ask if the coaching staff was still adequate for that kind of competition....Most of these things didnd't happen, we're sad and angry and have a right to be.
I just remember Canadians laughing at the US for taking players that were old and not fast enough......Those D's were definately chosen for the wrong reasons with some that deserved to be there but didn't perform.
In the end, sure **** happens, and we will survive fairly easily, but we should also take not of what happens and make sure of a better showing next time.
And maybe to be sad and angry show that we care about our sport. The day Team Canada will lose without any whining or fans being angry, then you should be very worried about this sport's health in Canada.......