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Is Team USA a Legit Contender for Gold?

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Tundra said:
Plus, Guerin and Tkachuk are in the twilight in their careers. Unless one of those 2 comes to life, its going to be hard to win the gold.
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I know it's the "in thing" to bash Tkachuk (I'm not saying you are guilty of this per se) on these boards where the mob mentality rules supreme but have people actually watched Tkachuk this season ?

Yeah, get your fat digs in. It was funny the first 4 million times.

If Tkachuk hadn't been injured, he would be on pace for 84 points and 39 goals at this point of the season. That would be good for second in the Art Ross race and second in the Rocket Richard race. We'll just ignore the fact that he plays for the St. Louis Blues, arguably a bottom three team this year.

If that's being at the twilight of his career, I think some other veterans should follow suit.

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As for the actual topic at hand, I believe that any team that makes it to the quarterfinals has a shot at winning gold. It comes down to a few games and all these teams have the talent to provide a winning combination over a short period. However, if I were a betting man, I'd place the second smallest amount of money on the United States (no matter the odds), with the only the Swiss seeming like a worse "bet" IMO.
 
BlueAndWhite said:
I know it's the "in thing" to bash Tkachuk (I'm not saying you are guilty of this per se) on these boards where the mob mentality rules supreme but have people actually watched Tkachuk this season ?

Yeah, get your fat digs in. It was funny the first 4 million times.

If Tkachuk hadn't been injured, he would be on pace for 84 points and 39 goals at this point of the season.

If that's being at the twilight of his career, I think some other veterans should follow suit.
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Yes, he spoiled fans with his past play. Thats what I meant. People remember how dominant he was in past international tournaments. Guerin, on the other hand, looks like a complete shell of his former self.
 
I hate to blame players, but if we got some scoring from Guerin,Tkachuk or Weight we would have won at least two games if not more. But the big boys can make up for it starting tomorrow.
 
hockeyman28 said:
i think dipietro is a very strong goalie, i mean he has allowed four goals in 2 games against slovakia and sweden and 1 against kazakhstan. Thats pretty good. The offense, while it has been dominant in the zone, is just not finishing
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That's the problem, the finishing has not been there at all, even when they get great chances. If they turn that around anything could happen, but they haven't shown signs of that happening.
 
Brooklyndevil said:
I hate to blame players, but if we got some scoring from Guerin,Tkachuk or Weight we would have won at least two games if not more. But the big boys can make up for it starting tomorrow.
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If I was betting on it, I'd be willing to say that Weight will come out to play.
 
I wouldn't mind seeing a reunification of Modano-Guerin-Tkachuk for old times sake. At this point, you have to try anything to galvanize the offense. They have a storied history playing together.
 
Lionel Hutz said:
Its going to be very tough for them to get past Finland, but if they do, anything can happen.
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I think they match up really well with Finland. I'm not sold on the aspirations for gold but if they're patient they can definitely beat Finland. This isn't necessarily a knock on Finland. Alot of time these games boil down to matchups and desire.
 
If they play like they did today minus the horrible goaltending and penalties they might.
 
Ive watched a couple of US games and even though they play pretty good there is always some wrong. Like the whole team was playing good but they couldnt generate the offence. Then today the whole team was playing good but the golie sucked.
 
sabresrat said:
They don't have the goaltending.
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Right...because that has been the problem with Team USA so far.

Some people just can't seem to let go even when the suspected flaws of the team have taken a complete 180. In addition, to every media outlet since DP started that has complimented his performance and targeted the anemic offense.
 
Let's not forget this is a playoff, and I think we'll see Nittymakki's orange and black come through over that blue and white.
 
[email protected] said:
In single elimination, anything can happen
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Exactly. This is a one shot. Anything can happen. Any one of the teams in this round have a legit shot.

Some of them obviously have a better chance than others, but they all do have a shot.
 
blitzkriegs said:
Right...because that has been the problem with Team USA so far.

Some people just can't seem to let go even when the suspected flaws of the team have taken a complete 180. In addition, to every media outlet since DP started that has complimented his performance and targeted the anemic offense.
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I like Ricky D, but he hasn't been playing as well as other goaltenders in the tournament. He has not yet shown the ability to steal a game, which is what the USA would need to medal in this Olympics.
 
hockeyman28 said:
From what I have seen, they have been the best team in every game they played. Call me a homer, but they dominated Latvia, but couldnt put them away, they dominated kazakhstan and won decisively, they carried the play for the majority of the against slovakia (5-0), and did the same against the swedes, and then played Russia and outchanced them roughly 3-1.

So what do you think, does the US have a shot at gold? They have looked very good despite their poor record.
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The Americans may have gotten more chances than the Slovaks, but the Slovaks have (1) more skill, (2) demonstrated heart, (3) shown discipline, (4) steady goaltending (at times even brilliant), (5) unmatched speed and (6) greater efficiency.

USA will have a difficult time even getting a goal on Finland. That defense is simply merciless. Major respect to Finland, though.
 
sabresrat said:
I like Ricky D, but he hasn't been playing as well as other goaltenders in the tournament. He has not yet shown the ability to steal a game, which is what the USA would need to medal in this Olympics.
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Fair enough to an extent.

However, the offense in front of him has yet to show the ability to win a game when the goaltender has provided such an opportunity on more than one occasion vs. top tier teams.

Based on this, the only way Team USA is going to beat Finland, let alone get to a shot at the medal round, is by Devils hockey: let in few AND capitalize when given the opportunity to. DP has lived up to his end of the bargain thus far. However, this offense has not converted at game changing moments (the two 5on3's? giving up shorthanded goals?).

Yippee! The US scored 3 goals against a non-NHL third string goaltender to only lose again...The goaltending today by no means compared to the previous 3 performances aka giving USA a chance to win the game. That is evident.

[and this argument is not about the player named DP, rather it's squarely centered on the goaltending position that for 3 straight games provided USA to win 3 games, not go 1-2 and lose by ONE goal vs. SWE & SVK - no easy teams there]
 
thebodyczech said:
The Americans may have gotten more chances than the Slovaks, but the Slovaks have (1) more skill, (2) demonstrated heart, (3) shown discipline, (4) steady goaltending (at times even brilliant), (5) unmatched speed and (6) greater efficiency.

USA will have a difficult time even getting a goal on Finland. That defense is simply merciless. Major respect to Finland, though.
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I agree with most of those points. However, I think you may be going overboard with the unmatched speed angle?? The U.S. has some major burners like Blake, Rolston, Cole, Modano, Gionta, etc. As a forward group they aren't as skilled as the Slovaks but it sounds like you're painting the U.S. forward group as slow. Speed is the least of their problems.
 
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i didn't expect to see the americans to get blown out in any games during this tournament and that hasn't happened. the constant attack-style that laviolette coaches and the team's good speed up front doesn't really allow it to happen.

however, the obvious thing the usa team lacks compared to most of the other nations is a handful of snipers. and by snipers i don't mean just goal-scorers. i'm talking about really great shooters; players who only need one shot to put the puck in the net.

the general attitude of offensive american forwards in the nhl right now has been exactly what this team is made of...guys who score garbage goals via rebounds, deflections, and a great amount of traffic in front of the opponents' net. we don't see a player on this team being able to fly down the wing and unleash a deadly wrist shot; neither do we see a guy blastingg a one-timer on the power play by a goalie from the faceoff circles after some crisp passing. it just doesn't happen and quite frankly it hasn't ever happened that way for the usa. the only reason in my mind we looked good in 2002 was because guerin, tkachuk, and others were in their prime and, more obviously, guys like hull and leclair and amonte were solid shooters at the time.

hopefully, even though i'll admit i don't know a whole lot about them, this years' crop of americans from the draft will inject some serious pure skill into our national team for the future.
 
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I really think they are a legit contender. The shake up of lines today seemed to really get the offense going (despite some soft goals) and the defense is pretty solid 1-6. The forwards are going to have to do a good job of back checking and sealing the gap, support their d-men. Dipietro is going to have to play really solid, but I think USA played much much better than their record indicated. I think they'll certainly play Finland tough and if they can find a way to shut down that Finalnd top line, they've got a real good chance to win this game.

Oh, and if you're Finland, you better hope none of your games go to shootouts because Niitty really struggles in those situations.
 
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