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It's time: Predict the winner, Torino 2006

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1. Canada
2. Sweden (Lundqvist will strap Sweden on his back for a silver :) )
3. Czech Republic

also, I voted for Germany. Didn't want the poor guys to be left at zero :yo:
 
There's no Belarus this time to send Canada the Gold Medal on a silver plate!!! This time Canada will have to face 3 tough opponents to win the Gold Medal and I don't see this happening. Russia will avenge the 1998 final and beat the Czechoslovakians in the final. Sweden or Usa will take Bronze. Oh Forsberg will play in the 1/4 final and make the difference in eliminating Canada and Pat Coin.
 
Pushkin said:
There's no Belarus this time to send Canada the Gold Medal on a silver plate!!! This time Canada will have to face 3 tough opponents to win the Gold Medal and I don't see this happening. Russia will avenge the 1998 final and beat the Czechoslovakians in the final. Sweden or Usa will take Bronze. Oh Forsberg will play in the 1/4 final and make the difference in eliminating Canada and Pat Coin.
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Sweden vs. Canada in the quarter-finals is an extremely unlikely matchup.
 
If Canada loses to the Czech Republic on the 21st wich is possible 50/50 game then they finish 2nd and Sweden could very well finish 3rd in their group...Especially if Forsberg doesn't play the first games !!!
 
Antropov, Kolesnik and the Koreshkov brothers lead Kazakhstan to GOLD!! You heard it here first. :yo:
 
As people have already said, best on paper doesnt always equal the gold medal...I have a bad feeling that Canada could be exploited by a star player like Kovalchuk.....

1. Russia
2. Sweden
3. Canada
4. USA
5. Czech Republic
6. Germany
7. Slovakia
8. Finland
 
leafs4thecup said:
As people have already said, best on paper doesnt always equal the gold medal...I have a bad feeling that Canada could be exploited by a star player like Kovalchuk.....

1. Russia
2. Sweden
3. Canada
4. USA
5. Czech Republic
6. Germany
7. Slovakia
8. Finland
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Why, not, Russia for Gold!!!!

1. Russia
2. Czech
3. Sweden

Even though, I would rather have a Rus - Can final.
 
Pushkin said:
If Canada loses to the Czech Republic on the 21st wich is possible 50/50 game then they finish 2nd and Sweden could very well finish 3rd in their group...Especially if Forsberg doesn't play the first games !!!
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I can't see Sweden finishing 3rd in their group. Canada and the Czech Republic will take the top 2 spots in their group, and I think Sweden either wins their group or finishes 2nd. I'd personally love to see Canada draw the USA in the quarterfinals.
 
Canada should win. They have the deepest team, even with the injuries to the defence, and the most experience playing together at the international level. Two goalies, six defencemen, and 11 forwards were chosen for the World Cup team. (Note: Blake and Pronger missed the World Cup, but they were there for the Olympics). Bertuzzi is the only player who has not played for Canada since the Gretzky era began in 2002.

The Czechs are an excellent team, and would make a deserving champion. For the first time in years, there is a team that matches, if not surpasses, Canada's 1-2 punch in goal. Vokoun and Hasek are fantastic, and have won gold on the international level. The forwards are explosive and capable of generating instant offence. Elias is a world-class addition. The defence, I think, could be had with a relentless forecheck, but that was mitigated in the 1998 Olympics and 2005 Worlds with a strong commitment to overall team play and a defensive system. The volatility and inconsistency that used to rear its ugly head with the Czechs hasn't been a factor since the 1996 World Cup.

Anyone who thinks Canada beats the Czechs by more than a goal (or two, with an empty netter) needs to remove the red-and-white coloured glasses.

Sweden will be strong, even without Naslund and a couple of their defencemen, and possibly Forsberg. (There's still no guarantee Forsberg will play, even though he's gone to Turin). Lundquist gives them credibility they haven't had in goal since Salo's play in 1994. The other teams have too many weaknesses to overcome.

My order:
Gold: Canada
Silver: Czech Republic
Bronze: Sweden.

Darkhorse: Slovakia. Nagy and Handzus won't be there, but they still have a potent offence, especially on the wings. Chara, Visnovsky and Meszaros give them the best defence they've ever had. Goaltending is still suspect, but they have enjoyed some success on the international level.
 
Ovechkin_mvp said:
Even though, I would rather have a Rus - Can final.
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I would too, except for the fact that if Canada won, the Russians here wouldn't shut up about how the game was rigged and whatnot. I mean, Canada would have to win by seven or eight goals for that not to happen, apparently winning by five is still suspect.
 
Kärppä32 said:
1.) Czech Republic
2.) Canada
3.) Russia

My Dark Horse pick would be Slovakia.
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+1

i voted for russia though, i have a feeling they might upset
 
yeah, Canada looks so deep. And Czechs aren't that far behind the Canucks. The King of NY will give Sweden a very stong chance for the bronze. My Russian team looks kind of weak on paper (lines, top to bottom):

Kovalchuk-Datsyuk-Kovalev
Sushinski-Yashin-Kharitonov
Frolov-Viktor Kozlov-Korolyuk
Ovechkin!-Malkin-Afinogenov

Kasparaitis-Tyutin (Go Rangers!)
Gonchar-Volchenkov
Andrei Markov-Danny Markov

Nabokov
Bryzgalov

Defense looks balanced. For every offenseman, there is a nasty defenseman. That's cool. But forwards look decidingly soft. I could see only 2 "hustlers" - Datsyuk and Ovechkin, and only one consistently physical forward - Ovechkin again. I know that Kovalev can actually hit people out of the building, but he's inconsistent in that. I hope I'm wrong in my assessment, perhaps some LA fans could enlighten me on the two-way game of Frolov, or perhaps Afinogenov has learned to play defense under Ruff's system in Buffalo, or some hardcore RSL fans could tell us more about Su-37 and Malkin and Korolyuk (who was a pretty decent two-way forward for San Jose). In either case, I hope that the forwards will buy into Krikunov's defense-first hockey and will backcheck hard (much like our Ranger forwards) and help out their defensemen.
 
Metallian said:
+1

i voted for russia though, i have a feeling they might upset
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And I'll cheer for Russia. :handclap:

I hope that one of the goalie emerges and plays decent hockey.
 
Nemchinov13 said:
yeah, Canada looks so deep. And Czechs aren't that far behind the Canucks. The King of NY will give Sweden a very stong chance for the bronze. My Russian team looks kind of weak on paper (lines, top to bottom):

Kovalchuk-Datsyuk-Kovalev
Sushinski-Yashin-Kharitonov
Frolov-Viktor Kozlov-Korolyuk
Ovechkin!-Malkin-Afinogenov

Kasparaitis-Tyutin (Go Rangers!)
Gonchar-Volchenkov
Andrei Markov-Danny Markov

Nabokov
Bryzgalov

Defense looks balanced. For every offenseman, there is a nasty defenseman. That's cool. But forwards look decidingly soft. I could see only 2 "hustlers" - Datsyuk and Ovechkin, and only one consistently physical forward - Ovechkin again. I know that Kovalev can actually hit people out of the building, but he's inconsistent in that. I hope I'm wrong in my assessment, perhaps some LA fans could enlighten me on the two-way game of Frolov, or perhaps Afinogenov has learned to play defense under Ruff's system in Buffalo, or some hardcore RSL fans could tell us more about Su-37 and Malkin and Korolyuk (who was a pretty decent two-way forward for San Jose). In either case, I hope that the forwards will buy into Krikunov's defense-first hockey and will backcheck hard (much like our Ranger forwards) and help out their defensemen.
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I can't disagree more with you, sorry to say that. In hockey and in any other sport wins the team who puts more pucks into the other net, not who hits more...and however...su is Su-33 not 37 and he's all offense even if he works very hard. Korolyuk plays well in PK but more because of his speed than his defense. Malkin is not good in defense but he's smart and can be useful in shorthand situations
 
For all Fans of the finnish national team: there is a little hope that they will win a medal: the Finns normally play the best hockey, if nobody expects from them great things.

As key players are missing and the team is estimated not to be so strong, may be we will be surprised.

It's a little bit like Hannu Manninen in nordic combination. Everyone expected from him to win the gold medal because he dominated the whole world cup races, but just in the Olympic games he failed.

I hope so, even if the chances are not so great........
 
1. Sweden
2. Russia
3. Canada

I don't think that there is a clear cute favorite, but this is what I think!
 
Canada will start out slow (on purpose?), come together feeling the the self-proclaimed hatered from every other human being not-canadian, battle and then win it all as usual. In the end it will seem like there really was no competition - just a Canadian parade of hockey excellence.

1.Canada



2.Czech Rep.

3. Russia (beats Finland 6-5)

4. Finland (I think they only lead by 5-1 going into the 3rd period in the bronze game)
 
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