Kessel, JvR, and Kulemin in Sochi

[Warden of the North]

I hope this isn't the beginning of a cold streak.

Maybe Randy can actually help here?

Playing against all star quality defense had an effect on them.

 

[Pilky01]

Or they'll come back heartbroken and not care anymore about how they play. It's a situation where with two possible polar opposite scenarios. It's entirely possible that Kessel and JVR will need time to shake off the heavy losses or else they'll play like crap when the opposing team is up by a few goals. I'm hoping it's not the case, but I wouldn't doubt it either.

They put game 7 in Boston behind them and are playing the best hockey of their careers.

I think there is plenty of evidence that makes me doubt your theory that they will come back here with hockey PTSD.

 

[Marr]

They put game 7 in Boston behind them and are playing the best hockey of their careers.

I think there is plenty of evidence that makes me doubt your theory that they will come back here with hockey PTSD.

Are they not being given less time to grieve? Difference between May 13 and Sept 15 (preseason) is plenty of time to shake any devastating loss. This case they only have 5 days.

 

[hockeyfanz*]

The three teams with the best Defense in this event will be taking home medals.

"Defense wins Championships".

The high powered USA offense shutout 2X when it counted most, and our players among those that were a victim of their style of play.

The US offence was over rated. They scored in bunches against garbage teams. Who cares. The three top teams they played...Canada, Finland and Russia held them to one goal. One goal in 3 games. Hardly a powerhouse offense.

 

[Pilky01]

Are they not being given less time to grieve? Difference between May 13 and Sept 15 (preseason) is plenty of time to shake any devastating loss. This case they only have 5 days.

I dont think hockey players want "time to grieve" a bad loss. They want to move on.

You are pretty clearly intent on having a negative perspective. I can't change your opinion.

 

[Mess]

The US offence was over rated. They scored in bunches against garbage teams. Who cares. The three top teams they played...Canada, Finland and Russia held them to one goal. One goal in 3 games. Hardly a powerhouse offense.

Looks like the USA caught a lucky break with their division in the preliminary round as all of US, Russian, Slovakia and Slovenia finished out of the medals.

Shows how fast things can change as Team Canada has been criticized for the their offense and yet are playing for the gold. While the US was praised for their high powered offense and then got shutout twice in the medal rounds and go home empty handed.

Looks like some fans were so focused on offense that they didn't notice the 3 best defensive teams will be taking home medals.

 

[Suntouchable13]

Are they not being given less time to grieve? Difference between May 13 and Sept 15 (preseason) is plenty of time to shake any devastating loss. This case they only have 5 days.

I am sure playing poorly for the Leafs and end up missing the playoffs would be the perfect tonic to help them shake this disappointment.

 

[hockeyfanz*]

Looks like the USA caught a lucky break with their division in the preliminary round as all of US, Russian, Slovakia and Slovenia finished out of the medals.

Shows how fast things can change as Team Canada has been criticized for the their offense and yet are playing for the gold. While the US was praised for their high powered offense and then got shutout twice in the medal rounds and go home empty handed.

Looks like some fans were so focused on offense that they didn't notice the 3 best defensive teams will be taking home medals.

Dare I say it...at the end of the day defence and goaltending win. Its the main reason why I have no faith that the Leafs will prevail beyond the first round of the NHL Playoffs....they dont know how to play defense. Are you telling me Canada doesn't have the best forwards in hockey? Sure.

They are having a hard time scoring with the goaltending and suffocating team defensive strategies employed by the European teams. They are winning because Babcock has them beating the Euros at their own game.

 

[Marr]

I dont think hockey players want "time to grieve" a bad loss. They want to move on.

You are pretty clearly intent on having a negative perspective. I can't change your opinion.

I think you're reading too much into what I'm saying. I'm just putting it out there that a completely different scenario than quickly moving on can also occur. It's more cautious realism than pessimism. If I was trying to just be negative I'd say that this is surely a start of a scoring drought, which is not what I'm saying.

 

[ULF_55]

Looks like the USA caught a lucky break with their division in the preliminary round as all of US, Russian, Slovakia and Slovenia finished out of the medals.

Shows how fast things can change as Team Canada has been criticized for the their offense and yet are playing for the gold. While the US was praised for their high powered offense and then got shutout twice in the medal rounds and go home empty handed.

Looks like some fans were so focused on offense that they didn't notice the 3 best defensive teams will be taking home medals.

As was discussed, the LA Kings were the 2nd. best defensive team in the league when they won their Cup.

 

[Pilky01]

Or they'll come back heartbroken and not care anymore about how they play. It's a situation where with two possible polar opposite scenarios. It's entirely possible that Kessel and JVR will need time to shake off the heavy losses or else they'll play like crap when the opposing team is up by a few goals. I'm hoping it's not the case, but I wouldn't doubt it either.

I think you're reading too much into what I'm saying. I'm just putting it out there that a completely different scenario than quickly moving on can also occur. It's more cautious realism than pessimism. If I was trying to just be negative I'd say that this is surely a start of a scoring drought, which is not what I'm saying.

All I am saying is that I don't think there is any reason to believe this Olympic tournament will emotionally shatter JVR and Kessel. I think there is plenty reason to doubt your theory that they might "play like crap when the opposing team is up by a few goals" because of this tournament.

We do have an example of them bouncing back in a huge way from a a massive disappointment (much bigger than this one) not even one year ago. Whereas there is no example you can point to where Kessel or JVR wilted away because of a disappointing hockey game.

Cautious realism would be "they had a great tournament with a tough finish, lets see if they can keep this level of play up"; not "they might be so shattered from this loss that they lose all confidence and ability to come from behind".

 

[FlareKnight]

Well this was about the worst case scenario behind these guys getting injured.

Shut out against Canada and then shut out against Finland. Now they are coming back to the team really low after failing to medal and live up to expectations over there.

Not that I'm surprised the Finland game didn't go well. Usually one team in that game goes into it emotionally drained and can't get up to play for the bronze.

Don't think they are doomed, but this is far from the ideal situation. Had a good tournament to that point and now are going back with a serious taste of failure.

Hopefully they can bounce back since our offense seriously won't get far if Kessel, JVR, and even Kulemin are coming back depressed.

 

[ULF_55]

All I am saying is that I don't think there is any reason to believe this Olympic tournament will emotionally shatter JVR and Kessel. I think there is plenty reason to doubt your theory that they might "play like crap when the opposing team is up by a few goals" because of this tournament.

We do have an example of them bouncing back in a huge way from a a massive disappointment (much bigger than this one) not even one year ago. Whereas there is no example you can point to where Kessel or JVR wilted away because of a disappointing hockey game.

Cautious realism would be "they had a great tournament with a tough finish, lets see if they can keep this level of play up"; not "they might be so shattered from this loss that they lose all confidence and ability to come from behind".

How about they come back motivated, with a chip on their shoulders, to prove it wasn't them?!

 

[Marr]

All I am saying is that I don't think there is any reason to believe this Olympic tournament will emotionally shatter JVR and Kessel. I think there is plenty reason to doubt your theory that they might "play like crap when the opposing team is up by a few goals" because of this tournament.

We do have an example of them bouncing back in a huge way from a a massive disappointment (much bigger than this one) not even one year ago. Whereas there is no example you can point to where Kessel or JVR wilted away because of a disappointing hockey game.

Cautious realism would be "they had a great tournament with a tough finish, lets see if they can keep this level of play up"; not "they might be so shattered from this loss that they lose all confidence and ability to come from behind".

Again if you're referencing Game 7, time does play a huge role in the grieving process, and I've mentioned earlier how much of a time gap there was.

I won't claim for a fact that JVR and Kessel won't continue their stellar production, but I won't be surprised if it falters temporarily in the next few Leafs games.

They did have a great first 4 games of the tournament, that's for sure. But because of the "tough finish," it's POSSIBLE, not necessarily likely or unlikely, but possible that they'll be devastated for a few days more than their schedule permits. Possible was the keyword in what you bolded.

Team USA didn't look like they cared for the Bronze collectively; how that reflects individually on Kessel and JVR, we'll have to find out.

 

[Pilky01]

Again if you're referencing Game 7, time does play a huge role in the grieving process, and I've mentioned earlier how much of a time gap there was.

I won't claim for a fact that JVR and Kessel won't continue their stellar production, but I won't be surprised if it falters temporarily in the next few Leafs games.

They did have a great first 4 games of the tournament, that's for sure. But because of the "tough finish," it's POSSIBLE, not necessarily likely or unlikely, but possible that they'll be devastated for a few days more than their schedule permits. Possible was the keyword in what you bolded.

Team USA didn't look like they cared for the Bronze collectively, how that reflects individually on Kessel and JVR, we'll have to find out.

Agreed.

 

[King Mapes]

Again if you're referencing Game 7, time does play a huge role in the grieving process, and I've mentioned earlier how much of a time gap there was.

I won't claim for a fact that JVR and Kessel won't continue their stellar production, but I won't be surprised if it falters temporarily in the next few Leafs games.

They did have a great first 4 games of the tournament, that's for sure. But because of the "tough finish," it's POSSIBLE, not necessarily likely or unlikely, but possible that they'll be devastated for a few days more than their schedule permits. Possible was the keyword in what you bolded.

Team USA didn't look like they cared for the Bronze collectively, how that reflects individually on Kessel and JVR, we'll have to find out.

Of course they likely struggle the next few games. Nothing to do with losing..

 

[I Believe]

Not too worried about a cold streak. It's not like our boys were the only ones that played bad, the whole team got shutout 2 games in a row.

Kessel is still their leading scorer in the end.

 

[Ari91]

Looks like the USA caught a lucky break with their division in the preliminary round as all of US, Russian, Slovakia and Slovenia finished out of the medals.

Shows how fast things can change as Team Canada has been criticized for the their offense and yet are playing for the gold. While the US was praised for their high powered offense and then got shutout twice in the medal rounds and go home empty handed.

Looks like some fans were so focused on offense that they didn't notice the 3 best defensive teams will be taking home medals.

US's offense scared me going into the Canada game but that's because I didn't give enough credit to Canada's stellar defense when I was stacking the two teams against one another. People were wishing that Canada had a harder bracket like the US because many felt they were coasting along but it turns out that Canada had the toughest bracket of the bunch. People underestimated Finland and Latvia surprised everyone. They gave up a lot of chances but they played like a team and they happened to get the best goalie performance of the tournament so far (in my opinion).

I think people were concerned about the offense because when you look at Canada's roster, their offense in the tournament shouldn't be as anaemic as it has been. It's not like they aren't getting chances...they're getting plenty. It's just not going in. Hopefully all of these games have been enough mental preparation for Canada to believe and stick to their game plan. Most impressive thing about the forwards in this tournament is that their bad puck luck hasn't discouraged. They continue to play like a team, they continue to make smart decisions and they continue to play responsibly and exercise patience.

 

[Bluelines]

Europeans have a different mentality when it comes to playing in the bronze medal game. I'm sure Canada would have gone through the motions as well. Look how much heat Kessrl took alone for failing to score against Canada in the game to go to the gold medal. Like it was all his fault yet Pavelski and Kesler will still be worth 3 1st rd draft picks and your best player. Even if the US had won bronze the other fanbases would still be saying who cares about the bronze.

I'm guessing when Blysma said yesterday, (paraphrasing) "This loss vs Canada was hard but I guess we will just go and take our Bronze medal tomorrow and go home..." might have stirred up a few emotions in the Finns.

 

[crump]

One bad game really. Too small of a sample size to say they will be negatively effected by it. Hopefully bozak can get them back into pre Olympic shape

 

[ObnoxiousNeckbeard]

One bad game really. Too small of a sample size to say they will be negatively effected by it. Hopefully bozak can get them back into pre Olympic shape

Two bad games, and they just so happened to be the two most important games of the tournament for them. It's alarming but it just goes to show that we cannot count on them in the big game. They will never be able to bring the maple leaf the ultimate prize like Carey Price and Patrice Bergeron will do tomorrow.

 

[Divine]

Two bad games, and they just so happened to be the two most important games of the tournament for them. It's alarming but it just goes to show that we cannot count on them in the big game. They will never be able to bring the maple leaf the ultimate prize like Carey Price and Patrice Bergeron will do tomorrow.

Put Kessel & JVR on team Canada, and let's see if they can accomplish the same.

Stop trolling, you're obviously not a Leafs fan, or a very cynical one. Luongo has not allowed a single goal in this tournament, yet Carey Price is the chosen one? It's team Canada - they're stacked. So, you agree that Phil Kessel is the best American player in the NHL right?

 

[FlareKnight]

In the end Olympic success is nice, but it doesn't mean that much. Not like Sundin won the Cup right after Sweden won Olympic gold.

If there's anything we've learned is that having a lot of skill doesn't mean the pucks will go in. If not scoring was anything to worry about the GMs of the forwards on Team Canada would be pretty busy going into the trade deadline .

I just hope those two come back without dipping in motivation. Maybe Bozak can let Kessel beat him in some games to cheer him up .

 

[ObnoxiousNeckbeard]

Put Kessel & JVR on team Canada, and let's see if they can accomplish the same.

That is an irrelevant argument. JVR would never make team Canada, and Kessel probably would not either. This team was built on defence; a one-dimensional player would not be highly valued by hockey Canada. The people who run our country's team know this; it's a shame the people who run our country's most important NHL team do not.

 

[Cor]

Did you just say Kessel wouldn't make Team Canada?

He would be a lock and would be playing with Sid