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Luongo, Subban, Hamhuis, Smith. The "hardly used" discussion.

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Dontdive

Registered User
Aug 25, 2012
405
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British Columbia
You know, the players on the roster who only got to play a single game or two, if that. The gold medal result assures it's hard to say they were "improperly" treated or used, so it's likely best to ask, did they do enough to truly earn their medals, or did they just coast along on the coattails of those who played most/all of the games?

And I especially have to wonder how Luongo and Subban feel with how they were treated... with the former having led us to gold in 2010 (and getting a shutout this time in the one game he had), and Subban hardly getting to play on a team that was struggling for offense....

Personally, I think it's possible to say a player is unfairly treated even if the team wins without him, but I agree it makes it harder to do so, and is just speculation in any case.

But in that case... I wish Subban and Luongo had been used more, and I wish our third goalie, Smith, had been used at least a bit, at least late in one of our blowout games, so he could have said he at least got some playing time.... :(
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Different roles, different places on the depth charts, all important in their own way. I don't see any kind of controversy
 
Dontdive said:
You know, the players on the roster who only got to play a single game or two, if that. The gold medal result assures it's hard to say they were "improperly" treated or used, so it's likely best to ask, did they do enough to truly earn their medals, or did they just coast along on the coattails of those who played most/all of the games?

And I especially have to wonder how Luongo and Subban feel with how they were treated... with the former having led us to gold in 2010 (and getting a shutout this time in the one game he had), and Subban hardly getting to play on a team that was struggling for offense....

Personally, I think it's possible to say a player is unfairly treated even if the team wins without him, but I agree it makes it harder to do so, and is just speculation in any case.

But in that case... I wish Subban and Luongo had been used more, and I wish our third goalie, Smith, had been used at least a bit, at least late in one of our blowout games, so he could have said he at least got some playing time.... :(
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The team is there to win, not be fair.
 
There was no point in playing Smith because he was only there because we needed three goalies. Price and Luongo each got a game and management decided Price was the way to go. Luongo may not have earned his medal per se but he was actually a contributing factor.

Subban got his game and yes we struggled for offense but it wasn't exactly offense from the blue line we needed help on. Doughty had four goals and Weber had three. That wasn't our problem. Subban takes playing time from one of Doughty, Weber, or Pietrangelo, not something I would want.

I'm sure they all knew that they were the odd people out, except maybe Luongo. You can't say they were treated unfairly because this isn't some minor league where everyone needs to play. This is the biggest international competition in the sport and its Team Canada, kinda have a reputation to uphold. They wanted to win and they did what they thought they needed to to do so. Subban, Smith and Hamhuis aren't kids, they understand.
 
I'm glad Smith didn't see a minute of ice time. I have absolutely 0 faith in him.

Luongo/Price were a wash. They went with the goalie that had the better season and apparently made the right decision.

Hamhuis would have had more minutes, I think, if Subban had been in the line-up instead of Pitrangelo (so that he'd take Bouwmeester place). But again, even if I hate to say it and that I do think Subban would have brought more to the team than APie, he and Bouw did what was expected of them and we won gold. Really no point going back over the utilization of players given the conclusion to Canada's tourney.
 
I understand having a 3rd goalie just incase of injuries but I think everyone knows that 3rd goalie isn't going to ever see the ice. Easy way to get a medal though if your team is good enough.
 
if keith/weber hadn't been such a ridiculously dominant pairing, i think they would have gone with hamhuis/weber (have history from nashville) and keith/doughty. but who cares? vlasic and bouwmeester did the job just fine.

nice of babs to give hammy the last minute of the gold medal game though.
 
Luongo's got his gold and his legendary status from Vancouver. I'm sure he didn't mind at all, especially considering he got to pad his Olympic stats with yet another shutout.
 
Subban not playing as Subban isn't worthy of a roster spot. He's his best when he's wheeling, and Team Canada didn't need that version of him. He was on the bench where he belonged, imo.
 
Samcanadian said:
Luongo's got his gold and his legendary status from Vancouver. I'm sure he didn't mind at all, especially considering he got to pad his Olympic stats with yet another shutout.
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But you know people are going to say "well he lost his job again because he wasn't good enough," just like people kept saying that about him vs. Schneider in Vancouver (even though it was just an age thing).

In other words, I don't think he's going to get any credit at all for what he did do (the shutout). I think this is going to be used against him.

And ditto for Subban, even though I thought he played fine on a team that could used have used more offense, something he is especially good at.... :(
 
Team Canada was so dominant, it's hard to say any change could have been an improvement. I think Luongo and Subban and the rest were probably happy to be able to hang around Sochi without the pressure, get a little break from the craziness they get in Montreal and Vancouver. They seemed happy enough at the ceremonies! Luongo can still say he's unbeaten in the Olympics, too, didn't have to even put that one on the line except for shutting out Austria.
 
Dontdive said:
You know, the players on the roster who only got to play a single game or two, if that. The gold medal result assures it's hard to say they were "improperly" treated or used, so it's likely best to ask, did they do enough to truly earn their medals, or did they just coast along on the coattails of those who played most/all of the games?

And I especially have to wonder how Luongo and Subban feel with how they were treated... with the former having led us to gold in 2010 (and getting a shutout this time in the one game he had), and Subban hardly getting to play on a team that was struggling for offense....

Personally, I think it's possible to say a player is unfairly treated even if the team wins without him, but I agree it makes it harder to do so, and is just speculation in any case.

But in that case... I wish Subban and Luongo had been used more, and I wish our third goalie, Smith, had been used at least a bit, at least late in one of our blowout games, so he could have said he at least got some playing time.... :(
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1) The team won so everyone on the team is deserving - regardless of how much they played
2) This is not house league sports. You play the games to win. M. Smith did not need to see any icetime.
 
Samcanadian said:
Subban not playing as Subban isn't worthy of a roster spot. He's his best when he's wheeling, and Team Canada didn't need that version of him. He was on the bench where he belonged, imo.
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True and false, in my opinion. Subban has been used in stretches as a shutdown defenseman under Martin and he was great at it. He also proved many times that he was one of the best at "single-player" assignments, against Crosby and Ovechkin in the playoffs, among others.

But obviously, a big part of his game is about carrying the puck in the O-zone. Not sure I'd say TC didn't need that kind of player on the team, though. His game is very close to Doughty's, and Pietrangelo did a wonderful chance killing all offensive chances for the whole tournament. Having Subban out there would've helped, definitely.
 
Caje said:
The team is there to win, not be fair.
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Agreed. This isn't a level where everyone gets to play because its about having fun for everyone. Not everyone will play equally and some not at all. Nobody gets a participation ribbon and a most improved trophy.

That shouldn't be to take away Subban's accomplishments. He made Team Canada. Thats a great accomplishment and he got to play in the Olympics even if it was very limited. Two very cool things. Same with Luongo, and to an extent Mike Smith (he didn't play, but he did suit up and was named to the team).

But Team Canada won, so who cares that he was hardly used? Im sure Subban/Hamhuis/Luongo/Smith would have rather the team won and him not to play, instead of the opposite. Well one can hope that they did
 
I'm disappointed Subban didn't see more ice-time. I don't know if he should have been a regular or not, he clearly wasn't that needed on the ice on even strength since the regular roster did a great job, but I think he could have been useful on the PP with his booming shot.

I'm most certainly happy Price was the starter, he played well, but no doubt in my mind Luongo would have won Gold too with the unreal defense this team had. All Price had to do was play mistake-free hockey and that's exactly what he did, he made key saves occasionally when he needed too and I would have had faith in Luongo coming through on those too.
 
Classicnamesup said:
Exactly. I didn't always agree with Babcocks lineup decisions but they got the job done and that is all that matters.
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I didn't necessarily agree with all of the lineup decisions, and my opinion is that they could have used multiple combinations and still come away with the Gold. In fact, the team was so stacked from top to bottom (the current NHL Norris winner was a healthy scratch), that they probably could have used any combination of guys and won Gold.
 
DrunkKaner88 said:
I understand having a 3rd goalie just incase of injuries but I think everyone knows that 3rd goalie isn't going to ever see the ice. Easy way to get a medal though if your team is good enough.
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Yup. It was the same with Fleury in 2010, Turco in 2006, and so on. They go knowing they'll dress as backup for exactly 1 game so they're eligible to receive a medal, and are otherwise just there for the experience.
 
I don't think the players care how they were treated, if they were on the team, they were there to help Canada win a gold, and that's what they did.
 
Listening to Price in his interview on TSN, he said Subban, Smith, Luongo and all had a propose on the team and helped get the room light and be there for support.

Price said he hung around Luongo and Smith a lot.

The fact that those players were named was likely huge (referring to Smith and Subban) and then they won. I'm sure they'd be willing to play the same role again if it meant being on Team Canada.
 
OP reads like slight to these guys but I don't think its fair. They're world-class players, right there with the other guys on the roster, but in the end some were going to have to sit. They had to be good teammates. Team Canada was built with a vision and its true that some of these guys had to adjust to being role players, they were all great teammates
 
To me, all players in a squad is important. These guys are a member of a team. When members on a team push each other and live and play together for a period of time, all players on that team deserves the medal earned in some way.
 
Analyzer said:
Listening to Price in his interview on TSN, he said Subban, Smith, Luongo and all had a propose on the team and helped get the room light and be there for support.

Price said he hung around Luongo and Smith a lot.

The fact that those players were named was likely huge (referring to Smith and Subban) and then they won. I'm sure they'd be willing to play the same role again if it meant being on Team Canada.
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From what we could see on camera (the on-ice celebrations, etc.), Luongo and Subban were noticeable in their enthusiasm. Great teammates.
 
All these guys knew what role they'd likely have. And if so-so gets hurt, there's always that.

It's an honour to represent your country no matter what.

I don't picture anyone who bought into Team Canada's 'total team' concept having hurt feelings about not getting enough minutes or puck touches. That's a fan-based complaint.
 
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