GDT: Semifinal - May 20 - Canada (4) vs Russia (2)

[agent082]

Yeah, you're going to judge the entire fanbase because that one guy who said that?

Plenty of others including me, Nyquil, snipes etc said we care a damn lot about this game and there was plenty of time to mount a comeback.

WHC is fun hockey, I like this better than the World Cup of Hockey this past September.

You are right. Most of the fanbase are smart enough to wait they actually lose before they declare how much they don't care. I'm glad there is people like Snipes who always respect the other team and the tournament. Nothing but respect to him.

 

[Yakushev72]

This is funny. Russia had nothing on Canada except for Pp. Canada dominated them and showed who is the best team.

At no time did Canada show they were the best team. You could say they worked harder than Russia in the 3rd period, and fought harder to win, but you can't say that the Canadians were better hockey players. Canadian coaching was clearly superior, but there were no lessons taught by the Canadians on the ice.

 

[Hinterland]

To be honest Vasilevski didn't play well this tournament. He is good when there is little action because he is so big, but when we played against good teams we lost. I think that it's more on Znarok, than on Vasilevski, but he didn't play all this good in spite of the stats.

He saved 94,12%. No starter saved more. How much do you want him to save? 99,9%? Come on.

 

[Botta]

Tight game. Could have gone either way. Russia should stay out of the penalty box and get less cheapier penalties( Belov`s was a joke)
Kudos to Canada for playing a clean game. Good to see that you produce so many skilled players. Hopefully fighting will end too in the NHL

 

[Pi]

Count me as another Canadian who cares about a Team Canada victory in WHC.

Yep. Honestly, it was frustrating when Team Canada was getting bounced in the quarter finals before the last two times when we won because we still iced some really good teams.

Nice to see the turnaround and hopefully three straight golds because the more experience young guys like MacKinnon, Parayko, Marner,Konecny etc get the better it will be when they are called upon for a best on best tournament.

 

[Frank the Tank]

I wonder if there has ever been a game when Canada is struggling but the opponent doesn´t get milions of penalties for every **** reason you can get in order for Canada to have a chance to get back. Doesn´t really matter if you score a goal when it's 5v5 after more or less 15 mins of power play.. you run out of gas and can never get your game organized.

Canada just has to love having american refs everytime they play big games.

How is having refs from the country that is our greatest modern rival in hockey an advantage for Canada?

 

[Coldplay619]

Thjey aren't going to fire Znarok before the Olympics.

They better.

Tretiak too.

 

[RobertR]

Oleg is a grinders coach.

I dunno why are they letting him coach skilled team who tries to play combination hockey.

 

[snipes]

At no time did Canada show they were the best team. You could say they worked harder than Russia in the 3rd period, and fought harder to win, but you can't say that the Canadians were better hockey players. Canadian coaching was clearly superior, but there were no lessons taught by the Canadians on the ice.

The 3rd period was pure domination. The Russian D couldn't handle the constant pressure and forecheck eventually leading to scoring chances and tired players on the ice.

Shots were 18-4 in the 3rd.

 

[Kshahdoo]

Oh well, this game wasn't as hopeless as all previous losses were. We could score more goals in the 2nd, Kuzya could score in the 3rd, and it would be a different game.

We need all our good youngsters will get matured and our great prospects like Svechnikov become real players, and then who knows...

 

[BTP]

ROR in beast mode.

Sad we never got to see a McDavid-Marner line in this tourny though.

Would have been filthy

 

[viach]

Thank you Mack

What a 3rd period for Canada !!!!

 

[Yakushev72]

A lot of momentum was gained for Canada when they managed to score on the PP after 17 seconds into the 3rd period.
Had they not scored I think that would have allowed Russia to get the game back into the pre-penalty stage that they had during whole of the 2nd period. Also all those missed opportunities in 2nd would have decided it too, I think.

But the biggest decider I still believe was all those power plays Canada was getting in the end of the 2nd period/whole 3rd period. It gets really annoying knowing you can never lead a game against Canada in any major tournament without starting to get tons of penalties against you in the end.

I honestly believe that this is a huge problem in international hockey, just like the bias for football teams like Barcelona, R Madrid etc. (me being barcafan and admitting this being a problem). Refs get too pressured to favor these kind of teams with huge influence over the sport.

The penalty against Kuznetsov was the most outrageous! He clearly lost his balance and fell turning the corner behind the net and slid into the goalie. If the goalie leaves the net to go out for a skate and stickhandles around, he does not warrant special protection.

 

[BlitzSnipe]

The 3rd period was pure domination. The Russian D couldn't handle the constant pressure and forecheck eventually leading to scoring chances and tired players on the ice.

Shots were 18-4 in the 3rd.

Russia just sat back and assumed Canada would just let them win, very false assumption.

 

[snipes]

Russia just sat back and assumed Canada would just let them win, very false assumption.

Did they think our players would just quit? Not really our style.

 

[BlitzSnipe]

The penalty against Kuznetsov was the most outrageous! He clearly lost his balance and fell turning the corner behind the net and slid into the goalie. If the goalie leaves the net to go out for a skate and stickhandles around, he does not warrant special protection.

Although I don't think Canada scored after that penalty, or did they? Anyway, Team Russia definitely looked better than in the horrendous 6-1 loss, so there may be some progress. But Znarok ... I mean, is Bykov really worse than him? Why was Bykov replaced anyway?

 

[BlitzSnipe]

Did they think our players would just quit? Not really our style.

They probably didn't, but maybe Canada just turned it up and started giving 100% - the Russian defence couldn't follow the Canadian attackers anymore. That happens in every friggin match against Canada, Canadian offence skates 1.5 times faster than the Russian D. Getting annoying.

 

[Canuck21t]

A lot of momentum was gained for Canada when they managed to score on the PP after 17 seconds into the 3rd period.
Had they not scored I think that would have allowed Russia to get the game back into the pre-penalty stage that they had during whole of the 2nd period. Also all those missed opportunities in 2nd would have decided it too, I think.

But the biggest decider I still believe was all those power plays Canada was getting in the end of the 2nd period/whole 3rd period. It gets really annoying knowing you can never lead a game against Canada in any major tournament without starting to get tons of penalties against you in the end.

I honestly believe that this is a huge problem in international hockey, just like the bias for football teams like Barcelona, R Madrid etc. (me being barcafan and admitting this being a problem). Refs get too pressured to favor these kind of teams with huge influence over the sport.

The reason the Russians got all those penalties is because Canada put pressure on them. If one start to play better, the other reacts in defense and that often leads to penalties.

 

[Frank the Tank]

The 3rd period was pure domination. The Russian D couldn't handle the constant pressure and forecheck eventually leading to scoring chances and tired players on the ice.

Shots were 18-4 in the 3rd.

That's been the story since Vancouver 2010. The Russians can perhaps match Canada's offensive stars in a top-6/top-9 comparison; however, the Canadian defense has the superstars to handle the Russian elite forwards, whereas the mediocre Russian defense group is overwhelmed by 4 lines of high-caliber players.

 

[Jesenice22*]

Russia just sat back and assumed Canada would just let them win, very false assumption.

I don't think so, two stupid penalties (Belov and Kuznetsov) put them on the ropes and one the landslide started to roll, there was no way back. 100% sure Russia didn't think they won after 2 periods.

 

[Kshahdoo]

Oleg is a grinders coach.

I dunno why are they letting him coach skilled team who tries to play combination hockey.

Yeah, it's Znaroks at his best. They said they prefered Nichushkin before Kaprizov because he could play PK. He didn't play PK and did nothing on 5vs5. But of course he's a way better grinder, than Kaprizov.

 

[The Missing Piece]

Lol stupid talks, the game isn't over yet, Canada still is able to win it, and it'll be another failure for Russia.

Russian Nostradamus?

 

[BlitzSnipe]

That's been the story since Vancouver 2010. Russians can perhaps match Canada's offensive stars; however, the Canadian defense has the superstars to handle the Russian elite forwards, whereas the mediocre Russian defense group is overwhelmed by 4 lines of high-caliber players.

That seems to sum it up. Very disappointing for Russia. We needed the 3rd goal but we squandered some chances to get it. If the score were to go up to 3-0, we might've sealed the deal.

 

[BlitzSnipe]

Yeah, it's Znaroks at his best. They said they prefered Nichushkin before Kaprizov because he could play PK. He didn't play PK and did nothing on 5vs5. But of course he's a way better grinder, than Kaprizov.

Nichushkin was one of the better players on the ice for Russia today though. He was very effective in the first two periods.

 

[Jesenice22*]

That seems to sum it up. Very disappointing for Russia. We needed the 3rd goal but we squandered some chances to get it. If the score were to go up to 3-0, we might've sealed the deal.

Kuznetsov had it on his stick after a nice pass from Panarin from behind the goal, if that had gone in, we would have a different discussion now. But it didn't...