therealdeal
Registered User
- Apr 22, 2005
- 4,742
- 383
I got a front seat on the "bandwagon" because today's game is the first I've watched - and I mean the Fin/Germany game.I feel like this wagon is gonna get a little more full boys!!!
Looks like 1:15 EST - but don't quote me.What time is the game tomorrow? PDT
For a country that "struggles on the big ice" Canada has now made the finals in 5 of the last 6 championships.
Go Canada go
Oh that crap is just rubbish, more time to adjust? sure, always struggles?...............just straight baloney. Amazing that foolishness still persists today.
If they win.. him or maybe Kuemper. I know he had a brutal start but he's been big the last 2 games.
Fun fact: this is Mangiapane’s first time in Europe.
I get your point but some(a lot actually) European fans seem to think we struggle on it always and one look at our victories on it at all levels should be enough to silence even a casual fan about that theory.You are kind of bringing up a different thing here. Hell, some were pointing out that if we don't have star players we can never win on it yet here we are again in the gold medal game on big ice and this team doesn't have a single star on it. Before Salt lake european fans were saying we couldn't win an olympic gold on big ice and then we did it so they changed the goalposts again this time saying we could only do it on north american soil (some were even throwing in that it wasn't quite exact iihf dimensions) so along comes sochi, where they put on a clinic on the exact international ice dimensions right in Europe. Now european fans are left with what? because they always seem to have to have something........................and here it is, smoke and mirrors on overall results compared to big ice vs small ice despite the fact that we have won plenty on big ice and have a chance to do it again tomorrow.I think this still holds some ground. Allow me to explain. I will just give an example in terms of best-on-best tournaments, as I am too lazy to dig up similar results for the IIHF WC tournaments. If you think how many times a team outside of Canada has won when games have played on NHL sized rink - I can only think of two examples: 1981 Canada Cup and USA in 1996 (World Cup of Hockey). So it seems when the games are played on NHL sized rinks it seems like it is almost guaranteed for Canada to win. Actually kinda pathetic performance for the rest of the world, when you think about it.
Now, if we take the best-on-best tournaments to bigger ice - that's we start to seeing more winners from other countries as well (e.g. Czech Republic, Sweden). So I think from purely statistically speaking, when playing on small ice = Canada (or USA) is almost guaranteed to win. Play on big ice= at least some chance for other countries as well.
Obviously most likely it can be various reasons for this - e.g. in this year's IIHF tournament Canada started very slowly, maybe it was the jet lag or players adjusting to big ice again, similar observations can be made for the big ice.
And for the record, nobody is denying Canada's supremacy - they could easily ice 5-6 competitive teams, while other countries are lucky if they are able to get 1-2 teams.
Yeah, I’m thinking Marc Staal-ish.
Worst roster ever + terrible game plan = disaster. To even make the knockout stage at this point we would have to sweep Italy, Norway and Kazakhstan and probably take points from Finland. I’m not even sure they will beat Kazakhstan.
I thought this team would be lucky to make it to the QF. On paper, it was one of the worst rosters Canada had ever sent for this tournament. I had not watched a single game, except for the last two. Great feeling to win a Gold Medal with this roster. Darcy Kuemper looked like Patrick Roy at times. His stock went up big time after this tournament. Very proud of these players.Full credit to this team. On paper one of the worst rosters you'll see Canada table at this event. Strong coaching, found some luck, came together, and beat every top team through to the gold.
Congratulations to everyone involved!
You were wrong about everything, as were a few others who came in here with your "facts" doing nothing more but looking to stir up shit. . But that was never in doubt to anyone who has a real clue.They win because they have by far the best players in those tournaments. It looks like you just got interested in this WC one hour ago (since that is when you expressed your surprise about the roster even though it's been known for a week) so sorry but you really aren't someone who should be judging the takes when it comes to international tournaments.
NA teams struggle on the big ice, especially early in the tournaments. It's nothing new, it's obvious and it's natural.
You're a better man than me.