Worse NHL olympics ever?

[Canuck16]

Canada played the type of hockey coaches/GMs can only dream of. Other teams trapped Canada to try and keep it low scoring and capitalize on any mistakes, they knew this probably would be there only chance of winning. Canada was dominant, you can point to the scores and say why they weren't but if you actually watched the games and understood hockey you would know that was a fact. Best defence ever built!

Our big guys showed up. Toews, Crosby, Price when it mattered.
Plus we didn't make many mistakes... Pound for pound we were simply ready to compete.

We never trailed at any point in this tourney.

#WeAreWinter

 

[Stephenson2*]

Canada may have won. But the real winners are those who didn't wake up at 4am to watch this.

 

[Zanon]

Canada may have won. But the real winners are those who didn't wake up at 4am to watch this.

I went back to bed after the second period.

 

[Healthy DiPietro]

I would gladly re play a match where Sweden gets back H. Sedin/Zetterberg/Backstrom...

but then we'd get back Stamkos/Tavares at the very least.

You replaced Stamkos with St. Louis, we replaced Bäckström with Henrik freaking Tallinder, I think we'd gaine more actually.

 

[RorschachWJK]

Or they never faced such a weak field before.

They were good but I think you are onto something here: Russia disorganized, Finland and Sweden decimated by injuries, Slovakia and Czech Republic have been on a downswing for several years now. The US should have been better though, no idea what's up with them.

 

[glucker]

And this is the reason why most people can't stand Canadian hockey fans.

On paper? Sure.

You beat Latvia and the US by ONE goal.
You beat a depleted Sweden with top 3 centers out easy in the final, fair enough.
You beat a Finnish side with 4 top centers out in OT.

Be graceful in defeat, be modest in victory.

It doesn't work that way in Canada apparently, which is why you'll see everyone else gloating the next time Canada fails in WJC or Olympics.

Is Canada the best? Sure.
Are they the best team by so much that on any given day they can't lose to 4 or 5 other teams? Hell no.

Beat US and Latvia by one goal, but completely dominated them.

Shutting people down is as important as scoring.

And if you want to bring injuries into the equation, don't forget Canada was missing Tavares and Stamkos. Very few teams have a single player that matches either guy. Russia has OV, Malkin, maybe Datsyuk. Sweden has Zetterberg.

But that's about it.

And if you argue that Canada had better replacement guys... well... yea. That's kind of the point. We have the best players in the world, and we were one of the best coached teams. It's not a stretch to say that Canada Vs. the world could go either way. Its also not a stretch to say that 3 Canadian Olympic teams could challenge for all 3 medals.

 

[Romang67]

So in other words if it was Canada losing 3-0 it would be the best final ever?

I would have enjoyed that...

 

[Highstyx]

Canada played the type of hockey coaches/GMs can only dream of. Other teams trapped Canada to try and keep it low scoring and capitalize on any mistakes, they knew this probably would be there only chance of winning. Canada was dominant, you can point to the scores and say why they weren't but if you actually watched the games and understood hockey you would know that was a fact. Best defence ever built!

YEP! Only people who say 'boring' are South of 49 (and in Anchorage) The game kind of had me thinking back to 2011 SCF Van Boston. Best shurdown job I have ever seen (I hated it, b/c I live in Van)

Swedes looked less than average. No insult intended to any fans of Sweden, but they died when it was 2-0

 

[glucker]

I would have enjoyed that...

Every fan likes to see their team win, doesn't matter how.

Some wins are better than others, but no win is bad.

 

[bobber]

And this is the reason why most people can't stand Canadian hockey fans.

On paper? Sure.

You beat Latvia and the US by ONE goal.
You beat a depleted Sweden with top 3 centers out easy in the final, fair enough.
You beat a Finnish side with 4 top centers out in OT.

Be graceful in defeat, be modest in victory.

It doesn't work that way in Canada apparently, which is why you'll see everyone else gloating the next time Canada fails in WJC or Olympics.

Is Canada the best? Sure.
Are they the best team by so much that on any given day they can't lose to 4 or 5 other teams? Hell no.

I understand it's hard to swallow a basket of sour grapes but Canada won the gold medal by sticking to their defensive game plan. I think the Finns would have been the biggest challenge.

 

[Highstyx]

You replaced Stamkos with St. Louis, we replaced Bäckström with Henrik freaking Tallinder, I think we'd gaine more actually.

I'm not rubbing it in, but with the twins and Zetterberg, Canada would still have won.

So much for the notion that Canada would have a problem playing on that big ice surface. Good execution, and no matter what country you live in, you gotta admit that's how the game has to be played

 

[Highstyx]

Canada may have won. But the real winners are those who didn't wake up at 4am to watch this.

California, hey? Ok. Canada bought into Mike Babcock's system. If they hadn't done so, US might have taken that game. It was a team effort.

 

[Stephenson2*]

I went back to bed after the second period.

I woke up at 5 and went to bed after Kunitz scored.

 

[hockeyfan2k11]

Glad I taped the game instead of waking up early. This tourney did not gain any fans. I feel bad for cropping on the nhl product.

 

[fsanford]

Canada may have won. But the real winners are those who didn't wake up at 4am to watch this.

I chose not to do this. I Tivo'd it, but then heard the score, and just deleted it off TIVO without watching. Happy the NHL is back where players hit each other again

 

[SidDidNothingWrong]

The bolded, really?

I'd put money on it.

Like Finland showed all, it's not the names on paper that matter the most, it's the team game one brings.

We did this without Stammer and JT.

Could team world actually put a full team game together? IDK

You couldn't put more than one goal past Quick.
Before you get all riled up, yes, you dominated the flow of the game.
Yet, you still couldn't put more than one goal past Quick.
You build a competent offense and defense from every country with Quick, Rask, and the Latvian goaltender as the three goalies. Not even close. Not even a little bit. As long as the defense is competent, does not have Brooks Orpik on it and you pick the best from each country, it isn't even a contest.
To the bolded, I am assuming this team could practice together and have time together before hand.
This Canadian team is good, even better than their talent in my opinion is their coaching and strategy. They saw our incompetence in defense and clearing the puck, and so they cycled well. Against Finland and Latvia they saw a lack of offense and trap, so they shot from the blue line. A very good team for picking apart other team's weaknesses. But if you think for even one second that this team is capable of beating the best from every country and having a goalie like Quick as a goaltender, I think you are getting a little too much adrenaline from the win this morning.

 

[Brewsky]

Out of all the Olympics with NHL players, I agree it was the most boring. There were no other stories.

1998: Hasek dominance, Jagr/Bure excelling, Gretzky not in the shootout, no Messier, Lindros trying to be the next Gretzky but failed, Zamuner etc.

2002: Chase for gold, retribution for Canada vs. US final, Gretzky's speech, Brodeur's ascension to the throne, Lemieux's last hurrah

2006: The disappointment of Canada, not being able to handle hockey after the lockout, the success of the European nations, Sundin finally winning a championship, Henrik the King's ascension, the end of the Canadian old boys club after keeping Crosby off the team.

2010: Canada vs. US, OT, Golden Goal, Ovie's hit on Jagr, the point where Ovie's career has gone downhill, and just hockey being in Canada in general.

2014: Oshie vs. Russia, but other than that the women had a better storyline than the men's. Not to say there was bad play, it's just that Canada dominated defensively.

 

[roto]

Domination is something that you win games by one goal and accuse other teams of being so defensive that couldn't put bigger numbers. What a joke! This is something that can be heard by kids when they're arguing with each other.

Should other teams have played worse defense so that you could put bigger numbers? No. Your team just wasn't good enough offensively. Finland made 40% more goals than Canada, and you can go and compare the rosters.

The complaining looks just plain stupid. It looks especially stupid because Canada played very tight defense too. For some reason tight defense is admirable for Canada and cowardly for others.

 

[HABS win CUPS*]

Domination is something that you win games by one goal and accuse other teams of being so defensive that couldn't put bigger numbers. What a joke! This is something that can be heard by kids when they're arguing with each other.

Should other teams have played worse defense so that you could put bigger numbers? No. Your team just wasn't good enough offensively. Finland made 40% more goals than Canada, and you can go and compare the rosters.

The complaining looks just plain stupid. It looks especially stupid because Canada played very tight defense too. For some reason tight defense is admirable for Canada and cowardly for others.

please let me know when winning olympic gold in both men's and woman's hockey two games in a row counts as domination

maybe someday

 

[Corto]

2014: Oshie vs. Russia, but other than that the women had a better storyline than the men's. Not to say there was bad play, it's just that Canada dominated defensively.

I actually agree that the silly disallowed goal in the Russia-USA game and the subsequent Oshie show were the highlights of the tournament.

 

[Ace Card Bedard]

They were good but I think you are onto something here: Russia disorganized, Finland and Sweden decimated by injuries, Slovakia and Czech Republic have been on a downswing for several years now. The US should have been better though, no idea what's up with them.

Terrible coach, bad player selection, young/weak defense.
4th is exactly where they should have finished.

 

[mdobbs]

Domination is something that you win games by one goal and accuse other teams of being so defensive that couldn't put bigger numbers. What a joke! This is something that can be heard by kids when they're arguing with each other.

Should other teams have played worse defense so that you could put bigger numbers? No. Your team just wasn't good enough offensively. Finland made 40% more goals than Canada, and you can go and compare the rosters.

The complaining looks just plain stupid. It looks especially stupid because Canada played very tight defense too. For some reason tight defense is admirable for Canada and cowardly for others.

Have you watched one NHL game in the last 3 years?

 

[Rentsi]

I think that the most entertaining period was the second period on Fin - Rus game. Propably the Bäckström incident affected on Sweden's game today. Missing an important player just before the biggest game isn't easy for any team to handle. For example think about TC missing Crosby 2 hours before game starts..

 

[Faltorvo]

You couldn't put more than one goal past Quick.
Before you get all riled up, yes, you dominated the flow of the game.
Yet, you still couldn't put more than one goal past Quick.
You build a competent offense and defense from every country with Quick, Rask, and the Latvian goaltender as the three goalies. Not even close. Not even a little bit. As long as the defense is competent, does not have Brooks Orpik on it and you pick the best from each country, it isn't even a contest.
To the bolded, I am assuming this team could practice together and have time together before hand.
This Canadian team is good, even better than their talent in my opinion is their coaching and strategy. They saw our incompetence in defense and clearing the puck, and so they cycled well. Against Finland and Latvia they saw a lack of offense and trap, so they shot from the blue line. A very good team for picking apart other team's weaknesses. But if you think for even one second that this team is capable of beating the best from every country and having a goalie like Quick as a goaltender, I think you are getting a little too much adrenaline from the win this morning.

What can I say, the way they handled this tourney, the coaching, the discipline, yes, I believe they could hold their own.

On paper alone, I see no miss match, it would come down to execution of game plan and play discipline.

 

[tmlms13]

Wasn't the big ice supposed to be so great and showcase the skill and speed of all the super talented players? All that extra room for them to use will create high scoring games.

I'm sure the NHL is going to be all over making the ice bigger. There was one real good game in the entire tournament. USA/Russia in group play.

The women's tournament that is exactly one game long was better than this.