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2014 Olympic Hockey

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NoleMoreTears

Seminole Insider
Oct 21, 2002
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Starting the thread to get the ball rolling.

Team USA begins play Thursday Feb. 13th at 7:30 AM EDT, vs. Slovakia.

Team USA is in pool A with Russia, Slovakia, and Slovenia. Three round-robin games determine the elimination seeding. Group winners and the best second-place team get byes into the quarterfinals. So all teams will make the elimination round but obviously seeding and byes are important. Round robin highlight will be Saturday 7:30 Am EDT USA vs. Russia.

Group B has Canada, Finland, Austria, and Norway. Group C is probably the most lopsided with Sweden, Czechs, Latvia, and Switzerland.

Game #1 for the US is big. Anything could happen vs. Russia so beating Slovakia is very important. Slovakia has some weapons and Chara will log massive minutes. Our strong 2-way forwards should overcome them by depth and speed.

Overall, IMHO Canada may have the best talent but the ice, officiating, and set-up suggests Sweden is the team to beat. They're solidly my #1 team.

I think Finland will pose serious problems to teams and honestly Russia is a total wild card. Could be crazy officiating, mob influence, crowd pressure - that team can score but man they could get derailed in a hurry too.
 
I have Canada, Sweden, and Russia winning their groups. USA will get 2nd in Group A.

I have no idea how seeding works though. I can't find anything on how the 4 byes will be seeded. My guess would be there will be 3 teams at 3-0. so is tie breaker goal differential?

Hockey needs those 4 teams in the semis. From an American standpoint, you would love to play Russia in the Semis and then have Canada and Sweden face off. I would hate to have to play those 2 teams to win gold. I think the U.S. could beat one of them.

To be honest, though, I don't the U.S. medals. I hope I am wrong. For a prediciton without knowing how bracket works, I'll go with Canada over U.S. in semis. Sweden over Russia in semis. Russia over U.S. for 2nd time for bronze. Sweden's blue line dominates and takes home gold over Canada.
 
bracket is here:

I wouldn't count on all 3 being 3-0 at all. The big ice gives many the false impression that scoring is abundant...it often is not because the D can more easily force play wide.


The North American goalies will have to be super sharp and diligent on their angles. The guys that play aggressive butterfly can get caught more easily out of position. A goalie like Lundqvist who plays deep is much better suited to this style.

Tourney bracket & tiebreakers
 
Team USA was outstanding in crushing a pretty decent Slovak team 7-1. I don't have the highest hopes for these games but this team can sure skate and play both ends.

Really a delight to watch Pacioretty and Oshie get some more attention. That line is going to be hard to handle.

Sweden lost Zetterberg for a good month or longer, so that is a huge blow to them.

Next up for USA is Russia, 7:30 AM EST at the big rink. This is a total toss up, the Russians have so much pressure on them.
 
Beat down by the US was pretty surprising to me. I didn't watch a ton of this game as I was working, but I didn't see that coming. I thought this was a game US would win, but more surprising than how the US played, was how poorly Slovakia played. Parts of the game I saw, guys like Chara were just standing around. They seemed very unmotivated. Looking forward to the game against Russia.
Posted from wireless.rivals.com[/URL]
 
Slovakia didn't play too bad, but the glaring weakness of poor defensive play by the forwards was exacerbated by USA's speed.

USA was simply relentless in finishing plays. The first period was semi-close and USA got like 5 second period goals, a couple of them on pure will and tenacity. Guys like Kesler, Pacioretty, Pavelsky, and vanRiemsdyk were just horses.

Halak started in net and was not good, Budaj a little better. I hear what you're saying about Chara but the US was just overpowering and the forwards gave the D no help. That's typical of a lot of Euro pro players, though. They had one guy Tatar who is insanely skilled and creative but incompetent in his own zone.

Russia is gonna be fun!
 
Despite their home ice advantage, I think we beat Russia tomorrow as long as we're agressive!! They have some awesome offensive players, but I think our squad is better and more balanced overall. ...But my initial point is that we need to be aggressive and put the puck in the back of the net.

I see a 5-3 (or so) victory.
 
Not picking a winner in the U.S./Russia game, but will say that Russia is a hell of a lot more motivated than they were in Vancouver 2010.

As a semi-neutral (I'm Canadian) I'm really looking forward to the game just b/c I expect it to be played at a blistering pace. IMO, the 2 fastest teams there playing on the larger ice makes for a (potentially) fun viewing experience. Setting the DVR so I don't have to be up that early (7:30am EST) to watch the game.
 
Another thing to note: the boards at the smaller rink were super lively. The US seemed to use them incredibly well. Word from some players is that the boards at the Bolshoi big rink are more dead.

This will be a fun game, I just hope officiating doesn't go nuts.
 
US was all out of sorts for most of the game. Fantastic play by the D Fowler and Shattenkirk - their skating made the difference along with Quick.

Patrick Kane had the worst 2.5 periods I've ever seen him play but finally awoke from the cough syrup hangover and made a big play. VanRiemsdyk and Kesler were the 2 best US forwards but a few guys kinda woke up and helped after a while.

For a team that really didn't play too well littered with miscommunications, a win is absolutely huge.

Slovenia tomorrow @7:30 AM EST...expect Ryan Miller to start in net.

A Team USA win puts them into the quarterfinals, their goal differential is currently quite good so we'll see if they lay it on Slovenia tomorrow.
 
I am a little nervous about our D. I agree with you about be disorganized and running around early. USA needs to be aggressive especially on the big ice surface. I don't mind miller getting the start tomorrow, but I want Quick in during the medal round.
 
Nice to see CBS Sports hasn't updated the hockey standings yet.

If you throw in the Swiss, up to 6 teams can win this competition.

I expected Miller to start tomorrow with games on consecutive days. As good as Canada is, I was glad to see Luongo get the start against Austria.

One surprise stat that I saw, was Zdeno Chara had a +/- of zero when they were drubbed by the Yanks, 7-1.

Anyone else keep getting Slovenia and Slovakia mixed up?

What a shootout for Oshie, going 4 for 6, and just like in soccer and my wife has trouble understanding this, but scoring on a PK is extremely tough and the best players aren't necessarily the best penalty shot takers.

I thought the call against the Commies was soft when the goal was taken away, but rules are rules and usually sh!t like that gets called against the US.

With the log jam of teams at the top, it's kind of tough to get an idea of who the US will face in the QF's, it looks like they could get the 3 seed and then they would play the 6th seed? Finland, Canada or the Swiss?
 
USA takes down slovenia 5-1. The game was MUCH closer than that and slovenia deserves credit for a very strong tournament to date. Beating slovakia is a major upset and they played both USA and Russia tough.

USA was sloppy, to be expected. They honestly have only had 2 good periods of hockey this whole tournament so far. I'm not sure if that's bad or good, but the work ethic, speed, goaltending, and selflessness are certainly there.

John Carlson and Blake Wheeler should not be seeing much more ice time. We've got a clear top 6 D and set of forwards.


Canada vs. Finland today at noon and will be a fun game. The Swiss have yet to give up a goal - could be a very tough out in elimination.
 
If Finland had won then,
Sweden, Russia and Canada would have all been in the same bracket. It looks like the US is going to be paired with the Leaf in the semis while Sweden will get Russia/Finland. The Slovenia Seahawks only had two NHL players on their roster compared to Sweden who has 24/25 NHL players on their roster. The Seahawks beating Slovakia was a huge upset. The Czechs and Slovakians resume their civil war in the qualifying playoff game.
 
USA faces winner of the bad blood matchup Slovakia vs. Czech. Both those teams have talent - Slovakia by far the most disappointing squad to date. USA has too much depth for either foe and none of the tenders has stood on his head to make you worry about them getting to the semis.

Canada is set up to play the Swiss most likely - that could be more of a challenge than many think. Canada has been okay, about like the US where there have been struggles with chemistry but the heart and team focus is spot on.

Things are 80% likely for a USA/Canada semifinal. The officiating Canada vs. Finland was very lax but they called USA vs. Russia more like traditional international play.

Sweden will get the winner of Russia/Finland - which will be an all-out war. I told y'all the Finns were tough to play against and Canada will vouch for me on that. It's also a border battle with some deep cultural hatred. The Finns have an incredible and well-oiled junior development program which is why they can play well together with just a couple practices. If they had Fillpula and Koivu healthy, I'd favor them. As I predicted, Russia has been tough to figure out. They played extremely well vs. USA and really dominated that game. But results have been hard to come by for that team for a good 20 years now...

Russia/Finland is a total toss-up but could be the best game of the tournament so far.
 
The real intriguing question is whether the NHLers will be back in the Olympics after these games. I know Bettman has says he does not like it. Daly came out and said that they will talk about it after these games and figure it out. With S. Korea being the next winter games, they don't have local hockey enthusiasts to appease like Canada and Russia in the last two olympics. I for one love to watch it, but absolutely dread watching Bolts players make the team. I was ecstatic when Stammer could not make the trip and hates seeing Marty get picked. I also was surprised but not heartbroken when Hedman got left off the team when he was playing some of his best hockey.
 
Well Nagano had NHL players and no local interest so that's not a great avenue to justify whatever outcome.

Bettman yet again does not understand what drives the popularity of his sport. TJ Oshie was a terrific young player for a good number of years - yes St. Louis is not a household hockey town (though they have good fans). The point is the Olympics are not free publicity but the best publicity. Does it cost his league some headache, injury, and sluggish regular season games? Sure. The return on that investment is astronomical. Never seen a guy with such book/negotiaing smarts and zero understanding of his own failure.

Sorry if you get worried the Bolts players might get hurt - that chance occurs in every practice and game. I'd trade that for the opportunity for a player to experience winning and high-intensity competition any day of the week. I really don't understand the mentality of not wanting your team's players to represent their country. It's so short-sighted.

I could live with the following compromise:
Continue to allow NHL players but with an age restriction. I believe Olympic soccer is capped at 23 and under to preserve the integrity of the World Cup as the stand-alone measuring stick. World Junior is an under-20 tournament held annually so maybe 25 and under for the Olympics. Even with that it's a far cry from the "real deal."

The very last thing you want to is to have one of the marquee events in your sport be discussed on the basis of "yeah,but ___ wasn't there so it doesn't really count." We already have that: the IIHF World Championships, annually held during the NHL playoffs. It's a complete joke. Bettman should go run that tournament.
 
Originally posted by NoleMoreTears:
Well Nagano had NHL players and no local interest so that's not a great avenue to justify whatever outcome.

Bettman yet again does not understand what drives the popularity of his sport. TJ Oshie was a terrific young player for a good number of years - yes St. Louis is not a household hockey town (though they have good fans). The point is the Olympics are not free publicity but the best publicity. Does it cost his league some headache, injury, and sluggish regular season games? Sure. The return on that investment is astronomical. Never seen a guy with such book/negotiaing smarts and zero understanding of his own failure.

Sorry if you get worried the Bolts players might get hurt - that chance occurs in every practice and game. I'd trade that for the opportunity for a player to experience winning and high-intensity competition any day of the week. I really don't understand the mentality of not wanting your team's players to represent their country. It's so short-sighted.

I could live with the following compromise:
Continue to allow NHL players but with an age restriction. I believe Olympic soccer is capped at 23 and under to preserve the integrity of the World Cup as the stand-alone measuring stick. World Junior is an under-20 tournament held annually so maybe 25 and under for the Olympics. Even with that it's a far cry from the "real deal."

The very last thing you want to is to have one of the marquee events in your sport be discussed on the basis of "yeah,but ___ wasn't there so it doesn't really count." We already have that: the IIHF World Championships, annually held during the NHL playoffs. It's a complete joke. Bettman should go run that tournament.
Click to expand...
Good post. I love international sports-- especially when it's the best playing the best for their country. Hockey and soccer are the only two sports (from an American's perspective) where this happens. Hockey is fantastic at the winter olympics because of who plays. The same for the soccer world cup.

Let me ask you-- if there is a age restiction or Bettman doesn't allow NHL'ers at all at the next olympics would they play in the world championships-- the one that is held every 3/4 years?

That IIHF world championship is rediculous. It reminds me of the the baseball world cup (no, not the WBC), but there was a baseball world cup held since the 1930's but was stopped after the WBC started. No one really even paid attention to it because it never had the best players there... we would send a team of AA minor leaguers. Americans still don't get into the WBC because we don't send our best roster.

The point is the soccer world cup and the olympics hockey are two of the best tournaments on the planet where country plays country for a reason....leave it like it is.
 
Originally posted by NoleMoreTears:
Well Nagano had NHL players and no local interest so that's not a great avenue to justify whatever outcome.

Bettman yet again does not understand what drives the popularity of his sport. TJ Oshie was a terrific young player for a good number of years - yes St. Louis is not a household hockey town (though they have good fans). The point is the Olympics are not free publicity but the best publicity. Does it cost his league some headache, injury, and sluggish regular season games? Sure. The return on that investment is astronomical. Never seen a guy with such book/negotiaing smarts and zero understanding of his own failure.

Sorry if you get worried the Bolts players might get hurt - that chance occurs in every practice and game. I'd trade that for the opportunity for a player to experience winning and high-intensity competition any day of the week. I really don't understand the mentality of not wanting your team's players to represent their country. It's so short-sighted.

I could live with the following compromise:
Continue to allow NHL players but with an age restriction. I believe Olympic soccer is capped at 23 and under to preserve the integrity of the World Cup as the stand-alone measuring stick. World Junior is an under-20 tournament held annually so maybe 25 and under for the Olympics. Even with that it's a far cry from the "real deal."

The very last thing you want to is to have one of the marquee events in your sport be discussed on the basis of "yeah,but ___ wasn't there so it doesn't really count." We already have that: the IIHF World Championships, annually held during the NHL playoffs. It's a complete joke. Bettman should go run that tournament.
Click to expand...
For one, I have never been a fan of pro athletes in the olympics. I hate having the NBA stars over there, when it could be a college all star team. I hate having NHLers over there when arguably the greatest olympic hockey event ever was completed by college stars in 1980. I do agree that the competition is better in hockey than most others where professionals are allowed to compete. That said, I just still don't like it, but I could be swayed if you kept it under an age limit.
 
That's a very fair point of view. IMHO, the game of basketball benefited tremendously from the Dream Team. Hockey could use some love.

One thing to consider is the NHL in mid-February is the worst time of the year for quality of play. It's a decided lull before the playoff push and after the Winter classic and holiday emotions.

I'd be okay with the NHL reducing its regular season slate in Olympic years in exchange for a chunk of change from the IOC to compensate for gate and TV losses. It really can't be that hard to find a solution to this.
 
Down goes the home team!!! Fins go out and get the Russians. I didn't get to watch any, as I am in the middle of stuff at work, but I was following it online. Big disappointment for the Russians. US/Czech and Canada/Latvia games up at noon. I just hope Radko Gudas doesn't beat up the Americans too bad!
 
Told ya Finland was a handful and they will be for Sweden, too. Russia was under so much pressure I'm not surprised.

Canada gets super lucky with Latvia beating the Swiss. The only chance for them to lose in that slot was if Hiller stood on his head.

Slovakia/Czech game got awful interesting the third period. USA should handle the Czechs. Czechs have tremendous firepower up front: Plekanec, Jagr, Voracek, Erat, Krejci, etc. but little on D and in net. Our 2-way forward play is well suited to eat that type of game alive.
 
We are up 3-1 after the end of the first period vs Czech Republic... that last goal (under 2 seconds left in the period) was awesome....
 
Meanwhile, Latvia's giving Canada all they can handle. 1-1 with 12 min. left in period 2...Latvians just killed off penalty.
 
Good game played by US. Watched the 1st two periods at lunch. Good pressure. These guys really are taking advantage of "superball boards". Scored at least twice by using them around the other side. Of course the Czechs would have had a better shot if they had given Gudas more than 16 minutes of ice time!!
 
So Lightning fans must have been excited with the play of Latvian netminder Kristers Gudlevskis. I didn't see the game, but he stopped 52 of 54 shots, and I am sure some of them were standing on his head. He took his lumps against Sweden, but the TB fans must be excited with Bishop playing well (he's 27 and I didn't know he was friggin 6' 7" and he trolled the minors much of the past 7 seasons after a decent career with U Maine). If Gudlevskis can develop, the Bolts could have a Reggie Lemelin/Andy Moog 1-2 punch.

Congrats to Teddie Nolan for steering the Latvians, what a story, even though they only finished 1-4 (I also forgot that Arturs Irbe was a former Latvian goalie).

Will Ovechkin ever win anything that counts? He scores 77 seconds into the competition and then doesn't score again.

The Bruins have 3 players left in the competition, and if the USA doesn't medal, all 3 will come away with a medal. Patrice Bergeron with Canada, Tuuka Rask with Finland and Loui Eriksson with Sweden. Of course, when the USA captures the gold, the locker room bragging rights will be over the silver medal.

Only fitting that the 4 teams in the medal round are a combined 11-1.

Does anyone take away from the US's win over Russia, seeing that Russia was not as good as advertised?
 
As Bolts fans, yes we are definitely excited that goaltending "might" be a strength in the future instead of the hinderance we have had since The Buhlin wall.

Not a surprise, but I have heard there was a lot of dissension in the Russian lockerroom. Ovechkin and Malkin supposedly not getting along. Seems Ovi can't get along with anyone. Maybe Semin wasn't the problem.
Posted from wireless.rivals.com[/URL]
 
If both the U.S. and Canada play as they have thus far in the Olympics, the game won't even be close and the U.S. will win by 4 or 5 goals.

Canada has played like a steaming pile thus far.

Just hoping for a reappearance of the real Team Canada - kindof like when we finally showed up against Russia and blew them away in 2010.

Biggest difference b/w the two teams now vs in 2010 is the I give the U.S. the edge between the pipes (I wouldn't trade D or Forwards -> just the production has been optimized thus far by the U.S. vs non-existent for Canada).

All that being said, still very much looking forward to the game.

Canada is down a man (John Tavares is out for the rest of the tourney), but other than that are healthy. I haven't heard about anyone being out for the U.S. (so I'm assuming their playing with a full deck). Having 14 forwards available is helping Canada here as Matt Duchene will re-enter the lineup to take his place. Just wondering who will play RW with Crosby in the game (was Bergeron before the Tavares injury) since Bergeron will likely be the 4th line C again. I'm guessing Marty St. Louis will get the spot -> I personally would put Rick Nash there, even though that would mean all 3 are left handed shots (would be with St. Louis as well) as Kunitz and Crosby shoot left.

OT, Canada/U.S. Women renew their "Gold Medal" rivalry on Thursday in Hockey. Will be watching that (along with Canada/Sweden Women's Curling Gold Medal game).
 
Neither US or Canada have brought anything better than a B+ game to this point. This is the most skilled squad Team USA has ever put on the ice, bar none. The days of us needing a miracle goalie performance or luck are over for at least the next 5 years.

The way Canada beat Latvia was actually very good for them. To win the US will have to be more patient. Right now they're using their speed to simply take themselves out of plays too often. They need to use the speed to create gaps and delay off of that. It's been a real problem so far. Way too many missed opportunities.

Canada will excel with those types of turnovers because their D are so skilled and offensively capable. IMHO, that's the key talent difference and it will have to made up for by Quick and smarter play. We simply can't play into their strengths like that.

Rishi - we're not down a man but Kesler is at maybe 70% with the broken hand. It's a wonder he's even playing.

I rarely talk down about anyone but Ovechkin is a selfish stiff and
always has been and I've said that for over 4 years. Whomever thought
he was better than Crosby needs to have his head examined.
 
Ovechkin is absurdly overrated IMHO, totally selfish and just goes for big hits on little guys when he's not shooting. US played him physical, which he hates and takes him out of his game.

Canada really doesn't look to have much chemistry to this point I think US has a great shot.
Posted from wireless.rivals.com

This post was edited on 2/20 11:09 AM by kooterridesagain
 
US chemistry hasn't been great, either. VanRiemsdyk and Kessel have been outstanding but they play together in the NHL. Parise has been excellent but Bylsma yet to find the right line combo for him. Kane has been very inconsistent and struggled also to get the right line mates. I like Kane with Pavelski overall, but who's 3rd forward? Oshie and Pacioretty work well together but again the right 3rd player has been tough to uncover.

On the other hand the D pairs have been well oiled, although McDonagh has made some bad plays he also brings a presence.

I may sound like I'm being negative about the US, who after all has not lost and owns a wonderful goal differential. But the fact is they've really only had 1 top period, just parts of a couple others and been outplayed for a significant part of the time. They could be scary good...
 
Anyone else watching the women's gold medal game between the U.S. & Canada? I must confess that I've watched very little women's hockey over time, but I'm very impressed by the high quality of play in this game. These girls can play.
 
What a great game, too bad the refs are not olympic caliber. US team needs to be smarter at passing
 
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