Sweden cruised vs the Slovenians

And Russia is looking at a disappointing exit unless they turn it around in the 2nd half. Unfortunately for the Russians, Ovie is doing his usual elimination game tging.

US vs CZE and CAN vs LAT this afternoon

Ovechkin did nothing, kovalchuk got worse as the game went on, and they should have started Bob-o

On the plus side, looks like we will be getting a healthy Pav for the stretch run. He was Russia's best player by a MILE

Only shit that could have made that sweeter is if Rask came out afterward hahahaha. So long, dicks.

says he can't explain how he scored 1 goal the whole Olympics

His last *and only* goal in an elimination game he won came in the 06 olympics

Can you imagine the coverage he would get for not showing up in big games? We tear apart guys like Lebron (previously), Peyton and many others who are at the top of the league but never show up in the big moment.

Ovi doesn't get much of that hate because of the lack of coverage of hockey, but if it got the amount of other sports he may go down as one of the least clutch* athletes of our generation.

*clutch meaning showing up and performing in the huge games (specifically elimination games).

I also know we will get the post about how this is just a narrative and not true based on some really old stats soon.

(but id rather have him on my team anyday over Ovie..i cant believe that was a debate at one point)

it's number 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 in canada still.

but canadians, at least in mainstream media, arent as harsh as americans. somehow don cherry still likes ovechkin (and apparently not malkin, he also thinks hertl is Russian) but at this point you have to ask yourself what the fuck does he know?

the thing with ovechkin is that the proof is in the pudding by now. his teams just don't win.

Ovie was getting murdered in the Canadian press for the first couple of months of the season before he went on a scoring streak. I don't think the Canadian media's perception of Ovie is much different than the US perception of someone like Carmello. And it makes sense that Cherry takes it easy on Ovie cause he's the exact type of player that Cherry loves. Booming body-checks, outspoken and fun, plays with abandon on the verge of being outta control, emotional, very few assists. That's Don's thing. He's never liked the Crosby types.

>Lebron (previously), Peyton

They're true until they're not true anymore.

Then they become even more meaningless.

What you continuously refer to as "narrative" is actually a repeated pattern of objective results

They are the results until they aren't anymore

https://twitter.com/drosennhl/status/436149067945881600

Plus when you win a Conn Smyth trophy you're allowed to be disappointing without being a reflection of your entire career I guess. But yes he also was a letdown in the Olympics

Nolan's got them playing perfectly

That's a really nice family, had some time to chat with Ted and his wife during the 2012 playoffs. Very humble guy, even though you know he knows the score. He has gotten pretty screwed in his coaching career.

That was a sweet move on a rolling puck for that first goal, used a tough situation to his advantage by settling the puck with a fake.

Noone wants to talk about it.

I've heard rumors that he was accused of playing the race card with Sabre ownership....which subsequently spread to other owners/gms. Not sure if that's true....but something was messed up in that situation. Any info?

He has been dicked around a bit in his life over race, there is no question. In his early life I am sure and obviously there was that ugly incident in the Q. But he is not a guy who makes excuses or bitches and whines from what I have heard. You just look at the personalities involved in Buffalo, they were "strong" to say the least. All the crap with Muckler and mainly with Hasek did him in there. Franchise goaltender (and world class asshole by most accounts) versus short-tenured coach. That was an easy call.

But the stuff with Muckler followed him. Even so, I think his turning down jobs intensified any residue from the Sabres situation. He had two or three NHL offers in the late 90s, one was a head coaching job with Tampa.

Overall some of his recent career seems like a pretty standard story arc but everything is just a little off. The waits are a little too long. The rope is kinda short. And the gigs have mostly been total bullshit. Islanders? Sabres? Are these the only two franchises that exist for him? He keeps going through their revolving door organizations. I think he is a real good bridge coach, a young team trying to get its shit together should hire him, but one that's a little further along than Buffalo.

maybe my memory is off. But didn't he win coach of the year with the sabres in his first year as coach...then got fired in the off-season over a scandal that never became public....then was never hired again for like 15 years or something like that? Wasn't the popular question 'Why is it that NO TEAM took a chance on a guy who won COY in his first try'?

No doubt he faced racism coming up though. Natives always did back then. I'm sure it's still there but hockey is way more diverse now in Canada.

I didn't know he had turned down jobs. I remember hearing chatter at work that he had basically done something REALLY offsides (involving racial accusations) with Sabres management and was blacklisted from ever working in the nhl again. I had guessed that enough time had elapsed for him to make a return. It always confused me that the scandal was never made public....it's usually alot tuffer to keep that kind of secret.


In any case, my whole memory of it might be mistaken.

Edit....ok, I googled it. My memory is really bad. I think the 'race card' thing was a part of the shitty contract he was offered by the Sabres. I think he said something about his race being a factor in their low-ball offer...and that raised the eyebrows of GMs around the league...possibly hurting his rep a bit.

I'm gonna make some sweeping generalizations here.....I wouldn't say that players are necessarily intolerant of minorities....but there's also a specific culture that you're expected to assimilate too. I think it manifests in something like 'it's ok to be a minority as long as you act and talk like a white guy'. Basically, don't be different from everyone else. Which obviously is NOT a policy of diversity. It's moreso a reluctant and conditional acceptance based on assimilation. I think that's part of what Evander Kane is going through to an extent. Perhaps Ray Emery as well. From the sounds of it...Nolan too. You're expected to keep your mouth shut and not draw attention to yourself. Those two guys aren't as willing to do that as some of the other minorities past and present. It might make for a good article. And I would bet that alot of players wouldn't really want to comment on it which kind of proves my point. Kane took some heat when he made those comments. I thought it took some guts to say that cause I'm sure he's aware there's a chance that it burns him amongst gms and other players.

When you think about it...hockey is unique in that aspect. Assuming that my assertion is true....I can't think of another sport where the dynamic is that way.

You're maybe a little fuzzy, he was an assistant in Hartford then he coached a year in Buffalo. In his second season with the Sabres, he won the Jack Adams Trophy and they did OK in the playoffs (got eliminated in the conference semis). A lot of the beef was on record. Hasek came out and said he would prefer Nolan be replaced. There was tension between the management and Nolan all along, but a bunch of bullshit with Hasek in the playoffs is what I think sealed his fate. Hasek had a wonky knee and was doing some self-diagnosing maybe. The big thing was he went out in the first round and Steve Shields came in and saved the series against the Sabres. A bunch of shit happened, Hasek got into with a local reporter, he got suspended, the whole thing was somewhat of an embarrassment for Hasek and he probably deserved to be embarrassed.

Nolan got offers coming off that, he got at least one assistant's offer with the Isles and a head coaching offer from Tampa but he didn't take any of them. After that he got nothing for several years, I don't know, seven or eight seasons. That said, he was having some success elsewhere, I know he was in the Memorial Cup final with Moncton one year and they did well while he coached them.


>No doubt he faced racism coming up though. Natives always did
>back then. I'm sure it's still there but hockey is way more
>diverse now in Canada.
>
>I didn't know he had turned down jobs. I remember hearing
>chatter at work that he had basically done something REALLY
>offsides (involving racial accusations) with Sabres management
>and was blacklisted from ever working in the nhl again. I had
>guessed that enough time had elapsed for him to make a return.
> It always confused me that the scandal was never made
>public....it's usually alot tuffer to keep that kind of
>secret.

nah he for sure got an offer from the lightning. there was just a stretch in there nothing came down the pipeline for him. his rebound now came from working with rochester, that got him back in with the sabres organization.

>In any case, my whole memory of it might be mistaken.
>
>Edit....ok, I googled it. My memory is really bad. I think
>the 'race card' thing was a part of the shitty contract he was
>offered by the Sabres. I think he said something about his
>race being a factor in their low-ball offer...and that raised
>the eyebrows of GMs around the league...possibly hurting his
>rep a bit.

i dont know if race played a factor but the offer they gave him was the offer you give a coach you don't want to keep but you don't want to reject outright for publicity reasons. sort of like what the yankees did with joe torre, just on a much smaller scale. they offered him something like 400,000 bucks and it was only a one-year deal, that was probably what he (rightfully) found insulting.

>I'm gonna make some sweeping generalizations here.....I
>wouldn't say that players are necessarily intolerant of
>minorities....but there's also a specific culture that you're
>expected to assimilate too. I think it manifests in something
>like 'it's ok to be a minority as long as you act and talk
>like a white guy'. Basically, don't be different from
>everyone else. Which obviously is NOT a policy of diversity.
>It's moreso a reluctant and conditional acceptance based on
>assimilation. I think that's part of what Evander Kane is
>going through to an extent. Perhaps Ray Emery as well. From
>the sounds of it...Nolan too. You're expected to keep your
>mouth shut and not draw attention to yourself. Those two guys
>aren't as willing to do that as some of the other minorities
>past and present. It might make for a good article. And I
>would bet that alot of players wouldn't really want to comment
>on it which kind of proves my point. Kane took some heat when
>he made those comments. I thought it took some guts to say
>that cause I'm sure he's aware there's a chance that it burns
>him amongst gms and other players.

Hmmm, I think there is some of that but I'm not really versed in Canadian culture to figure it out and there aren't too too many non-Canadian black guys in the league. I don't know Kane too well but it seems like you might be onto something there. Emery I know well. He is a very strange guy, I think he has caught a little extra shit because he's black but he's had various issues that I think would have affected any player's reputation.

It is very tough to write about because the culture has its company lines on diversity and that is what you're going to hear. You definitely won't hear anything thoughtful or interesting from non-minority players on the topic it seems. Some guys around the league had thoughtful things to contribute who actually were black, guys like Chris Stewart and Kevin Weekes, but you wind up with the same voices all the time. I feel like it's an issue that the establishment feels like it can deal with where it pops up and that's that. That's why they come down on hard on overt incidents of racism, like that bullshit with the Beezer and Trevor Daley.

>When you think about it...hockey is unique in that aspect.
>Assuming that my assertion is true....I can't think of another
>sport where the dynamic is that way.

Well I mean I think all sports have faced integrating minorities, foreign-born players, etc, but most of them have been in a predominantly U.S. context. Hockey is different to me because the paradigm of race is a little different in Canada, which is still the center of the sport's universe.

Friday is going to be intense...

Slovenia was game until that 3rd period. They looked gassed. They played really well through the tournament. Everyone talked about them saying they would be lucky to win a game. They won 2 and played well againt one of the favorites.

They only have 700 registered players in the entire country.

that program is headed in the right direction and so is the swiss one. it'll be the next generation of guys where it really shows up. it's a pretty fucking small country though, albeit one that seems really into athletics.

that is crazy. Something like 150-200 registered adult hockey players. Its amazing how well they played. Heart and they bought into the system. They skated really well though. A lot of them were well above average skaters.

Swedes were all over Kopi though. He looked like Russ Tyler trying to get a knuckle puck off against Iceland.

it's still pretty remarkable, i mean we've seen other programs like slovakia overcome some infrastructural deficits but to have seven rinks, about 700 male junior players, maybe 200 adult male players and all of 2,000,000 in the country, wow. pretty crazy that they've got at least three guys in pro hoops, too.

Sure, some semblance of rhythm is nice for the other teams, particularly the US I think, but Finland had a tough ass quarterfinal draw and they looked very solid in a win.

U.S. was in good shape against the Czechs or the Slovaks. I feel like it's time for them to become one country again, solely for hockey reasons.

Canada and Sweden had draws that were pretty much cake. I mean no disrespect to their opponents who looked formidable throughout the tournament, but if you're looking at those teams or Russia, you'll take your chances with those teams.

Really any of today's winners could go the distance IMO. Canada is the best team on paper, Sweden is maybe the most cohesive, the Finns have excellent balance on their roster and I think so far the Americans have looked like the best team in the tourney all around.

Finland has no choice but to play a strict system...and relatively speaking....the systems are beating the stars at this tourney so far. Gotta admit....it would be really nice to see Teemu wrap up his career with a gold medal. I'm guessing that might be the main reason he decided to play another season. What an incredible career that guy's had....and he seems to be one of the most well-liked guys too.

Offensive zone cycling is not working. The rink is too wide to cycle along the boards in a way that results in quality chances. You really have to score on the rush which is why I think Kessel is having so much success. Like we talked about before....I think teams have to do alot more circling. If the rush doesn't look good then reload. There were times in the Canada/Latvia game where we had a cycling-type possession in the offensive zone and I really wanted them to pass the puck back to their goalie and reload for the rush. They just weren't generating chances. The euro teams know how to contain the cycle to the outside. It's second-nature to them. The blue line being closer to the net makes matters worse. So the offensive zone is both wider and shorter....I think both those things combined basically kill the cycling strategy. And let's face it....Canada's whole style of play since the beginning of time has been heavy on cycling. With all that in mind....Duschene should definitely replace Tavares. They need another rush guy.

It's interesting...alot of canadian analysts are saying that Canada might be better off playing the US cause neither team is used to the game format. Perhaps the states won't be able to neutralize our cycling like the other teams have. So there's an argument that they should stay the course for the next game and then make changes for the gold/bronze game.

What do you think the States need to do? Not sure if they should change anything at this point. I'd say they're the favorite at this point...then Finland, Canada and Sweden respectively. One thing's for sure in my mind though...this is the last nhl olympics so the US won't have another shot at gold.

>Finland has no choice but to play a strict system...and
>relatively speaking....the systems are beating the stars at
>this tourney so far. Gotta admit....it would be really nice
>to see Teemu wrap up his career with a gold medal. I'm
>guessing that might be the main reason he decided to play
>another season. What an incredible career that guy's
>had....and he seems to be one of the most well-liked guys
>too.

great point about the systems, certainly we saw that with the success of slovenia and latvia.

selanne would have played in the olympics anyway, i think he mainly came back because he felt cheated by last year in several ways. during the year i was convinced he was going to retire. for the first time there were stretches where he would look old and he told me he FELT it in ways he hadn't before, at least not since his knee was fucked up about ten years ago. but when they got eliminated i got the sense that he was coming back and sure enough he did. more about unfinished business, frankly they blew that series (no disrespect to the wings) and were returning a very good team. bar none the best guy to work with in the league, i will miss him when he's gone but i can't bitch since he has hung on for plenty of "one more year" chants.

>Offensive zone cycling is not working. The rink is too wide
>to cycle along the boards in a way that results in quality
>chances. You really have to score on the rush which is why I
>think Kessel is having so much success. Like we talked about
>before....I think teams have to do alot more circling. If the
>rush doesn't look good then reload. There were times in the
>Canada/Latvia game where we had a cycling-type possession in
>the offensive zone and I really wanted them to pass the puck
>back to their goalie and reload for the rush. They just
>weren't generating chances. The euro teams know how to
>contain the cycle to the outside. It's second-nature to them.
> The blue line being closer to the net makes matters worse.
>So the offensive zone is both wider and shorter....I think
>both those things combined basically kill the cycling
>strategy. And let's face it....Canada's whole style of play
>since the beginning of time has been heavy on cycling. With
>all that in mind....Duschene should definitely replace
>Tavares. They need another rush guy.

yeah grinding along the boards or moving the puck low to high is not the game on the big ice it seems. u.s. has done a lot off the rush, one guy that i think has been having an excellent tournament is pacioretty. he always feels dangerous out there in these games.

canada has the personnel to play whatever style they want but the question is how fast they adjust. i feel like the finns and americans both came in super well prepared. sweden i havent gotten to see as much but there are no holes in their team and they all have experience on the big surface.

>It's interesting...alot of canadian analysts are saying that
>Canada might be better off playing the US cause neither team
>is used to the game format. Perhaps the states won't be able
>to neutralize our cycling like the other teams have. So
>there's an argument that they should stay the course for the
>next game and then make changes for the gold/bronze game.

to me they'd do better playing finland because they have a little bit more of an edge on paper but at this point all the teams are good and you're talking about winning medals now so you've got to be willing to take on all comers.

>What do you think the States need to do? Not sure if they
>should change anything at this point. I'd say they're the
>favorite at this point...then Finland, Canada and Sweden
>respectively. One thing's for sure in my mind though...this
>is the last nhl olympics so the US won't have another shot at
>gold.

U.S. team might have to tighten up its breakouts a little, they are not going to hit as many long passes against Canada. O Zone play has been good, very fluid, lots of changing positions but in a responsible, effective way. Prime example was that third goal right at the end of the first against the Czechs. Their D zone play has also been pretty good, they have had a decent structure, not too many big chances against.

How sure are you that this will be the last NHL Olympics? I also think it's not conceivable to think that the U.S. puts together a competitive team of amateurs, though I do think they'd be at a disadvantage.

Bob Mac and all those guys. The NHL really wants to organize a world cup. Almost everyone agrees that Korea makes no sense for Bettman. We've already had the best possible circumstance with a Canada/Us final on north American ice. It really didn't 'sell' the game in any tangible way.

NHL network has all these restrictions on what they can show. The hilite packs are like 30 seconds long. They're only doing a half-hour show on game days. Yet it's all their best assets providing the content? It's unsustainable.

Zetterburg, Kessler, and now Tavares all injured during the Olympics. Not looking good for NHLers in 2018

Anyway, I don't see NHLers not playing in the olympics, especially the non-major teams.

I don't see someone like Kopitar staying home when his country needs him.

Olympic hockey is good for hockey, the fans, and its what most players want.

good for hockey wont stop Bettman.

Guys get hurt almost every time around. You take any given set of a half dozen NHL games, someone is going to get injured. Hank was already beat up. Kesler always seems a little beat up, maybe just his style of play. The Tavares injury sucks but that's life. Players also come back stronger from the Olympics. Do you think Mario Lemieux would have become every bit the player he was in the early 90s without the '87 Canada Cup, for example? Overall the IIHF does a lot to prepare players for the NHL and improve them once they are there, too. I don't think the injuries will deter them alone. The GMs and coaches seem split on the stop/start (the economics thereof) and the fact that a lot of their players get midseason rest. To me that is all a wash. I would be very surprised to see the NHL back out for 2018. Bettman will string it out for sure, but I think ultimately they will be there.

The Russians were going to go this year no matter what, so the punishment from Bettman would have to be so draconian in the end I don't think he'd do it.

It will be the same way next time with whatever players are determined to go.

Did I miss something??

he took a slap shot off his hand a couple of games ago.

Well....he better play his ass off for 2 more games...

If not, NBC continues to be terrible.

I see the other semi in the morning, then nothing.

http://www.nbcolympics.com/tv-listings#21

not sure what that means. They'll switch back and forth like they've done with shitty coverage of every other event.

Hockey hasnt been interrupted once in the last two weeks

And that includes commercials \o/

it is obnoxious how they don't just list what time a fucking sporting event is on though.

They've had all times listed...

of thinking the outlet broadcasting the event would tell me what time the broadcast was on.

Clearly I was giving NBC too much credit.

again, my mistake in looking for tv listings seems to be looking for tv listings.

The games are all on and the times are set well ahead of time

As long as you know what time the game is, you will find it

I didn't trust NBC to air the games live despite their promises so I figured broadcast times was the way to go.

But fear not everyone, I was able to watch US/CAN live.

would be shown live...

including the women's gold medal game...right now!

He already looks like one...

That's gotta be one of the biggest chokes of all-time.

USA definitely blew it... It's a great reminder for all the men left.... PLAY 'TIL THE END!

but mmmmkay.

3 mins and something to go...2-0?

i dunno man.

what's crazy is if that puck is just an inch or two to the right it goes in the open net and it's all moot.

wild.

.

http://deadspin.com/canadians-freaking-out-over-winning-hockey-gold-is-just-1527201523

Those tremors you heard earlier today were Rob Ford jumping up and down after the OT goal.

Hope things are good down south. I'm heading to the bar to watch the repeat.

The officiating was atrocious and I think the Americans absorbed the worst of it. There was a blantant non-call against the Canadians with around 2 minutes left which probly would've sealed it. And that slashing penalty against the US in OT was a joke. I don't think it's fair to say they choked. They probably deserved to win the game.

Amazing flow....these games are always epic and this might've been the best one yet.

You might be referring to something else, but after Canada scored, I remember texting my friend, "that was a trip..." Either way, they lost... 2 goal leads aren't safe in the NHL and definitely not in Olympic hockey... I was saying the entire 3rd period, no way would I feel comfortable with this 2 goal lead...

Finland playing a masterful game thus far. It's a little dull to watch but wow they are living with the puck deep in Sweden's end and really jammed the lanes on that bullshit power play. Charging on Granlund? LOL, that was a laughably transparent makeup call

Edit: counted it, nice. kind of a soft one for hank there. nice play by vatanen to send them in with some speed. he is a solid offensive dman, even better on the big surface.

The ice was tilted toward finlands net the last 8-10 minutes

kind of a bad penalty by alfie but he got his money's worth and they followed through on the PK.

jokinen penalty i wouldnt say was a bad call but a bad break maybe. nice play for the go ahead goal starting with the takeaway.


sweden has been handing it to them since finland scored like you said. still a one-goal game though, i dunno i am watching the bbc feed and these guys are talking like shit's over.

shot totals are even but quality is not close. only guys who seem able to carry and create are selanne and to some extent vatanen. no one is really playing off them. they have taken some shots at those guys and granlund for sure. granlund was good in the first half of the game, hasnt done much since.

And they really only had 1 chance during that

oh well, they were a system, they took it pretty far. we'll see how beat up their opponent is for the bronze medal game.

Kessel already generated 3 chances

kane, kessel, parise, pacioretty ... all these dudes are real strong off the rush.

u.s. PK was outstanding, PP not so much lol.

This could get hot once it opens up. I hope the first goal goes on the board early in the second.

Quick standing on his head but still starting the 3rd period down.

he got burned by a great play on the goal. he kinda lost the puck for a fraction of a second (uncharacteristic) but he was beat pretty bad because he was playing out at the top of the paint. you cant fault him for that one IMO, it was "NICE PAS-SING!" (c) Bill Walton

man does he come up huge in big games.

the quality of chances and length of possessions was way better for canada. they sucked the speed out of the US's game as the contest progressed. well played, now we get the two best teams in the final. i ain't mad. our boys played well in the tournament, hopefully they can bring home a medal now.

Not even close to the quality of Vancouver gold medal game. The bad ice was preventing alot of the skill display. Good game, not great.

canada should have won bigger. they got stronger as the game went on, clearly had more talent, more legs, better planning and better execution.

It was on it's side the whole game which was kinda frusterating from an aesthetic point of view.

But like you said...it was a purely tactical game. I read an interesting article somewhere about how Babcock's team basically ignored Vancouver and only used Turin/Nagano etc to prepare. They really sapped all the ego out of the team. I saw several instances where Crosby had the chance to make a patented cross-iced pass in the offensive zone but instead fired a simple snap shot on Quick. Every shot was on the net (and high) and nobody was allowed to make any sort of pass that would risk a counter attack. They basically played the entire game in the aims to avoid any odd-manned rushes. Theoretically, Canada could've played a B team and there wouldn't have been THAT much a difference.

Not sure what Blysma could've done to counter that. Perhaps sent a floater to circle around centre ice while the puck is in their own end? Beats me. They needed a break and couldn't get one. I did get the sense that they needed to start taking some risks in the third and didn't.

In any case...I had the early, early Olympics shift and just got off work in time for the game. They opened all the bars in TO for the game but methinks Imma stay home. Canada/Russia would've been more poetic....but this is probably the game that had to happen. Just cracked a brew....go-time.

yeah i mean it makes sense to look past vancouver in prep because not only do you look at what went wrong but you're also seeing the big surface.

babcock had them playing a possession game with strong pursuit and tight passing, they executed well. something has to happen to counter that. i don't think they could have cheated for offense all night but honestly the early part of the game is where they got some chances off the rush. they weren't getting consistently good entries either, just not enough opportunities to gain the zone and set up in the absence of quicker-developing plays. bylsma just seemed stumped to me. certainly a lot of credit should go to canada but i just didn't see any kind of forward thinking in terms of adjustments from the u.s.

But damn did I enjoy 60 minutes of getting to root for a team with an all-world goalie.

Canada was the better team. Both defenses and goalies played great, but Canada's defense was better.

US big guns had a handful of great looks but didn't convert any of them.

I had convinced myself JC74 was going to get one after the goalie was pulled. He had a good game, IMO. He can create all kinds of problems when he jumps in the play.

Happens every Olympics.

Biggest disappoint for the US has to be David Backes. He was invisible against Canada. Played poorly against Finland. Kessel played great the rest of the tournament but was also invisible against Finland. Kane was the only one who looked like he gave a shit. I understand it's tuff to get going for a bronze....but c'mon....dig deep man.

Bylsma will never coach this team again. Honestly I thought Laviolette was a better choice. I don't get why NHL politics seem to play a role in that sort of selection. This is not the all-star game, you're not rewarding the guy with the best record. Take the best man for the job. Lavi is excellent adjusting in stride, which is pretty important for a single-elimination tournament.

He was on the staff but I didn't get the sense he was running things at all. Bylsma looked like a putz against Mike Babcock, who had his guys prepared to execute and adjust. I don't think it should surprise anyone that Mike Babcock is a great coach, but for fuck's sakes Bylsma won a Jack Adams and has a top team. He should not look like a Central Hockey League equipment manager behind that bench.

I realize there's not much interest here so I'm turning this into my personal blog.

Sweden has shocked me by going for it. I was expecting a conservative game...no backstrom, no sedin, no zetterberg....seems like the time to employ the trap.

Nope. They are absolutely going for it and it made for a beautiful first period. Absolutely beautiful to watch. Sweden playing 'total hockey' a la dutch soccer. Canada with a slight edge in chances but Sweden had their's too. Glad that the game is open and flowing as a viewer....just wondering why Sweden would decide to go that way. Can only guess that they were hoping for the first goal before resorting to the trap. Didn't happen. Canada scoring the first goal guarantees a much more watchable second period. I'm on my fourth brew.

Two of the four lil girls sleeping in my room were woken by my cheers on Toew's goal. No cartoons today! I was smart enough to pour the beer into a non-transparent cup. Got them set up with a marble construction set behind the couch. Made sure they know to cheer for the red team. Let's continue to GO!

the semifinal might have given that impression but i credit finland for slowing that game down.

i think canada has carried the play as the game has progressed but they are flubbing chances. benn and st louis both had great ones off one-timers and came up with wimpy shots. they've had rebounds laying there and haven't gotten there.

swedes just need to get this one to the third 1-0 and then come out strong. if they can establish some possession they can probably get their power play unit back out there. i think that is what it's going to take to get this tied or even win, key opportunity with the extra man.

wimpy backcheck leads to a goal, now a penalty when they need it the least.

i think sid's goal iced this one, i really cannot see a two-goal comeback here.

Lundquivst with possible save of the game at 1500

The puck over boards penalty is that unfortunate bidness. Rule should allow one per game per team. Then it'd become an once-per-game out for the defence too. 5 on 5 with these kinds of players is way more bootiful.

Cory Perry with the double-pump at 910.

Bergeron psyches out guy on faceoff around 750. Shit was hilarious. Goofed that guy to fall down before the puck was dropped. hahahaha

Canada taking over. Dominated the entire second half of the period. Sid with the prototypical olympic goal. Second time he sprung himself free with a poke-check at his own blueline. Him and Toews got sticks with radar. Crosby was staring at the ice in a daze when the period ended. Toews knocked him on the shoulder and said 'You ok?' Crosby looked up 'Yah'...then went back to staring. True story.

Sweden's gonna have to do something special which is not completely out of the question....more likely this becomes 4 of 5 or 6.

yeah hank has played really well but also got a couple bounces (puck stopping behind him/rescued by karlsson, MSL getting nothing on a one timer, etc).

i think canada's forwards have done a real nice job on karlsson and obviously sweden needed him to be dangerous today.

puck over glass is a dumb rule, either there needs to be a discretionary component from the officials or the rule needs to go as a minor penalty. in my opinion it should remain an objective standard, but it should be treated as an icing. defensive zone start for the offending team and they cannot make a line change. so many of these penalties are excessive punishment for happenstance shit that happens at high speed with a bunch of sticks swiping at the puck. consider this, a defensive player could knock the puck up in the air off your stick and if you knock it out of play as you're trying to settle it, that's a two minute minor. it is probably the dumbest rule in all of pro sports. were players knocking it out of play intentionally? all the time and for decades. what kind of hindrance was it on the sport then? really needs to change to be like an icing IMO.

You can't treat it like icing. Smart players will find ways to make it happen without looking like it's intentional (Chelios). You gotta penalize it....but it sucks when it happens.

if you're under pressure and putting the puck out of play, odds are the guys on the ice are tired. you're also starting hemmed down in your own zone. a two minute minor is absolutely excessive, especially when a lot of the time it's an honest play and a bad bounce. this is going to decide a stanley cup final one day and then it'll be too late to make this realization.

another neutral zone takeaway leading to a goal. i'm only annoyed that two penguins scored in this game. congratulations, canada.

Between him and Mr. February no wonder Washington hasnt won dick

i dont know all the details since this all happened in the middle of the fucking night here but this situation does not sound materially different from what happened to lubo visnovsky in 2010. he was not suspended.

Doping in the olympics has no "process" so you cant give them a reason

Everyone knows allergy/cold medicine has stimulants in it, thats why NHL players used to eat sudafed by the handful.

Just a really dumb thing to do, made dumber by circumstance

From the defense outwards. Even Carey Price was holding up his end of the bargain.

Sucks to see Canada dominate and the US go out so weakly in their last two games.

Going into the tournament I didn't think Canada would be this good.

Awesome job using guys, I got the sense that he had a lot to say about the selection process and you could see like St Louis was kind of a square peg for him. Guys like Benn and Duchene certainly served their purpose in the puck possession game. Defense was real tight, just a good game plan and the guys to execute it perfectly in these last couple of games.

A lot will be made of Subban's being scratched. As one of his biggest supporters, I understood it. They were loaded at right defense. I probably would have gone with Weber/Doughty/Petro also, especially with the game plan they had. It won't mean dick when money time rolls around though.

I feel like he really got some well deserved shine... Obviously, not as much as his partner on D, but still got some heavy props from Babcock...

Congrats Canada!

Ive got the most reason to be mad in the whole post (zetterberg, datsyuk, USA) and I thought the whole thing was great