>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.

And you will know MY JACKET IS GOLD when I lay my vengeance upon thee.