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Canada's Men Hockey Team


JoeLassister

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Anyone else has a kind of soft spot for Slovakia? Beat Russia and Sweden, two huge favorites. I'm gonna have a hard time cheering against them vs Canada because Slovakia deserves a medal. But I also want the big Canada-USA revenge showdown.

Scared to death of Halak. Just hope he has one of his off games. We need to be in his face all game long. We need to be particularly alert to his rebounds. Slovakia was outshot against Sweden 29-14.

Edited by jackp
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I don't think USA will beat Finland, to be honest. They're due for a loss (everyone else has lost once, and the USA isn't THAT good), and Finland plays the USA's style of game, too. Plus, Finland has a functioning PP unit.

I'm expecting Canada-Finland, and I think Canada will win just due to it being in Vancouver and the intimidating energy it will provide for Finland. They'd have to score a goal early to implement their game.

And I'll take Slovakia for the bronze, since they'll want it more. That generation of hockey talent in Slovakia hasn't won anything, they'll play hard for a bronze, and the US probably won't recover because in North American hockey, we don't really care about the bronze games. That's why Finland won in '98 over Canada.

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I too am worried about Halak. However, if Canada plays like they did in that jaw-dropping first period against Russia, not even his heroics will save Slovakia. That just might be the single greatest period of hockey I've ever seen a team play. Nothing could stop that.

I think we can safely define Halak as an elite or near-elite quality starting goalie by this point, eh? If the Habs trade him this season they need their heads examined.

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Sweden outshot Slovakia 29-14. It wasn't on Halak's back they beat Sweden, it was simply an unbelievably lucky (or terrible goaltending performance by Lundqvist) game for the team in general. They scored 3 goals in the second period on a whopping 4 shots.

Slovakia is toast against Canada if they can't do better than that. I assume they will do a bit better, but they have to do a LOT better.

I'm thinking a 5-1 Canada win.

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I don't know if I'd take too much from this game. Nabokov was terrible and the game could have had a very different complexion had the coaching staff lifted him after the 1st period. Shocking that they waited so long. Canada definitely played well, but those two quick goals to start the second period killed them.

Boyle should be suspended for the semi-final game. His retaliation was asinine.

I'd take a lot from that game (and the one against the Germans). We showed more chemistry in those two games then we have all tournament. Our slackers picked it up. Getz, Perry, Niedermayer. All playing exceptionally better. They're finally playing with their size. Luongo has been a much stronger presence in goal, two of those goals yesterday I can't hold against him because he had about 80 people in front of him. It was like Bryzgalov said, the Canadians came like gorillas out of a cage.

Nabokov wasn't the only one that didn't play well. Where was Malkin? Where was Ovechkin? Where was Kovalchuk? The Nash-Toews-Richards line made them all invisible. Russian fans have a lot of people they're spreading the blame to. The Russians straight up didn't want it and the result wouldn't of been any different with Tretiak in net. Even Bykov never adapted to what Babcock was doing. Not pulling the goalie is part of Russian philosophy but one they're really gonna have to look at going forward.

You're wrong here. I've seen many NHLers saying that the gold medal equal to winning the Cup and a few have said that winning Gold was the highlight of their careers. They could've had 2 weeks off but they all wanted to be on this team.

Agreed. To assume NHLers care less is ridiculous. Sakic considers his gold medal his biggest career moment because it was something he did for his country. Plenty of players want Gold more then a Cup. Because your country>>>your team. Case in point is all the players threatening to leave for the Olympics in 2014, whether theres a deal or not. Ovechkin and Malkin have gone public but word behind the scenes is a lot of players from Canada and the US are talking about it as well.

Personally, I think Finland is better then the US but I also want a rematch. So I can go either way on that game. Slovakia is the one team I've always kind of rooted for even though I try not to care about the other teams so seeing them pull off a couple upsets is pretty cool. Sweden beat themselves more then anything though. With the way we've played against Germany and Russia though, I think we'll just be too much for the Slovaks.

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I'm not worried at all about Halak. If Canada brings the same level of offense than against Russia, NO GOALIE in this world can stop them. At least 5 of the 7 goals were highlights reel.

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It only took a near loss to the Swiss and a loss to the USA to awaken their pride. I won't dispute that there are obviously players who really value the Olympic experience and representing their country. I think there are also guys out there playing in the NHL mainly for the money and are only in the Olympics because they would get crucified if they declined the invitation. I just think compared to 30 years ago, players have less pride these days. Can you imagine today's players going up against the Soviets from the Summit Series?

Edited by Fanpuck33
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i want Halak to look great, in a losing cause. The danger is that team Canada will take this too lightly and end up in a game like Switzerland. The key to these games is to come out just like the first period of the Russia game, and take the other team right out of it.

The Slovaks are not a bad team, they have very solid goaltending and some quality players. If you sit back, you will suddenly find yourself in a uphill battle and a hot goalie.

As for the US, I would rather the Fins get Silver, the Slovaks get bronze, and the USA make like the maple leafs and keep counting the years....

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How about those KHL'ers? Radulov was irrelevant last night. Morozov couldn't connect on a one timer. Korneev was suspect. Could it be the KHL is a less player committed league thus leading to skills getting rusty? I wonder if not taking Kovalev was a mistake. I guarantee Russian fans will be upset that Kovalev didn't go. In Russia Kovalev is more popular than Bure.

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Here's where you and I disagree, Brobin. As much as I like Halak for the Habs, I want him to have a terrible game tomorrow. I would be happy with a 10-0 result.

In hell it is freezing, it must be, Jack and I agree on something ^_^

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I hope Halak has two straight SO's now to win the Gold for Slovakia and then we trade him for something totally OBAR at the deadline and we turn into a top 5 monster team for the next 20 years. I can dream cant I? Sweden already broke the other one.

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Wow.. Americans get a gift again.. Brodeur, then the right angle bounce, now Kipper... easiest path to the gold medal game in decades.

I don't think the Americans are that great, but any decent team getting this kind of gift is now on a role and brimming with confidence, which makes them very dangerous. If the Canadians (or Slovaks I guess) give up an easy goal to start the gold medal game, the Americans will win it all.

Thanks for nothing Finland.

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In hell it is freezing, it must be, Jack and I agree on something ^_^

We agree on something else Bar... we both want the Habs and Team Canada to do well. We just disagree on what it's gonna take for that to happen.

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