The XXII Olympic Winter Games - Sochi 2014

Crosby finally scores -- first one from an Eastern Conference player. Canada has given up 3 goals all tournament, and the Swedes now need 3 in one period to win it.

Of course, we all remember that a 2-0 lead in a Gold Medal game isn't all it's cracked up to be.

Ev wrote:Game over

#CANvsUSA women's Gold Medal game.

Crosby saves his best for the BIG GAME. Need another then I'll feel good.

No team was even close to Canada. Well so much for mine and other peoples big ice argument lol.

CanadaFTW.

Karlsson named best D man... probably appropriate because the Swedes wouldn't be anywhere near the finals today without him considering all their injuries.

He really didn't do all that much aside from PP work and taking point shots. I thought a Canadian should have been named the best d-man since they were the best defensive team by far.

Hopefully Karlsson is fired up for the stretch.

Canada's team didn't have 1 dominate player so no s*it they didn't get any real votes... they won the thing that mattered though. Individually Karlsson was probably the best D man in the tourny, you could say Doughty as well and you wouldn't be wrong but tough not to go with with tournaments leading scorer.

Rask was easily the best goaltender though.
Best forward...? Not even sure but Kessel was tied for the tounry lead so w/e.
MVP being Salanee? Not sure I agree either.

meh.

Flo The Action wrote:meh.

next time cheer for the country that gave you the chance to be posting on this forum

so apparently Backstrom didn't play because of migraines... right before they discovered banned substances in his body. which was anti alergy medication. I thought the majority of players were high on that stuff.

Flo The Action wrote:so apparently Backstrom didn't play because of migraines... right before they discovered banned substances in his body. which was anti alergy medication. I thought the majority of players were high on that stuff.

I think it was Benadryl(which makes you drowsy) so I can't fathom why any athlete would take that stuff. Besides I thought they're supposed to be informed on what banned substances not to take?

Price can now return to sucking... thank you.

Frankly I thought EK was one of the worst players on the ice today, although I only saw the second and third periods. Didn't skate well at all. But over-all he had a great tournament and nobody was gonna do anything against that Canadian forecheck.

I'd like to see him be cooler under pressure, but it took Alfie a while too so there's definitely hope for him yet. He has to learn better defensive positioning while skating backwards in terms of closing players out as they try to enter the zone. He seemed so focused on not getting burned that he consistently gave forwards enough space to enter the zone and skate around the net and out the other side.

asq2 wrote:Frankly I thought EK was one of the worst players on the ice today, although I only saw the second and third periods. Didn't skate well at all. But over-all he had a great tournament and nobody was gonna do anything against that Canadian forecheck.

I'd like to see him be cooler under pressure, but it took Alfie a while too so there's definitely hope for him yet. He has to learn better defensive positioning while skating backwards in terms of closing players out as they try to enter the zone. He seemed so focused on not getting burned that he consistently gave forwards enough space to enter the zone and skate around the net and out the other side.

Here's the thing... Sweden didn't have the puck at all. He was fine without the puck which is always a good thing and fact of the matter is there wasn't a whole lot he can do without anyone else on the ice going. I thought Karlsson was fine all things considered, not a whole lot he was going to do individually to change that outcome.

No I agree it wouldn't have made a difference in the outcome but it would have been nice to see him try to take it a little more to the Canadians. He played a very cautious game which meant he wasn't on the ice for any GA but he was looked upon to be one of Sweden's offensive galvanizers. Anyway Canada's team game was pretty much insurmountable.

I do think it's a real weakness in his game that he gives forwards enough space to players to enter the zone and set up a cycle so frequently. He could learn a lot from Nicklas Kronwall about positioning.

It's obvious to everyone that Karlsson is an insane talent, but hopefully he takes this as motivation and wake-up call that he can be more.

Yeah, I'm hoping this motivates him to take it to the next level down the stretch this season. Also hoping Bobby Ryan gets fired up... and intense... heh heh.

I don't have an issue with the way Karlsson gives guys space because he's quick enough to take it away before the forwards even know it. Also, he's not going to really be able to win the physical battles that Kronwall can win either simply because of his size.

Karlsson is best described as a sneeky D man without the puck, yah he makes his mistakes and sometimes gets caught out of position but he can also cause a turn over and before the other team knows they don't have the puck anymore Karlsson is at center ice.

All in all I like the way he plays the position based on how he generally plays the game. I don't expect a guy like Cowen to turn and go and I don't expect Karlsson to take away time and space and get physical. Lots of different ways to play that position and it drives me nuts how some people have a cookie cutter idea of how a D man should play.

Defense is a position that 2 players on a team play at any given time while on the ice, it isn't a description of what they should be doing.