The Official GMHockey 2010 Winter Olympics Thread - All Talk Here!

N4L wrote:

PKC wrote:

N4L wrote:Great friggin game. Both those teams are going to be really tough to beat. For Russia "not being as good as people thought" they just won the toughest division by a mile.

I don't know if they won by a mile, they still lost to Slovakia. Either way, this is probably the most competitive Olympic hockey ever seen. There are so many teams with deep, competitive rosters, it really is anyone's tournament to win.

Absolutely, that's why Canada and The US have to get their Dung together quick because right now there are 4 or 5 teams that will beat them, doesnt matter where they finish. Canada could win that division tonight and still be in a lot of trouble.

Like I was saying earlier, The Russians, Czecks, Finns, and Swedes all have a core group of guys that never change and know each other as well as any team in The NHL knows each other, Canada and The States dont.

I don't think that's necessarily fair to say. What about:

Marleau - Thornton - Heatley - Boyle or Perry - Getzlaf - Niedermayer - Pronger

Those guys have played together for years now, Heatley being the exception and Pronger only 3/4 of a year removed from Anaheim.

Surround them with guys with elite levels of skill like Nash, Crosby, Iginla, Doughty, etc. who could excel playing with absolutely anybody and I think you have a team with the chemistry and skill to rival anyone.

PKC wrote:

N4L wrote:

PKC wrote:

N4L wrote:Great friggin game. Both those teams are going to be really tough to beat. For Russia "not being as good as people thought" they just won the toughest division by a mile.

I don't know if they won by a mile, they still lost to Slovakia. Either way, this is probably the most competitive Olympic hockey ever seen. There are so many teams with deep, competitive rosters, it really is anyone's tournament to win.

Absolutely, that's why Canada and The US have to get their Dung together quick because right now there are 4 or 5 teams that will beat them, doesnt matter where they finish. Canada could win that division tonight and still be in a lot of trouble.

Like I was saying earlier, The Russians, Czecks, Finns, and Swedes all have a core group of guys that never change and know each other as well as any team in The NHL knows each other, Canada and The States dont.

I don't think that's necessarily fair to say. What about:

Marleau - Thornton - Heatley - Boyle or Perry - Getzlaf - Niedermayer - Pronger

Those guys have played together for years now, Heatley being the exception and Pronger only 3/4 of a year removed from Anaheim.

Surround them with guys with elite levels of skill like Nash, Crosby, Iginla, Doughty, etc. who could excel playing with absolutely anybody and I think you have a team with the chemistry and skill to rival anyone.

It's not the same, there is a different feeling, a different attitude when you are talking about playing on a club team and playing for a national team. There attitudes towards winning a cup could be exactly the same and their attitudes towards winning a medal could be totally different.

Im just saying, those teams and the cores, some of been together for going on 10-15 years... Canada it's like 10-15 days. They are going to start building that core with the 04 WJC team but as long as those vets are there like Pronger, Heatley, so on, I dont see them being much more then a threat. Unless Crosby takes total control of that team I dont see them winning The Gold.

Put it this way, unless everyone in Canada and the world is saying "Crosby was the best player on that Canadian team" with 100% certainty, I dont see Canada winning. They wont win with Heatley, Marleau, and Thornton leading the way.

PKC wrote:

N4L wrote:Great friggin game. Both those teams are going to be really tough to beat. For Russia "not being as good as people thought" they just won the toughest division by a mile.

I don't know if they won by a mile, they still lost to Slovakia. Either way, this is probably the most competitive Olympic hockey ever seen. There are so many teams with deep, competitive rosters, it really is anyone's tournament to win.

I think he meant that the division was the toughest by a mile. They squeaked it out.

I think Canada is more likely to win in Russia then in Vancouver. The core Canada wants is still somewhat over shadowed by a lot of vets that are pretty selfish and disliked in a lot of places.

Who is the leader on team Canada? I dont think anyone can answer that.

Sweden, it's the vets. Finland it's the vets, Czech's it's the vets but more importantly those leaders are from the core of those teams currently. Russia is different because the leaders there are absolutely the youth and again, part of that teams core who as young as it is have been together for almost 3 years now with the spot work done by the vets.

This Canadian team is still thrown together and until Crosby, Toews, Weber, Doughty, Richards are the best players and the leaders, I dont think they have what it takes to win it all.

Wow, Canada has been sitting still so long that Russia is only 1 medal behind them. They only had 1 when we had 7. And France and Austria have both tied our total, while Korea pushed us into 5th. And Norway got one more today, so they are 4 ahead. We won't catch them even if we finish 1-2-3 in the women's 1500.

N4L wrote:I think Canada is more likely to win in Russia then in Vancouver. The core Canada wants is still somewhat over shadowed by a lot of vets that are pretty selfish and disliked in a lot of places.

Who is the leader on team Canada? I dont think anyone can answer that.

Sweden, it's the vets. Finland it's the vets, Czech's it's the vets but more importantly those leaders are from the core of those teams currently. Russia is different because the leaders there are absolutely the youth and again, part of that teams core who as young as it is have been together for almost 3 years now with the spot work done by the vets.

This Canadian team is still thrown together and until Crosby, Toews, Weber, Doughty, Richards are the best players and the leaders, I dont think they have what it takes to win it all.

that's usually what happens when you have a bunch of captains and superstars on one team. Everybody's looking at each other.

Exactly. Crosby, Captain. Richards, Iginla, Morrow, Niedamayer, Toews, Nash, Staal, Luongo, Captains. Pronger, Marleau, Thornton, have all been captains. Brosure might as well be one. Too many egos, too many leaders, not enough foot soilders and followers that the leaders need.

People say "Ill check my ego at the door" That's always been BS, you need ego to win and if they all do check their ego's at the door then that will hurt as well.

Mara is right, there is too much leadership.

aaa christine nesbitt up next with groves in 2nd place!!!!

sens4win wrote:aaa christine nesbitt up next with groves in 2nd place!!!!

Groves wins Silver, Nesbitt could only manage 6th. But the real disappointment is Schussler who is ranked 5th in the world ending up in 35th.

At least they got one though

Bramlet07 wrote:

sens4win wrote:aaa christine nesbitt up next with groves in 2nd place!!!!

Groves wins Silver, Nesbitt could only manage 6th. But the real disappointment is Schussler who is ranked 5th in the world ending up in 35th.

At least they got one though

ya still wouldnt been great nesbitt 1st who ever the other person was that game 1st and Groves in 3rd but lets not get greedy well done out there

One is good; not great, but good. Keeps us ahead of France and Austria.

wprager wrote:Wow, Canada has been sitting still so long that Russia is only 1 medal behind them. They only had 1 when we had 7. And France and Austria have both tied our total, while Korea pushed us into 5th. And Norway got one more today, so they are 4 ahead. We won't catch them even if we finish 1-2-3 in the women's 1500.

We still have 4 more medals potentially in hockey and curling. Not finishing ahead of Norway isn't the end of the world. They've won the most medals in Winter Olympic history, by a fairly good margin if memory serves.

It's time to stop comparing Canada to other nations now. It's quite clear that Owning the Podium isn't happening. Hell we may not even get on the damn podium(top 3 in total medals).

Leuders/Lumsden(wierd hes the breakman) got 5th in 2 man Bobsled. Which im assuming moves us into the lead of top 5 finishes...

Bramlet07 wrote:Leuders/Lumbden(wierd hes the breakman) got 5th in 2 man Bobsled. Which im assuming moves us into the lead of top 5 finishes...

Damn, and Leuders is about as experienced as it gets. This won't sit well with him.

You're right about the top 5's. I'd really be curious to see the numbers. Some people won't see this as progress for Team Canada on the whole though, they just see it as a massive failure.

Personally, even though we've had a few utter flops here, these games are still a resounding success. We are competitive it seems in so many disciplines, so I would say the Own the Podium program is a success.

Leuders has himself to blame for his first run, he made a ton of mistakes.

Gold medal alert......Virtue/Moir, just stomped thier competion in Figure Skating....Ice Dancing thing, apparently there is another skating event related to this field still to come, but they are way ahead now.

M_Christopher wrote:Gold medal alert......Virtue/Moir, just stomped thier competion in Figure Skating....Ice Dancing thing, apparently there is another skating event related to this field still to come, but they are way ahead now.

Pretty sad when they are the best Canadian team on the ice.

N4L wrote:

M_Christopher wrote:Gold medal alert......Virtue/Moir, just stomped thier competion in Figure Skating....Ice Dancing thing, apparently there is another skating event related to this field still to come, but they are way ahead now.

Pretty sad when they are the best Canadian team on the ice.

ZING!

Wait...whats wrong with the womens hockey team?