Olympic Game Day: Canada vs. United States 7:40PM EST. SUN. Feb 21, 2010

I still wouldnt have taken Stamkos. I think leaving St Louis off the team was a mistake from the very begining, he could very well be the best Canadian player outside of Crosby in The NHL.

Cap'n Clutch wrote:
Why not go with the formerly lethal combo of Nash, Getzlaf and Heatley?

I think they would if the entire SJ team wasn't on Team Canada and if Nash didn't have such good chemistry with Crosby (although I think Crosby can make it work with whatever card is dealt to him).

Michallica wrote:

Cap'n Clutch wrote:
Why not go with the formerly lethal combo of Nash, Getzlaf and Heatley?

I think they would if the entire SJ team wasn't on Team Canada and if Nash didn't have such good chemistry with Crosby (although I think Crosby can make it work with whatever card is dealt to him).

Good point except that what they're doing clearly isn't working right? Babcock may like that Marleau, Heatley, Thronton line but Canada isn't likely to win a Medal never mind a gold if he sticks with that. Here's hoping the SJ coaching don't realize that either and suffer an early playoff exit.

Cap'n Clutch wrote:

Michallica wrote:

Cap'n Clutch wrote:
Why not go with the formerly lethal combo of Nash, Getzlaf and Heatley?

I think they would if the entire SJ team wasn't on Team Canada and if Nash didn't have such good chemistry with Crosby (although I think Crosby can make it work with whatever card is dealt to him).

Good point except that what they're doing clearly isn't working right? Babcock may like that Marleau, Heatley, Thronton line but Canada isn't likely to win a Medal never mind a gold if he sticks with that. Here's hoping the SJ coaching don't realize that either and suffer an early playoff exit.

I would love nothing more...except the Sens beating them in the finals

Defi agree, that SJ line should be broken up. Shift Marleau and Heatley up to 1st/2nd lines, or put Marleau on the 4th line. He's gritty enough to be a checker.

N4L wrote:I still wouldnt have taken Stamkos. I think leaving St Louis off the team was a mistake from the very begining, he could very well be the best Canadian player outside of Crosby in The NHL.

Why not Stamkos?

Stamkos has slowed down and he isnt a guy that I would count on right now, hasnt shown he can be counted on.

There are better options then Stamkos for sure, I get leaving him off. St Louis... not so much. Again, you can 100% make an arguement for him being the best Canadian hockey player next to Crosby.

Everyone knows how I feel about St.Louis being left off this team. I have no idea what Yzerman was thinking. No small forwards?

SpezDispenser wrote:Everyone knows how I feel about St.Louis being left off this team. I have no idea what Yzerman was thinking. No small forwards?

Nope.

I wish the pros were not in this at all. I long for the days when we had the juniors playing. It was far more compelling in the past. I guess it is just me.

BTW I have not liked the make-up of the team from day 1. I was all for Green, St.Louis and Lecavalier. All of whom would be helping out in areas that are lacking. That said goaltending was the difference last night and I would have picked the same goalies.

You could argue the choices made with the roster. It wouldn't have made any difference since Brodeur sucks, I swear he was drunk in nets last night.

N4L wrote:Stamkos has slowed down and he isnt a guy that I would count on right now, hasnt shown he can be counted on.

There are better options then Stamkos for sure, I get leaving him off. St Louis... not so much. Again, you can 100% make an arguement for him being the best Canadian hockey player next to Crosby.

Slowed down?

He's still producing over a ppg since the new year. St.Louis over him is understandable because he's a winger, and freakishly fast one.

But to discount Stamkos is crazy, the guy had a bit of slump period in December but has been smoking people since.

The guy is amazingly dependable, and 7th in the league for points, one back of St.Louis.

There is no way you can convince me that St Louis isnt the biggest reason Stamkos is playing the way he is.

As for slowing down, he has since the begning of they year. He isnt playing poor, he's playing very well, but he isnt on that insane pace he was. St Louis makes that lightning team go along with Vinny and Stmakos. There is no question in my mind who the best player on that team is and I love Vinny.

MurderOnIce wrote:I wish the pros were not in this at all. I long for the days when we had the juniors playing. It was far more compelling in the past. I guess it is just me.

BTW I have not liked the make-up of the team from day 1. I was all for Green, St.Louis and Lecavalier. All of whom would be helping out in areas that are lacking. That said goaltending was the difference last night and I would have picked the same goalies.

I def wouldnt have started Brodeur, like I said before it started he hasnt done a thing in the past 5, 6 years.

Small forwards are working quite well for the US. They are way too fast and such a young team. The US will only be much more competitive in 4 years and 8 years and so on.

Canada should have passed the torch so to speak to the young guys, the ones that will be carrying the Canadian flag for the next 12 years. Guys like Toews, Stamkos, Doughty with guys like Nash, Carter, Richards, Weber, Seabrook, Keith, Green, possibly even Phaneuf and Bouwmeester. Probably should have had Vinny in there too.

Eventually we can hopefully look to Tavares and Duchene.

I think we all agree, Brodeur should not be in nets anymore. Stick with Luongo and Fluery, and guys like Ward and Mason in the next few years.

The USA will also have Schneider in nets likely behind Miller and Quick, in 4 years.

Plain and simple, Canada got outplayed, outworked, out hustled.

I didn't think we were outplayed, we were taking to the US for most of the game.

Brodeur letting in stupid goals had us demoralized by mid-3rd period. We were shelling Miller for most of the game.

Stupid goalie + stupid penalties were the two big faults.

I'm not too worried about this team if Brodeur sits in the pressbox for the rest of the games.

AS much as the team was playing better yesterday, still the same problems, who is the leader? Nobody's asking on Team Finland or the Czech "who are we following here?"

Another problem is, with 13 forwards, it's a total mess in there. Sometimes I don't know who's playing with who. Should have done like the other teams IMO. 12 forwards, 8 defensemen. Then you can take Mike Green as a PP specialist, and most importantly roll 4 lines consistently.

Sweden shutting out Finland and the US beating Canada makes this tournament real interesting.
Brodeur seems pissed off all the time. Plus he's letting in goals that probably should be stopped.
Coming into the tournament I expected the US to finish 3rd (behind the Swiss) in their grouping, win one of the games in the single eliminations and be done. USA Hockey finally has me intrigued, excited and proud, a feeling Canadians always have had. There are finally guys on the team I can cheer for like Backes, the Johnsons, Kessel and Kesler. Dinosaurs like Hatcher, Roenick, Modano, Leetch are finally gone. It also seems like they have finally found a legitimate goalie, something they haven't had since Richter. I don't think they will be able to win gold this tournament (I think a good shot at medaling), but I think with the aging teams like Finland and Sweden, they will definitely contend for gold in 4 years (as long as NHLers are still allowed to play).
I still think the Canadians will win. There only real competitor is Sweden. Finland and Russia are talented but I don't think they have what the Canadians and Swedes have.

Martin is "avenging" the loss to Team USA by slaughtering the Americans in their curling match 7-2.