Official "USA is going to win the gold in hockey" thread

[notyou2]

Mens field hockey team in kilts
1. Ethiopia
2. Australia
3. Kenya
4. England
5. Scotland
6. Chile
7. Belarus
8. Azerbaijan
9. Mongolia
10. Easter Island
11. Colombia
12. Isle of Wight

You put Jersey ahead of Guernsey????????

[Gillipig]

I've only seen Sweden's game but I like what I saw from their play. The Bohemian Republic wasn't at their best though so you can't make too much of it.


1. Russia
2. Sweden
3. Canada
4. Finland
5. USA
6. Jagr's Republic (Republic of Jagr?)
7. Slovakia
8. Switzerland
The rest...

[iAmCaffeine]

Mens field hockey team in kilts
1. Ethiopia
2. Australia
3. Kenya
4. England
5. Scotland
6. Chile
7. Belarus
8. Azerbaijan
9. Mongolia
10. Easter Island
11. Colombia
12. Isle of Wight

You put Jersey ahead of Guernsey????????

No, that would be ridiculous.

[Army of GOD]

Canada looks like crap so far

[denominator]

This year all 12 teams go to the playoffs, so you are correct.

Here's the part I don't understand: do the bottom 8 teams play relegation games to determine the order from 5-12, or are they simply ranked based on the standings from the round robin?

Canada put in a rather weak first period against Norway. They are refusing to adapt to the big ice.

[Army of GOD]

This year all 12 teams go to the playoffs, so you are correct.

Here's the part I don't understand: do the bottom 8 teams play relegation games to determine the order from 5-12, or are they simply ranked based on the standings from the round robin?

Canada put in a rather weak first period against Norway. They are refusing to adapt to the big ice.

Its all based on the preliminaries. There's a set of tiebreakers which will define the first round.

[Serbia]

USA was downright dominate against a good Slovakia team. Russia was sluggish, but came on in the 3rd. Canada... wow. Still, tough to judge either Russia or Canada after one game against bad competition. Finland routed Austria, but gotta hope Selanne isn't hurt badly.

Bollocks.

[notyou2]

USA was downright dominate against a good Slovakia team. Russia was sluggish, but came on in the 3rd. Canada... wow. Still, tough to judge either Russia or Canada after one game against bad competition. Finland routed Austria, but gotta hope Selanne isn't hurt badly.

Bollocks.

It seems Canada does poorly the first game every Olympics. Perhaps they are sandbagging.

[denominator]

USA was downright dominate against a good Slovakia team. Russia was sluggish, but came on in the 3rd. Canada... wow. Still, tough to judge either Russia or Canada after one game against bad competition. Finland routed Austria, but gotta hope Selanne isn't hurt badly.

Bollocks.

It seems Canada does poorly the first game every Olympics. Perhaps they are sandbagging.

Canadian players always seem to struggle transitioning to the larger ice. The teams that have done well so far (Sweden, Russian, USA) have done a great job of using the points and perimeters, while Canada was continually trying to force a play up the middle. In the third, you could see they started having more patience and using the points better, which opened up the ice.

I'm curious if the schedule is intentionally skewed so that all the powerhouse teams got an easy matchup in their first game (USA didn't play Russia, Canada didn't play Finland) or if it's just a lucky schedule.

[Serbia]

Sweden did draw the Czech Republic, so maybe not intentional.

Bollocks.

[DoomYoshi]

1. Ethiopia
2. Australia
3. Kenya
4. England
5. Scotland
6. Chile
7. Belarus
8. Azerbaijan
9. Mongolia
10. Easter Island
11. Colombia
12. Isle of Wight

Australia is ranked 23rd, Great Britain 18th, Belarus is 14th, Mongolia is 46th (out of 48th). The rest do not have hockey teams in contention.

[iAmCaffeine]

[notyou2]

You been Yoshi'd.

[Serbia]

Zetterberg is done for the tournament, Kronwall the new captain. Zatta probably needs back surgery. He was out back in December with a bad back. Doubtful the Olympics caused this injury; sounds like he'd have been out by now had he been playing for Detroit too.

Bollocks.

[DoomYoshi]

That sucks.

[Gillipig]

Zetterberg is done for the tournament, Kronwall the new captain. Zatta probably needs back surgery. He was out back in December with a bad back. Doubtful the Olympics caused this injury; sounds like he'd have been out by now had he been playing for Detroit too.

Bollocks.

This sucks but I wouldn't blame the Swedes poor showing against the Swiss to be a result of that. I was surprised Z got the nod as captain, thought someone more experienced would be named. Alfredsson in particular, was very surprised when they choose someone who has never been captain (Kronwall) over someone who has been captain for over ten years (Alfredsson) now that Z was out. It's almost like Per Mårts (the coach) doesn't have confidence in Alfredsson's leader ability. Well Alfredsson showed that he at least he can still play today, scored the only goal of the game. Was also nice to see Lundqvist get the shutout.

[DoomYoshi]

Zetterberg is done for the tournament, Kronwall the new captain. Zatta probably needs back surgery. He was out back in December with a bad back. Doubtful the Olympics caused this injury; sounds like he'd have been out by now had he been playing for Detroit too.

Bollocks.

This sucks but I wouldn't blame the Swedes poor showing against the Swiss to be a result of that. I was surprised Z got the nod as captain, thought someone more experienced would be named. Alfredsson in particular, was very surprised when they choose someone who has never been captain (Kronwall) over someone who has been captain for over ten years (Alfredsson) now that Z was out. It's almost like Per Mårts (the coach) doesn't have confidence in Alfredsson's leader ability. Well Alfredsson showed that he at least he can still play today, scored the only goal of the game. Was also nice to see Lundqvist get the shutout.

Now that he has left Ottawa, he is no longer captain material.

[notyou2]

Zetterberg is done for the tournament, Kronwall the new captain. Zatta probably needs back surgery. He was out back in December with a bad back. Doubtful the Olympics caused this injury; sounds like he'd have been out by now had he been playing for Detroit too.

Bollocks.

This sucks but I wouldn't blame the Swedes poor showing against the Swiss to be a result of that. I was surprised Z got the nod as captain, thought someone more experienced would be named. Alfredsson in particular, was very surprised when they choose someone who has never been captain (Kronwall) over someone who has been captain for over ten years (Alfredsson) now that Z was out. It's almost like Per Mårts (the coach) doesn't have confidence in Alfredsson's leader ability. Well Alfredsson showed that he at least he can still play today, scored the only goal of the game. Was also nice to see Lundqvist get the shutout.

I understood the players of the team chose the captain, not the coach.

[Army of GOD]

Zetterberg is done for the tournament, Kronwall the new captain. Zatta probably needs back surgery. He was out back in December with a bad back. Doubtful the Olympics caused this injury; sounds like he'd have been out by now had he been playing for Detroit too.

Bollocks.

This sucks but I wouldn't blame the Swedes poor showing against the Swiss to be a result of that. I was surprised Z got the nod as captain, thought someone more experienced would be named. Alfredsson in particular, was very surprised when they choose someone who has never been captain (Kronwall) over someone who has been captain for over ten years (Alfredsson) now that Z was out. It's almost like Per Mårts (the coach) doesn't have confidence in Alfredsson's leader ability. Well Alfredsson showed that he at least he can still play today, scored the only goal of the game. Was also nice to see Lundqvist get the shutout.

I'd rather take Zetterberg than Alfredsson as captain.

Anyway, I've always hated people that complain that players should put their domestic league team before international team. International competition is always more important in my opinion and it's just disappointing that Zetterberg got injured.

[Serbia]

Zetterberg is not inexperienced as a captain. Less experienced than Alfredsson, but he's well qualified. I was surprised that Kronwall was selected now, but I guess that's shows how highly thought of he is amongst his teammates. I'm also not sure that Sweden's "poor showing" against Switzerland was because they played poorly as much as it is that the Swiss are a good defensive team.

Anyone getting up early tomorrow to watch USA vs. Russia? I will be.

Bollocks.

[Army of GOD]

Zetterberg is not inexperienced as a captain. Less experienced than Alfredsson, but he's well qualified. I was surprised that Kronwall was selected now, but I guess that's shows how highly thought of he is amongst his teammates. I'm also not sure that Sweden's "poor showing" against Switzerland was because they played poorly as much as it is that the Swiss are a good defensive team.

Anyone getting up early tomorrow to watch USA vs. Russia? I will be.

Bollocks.

Ugh. Too early. I'll watch it like 12.

[NoSurvivors]

Canada is going to wipe the floor with the USA in the finals...

[Serbia]

Canada is going to wipe the floor with the USA in the finals...

I'd be more concerned with getting by Finland than worrying about a gold medal.

Bollocks.

[NoSurvivors]

Canada is going to wipe the floor with the USA in the finals...

I'd be more concerned with getting by Finland than worrying about a gold medal.

Bollocks.

[oVo]

Anyone getting up early tomorrow to watch USA vs. Russia?

I'm stuck with network television and they've surrendered the team sports to ESPN.