Vancouver Olympics, 2010

[Kaioshin Sama]

Originally Posted by Theowne

Sadly, it looks like Canada's weekend of fail (tm) is going to come to a fitting finish.....

Pretty much. At least I'll pick 5 bucks up off of my dad out of it because I knew they were going to fall the fuck apart and made the bet with him cause I wanted something good to come out of this game. Good god though this really is one of their worst olympics ever. I don't know if it's the pressure or what but they simply are falling apart at an accelarated pace. I don't think I'm even going to bother watching the third period. Final prediction is either 4-2 or 5-2 USA.

It has nothing to do with the miracle on ice though and frankly there are no miracles going on here. Canada is playing better by far, it's just that Brodeur is sucking and Miller is on his game. Like Toskala showed if you have crap goaltending you can't win no matter how good the rest of your team is. For this reason I don't think it's entirely fair to blame the Canadian team, but I will anyway.

[Kaioshin Sama]

And once again betting against the home team on the choke factor is paying off as I just won the bet with my dad. I think we go against Russia next so I can supplement that with another $10 and make some supplemental income.

Also Germany is really catching up in the medals now, holy crap. I think it's time to root for Deutscheland cause they are winners.

[Isegrim]

Originally Posted by Kaioshin Sama

And once again betting against the home team on the choke factor is paying off as I just won the bet with my dad. I think we go against Russia next so I can supplement that with another $10 and make some supplemental income.

Canada has to qualify against Germany. 10$ on Krupp's boys, you're in ?

[Kaioshin Sama]

Originally Posted by Isegrim

Canada has to qualify against Germany. 10$ on Krupp's boys, you're in ?

Well if they really just want to take a break for four years they could just play Brodeur again. Honestly the U.S didn't really win the game, Brodeur lost it for Canada. Canada still outshot by a wide margin, it's just that Brodeur made a ton of terrible plays that killed it for Canada. It sucks that it took Babcock this long to clue in that Brodeur is a joke and should retire, but if Canada actually wants that gold medal they have to take the lesson from this and go with Luongo. Lets look at the simple facts here.

Brodeur: 7 goals against.

Luongo: 0 goals against.

Do the math or take a seat Canada. On second thought don't because I am overbudget and could use that 10 dollars. Anyway it's funny because the Canadians I am seeing on other boards all know what went wrong and how to potentially fix it while the Americans are screaming their heads off like they accomplished something and took down a giant when really all they did was take advantage of a terrible goalie and walk all over him. Miller was beaten 3 times and was playing incredibly amazing tonight, that should have been enough if it weren't for Brodeur thinking he was playing a baseball match and like he could just do whatever he felt like.

If it isn't obvious already I can't stress enough just how much Brodeur single handedly killed this game for Canada. I think he should have given me the money on the bet.

[JagdPanther]

Well that was unexpected.

I still expect Canada to win gold, though. I think they'll rebound. The US may choke coming off the high of the win, but even if they don't, and Canada and the US face each other again, I expect the Canadians to smash us.

Originally Posted by Kaioshin Sama

Also Germany is really catching up in the medals now, holy crap. I think it's time to root for Deutscheland cause they are winners.

So, basically you're rooting for the safest bet in the world. The Germans have dominated the Winter Olympics since the reunification. Since the reunification, the Germans have finished no lower than #3 in the medal count and have topped the medal count 3 times.

[Kaioshin Sama]

Originally Posted by JagdPanther

Well that was unexpected.

I still expect Canada to win gold, though. I think they'll rebound. The US may choke coming off the high of the win, but even if they don't, and Canada and the US face each other again, I expect the Canadians to smash us.

So, basically you're rooting for the safest bet in the world. The Germans have dominated the Winter Olympics since the reunification. Since the reunification, the Germans have finished no lower than #3 in the medal count and have topped the medal count 3 times.

We might rebound if they play Luongo...might. Let's do a little more math here. That opening flub goal that brought the U.S an early lead probably shouldn't have happened so take 1 away. That little game of tennis Brodeur played with Rafalski shouldn't have happened either so take 1 away. Finally that part where Brodeur flopped out in front of the net and gave the U.S an easy goal shouldn't have happened either so take 1 away. Take another one away for not pulling Brodeur and leaving the net open and the U.S has about 1 goal to Canada's 3 and Canada wins the game handedly.

Shots 45 to 23 for Canada, almost double and the game was still lost because of those 23 shots Brodeur let in 4. That's a save percentage of about 57.5% and you can never win any hockey games like that unless you incredibly lucky. Ron Wilson the American coach knows that better than anyone since he coached the Leafs during Toskala's era and frankly Toskala played 5 times better than Brodeur did tonight during his average game.

Canada's a good team and can still potentially win the Gold, but not if they play Brodeur and he plays like this the rest of the tournament.

[JagdPanther]

Canada's next Gold: Ice Dancing.

They're got such a disgusting lead right now. No one else has a chance unless the Canadians seriously screw up.

[Kaioshin Sama]

Originally Posted by JagdPanther

Canada's next Gold: Ice Dancing.

They're got such a disgusting lead right now. No one else has a chance unless the Canadians seriously screw up.

You're seriously wondering if Canada will somehow screw up?

[PreSage]

Canada vs US = 3 - 5

Well...this feels nostalgic...Canada losing badly in Olympic Hockey...Torino again, here we come...

When I saw them play in the first period, I quit watching right there because I knew they will lose - their gameplay was just as bad as during vs Swiss and during 2006 games. Unless they do a miracle dance and get their heads back on, they are now in perfect shape to kiss any chances of winning any medal goodbye. (and I'm not holding my breath for the miracle dance...*totally disappointed in the Canadian team these past few years*).

Who'd bet with me that they'll lose to Russia as well...

[JagdPanther]

Originally Posted by Kaioshin Sama

You're seriously wondering if Canada will somehow screw up?

Their chance to mess up was tonight and they turned in BY FAR the best performance of the field.

[Kaioshin Sama]

Originally Posted by PreSage

Canada vs US = 3 - 5

Well...this feels nostalgic...Canada losing badly in Olympic Hockey...Torino again, here we come...

When I saw them play in the first period, I quit watching right there because I knew they will lose - their gameplay was just as bad as during vs Swiss and during 2006 games. Unless they do a miracle dance and get their heads back on, they are now in perfect shape to kiss any chances of winning any medal goodbye. (and I'm not holding my breath for the miracle dance...*totally disappointed in the Canadian team these past few years*).

Who'd bet with me that they'll lose to Russia as well...

If they can make it past Russia I think they have a good shot at the title, but yeah I give it a good chance that it's Torino all over again since nothing is pointing to them beating the Russians. Canadian hockey is just too damn cocky and thinks that big name veterans like Brodeur and Niedermayer automatically mean they can win against younger hot goaltenders and fast teams of up and comers.

They don't play the odds, they play who is popular in Canada so they can work up the crowd and then everybody wonders why they lose games like these. Key example is that despite how Luongo had a shutout against Norway and Miller didn't and Brodeur barely held out against the swiss (who gave Miller a bit of a run too with one goal) in a shootout they still play Brodeur because Luongo is unpopular and Brodeur used to be the best goalie out there. Canadian hockey isn't bad, it's just stupid and disorganized and needs to get with the times and stop assuming that because it's "Canada's game" that they can play whoever and however they want in ways that won them games before the summit series and still have it work out for them in modern times.

By the way Miller isn't unbeatable like people keep saying either and frankly I don't think he is that amazing so much as consistent and at the level of an NHL goaltender. The constant attack strategy proved that he is beatable, but so far he hasn't had a shutout like Luongo.

Anyway I want to see Luongo played against Germany and if it's another shutout then I think it's fairly obvious who ought to get the start against Russia who will be a much tougher opponent then the very much beatable U.S.

Originally Posted by JagdPanther

Their chance to mess up was tonight and they turned in BY FAR the best performance of the field.

Still another day to blow it all.

[PreSage]

Originally Posted by Kaioshin Sama

If they can make it past Russia I think they have a good shot at the title, but yeah I give it a good chance that it's Torino all over again since nothing is pointing to them beating the Russians. Canadian hockey is just too damn cocky and thinks that big name veterans like Brodeur and Niedermayer automatically mean they can win against younger hot goaltenders and fast teams of up and comers.

They don't play the odds, they play who is popular in Canada so they can work up the crowd and then everybody wonders why they lose games like these. Key example is that despite how Luongo had a shutout against Norway and Miller didn't and Brodeur barely held out against the swiss (who gave Miller a bit of a run too with one goal) in a shootout they still play Brodeur because Luongo is unpopular and Brodeur used to be the best goalie out there. Canadian hockey isn't bad, it's just stupid and disorganized and needs to get with the times and stop assuming that because it's "Canada's game" that they can play whoever and however they want in ways that won them games before the summit series and still have it work out for them in modern times.

By the way Miller isn't unbeatable like people keep saying either and frankly I don't think he is that amazing so much as consistent and at the level of an NHL goaltender. The constant attack strategy proved that he is beatable, but so far he hasn't had a shutout like Luongo.

Anyway I want to see Luongo played against Germany and if it's another shutout then I think it's fairly obvious who ought to get the start against Russia who will be a much tougher opponent then the very much beatable U.S.



Still another day to blow it all.

I totally agree with you. Although Brodeur was good, he's getting older and his age may be a factor now. In sports, the young and fast (who are also good) will win. Canadian hockey are getting too cocky. They're just sitting back thinking we are always the best and not see that other countries have upped their level and are catching up really fast - if not already caught up. Hell, our loss in the junior world cup this year to the U.S. shows that we need to put an edge back in our game and not be so complacent.

I hear that they most likely will play Luongo in the Germany game - they'd be stupid if they still play Brodeur. Brodeur was good - he's legend - but the height of his game is nearly over. Sad but that's the fact of life.

But we can't blame it all on Brodeur. The rest of the team played very poorly. They were missing pucks, there weren't any clear strategies in their movements, and they just didn't seem to click together as one team. During the Norway game, I saw that they did click together as one team and began playing beautifully - so where the hell has that gone now?

...and here I thought the Swiss game was a wake-up call...looks like the Canadian hockey team was still snoozing...I wonder if they smelled the coffee now.

[Kaioshin Sama]

Originally Posted by PreSage

I totally agree with you. Although Brodeur was good, he's getting older and his age may be a factor now. In sports, the young and fast (who are also good) will win. Canadian hockey are getting too cocky. They're just sitting back thinking we are always the best and not see that other countries have upped their level and are catching up really fast - if not already caught up. Hell, our loss in the junior world cup this year to the U.S. shows that we need to put an edge back in our game and not be so complacent.

I hear that they most likely will play Luongo in the Germany game - they'd be stupid if they still play Brodeur. Brodeur was good - he's legend - but the height of his game is nearly over. Sad but that's the fact of life.

But we can't blame it all on Brodeur. The rest of the team played very poorly. They were missing pucks, there weren't any clear strategies in their movements, and they just didn't seem to click together as one team. During the Norway game, I saw that they did click together as one team and began playing beautifully - so where the hell has that gone now?

...and here I thought the Swiss game was a wake-up call...looks like the Canadian hockey team was still snoozing...I wonder if they smelled the coffee now.

The rest of the team other than Pronger played fantastic by keeping the pressure on the Americans and wearing down Miller who I still say didn't play nearly as good as Brodeur played like he wanted the U.S to win. He deserves credit, but he was still very beatable and Brodeur made him look a lot better than he was by comparison. You don't have to score every time in order to be a Gold Medal Olympic hockey team, you just have to score steadily and defend your goal, which Pronger and Niedermayer were also terrible at. The offense was more than enough to win the game, and even the crappy defence wasn't quite enough to lose it, but when you have a goalie bat the puck to a guy who is red hot it makes things a lot harder for the team because instead of dominating in the American end what they are really doing is playing keep up and trying to tie the game and thus what should be pressure against the Americans is really just the Canadians having to overwork themselves and make them all the more tired when the Americans decide to go on the attack. It also seemed like every time they would tie it up Brodeur would make a sloppy play, Pronger would barely help and then the American team which had several New Jersey players and who knew exactly how to play Brodeur would swoop in and get an easy goal.

Every time the puck got anywhere near the Canadian net I cringed and kept explaining to my family who were also watching the game that it was absolutely vital that the puck be kept away from Brodeur. In that sense the Canadians overplaying in the American end was a necessity. Finally a lot of people who know what they are talking about also agree that Luongo's butterfly style and not playing tennis with Rafalsky would have won Canada the game at the very least. I think if America's coaching staff truly is as smart as they seem they won't take too much confidence away from this and work on making life easier for Miller who again is not invincible like they are claiming, but handles himself well under pressure and knows how to keep the opposing team working for their goals.

Edit: Oh and the reason that Canada clicked in the Norway game is because they found the golden line of Crosby, Iginla and Nash, but didn't play it enough against the U.S or against Switzerland. It's annoying because no matter how obvious it gets that this is NOT Canada's game (arrogance is the ultimate clincher in most classic and even some modern tragedies and leads to greatness falling), but everybody's game and that EVERYBODY is a potential threat in a single elimination game they just seem to act like any combination will work and have no real strategy or eye for what needs to be done to maximize the teams offensive and defensive ability. It makes me doubt how serious Team Canada really is about winning gold this year. It's also too late to test the strategy that worked in dominating Norway now on a real team to see if it's a clincher because it's elimination time (tonights game would have been the time to try things, but Babcock for some reason just sat with the seem limp arrangements for the whole game), but I think they might as well at least try it. Play Luongo and the Crosby, Iginla, Nash line, pull Pronger and Niedemayer (who even my dad knows look like a dinosaur out there) and if that still doesn't get us past Russia then this team never really deserved gold anyway.

[0utf0xZer0]

Originally Posted by Hari Michiru

Wow, I wasn't the only thinking that XD...

Thanks you two. I had tickets for the original dance portion of this today and ended up thinking that for all three brother/sister pairs in the competition.

Still wondering why so many people booed the middling scores given to the one British pair at one point.

[Kaioshin Sama]

Unsurprisingly rather than think about the game, what actually happened and how to improve the American posters elsewhere are being absolute retards and trying to troll the Canadian posters because of one game that they won because Brodeur was in net. Better hope the American coaching staff isn't as retarded and watches the videos otherwise they aren't going to get very far in the rest of the tournament when they come up against a goalie who isn't middle aged.

Seriously it just amazes me how much of a trolling fuss the American posters can make out of one game though. Overcompensating for beating a terrible goaltender who was barely their much?

Just shows they have no clue about hockey whatsoever....

[Xellos]

Originally Posted by Kaioshin Sama

Unsurprisingly rather than think about the game, what actually happened and how to improve the American posters elsewhere are being absolute retards and trying to troll the Canadian posters because of one game that they won because Brodeur was in net. Better hope the American coaching staff isn't as retarded and watches the videos otherwise they aren't going to get very far in the rest of the tournament when they come up against a goalie who isn't middle aged.

Seriously it just amazes me how much of a trolling fuss the American posters can make out of one game though. Overcompensating for beating a terrible goaltender who was barely their much?

Just shows they have no clue about hockey whatsoever....

I am not sure which board or forum you are referring to, but trolling is probably the singular aim of those posters. It surprises me that you're amazed considering:

1. It's the internet. You should know the degradation of human behavior caused by anonymity well by now.
2. Americans as a whole don't care as much about hockey as Canadians do. A lot of them will just see this game as a chance to prod at our northern neighbors.

[Kaioshin Sama]

Originally Posted by Xellos

2. Americans as a whole don't care as much about hockey as Canadians do. A lot of them will just see this game as a chance to prod at our northern neighbors.

I got that much considering they seem completely oblivious as to the factors that made the game turn out the way it did.

Also after hearing about this I've finally had one choke to many. I think I'll take a by on the rest of the olympics and get back to watching some anime and playing some games I've been neglecting while following this trainwreck. I really just can't be bothered to care anymore as I watch our Olympic team put in a choke record that goes even beyond what I expected in my most negative of moods. This is a new low and the COC must be out of it's mind to still keep insisting we are on track to do well.

I think where it all went wrong is we just got to damn confident and put so much pressure on our athletes and smothered them so much that they can barely concentrate and are subconciously looking for a way out and therefore not at their best. I also feel that it's only going to continue to be like that through to the end of the games. It's a bad atmosphere and I admit I've gotten caught up in it too and ought to get out now before I get dragged down with it. I'm still proud of my country though and hope it takes some lessons from this and our reputation doesn't become too damaged.

Whatever happens at this point happens. It's ironic though that things had to hit rock bottom before I could finally be at peace with them and snap back to reality and out of this funk that I've been in this past week.

[Eisdrache]

Originally Posted by PreSage

Canada vs US = 3 - 5

Well...this feels nostalgic...Canada losing badly in Olympic Hockey...Torino again, here we come...

When I saw them play in the first period, I quit watching right there because I knew they will lose - their gameplay was just as bad as during vs Swiss and during 2006 games. Unless they do a miracle dance and get their heads back on, they are now in perfect shape to kiss any chances of winning any medal goodbye. (and I'm not holding my breath for the miracle dance...*totally disappointed in the Canadian team these past few years*).

Who'd bet with me that they'll lose to Russia as well...

Nonono, it's because Switzerland was that good



4th place even though we failed snowboard cross, cross country, figure skating and super-g ;_;

[james0246]

So who else here thinks the real "Miracle on Ice" for the Americans would be for their Men's Curling team to defeat the Canadian team (which is currently playing on one of the NBC stations)?

[Vexx]

For the last nearly two decades... I end up *loathing* NBC by the end of the Olympic coverage.