Vancouver Olympics, 2010

[PreSage]

Originally Posted by Wervy

But lord, the pouting and general poor attitude of the usa team certanly cheapend it. They got silver and they should of been thankful for that, not stand there looking like they were some children sent to time out.

That was also the expression on the US women's team when they lost to Canada. But I will give them the sympathy that they do have a very good reason to be pouty considering how close they were to winning. Being undefeated throughout the entire Olympic and find that they ended up with silver, yeah, that has got to really hurt. I'm sure they were quite certain they'd get gold this time with how well they were playing (which was really well) and their track record going into the gold medal match.

It was an awesome game USA - you guys were a worthy opponent.

[solomon]

Surprisingly, a lot of people watched the final hockey match in the US. 17.6 rating which is basically a very highly rated NFL regular season match. Freaking stanley cups cant even get a 7th of that number. Naturally, Gary Bettman will fail to capitilze on this.

[Dilla]

Originally Posted by Wervy

I really enjoyed the closing and the last hockey game.

But lord, the pouting and general poor attitude of the usa team certanly cheapend it. They got silver and they should of been thankful for that, not stand there looking like they were some children sent to time out.

Poor attitude? How is being openly disappointed after coming so close to Gold a poor attitude? Did they refuse to shake the Canadians' hands or something?

They just had their hearts ripped out in OT. They probably are thankful of Silver, but they wouldn't be satisfied after coming so close, nor should they be.

Edit: This may be the last shot for some of them, there is already talk of the Americans that play in the NHL not going to Russia in four years.

[Vexx]

Not very patriotic of the NHL .... course I wasn't much thrilled with the league not giving the players some break to be at the Olympic ceremonies either.

[PreSage]

Originally Posted by Vexx

Not very patriotic of the NHL .... course I wasn't much thrilled with the league not giving the players some break to be at the Olympic ceremonies either.

The NHL were actually debating in a press conference of pulling all their players out of the Olympics, saying that they are losing money by having to stall for two weeks because most of the good players are away. They demand a piece of the money the Olympics take in or they are pulling out completely - of course, they say this after saying that (and I quote): "This isn't about money". Ovechkin (sorry, if I spelled it wrong) declared that he will fight for his Russia and if the NHL say no, he says "goodbye" to the NHL (or so he declares). I'm sure a lot of the good foreign players will not be quiet about the matter if the NHL really go through with their threat. Stupid, money mongering NHL...it's a reason why I don't watch them and only watch Olympic hockey.

On another note, the IOC is threatening to pull the Women's Hockey competition out of the Olympic saying that it isn't competitive enough (and also that the behaviour of the winning Canadian women like drinking beer is so un-womenly-like). WTF?! Sexist aren't we IOC?!

So there are a number of uncertain things that threaten the 2014 hockey for both men and women. Damn bureaucracy...

[Karlson]

http://washingtontimes.com/news/2010...hl-head-sochi/

Obviously the 17.6 ratings in the US seems like an obvious benefit in terms of the games' exposure and one would be crazy not to jump on this, but part of the theory on why that number is so high is because they were hosted in Canada and thus the time zone was accessable to Americans. This will not be the case in Sochi, Russia and thus the NHL is kind of in a bind.

Nothing is set in stone at this point, but Bettman has actually given some very good reasons as to why they havn't made up their minds yet. We have to remember the NHL is a business first and foremost (and one that is struggling), and thus it always comes down to profit. We're anime fans after all, so the topic of business is not unfamiliar to us given the state the anime market is in right now.

[Theowne]

Speaking of ratings:

80% of Canadians watched the Gold-medal game at some point.

1 out of every 2 Canadians watched the entire game.

Wow.

[qwertyuiopz]

omg the canadian artists were embarrassing...nickelback & avril LOL

[Vexx]

Well.. as an USA-ian, *I* wasn't terribly iimpressed with the very obvious pouting by both the men's and women's US teams. My coaches would have ripped us a new one if we'd acted like that in the sports I play. I got the impression they were going to take their medals home to use for target practice :P

[Triple_R]

Originally Posted by Vexx

Well.. as an USA-ian, *I* wasn't terribly iimpressed with the very obvious pouting by both the men's and women's US teams. My coaches would have ripped us a new one if we'd acted like that in the sports I play. I got the impression they were going to take their medals home to use for target practice :P

I didn't mind it with the women, since in women's hockey Canada and the USA are far and away above every other nation, and hence it's only a question of "silver or gold?" for those two teams, barring a complete disaster for one or the other.

But getting a silver in men's hockey is a real accomplishment. There's 8 or 9 strong nations in men's hockey, and hence coming out of that with a silver medal is something to be proud of. Honestly, if not for Canada's ability to set a new gold medal-winning record yesterday, I would have been content with Canada's men's hockey team getting silver. Not thrilled, but content.


On the NHL in the Olympics... while I get the arguments against it, I really hope that the NHL continues to send its players to future winter Olympics. I'll admit that part of this is selfish. Team Canada has no shot of winning a medal if it's top 300 or so hockey players can't be on the team since they're playing in the NHL at the time. Of course, this would handicap other teams as well, but probably not to the same degree (many great European players, like Jaromir Jagr and Sergei Fedorov, play in Europe these days).

Also, you can only get hockey as good as Team Canada vs. Team USA was yesterday if the NHL is there.

[PreSage]

Originally Posted by Theowne

Speaking of ratings:

80% of Canadians watched the Gold-medal game at some point.

1 out of every 2 Canadians watched the entire game.

Wow.

I don't think any television broadcast can ever break that type of rating or gather crowds of such proportion in the street at every possible television screen available in almost all large cities across the nation...nope, don't think I'll ever see such a spectacular spectacle again...anywhere in the world, even. All comes to show how we Canadians love our hockey and our national team. (that's why they knew better not to lose...>D)

Funny though, one of the commentators said (in a slightly frightened voice) what type of a reaction the nation would let out should our team had loss instead of won. For my health, I don't even want to ponder in that direction.

Originally Posted by Triple_R

On the NHL in the Olympics... while I get the arguments against it, I really hope that the NHL continues to send its players to future winter Olympics. I'll admit that part of this is selfish. Team Canada has no shot of winning a medal if it's top 300 or so hockey players can't be on the team since they're playing in the NHL at the time. Of course, this would handicap other teams as well, but probably not to the same degree (many great European players, like Jaromir Jagr and Sergei Fedorov, play in Europe these days).

Also, you can only get hockey as good as Team Canada vs. Team USA was yesterday if the NHL is there.

If the NHL decides to remove their players from the Olympics, I predict most of the medals for many years afterwards to fall in European hands...maybe the NHL should think about that before they decide, hmm?

[Kaioshin Sama]

Originally Posted by Vexx

Well.. as an USA-ian, *I* wasn't terribly iimpressed with the very obvious pouting by both the men's and women's US teams. My coaches would have ripped us a new one if we'd acted like that in the sports I play. I got the impression they were going to take their medals home to use for target practice :P

Maybe it has something to do with the fact that as good and dominant as the U.S is at most sports and as much as they seem to revel in it that they still can't crack Canada in a lot of the tournament style events when it comes to the winter games. It's got to be tough as well to watch your team catch up right at the end and think that they've got all the momentum in the world on their side only for the other team to come back out onto the ice and still be all over them before setting up a clincher that even they admit they didn't see or even plan on.

As for the women's team....that's the 3rd time in a row that they've lost to Wickenheiser and her crew. Getting the same result no matter how much you try to catch up has to be pretty frustrating as well, but to have it end in a shut out after dominating every other team must be like getting shot straight through the heart. I'm not saying I think either the men's or women's team had a good attitude about it all, but I can sort of understand what's going through their minds and how it might even be a little embarassing since it's the "super power" United States best team.

[Theowne]

Originally Posted by PreSage

I don't think any television broadcast can ever break that type of rating or gather crowds of such proportion in the street at every possible television screen available in almost all large cities across the nation...nope, don't think I'll ever see such a spectacular spectacle again...anywhere in the world, even. All comes to show how we Canadians love our hockey and our national team. (that's why they knew better not to lose...>D)

The more I look at it, the more I'm taken aback by that number. 80%. When you think of all the different segments of society, the fact that nearly everyone came together to watch that Olympic finale....I guess we're lucky to have seen what is obviously going to be a defining moment for years to come.

Of course, we still had to have a politician facepalm moment to bring us back to Earth.

[Cosmic Eagle]

Originally Posted by Theowne

The more I look at it, the more I'm taken aback by that number. 80%. When you think of all the different segments of society, the fact that nearly everyone came together to watch that Olympic finale....I guess we're lucky to have seen what is obviously going to be a defining moment for years to come.

I don't know about you, but to me, the modern Olympics is one of the best things humanity has ever conceived. The chance for athletes to have that one special crowning moment of glory on the world stage whether they win or not. It's something athlete and spectator alike will remember for the rest of their lives.

[jsieczkar]

The NHL players will be there in 2014, NBC will not be willing to risk losing one of the two money sports that the winter Olympics has, the other being figure skating. NBC will put more regular season NHL games on NBC and show more promos for games on vs (same owner for both networks now). The NHLPA will make a few small Concessions in the new CBA, I would guess that players injured in the games will not be payed till they are healthy and playing again. The NHL board of governors have no real reason to let the players go otherwise, historically the high TV rates for the games have not translated higher TV ratings nor ticket sales. The average American will forget who Crosby and Miller are for the next three years, then rediscover them in the lead up to the 2104 games.

[Hari Michiru]

I miss the Olympics already; the politicians are back to bashing each other. Turned on the TV on Monday and switched to CTV before realizing that the games were actually over...

I guess I'll wait for the next curling tournament.

[Cosmic Eagle]

If it helps, the Worlds Figure Skating championships in Torino are in 18 days

[C.A.]

I can't wait to see more of Queen Yuna.

[Nerroth]

The Paralympics will be on soon, too.

Here's hoping Team Canada will win the sledge hockey gold!

[Hari Michiru]

Originally Posted by Nerroth

The Paralympics will be on soon, too.

Here's hoping Team Canada will win the sledge hockey gold!

Yup!

Can't wait, since I'm performing.