Olympics Thread
- Thread starter EagerBeaver
- Start date
Interesting that U.S. & Canadian Women's Hockey is scheduled for final. Need I ask this board which one they think will win? Will the U.S. solve the Canadian offensive puzzle?
Not to take anything away from Phil but he peppered the Czech backup goalie.
It looks like Czech-MATE for the Republic right now.
My understanding is that the Canadian Team has a better coach. That gives them the edge, but don't expect me to be rooting for them.....LOL
The USA women have the edge in motivation plus they have a young superstar in 22 year old Amanda Kessel, the younger sister of Phil, who like her brother can score.
Canadian men nudged past Latvia 2-1 although they outshot them 54-13. It's USA-Canada in one semifinal, and Sweden-Finland in the other, featuring a Lundqvist vs. Rask goalie matchup.
The Americans have had an amazing run over Canada since the last Olympics. They are young, and very quick. Canada is mixed of young and veteran players who rely more on a system to succeed. Both teams are strong at the goaltending position and in their round-robin game, Canada's goalie played extremely well and was a main reason why they won. And a bit of luck.
While i'll be pulling for Canada and hope for a great game from Megan Augusta & Marie-Phillipe Poulin, i'm favoring the Americans to win the gold. It'll be a close game. Hopefully Canada head coach Kevin Dineen can once again outcoach his American counterpart.
Final shot total was actually 57-16. The Latvian goalie was once again unbelievable and appeared to be dehydrated as the third period went on. He faced a barrage of shots and he nearly did the impossible.
Friday's game is at noon & i predict it will be THE game of the tournament. I believe that Canada and the States are the two best teams in the entire tournament and it's too bad that the strange seeding arrangements made it impossible for both of these teams to face one another in the final. Each of those two teams deserves at least either a gold or silver medal. The loser of their game will likely wind up with the bronze.
Kevin Dineen was a star NHL player and coached the Florida Panthers last season and part of this one until getting fired a few months ago. Soon after, he took over as head coach of the women's hockey team for Hockey Canada. His NHL experience both as a player and coach served the team well in their last game against one another. His addition has given a different perspective to the women's hockey team.
The Americans are coached by Katie Stone. She coaches the Harvard team and is the winningest coach in NCAA women's hockey history. She is highly regarded as a coach, and she also happens to be the first-ever woman coach for US women's hockey.
The gold medal game will be Hayley Wickenheiser's final game. She has lead Canada to various championships over the years and is generally regarded as the greatest female hockey player ever. She even played in a men's professional hockey league in Sweden a few years back.
She's no longer the player she was once, but is still a very effective player and leader. My guess is that the team will use this as motivation in her next game and do everything they can to end her career on a high note.
On a different note, John Tavares left the game early and we've just learned that his Olympics are over. Knee injury. His spot will likely be taken by Matt Duchesne.
She's no longer the player she was once, but is still a very effective player and leader. My guess is that the team will use this as motivation in her next game and do everything they can to end her career on a high note.
On a different note, John Tavares left the game early and we've just learned that his Olympics are over. Knee injury. His spot will likely be taken by Matt Duchesne.
L
Lily from Montreal
That was a close call for the men's hockey of canada...Ouf...It would have been as much a disaster as it probably was yesterday when the Russia team lost...Of course Poutine is way more dangerous when angry that our politicians loll
These comments by Max Pacioretty summarize the attitude of the American team:
"It starts off the ice,'' Pacioretty said. "Everyone on this team realizes you have to play for the team and check your ego at the door. All of us are the top players on our team back home and you come here and you're asked to play different roles. You see everyone in the room, willing to go to the dirty areas, block shots, make hits. It's nice to see when you see a guy like Patty Kane backchecking as hard as he can across the ice. It kind of puts things in perspective.''
http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/winter/2014/icehockey/men/recap?gameId=1221
"It starts off the ice,'' Pacioretty said. "Everyone on this team realizes you have to play for the team and check your ego at the door. All of us are the top players on our team back home and you come here and you're asked to play different roles. You see everyone in the room, willing to go to the dirty areas, block shots, make hits. It's nice to see when you see a guy like Patty Kane backchecking as hard as he can across the ice. It kind of puts things in perspective.''
http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/winter/2014/icehockey/men/recap?gameId=1221
USA Leading Close Medals Race
http://espn.go.com/olympics/winter/2014/medals
USA 23
Russia 22
Netherlands 22
Norway 21
Canada 18
http://espn.go.com/olympics/winter/2014/medals
USA 23
Russia 22
Netherlands 22
Norway 21
Canada 18
Yeeeeooooow BOYZ,
Silje Norendal (center) - Norway Snowboarding -
Julia Mancuso- U.S. Downhill Skiing
Ekaterina Stolyarova - Russia Freestyle Skiing
Tina Maze - Slovenia Alpine Skiing
Kiira Korpi - Finland Figure Skating
Alexandra Saitova - Russia Curling I bet you guys will watch this sport NOW!
Ashley Wagner - U.S. Figure Skating
Enjoy,
Merlot
Silje Norendal (center) - Norway Snowboarding -
Julia Mancuso- U.S. Downhill Skiing
Ekaterina Stolyarova - Russia Freestyle Skiing
Tina Maze - Slovenia Alpine Skiing
Kiira Korpi - Finland Figure Skating
Alexandra Saitova - Russia Curling I bet you guys will watch this sport NOW!
Ashley Wagner - U.S. Figure Skating
Enjoy,
Merlot
This is shaping up to be quite a match, possibly better than the Men's Final.... Still give CAD the edge because of experience, but I'll be rooting for the U.S.
0-0 after one period in the women's final.
USA's two top players (Hillary Knight & Kelly Stack) have been impressive. Meghan Bozek has a booming shot from the point. Former NHL star Bobby Carpenter's daughter Alex looks very good also. Both teams failed to score in their various powerplays, but what saved Canada in those instances was their goalie, Szabatos, who's been great so far. She won gold in 2010 by shutting out the US and that's probably why coach Kevin Dineed chose her instead of Labonte.
Most dangerous players for Canada so far have been Marie-Phillipe Poulin & Meghan Agosta. Other than the US' top two players, their 'kid line' consisting Amanda Kessel & Brianna Decker has been very fast. This is Kessel's first Olympics and i can see her leading her team a few years from now if she remains healthy.
In other news, Canada's Jennifer Jones won gold in women's curling. She didn't lose a single match throughout the competition and Sweden was no match for the Canadians. Team Canada hockey coach Mike Babcock and Swedish star Daniel Sedin were in attendance.
I predict a gold for the men's curling team later on, but it will be a difficult match since the Brad Jacobs rink has been a bit inconsistent during the tournament.
Now off to period two!
USA's two top players (Hillary Knight & Kelly Stack) have been impressive. Meghan Bozek has a booming shot from the point. Former NHL star Bobby Carpenter's daughter Alex looks very good also. Both teams failed to score in their various powerplays, but what saved Canada in those instances was their goalie, Szabatos, who's been great so far. She won gold in 2010 by shutting out the US and that's probably why coach Kevin Dineed chose her instead of Labonte.
Most dangerous players for Canada so far have been Marie-Phillipe Poulin & Meghan Agosta. Other than the US' top two players, their 'kid line' consisting Amanda Kessel & Brianna Decker has been very fast. This is Kessel's first Olympics and i can see her leading her team a few years from now if she remains healthy.
In other news, Canada's Jennifer Jones won gold in women's curling. She didn't lose a single match throughout the competition and Sweden was no match for the Canadians. Team Canada hockey coach Mike Babcock and Swedish star Daniel Sedin were in attendance.
I predict a gold for the men's curling team later on, but it will be a difficult match since the Brad Jacobs rink has been a bit inconsistent during the tournament.
Now off to period two!
After two periods........
1-0 USA on a screen shot by Dugan. It was a very good second period and Canada took the play to the Americans. Both goaltenders have been great so far. Canada had their chances, including a 5-on-3 powerplay, but missed the net on many potential scoring chances.
I'm impressed by the Lamoureux twins. They play with fire & don't mind the rough-going. Their father was born & raised in Edmonton, Alberta before moving to North Dakota.
The third period should be an exciting one and i expect coach Dineen to start cutting his bench in order to improve Canada's chances of scoring a game-tying goal.
Several Canadian & American hockey stars in attendance for the game, including the likes of Phil Kessel, JVR, Kevin Shattenkirk, Paul Martin, Sidney Crosby, Patrick Sharp & Martin St-Louis.
1-0 USA on a screen shot by Dugan. It was a very good second period and Canada took the play to the Americans. Both goaltenders have been great so far. Canada had their chances, including a 5-on-3 powerplay, but missed the net on many potential scoring chances.
I'm impressed by the Lamoureux twins. They play with fire & don't mind the rough-going. Their father was born & raised in Edmonton, Alberta before moving to North Dakota.
The third period should be an exciting one and i expect coach Dineen to start cutting his bench in order to improve Canada's chances of scoring a game-tying goal.
Several Canadian & American hockey stars in attendance for the game, including the likes of Phil Kessel, JVR, Kevin Shattenkirk, Paul Martin, Sidney Crosby, Patrick Sharp & Martin St-Louis.
I watched some of the 2nd period and the Americans had to kill 2 penalties in a row at the end of the period, one for too many girls on the ice, which I don't understand how that was allowed to happen, and then a USA defenseman during the penalty kill knocked a Canadian forward who was trying to camp out in front of the goalie on her ass, but high sticked her pretty good while doing so.
The USA had blocked 13 shots with their bodies with about 5 minutes to go in the 2nd period, which is a probably more than the Russian men did in their whole tournament.
The USA had blocked 13 shots with their bodies with about 5 minutes to go in the 2nd period, which is a probably more than the Russian men did in their whole tournament.
Similar threads
