Hockey 2008

[cert. murse aphex]

Switzerland!

Finns What Ruottttttttttto did to Jagr was godawful and Finland of course gained from it. And the Swedish ref really did a weird decision there.

[Stefan Koubek Fashion Guru]

Great performance by the Swedish womens team.

[cert. murse aphex]

Sweden beat USA 2-1.
Sweden almost scored in boxplay 3 against 5!!! That would've been sweet. ;D
Lundqvist the goalie was awesome! USA looked kind of sluggish. Late nights at the bar as always?

And what's up with Finland? Doing a Sweden à la Salt Lake City?

What are the QF match ups? Are they 1 vs. 4, 2 vs. 3, cross matching between the groups? In that case, is a Sweden vs. Canada QF in the cards?

[Lee]

Bye bye team Canada!

[Lee]

I taped the game but have no intention to watch it *rolleyes*

[cert. murse aphex]

lee said:

Bye bye team Canada!

Aren't they qualified for the QFs already? Don't worry, they just need 24 hours to sober up after partying the first week like the North American teams always do when in Europe. ;D

[Lee]

aphex said:

lee said:

Bye bye team Canada!

Aren't they qualified for the QFs already? Don't worry, they just need 24 hours to sober up after partying the first week like the North American teams always do when in Europe. ;D

Yes, they are qualified but unless the players make a 180° turn around, I can't see the team in semi. It's a shame that one of the best players I saw is Shane Doan, where many Canadians are screaming he shouldn't be on the team. Running into hot goalies is not excuse for getting shutout in 120 minutes. Poor referee is not excuse for heading to penalty box or not getting power play. The team was outplayed, outwork, out whatever by Swiss and Finns and that's a shame.

[Vera]

I watched part of the US/Sweden and most of the Canada/Finland games today. Interestingly, it seems that both North American teams have the same problem, they play an individual game. I really don't think it's a problem of them not trying hard, in fact, in the Canadians case, I think they tried very hard, just that it seems they don't really have a good game plan and they were only know to just try to do things on their own to try to put a goal in. I guess that's the problem with the coaching staffs then, they need to create some team chemistry. I mean, really, there's no excuse, bcos the European teams have their players coming from the NHL too, so I don't see other teams have more chance to practice together much before the tournament starts. And the Canadians' D is really weak, which is quite hard to understand.

Anyways, I hope the Canadians can beat the Czechs and get the 2nd seeds, just to get some momentum. But facing either the Russians or the Swedes will both be a tough task.

[Lee]

vera said:

I watched part of the US/Sweden and most of the Canada/Finland games today. Interestingly, it seems that both North American teams have the same problem, they play an individual game. I really don't think it's a problem of them not trying hard, in fact, in the Canadians case, I think they tried very hard, just that it seems they don't really have a good game plan and they were only know to just try to do things on their own to try to put a goal in. I guess that's the problem with the coaching staffs then, they need to create some team chemistry. I mean, really, there's no excuse, bcos the European teams have their players coming from the NHL too, so I don't see other teams have more chance to practice together much before the tournament starts. And the Canadians' D is really weak, which is quite hard to understand.

Because 2 out of the original Dmen are out and those remaining, some are not 100%? And MaCabe is a BIG mistake?

btw, I did watch the 2nd half of 2nd period and 3rd period of Canada vs Finland. And according to the commentators, Canada was playing better than before and that's really scary for me.

Anyways, I hope the Canadians can beat the Czechs and get the 2nd seeds, just to get some momentum. But facing either the Russians or the Swedes will both be a tough task.

I don't see Switzerland losing to Italy so the best Canada can do is 3rd place, IMO.

[Vera]

Oh, so they can't be 2nd, well, that sucks. I haven't figure out how the tiebreaker works yet. I guess if Canada and Switzerland both won 3 games, then Canada will lose bcos they lost to the Swiss? Anyway, doesn't matter. I guess the momentum is more important than the standing. They were SO in consecutive games, they needs to score and a win over the Czechs is badly needed.

And for our Dmen, surely, losing Scott Niedermayer and Jovo are big loss. But don't we have enough talents around to fill their shoes. Okay, maybe McCabe is a bad choice, he's just back from a bad injury not too long again. And Blake isn't too healthy neither. Still, the others need to step up. The Finns Dmen aren't exactly household names neither, I don't think losing Jovo and Niedermayer should be an excuse.