Canadas men hockey team

[Jaxson]

end of first, 3-0 canada over czech, i guess our boys have got their stuff together, lets hope they win the rest and make it to the gold medal game. 

 

[Guy. E]

 

[Bobbyoreo]

Just hope they can keep it up for the next game!!!

 

[Jaxson]

Final score 3-2 were in third place over all, i guess that means we still got a chance for gold.

 

[mo-litia]

We'll get the gold...

 

[FredDaHead]

We'll get the gold...

Hell no we won't.

 

[c.jacob]

The Women got it yesterday.

 

[043]

The Women got it yesterday.

Yes they did but really, if they hadn't been playing at the Olympics, would as many people have watched it? I mean, man, watching water boil or watching paint dry is just as exciting.

 

[Walrus]

I do not think we will get the gold unfortunatly. The problem is the boys went in feeling way to cocky and by the time they realized oh no we should smarten up they already lost 2 games.

 

[Pte_Martin]

I do not think we will get the gold unfortunatly. The problem is the boys went in feeling way to cocky and by the time they realized oh no we should smarten up they already lost 2 games.

It doesn't matter that they lost two games, it just means they are in third out of the round robin and they must win the rest of the games to get the gold it can be down as long as the start playing good

 

[Guy. E]

I think that allot of it has something to do with the fact that team Canada had only one or two practices together before actually playing.

Regardless of that, I think that all of of the other good hockey teams have players that have time in the NHL.

 

[Bobbyoreo]

I know they looked shaky...and yes they never had to much time together. I just hope they can pull it together for the next few. Good luck to them

 

[mo-litia]

Hell no we won't.

Damn...you were right.

Stoopid Russia... :crybaby:

 

[Unknown C/S]

Canadian Olympic mens hockey team lost and have nobody to blame but themselves. Reasons why they found themselves out classed

1. Pat Quinn, Jaques Martin, Ken Hitchcock. -Coach and his assistants: Returning from the 2002 gold medal squad

    a. Quinn, current coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs, somehow took team Canada and had them playing like the Leafs (sub 500 hockey) in 5 short days. (days numbered as Leafs bench boss.....you heard it here first, will be replaced by Paul Maurice

    b. Martin, fired last year as Ottawa's coach, and Hitchcock, fired as Dallas Coach, for some reason were the "backbone" of the team tactics????

    c. Wayne Gretzky gets himself tied up in a betting scandal that his wife took part in (to the tune of +$500,000). In conjunction with focusing his mind on, the death of his mother, the death of his grandmother and his Mrs spending money like an Arab shiek in the two months prior to the games....................he should have been replaced

    d. Todd Bertuzzi, on arrival in Turin, is handed a lawsuit for 19 million dollars for his attack on Steve Moore (2003-2004 season)................ taking his mind out of the game, he should never have been on the team

    e. More than one NHL all-star turned down the invitation  to attend - Yzerman, Niedermeyer, Lemieux.... did they know more than they're saying??? (see: a.)

    f. Players not taken or played: Stall, Crosby, Spezza, Phaneuf......... all young, and have the wheels. (It worked for the Russians - Ovechkin, Malkin........

    And finally a group of over paid "stars" that either could not or refused to play as a team. A complete embarrassment and a black eye for Canadian hockey. They should be made to pay for their flight home and reimburse hotel and meal expenses. Anyone else notice all the wives and kids made the trip???? what's that all about? ("Yes dear and after the castle tour we'll have dinner at that quaint restaurant, I just have a little hockey game to get out of the way. Some more chablis?")

    In conclusion too many background events running concurrently set in motion lapses in judgement by the personel running the show. They were not prepared and never were a "Team"
    Back to the drawing board...........................................

(I wonder how much Mrs Gretzky lost in the hockey pools?)

 

[condor888000]

    a. Quinn, current coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs, somehow took team Canada and had them playing like the Leafs (sub 500 hockey) in 5 short days. (days numbered as Leafs bench boss.....you heard it here first, will be replaced by Paul Maurice

No Quinn? Nice, though I will miss his rants.

    b. Martin, fired last year as Ottawa's coach, and Hitchcock, fired as Dallas Coach, for some reason were the "backbone" of the team tactics????

Martin is one of the best builders however, he got the Sens from nothing, to conference finalist, just couldn't go any further. Hitchcock is the coach of the Flyers, so not sure what you're talkinga about there.

    c. Wayne Gretzky gets himself tied up in a betting scandal that his wife took part in (to the tune of +$500,000). In conjunction with focusing his mind on, the death of his mother, the death of his grandmother and his Mrs spending money like an Arab shiek in the two months prior to the games....................he should have been replaced

Why? He did his job well despite all the above. If he felt he was alright to do it, who are we to say he shouldn't have?

    d. Todd Bertuzzi, on arrival in Turin, is handed a lawsuit for 19 million dollars for his attack on Steve Moore (2003-2004 season)................ taking his mind out of the game, he should never have been on the team

So abandon one of the better centre's that was willing to come back? I don't think so. What he did was a mistake, but that does not mean he should be kept off the team.

    e. More than one NHL all-star turned down the invitation  to attend - Yzerman, Niedermeyer, Lemieux.... did they know more than they're saying??? (see: a.)

Yzerman, injured a while back. Hasn't played as well. If he choses not to come, so be it, his choice. HE pulled from the 2004 Tournie becasue he wasn't healthy, he chose to do it again. Niedemeyer, good, but older, time to move on. Lemiuex, heart problems, enough said.

    f. Players not taken or played: Stall, Crosby, Spezza......... all young, and have the wheels.

All young, inexperienced, their time will come. Spezza was on the taxi squad after all.

    And finally a group of over paid "stars" that either could not or refused to play as a team. A complete embarrassment and a black eye for Canadian hockey. They should be made to pay for their flight home and reimburse hotel and meal expenses. Anyone else notice all the wives and kids made the trip???? what's that all about? ("Yes dear and after the castle tour we'll have dinner at that quaint restaurant, I just have a little hockey game to get out of the way. Some more chablis?")

So even though all were NHL players whose break started after the games began, who had 1 day in Canada to practice. They didn't click, oh well, I'm not that surprised, you need to play more toegether to get a feel for how each other plays.


It was a good team. They just didn't play well. We don't know why. So I suggest we stop reading more into it, when we don't know what was going on, indeed, we have no idea what was going on. So why are so many people back seat coaching and second guessing decisions that were made by people with far more game experience than they have?

 

[Armymedic]

Instead of all the scandal and analysis, we should admit that we are not the dominant hockey country in the world we all believe we are.

We need to know that our teams must not just show up, but perform and perform well as a team, to win.

 

[Unknown C/S]

Condor

Because they Lost

It was a level playing field. The other nations teams faced the same time constraints.
(I guess you just "forgot" that the other teams were also based on a composite makeup of nationals brought back from various leagues and countries, the majority of the players returned to their "home" county from the NHL) Blows the "our guys didn't have enough time together" theory out of the water, no?

If losing is acceptable to you so be it. You can have that team come back in 2010 so you get a warm fuzzy. After all it's about having fun.........isn't it? (watch too many Tim Horton commercials?)

That's your world. For the rest of us, let us openly criticize and discuss how to fix what's broke.

(Back up to 2002...........Out of those three coaches only Quinn is with the same team. According to your theory, I guess Dallas (Hitchock), and Ottawa (Martin) thought they should "spread around" the fine quality coaches and share the wealth with other teams  : Fact is they failed to get the job done there and were terminated.)

Being critical of substandard hockey is a cultural right in Canada

 

[condor888000]

It was a level playing field. The other nations teams faced the same time constraints.
(I guess you just "forgot" that the other teams were also based on a composite makeup of nationals brought back from various leagues and countries, the majority of the players returned to their "home" county from the NHL) Blows the "our guys didn't have enough time together" theory out of the water, no?

Given, but the majority of the other countries teams were not composed 100% of NHL'ers. The NHL's didn't have more time with the team per say, but the other players sure did. As well, as Team Canada got together in Southern Ontario, I was under the impression that they arrived 36 to 48 hours after the majority of other players that were coming in from North America. I wasn't clear and forgot about that little tidbit before. I understand what you're saying, but thats what I think.

If losing is acceptable to you so be it. You can have that team come back in 2010 so you get a warm fuzzy. After all it's about having fun.........isn't it? (watch too many Tim Horton commercials?)

By no means do I want the exact same team back in 2010. But, I'm saying that they should not be raked over the coals because they lost. Its unfortunate, but the world will continue turning.

That's your world. For the rest of us, let us openly criticize and discuss how to fix what's broke.

Ok, what precisely is broken? The fact that we grab a bunch of super stars, give them little time to adapt and then expect them to win against the best the rest of the world can offer? Sounds broken to me.

(Back up to 2002...........Out of those three coaches only Quinn is with the same team. According to your theory, I guess Dallas (Hitchock), and Ottawa (Martin) thought they should "spread around" the fine quality coaches and share the wealth with other teams  : Fact is they failed to get the job done there and were terminated.)

I was not aware that Hitchcock was with Dallas then. As for Martin.....like I said, hell of a team builder. Not much for going all the way though, hence why he is now in Florida building the Panthers and not in Ottawa trying to go all the way this year.

Being critical of substandard hockey is a cultural right in Canada

No arguments there, I just reffed a game that had 38 penalty minutes in a 32 minute game. That is a substandard game!

Team Canada  did play below what they should have, however, I'm not one to say gut the program. It has done well for us in the past, and I feel that it will likely do so again in the future.

I just don't like people who jump on these guys at every mistake. Were they bad? Hell yes. Could any other players from Canada have done better? We don't know. So I say, back off, and let them feel crappy enough without the public piling it on them.

 

[Unknown C/S]

I just don't like people who jump on these guys at every mistake. Were they bad? Hell yes. Could any other players from Canada have done better? We don't know. So I say, back off, and let them feel crappy enough without the public piling it on them.

No one is going to jump on the speedskater, snowboarder, downhill skier who, works at a normal job/goes to school eats kraft dinner and makes personel sacrifices to compete in the olympics.

On the other hand, a group of men who pull in a couple of million a year have exclusive access to trainers fitness coaches, team doctors, physio, and fast track/ no wait MRI CATSCAN ( jammed finger) sould be held accountable After all it is their full time proffession. The mens Hockey team arrived like the chosen ones and failed to deliver............
Coaching staff that continued to give media interviews and stated "we have to get them to buy into the team concept" They never did. (that is the coaches job......get them playing YOUR system. They failed to do this)
Sorry, this was a dismal failure. The end result indicated that; Gretzky should have stepped aside, Bertuzzi should not have been taken and the management did not come up with ateam that had the chemistry, and the coaching was not present.

 

[muskrat89]

It is interesting to me that the US men's team bombed out also. Is it safe to assume that these 2 teams had the most NHLers? Coincidence?

I have to wonder if a totally amateur team, like the "old days" would've had more desire....