Men's Olympic Hockey Starts Today

Again there's speculation that Finland lost the game on purpose to get a better opponent in the second playoff game. In case you didn't know, if Finland would have won the game, we would have played against Russia or Canada in the game after the next one. With a loss while keeping the goal difference less than 7 goals, we'll probably get USA, which has traditionally been easier to beat. The current path for Finland looks like: Czech Republic -> USA -> Final :p With a win, it would have been Swizerland/Belarus -> Russia/Canada -> Final.
 
dang work. Missed all of this!
watched a cracking game in guildford last night though .
 
Again there's speculation that Finland lost the game on purpose to get a better opponent in the first playoff. Czech Republic or Latvia will be "a bit" easier opponents than USA or Canada :lol: In case you didn't know, if Finland would have won the game, we would have played against USA or Canada next. With a loss while keeping the goal difference less than 7 goals, we'll get Czech or Latvia ;)

Yep, saw the headlines... I don't think that theory holds water, but then again, quite a lot of people were surprised at Lahti '01 too :p

I watched the game on radio as I was at work, and the commentator had abandoned all hope 30 minutes into the game. :lol:
 
That was a damned great game - had me on the edge of my seat the entire way. I could not believe we scored 41 seconds into it, but we needed something like that, it really set a tone. After that I was not surprised that Team Canada dominated large parts of the game, but Miller was having an A+ effort in the nets and the American defense played a much better game than their previous efforts - they were playing disciplined most of the way through, really cutting down the mismatch chances.

Brodeur made some great saves himself, but he also seemed to make some great blunders with the handling of the puck. I suppose the right thing to do is to play home town boy Loungo here on out as Brodeur just does not seem to have it going yet and times a wasting, but who knows what Babcock will do.

So now I'm waiting to see the seeding going forward - I'm positive that Canada is still in the mix, it's just a tougher road, but I'm also sure that Team USA is not quite the underdogs they have played themselves up as - they have talent and riding a hot goaltender can steal you a short tournament.

GO TEAM USA!!!!!
 
Again there's speculation that Finland lost the game on purpose to get a better opponent in the second playoff game. In case you didn't know, if Finland would have won the game, we would have played against Russia or Canada in the game after the next one. With a loss while keeping the goal difference less than 7 goals, we'll probably get USA, which has traditionally been easier to beat. The current path for Finland looks like: Czech Republic -> USA -> Final :p With a win, it would have been Swizerland/Belarus -> Russia/Canada -> Final.

Sounds more like a bad excuse... :D
 
I seem to remember similar doubts (losing on purpose) after Sweden lost to Finland a couple of years ago... :p

Yeah kinda reminded me, and on the news then Finland swore that they would never do something like that... :lol:

Anyways I look forward to the rest of the tournament, all teams are fucking awesome this year. It could be anyone getting the gold this time.
 
Yeah kinda reminded me, and on the news then Finland swore that they would never do something like that... :lol:

Anyways I look forward to the rest of the tournament, all teams are fucking awesome this year. It could be anyone getting the gold this time.

Yep, the rest of the games will definitely be interesting to watch. :cool:
 
I'll bring the popcorn. This is shaping up to be a great final run at this years tournament.

Woman's Gold Medal game - USA vs. Canada on Thursday - I'll be watching that one as well; I just wish they allowed checking in the woman's tournament.

GO TEAM USA!!!!
 
So - here we are in the elimination games. Team USA vs. Switzerland, Canada vs. Russia, Finland vs. Czech Republic vs. Finland, and Sweden vs. Slovakia.

I'm happy that the USA is playing the Swiss in this round as I think Team Canada has a much harder route to the gold medal game, as for the other games I guess it's a little bit of a crap shoot, but that's mostly because I don't know much about them.

So what do you all think the final 4 will be? I'm thinking it will be Team USA, Canada, Czech Republic, and Sweden.

GO TEAM USA!!!!
 
So what do you all think the final 4 will be? I'm thinking it will be Team USA, Canada, Czech Republic, and Sweden.

GO TEAM USA!!!!

I actually don't think Canada will go through this round.
My last four: USA, Russia, Finland and Sweden

I'm hoping for Sweden-Finland final. Those games are always fun to watch and there is alot of prestige in them. :kickass:
 
I actually don't think Canada will go through this round.
My last four: USA, Russia, Finland and Sweden

I'm hoping for Sweden-Finland final. Those games are always fun to watch and there is alot of prestige in them. :kickass:

I don't like it, but I have to agree. ;)

USA seem to have young(?) and hungry team and I think they will do well. Russians are a skillful bunch and are always dangerous. Swedes always get their stuff together and play as a team and with good spirit. Finland... If we can hold our shit together and forget all the pressure to do well and can play as a coherent unit, then anything is possible.

That said, my guess is that the final will be USA-Russia and Finland-Sweden will play for the bronze.

But as it often has happened, I might be talking out of my ass here. :p
 
First period in the books of the Team USA vs. Switzerland game and so far Jonas Hiller has been great in goal for the Swiss. 18 shots to 4 for Team USA. No score at the start of period 2.
 
Holy crap! I woke up a while ago and turned the tv on, RUS-CAN 7-3 when 5 minutes was left of 2nd period. :lol:

I think I'll revise my prediction above: USA-CAN for the final, FIN-SWE for bronze.

No to make some breakfast and prepare for the Finns play the Czech. :cool: