Official Olympic hockey thread

[Johnnydollaz89]

Russia will not win gold as long as kovalchuk is on their team book it

Looks pretty good. Had some filthy SO moves against us, but didn't help them win

 

[dash]

Russia will not win gold as long as kovalchuk is on their team book it

I'll back that horse (lol)

 

[forty_three]

I think they need to go all-in for Finland if they even want a crack at the US.

I totally misunderstood the bracket. Russia's path to Gold is beat Finland first. Then beat whoever the winner is between Slovenia and Sweden (presumably Sweden) and then the Gold Game against (again, presumably) US or Canada.

Gotta go back with Bob against Finland and then see what happens. I thought they got US next if they beat Finland.

 

[forty_three]

https://www.huuto.net/kauppa/olympiajopot

Finland is auctioning off the bikes their athletes have been running around Sochi on to benefit a children's hospital.

I might just try to get one. Shame Jarmo doesn't have one.


I think I'm gonna be passing on Teemu's, though.

 

[dash]

Why do I think I'd get hurt riding the Sami Salo bike?

 

[dash]

Also, I could see many rides to McDonald's on the Olli Jokinen bike for the Number 1 Big Mac meal

 

[Judge Fudge]

Canada vs Latvia.


Ez pass to the next round

 

[dash]

OV needs to buy his sticks at Cyclone Taylor's right Matty?

Dmitry Chesnokov‏@dchesnokov20m

Q: You haven't scored in a few games. Ovechkin: My sticks keep breaking. They will get fixed. I'll get it done when it matters.

 

[mattola]

OV needs to buy his sticks at Cyclone Taylor's right Matty?

Dmitry Chesnokov‏@dchesnokov20m

Q: You haven't scored in a few games. Ovechkin: My sticks keep breaking. They will get fixed. I'll get it done when it matters.

guaranteed goal with a stick from Cyclone Taylor's ...

 

[dash]

Just throwing this out there while we're waiting...Anybody think that the OT winner that Doughty scored on Rask was a weak goal? I mean, I can just imagine the grief that Luongo or Price would have received if they would have given up that OT winner? I wasn't even that crazy about the first goal that Rask gave up to Doughty on the PP (great shot by Drew, but I also thought Rask was down a little early and it was on the short side).

Or am I totally out to lunch with this?

 

[DragonfromTO]

Just throwing this out there while we're waiting...Anybody think that the OT winner that Doughty scored on Rask was a weak goal? I mean, I can just imagine the grief that Luongo or Price would have received if they would have given up that OT winner? I wasn't even that crazy about the first goal that Rask gave up to Doughty on the PP (great shot by Drew, but I also thought Rask was down a little early and it was on the short side).

Or am I totally out to lunch with this?

No, it was definitely weak. I was talking to my mother the next day about Doughty and how people tend not to acknowledge luck and randomness and actually said the same thing, that both were shots that Rask would probably like to have back. I think the reality is that 3 of his 4 goals were on the soft side and if they don't go in, media praise for him is probably greatly reduced even though he's played great regardless. But most of the guys who write about the game don't have the analytical chops to do much more than just look at the boxscores and see who is (or isn't) getting the points.

 

[Cobiemonster]

Just throwing this out there while we're waiting...Anybody think that the OT winner that Doughty scored on Rask was a weak goal? I mean, I can just imagine the grief that Luongo or Price would have received if they would have given up that OT winner? I wasn't even that crazy about the first goal that Rask gave up to Doughty on the PP (great shot by Drew, but I also thought Rask was down a little early and it was on the short side).

Or am I totally out to lunch with this?

Tuukka has given up a lot of weak goals this season

 

[DragonfromTO]

Tuukka has given up a lot of weak goals this season

Yeah but I'll take a .928 SV% whether the goals are good or bad

 

[Cobiemonster]

Yeah but I'll take a .928 SV% whether the goals are good or bad

The point is, he might be really good throughout the course of the game but if he gives up a bad goal at a bad time it's going to hurt - you just don't know with him when he's going to give it up - it seems like this season you know he's going to let a bad one in at some point - I don't know if it's a mental issue with him or what but he's given up a lot of soft goals and Bruins fans will agree

 

[elocomotive]

Dumb quote of the day...

The 2018 Winter Games will be in Pyeongchang, South Korea, and no one knows if NHL players will be there.

"None of this moves forward, if it moves forward at all, is if the players don't want to play," Bettman said. "If the players ever said, we're not interested, we're not going to force them to go."

Is he honestly that out of touch? Does he honestly think people take seriously a statement that ridiculous? What a fucking moron.

 

[Darkstone42]

Dumb quote of the day...



Is he honestly that out of touch? Does he honestly think people take seriously a statement that ridiculous? What a fucking moron.

Even if the superstars decide they don't want to go, there would be so many other players chomping at the bit for the opportunity.

And I would try out, too.

But I can't skate, so it likely would end poorly.

 

[DragonfromTO]

The point is, he might be really good throughout the course of the game but if he gives up a bad goal at a bad time it's going to hurt - you just don't know with him when he's going to give it up - it seems like this season you know he's going to let a bad one in at some point - I don't know if it's a mental issue with him or what but he's given up a lot of soft goals and Bruins fans will agree

Why does it really matter if the goals are "bad" or "good" though? The point is that his SV% suggests that he must be stopping so many pucks that "should" be good goals that they more than offset any bad goals that he's allowing. Think of a center fielder... wouldn't you rather have the guy that consistently gets to a lot of hits and turns them into outs but occasionally drops an easy fly ball than the guy who never drops an easy one but allows a lot more hits to drop?

 

[Darkstone42]

Why does it really matter if the goals are "bad" or "good" though? The point is that his SV% suggests that he must be stopping so many pucks that "should" be good goals that they more than offset any bad goals that he's allowing. Think of a center fielder... wouldn't you rather have the guy that consistently gets to a lot of hits and turns them into outs but occasionally drops an easy fly ball than the guy who never drops an easy one but allows a lot more hits to drop?

I feel the same way about this. I understand the idea of bad goals and what they do to the team, but when you're robbing the other team of golden opportunities regularly, especially when you're doing that more often than you've been allowing the bad ones, it more than offsets the negative effect.

Ultimately, I don't think Finland even pushes that game to overtime for Rask to have a chance to give up that soft one if not for Rask's play, for example.

 

[DragonfromTO]

I feel the same way about this. I understand the idea of bad goals and what they do to the team, but when you're robbing the other team of golden opportunities regularly, especially when you're doing that more often than you've been allowing the bad ones, it more than offsets the negative effect.

Ultimately, I don't think Finland even pushes that game to overtime for Rask to have a chance to give up that soft one if not for Rask's play, for example.

Yep exactly. How often shots get by him is more important than how he looks when shots do get by him.

 

[Vadered]

Okay, we need to talk about Kane before this game today.

Why does he keep trying to dangle through three guys? Why does he keep turning the puck over even when he's not trying to dangle through three guys? It seems to me that he's just trying too hard to do it all on his own, whether it's the three guys thing or trying to make the perfect pass.

He's had two good plays that I can recall - the assist on the goal against Russia and breaking in alone on Bobrovsky near the end of that same game (he didn't score but he took a credible 5-hole attempt). He also had two assists in the massacre that was Slovakia, but I don't know if what he's brought to the team so far has made up for the large number what-the-hell-were-you-thinking moments he's had.