Tough 24 hrs for USA Hockey

[Johnnydollaz89]

I'm happy that we have a chance to win a medal at all. Upset we lost our chance at Gold, but to come from the 2010 Olympics where we earned the Silver in a hard fought game and now another 1 goal loss the brothers up North today, and a chance to win Bronze. The US, like Dash and 43 said, have taken major strides in becoming very good and competitive in this sport. I couldn't be any prouder than I am of my boys in the red white and blue and going out their and competing for our country.

Our time will come, it's just not right now. But I've enjoyed this ride and look forward to tomorrow's game and hope we leave with another medal.

 

[pixburgher66]

I really couldn't care less about the Women's Tournament. The IIHF should pull the plug on Women's Hockey in the Olympics. There are only two teams who are competitive in the sport. I just don't see any reason why it should be continued. When Team USA outshoots Sweden 70-9 in a semi-final game there's a problem with the competition.

I have a very big problem with that sentiment. Women's sports are at a heavy disadvantage in every damn way. Women get very little opportunity to play professionally, and those pro leagues that do exist are deemed a joke. WNBA is the butt of TONS of jokes, even though it's arguably the most successful pro league for women (and no, I don't enjoy watching that). When the IOC took out softball all they did was HURT the development of the sport. The final year before they removed it the US lost to Japan. Girls have a very visible ceiling...college. There are tons of elite female athletes out there not performing because they have no stage. You CAN NOT TAKE THAT AWAY. The women's game is highly entertaining, and games like the gold medal game from this year will do tons to help advance it in other countries as well as the US. Fact of the matter is, kids need to watch it and think "Man, I gotta do that!" Taking that stage away kills the sport completely for girls, and that's just wrong.

 

[Tacoma_canuck]

. And hopefully they also come to realize that finishing third in a tournament with this level of competition is in no way a failure. That's the problem in America, only first is acceptable and you have to humiliate the opponent in the process. We don't need those kinds of fans.

I think patriotism is great and we all should strive to be the best at whatever sport or any other thing we do. But I do take issue with those fans that cannot except anything less and treat it as a failure. What that does is translates to what we saw in the Bronze medal game today. It also teaches our kids that giving up is okay if we can't have it all. Honestly, it would be great to draw more fans in the US market because of success on the biggest international stage, but if winning Gold is the only reason they come over to the game, they will not last anyway. They will give up and jump ship at the first sign of adversity. I also don't believe those fickle fans would support an NHL franchise all that much anyway. The professional teams are very much international.

 

[DaBoltsNIsles]

I have a very big problem with that sentiment. Women's sports are at a heavy disadvantage in every damn way. Women get very little opportunity to play professionally, and those pro leagues that do exist are deemed a joke. WNBA is the butt of TONS of jokes, even though it's arguably the most successful pro league for women (and no, I don't enjoy watching that). When the IOC took out softball all they did was HURT the development of the sport. The final year before they removed it the US lost to Japan. Girls have a very visible ceiling...college. There are tons of elite female athletes out there not performing because they have no stage. You CAN NOT TAKE THAT AWAY. The women's game is highly entertaining, and games like the gold medal game from this year will do tons to help advance it in other countries as well as the US. Fact of the matter is, kids need to watch it and think "Man, I gotta do that!" Taking that stage away kills the sport completely for girls, and that's just wrong.

First of all the WNBA is a bad example. Most of those players make a lot more money overseas than they do at home. Sorry I just don't think there are enough countries who have good hockey teams. What's the point of having a tournament when you know who's going to meet in the Gold Medal game before it even begins? Like I said earlier Team USA outshot Sweden 70-9 in a semi-final game. Sorry, but that's not a game, it's an embarrassment. I give a lot of credit to Sweden's goalie. She is obviously the best player in her country. Unfortunately the rest of the team simply isn't good enough. It's not an entertaining game when you feel sorry for one of the teams because they simply don't measure up.

 

[DaBoltsNIsles]

Baseball was cancelled because MLB wouldn't halt the season, meaning no stars went. Also it was tied to softball and in that sport no other counties had a chance

They don't need MLB players in the Olympics. They can take top prospects from the minors from all countries involved.

 

[DaBoltsNIsles]

I think patriotism is great and we all should strive to be the best at whatever sport or any other thing we do. But I do take issue with those fans that cannot except anything less and treat it as a failure. What that does is translates to what we saw in the Bronze medal game today. It also teaches our kids that giving up is okay if we can't have it all. Honestly, it would be great to draw more fans in the US market because of success on the biggest international stage, but if winning Gold is the only reason they come over to the game, they will not last anyway. They will give up and jump ship at the first sign of adversity. I also don't believe those fickle fans would support an NHL franchise all that much anyway. The professional teams are very much international.

The only thing our media cares about is the Medal count. Nothing else matters to them. So if there are people out their who feel the same way I completely understand it.

 

[pixburgher66]

First of all the WNBA is a bad example. Most of those players make a lot more money overseas than they do at home. Sorry I just don't think there are enough countries who have good hockey teams. What's the point of having a tournament when you know who's going to meet in the Gold Medal game before it even begins? Like I said earlier Team USA outshot Sweden 70-9 in a semi-final game. Sorry, but that's not a game, it's an embarrassment. I give a lot of credit to Sweden's goalie. She is obviously the best player in her country. Unfortunately the rest of the team simply isn't good enough. It's not an entertaining game when you feel sorry for one of the teams because they simply don't measure up.

You completely missed my point. By taking away the only thing these girls have to play for you are completely ruining the sport for girls. The only chance at competition the sport has is good games getting exposure in many countries. Simply removing it from the Olympics only punishes the successful teams in addition to completely stripping any opportunity for advancement.

 

[RoboticDreams]

American hockey is approaching Canada on. World scale. It's only a matter of time.

Some of the best hockey players are coming from Plano, Texas. It's just going to continue to grow and eventually be an American dominated sport. Canada is holding on by a string.

 

[DragonfromTO]

American hockey is approaching Canada on. World scale. It's only a matter of time.

Some of the best hockey players are coming from Plano, Texas. It's just going to continue to grow and eventually be an American dominated sport. Canada is holding on by a string.

One of the best hockey prospects is from Plano, TX. That's not really the same as what you said. Elite Canadian minor hockey leagues/teams have more than one or two stars, they have depth.

52% of the active players in the NHL are Canadian (473 players), compared to 24% that are American (218 players). If that's a "string", it's still a pretty wide cord.

 

[pixburgher66]

American hockey is approaching Canada on. World scale. It's only a matter of time.

Some of the best hockey players are coming from Plano, Texas. It's just going to continue to grow and eventually be an American dominated sport. Canada is holding on by a string.

Yeah, that's not accurate. The US has more athletes, but the percentage playing the sport is so minimal. I hope that the US can work to get on Canada's level, but it's not close.

 

[dash]

About a minute in...

 

[puckhead]

pulling no punches

dan-bylsma-deserves-blame-for-usa-hockey-s-olympic-embarrassment

 

[pixburgher66]

pulling no punches

dan-bylsma-deserves-blame-for-usa-hockey-s-olympic-embarrassment

Cop out. Sticking with that opinion. Far too easy to say that. Listen, I was a big detractor of his following the Boston series, but a *slight* difference there is that they're playing a series, not single games. Today was a poor performance, but getting clobbered 5-0 is on players a bit more than the coaching staff. The game vs. Canada was disappointing, but not awful. He can't invade each players mind and motivate them. The second the US got down, they were done.

 

[dash]

Troll article?

The bronze medal game at the Olympics did nothing, absolutely nothing, to dispel two of the most commonly held perceptions in hockey. The first is that players from Finland have lion-sized hearts. The other is that in the United States of America, hockey is the exclusive domain of pampered, entitled rich kids.

Both are sweeping generalizations. But they got more fuel than they ever needed in Finland’s 5-0 win in the bronze medal game. Both teams were coming off devastating losses in the semifinals and both needed to summon all of their motivational power to face the task at hand. The Finns, according to the legendary Teemu Selanne, held a players’ only meeting before the game. “We just said, ‘Let’s leave it on the ice,’ “ Selanne said. “Whatever happens happens. You can always live with that.”

THN in Sochi: Team USA lets down country with embarrassing bronze medal game | Post-to-Post

 

[mattola]

Troll article?

The bronze medal game at the Olympics did nothing, absolutely nothing, to dispel two of the most commonly held perceptions in hockey. The first is that players from Finland have lion-sized hearts. The other is that in the United States of America, hockey is the exclusive domain of pampered, entitled rich kids.

Both are sweeping generalizations. But they got more fuel than they ever needed in Finland’s 5-0 win in the bronze medal game. Both teams were coming off devastating losses in the semifinals and both needed to summon all of their motivational power to face the task at hand. The Finns, according to the legendary Teemu Selanne, held a players’ only meeting before the game. “We just said, ‘Let’s leave it on the ice,’ “ Selanne said. “Whatever happens happens. You can always live with that.”

THN in Sochi: Team USA lets down country with embarrassing bronze medal game | Post-to-Post

have to expect a crap load of carving up that team. its too bad up to canada they were pretty spectacular. its a short tournament and hard to dictate how it goes sometimes.

 

[pixburgher66]

Just saw that idea on twitter, and it's completely laughable. Yes, it is true that kids that play the sport need to have committed families from both a time and wealth perspective, but the generalization that those athletes are entitled? Laughable. They work. They work really hard IN ALL COUNTRIES to get to the point where they're playing in the Olympics. It's hard to dispell the notion that there was a particular lack of motivation in today's game, particularly after giving up 2 very quick goals, but to say that 1) it's because they're a bunch of rich kids and 2) saying that this ONLY applies to the US is just sickening. Troll away buddy. Troll away.

 

[Tacoma_canuck]

The only thing our media cares about is the Medal count. Nothing else matters to them. So if there are people out their who feel the same way I completely understand it.

Yeah, you're right and that is a problem in this country (and many others, too). We have let the media brainwash us and now we can't except anything but perfection which is impossible so many athletes cheat because they can't accept failure.