Ice hockey

[Athena]

Your ice hockey thread!

[ceecee]

Well, the USA women finally beat Finland. ...I think they'll have to bump up their game to wrest the gold from Canada. They play them on Wednesday, too...

[walnutqueen]

1 hour ago, ceecee said:

Well, the USA women finally beat Finland. ...I think they'll have to bump up their game to wrest the gold from Canada. They play them on Wednesday, too...

I do hope it is a well-played match by both teams, but my hopes have to go with my Canadians (sorry, USA - I root for you, unless you're playing Canada, eh!).

I enjoy the women's hockey much more than the men's side.

[ceecee]

Well....I'm from Michigan so I'm enjoying the curling on CBC, and rooting for Canada! It's been 20 years, so I guess I have to go with USA for hockey. But it's great hockey! 

[Bruinsfan]

I think the women's hockey is going to be better than the men's, since their best athletes aren't being held out from the games by the NHL.

[SeanC]

A great day for south central Europe as Slovenia beats the USA and Slovakia beats Russia in the men’s contest.

Evidently Putin’s vaunted KHL-stacked team isn’t nearly as formidable as many feared.

[blackwing]

US were awful in giving up the lead to Slovenia.  I saw the Not-Russians lose too.  Maybe there is a lot more parity in NHL-less hockey than I had thought.  

[SeanC]

The Canadian women beat the USA and a fight breaks out at the literal last second of the game.  What more could you ask for?

Within hours we'll get a look at how the Canadian men's team is shaping up.

[galaxygirl76]

I'm a lot less interested in men's hockey without the NHL players. 

[MyAimIsTrue]

And I prefer hockey without NHL players.  If I want to see the professionals I'll go to an NHL game as I still think the Olympics should be made up of amateur athletes.

[SeanC]

Just now, MyAimIsTrue said:

And I prefer hockey without NHL players.  If I want to see the professionals I'll go to an NHL game as I still think the Olympics should be made up of amateur athletes.

These teams aren’t amateurs, though.  They’re just drawn from B- and C-tier professional leagues.

[MyAimIsTrue]

As well as some college kids.  In general I wish the Olympics were still for amateurs only.

[galaxygirl76]

I do not. For instance the cycling competition is so much more exciting since they allowed the pros in. I also feel these sporters deserve to be paid and get paid well to do what is essentially a job. I always feel bad when athletes have to train many many hours and also have a full time job to be able to live. 

I'm old enough to remember the Eastern block doing well because they were pretty much all 'in the military' which basically meant that they didn't have to worry about anything besides their sport. Russian ice hockeyers were professionals without being professionals in the eyes of the IOC.

[blackwing]

There's a really inane article on USA Today about how Americans should start hating Canadians because the Canadian women have beaten the American women year after year.  I know it's written tongue-in-cheek, but it's not like the Canadians are cheating (Not-Russians) or getting dubious high judges marks (Not-Russians) or a coach asking their team to go easy on a rival team because that rival country gives him funding (Dutch speed skating coach in Sochi).   The Canadians have simply been better.  How about writing an article about things the Canadians do well that the Americans need to do to win the gold?

[Bort]

You can always count on the women's USA vs Canada game to be pretty brutal. Even one of the refs got knocked on her ass.

[SeanC]

Slovenia’s brief moment of glory necessarily gave way to a hammering by Russia.

The Slovaks, conversely, played quite respectably against the US team, though they also lost.

[greyhorse]

I thought I would be of the mindset that an NHL-less tournament would make things more exciting.  But no, it really hasn't,  My problem is that I don't know who anybody is.  At least in other sports where you practically no nobody from other countries except the major stars, there's the US stars that you know or if you didn't know,  who have been hyped so you do know.  But where's the hype for the US men's players?  I know nobody.  So that just makes for very boring hockey.

[walnutqueen]

I couldn't name a current hockey player if you paid me.  But I enjoy watching Olympics hockey for the love of the game.

[cleo]

 don't watch the nhl, but I assume they have the best players of both countries. So if NHL players are excluded doesn't that mean both the US and Canada are at a disadvantage in the Olympics? 

It was the NHL's decision's correct?

[MyAimIsTrue]

On ‎2‎/‎17‎/‎2018 at 2:58 PM, cleo said:

So if NHL players are excluded doesn't that mean both the US and Canada are at a disadvantage in the Olympics? 

A lot of top NHL players come from Europe (Finland, Sweden, Czech Republic, Russia, to name a few) as well so I don't think the US and Canada are at a disadvantage in that respect.

[Bort]

USA vs Canada competing for the gold in women's hockey again. You can just about set your watch by it.

[galaxygirl76]

Does anyone know if the European pro teams let their players go to the Olympics? That may give some advantage to the euro teams like Sweden. 

[SeanC]

50 minutes ago, galaxygirl76 said:

Does anyone know if the European pro teams let their players go to the Olympics? That may give some advantage to the euro teams like Sweden. 

Yes, the European leagues virtually all shut down for the games.  However, the European leagues have tons of North American players (the North American Olympic teams are mostly are drawn from them).

[RHJunkie]

On 2/17/2018 at 2:58 PM, cleo said:

 don't watch the nhl, but I assume they have the best players of both countries. So if NHL players are excluded doesn't that mean both the US and Canada are at a disadvantage in the Olympics? 

It was the NHL's decision's correct?

All countries benefit from the NHL participating in the Olympics because for the most part, the best hockey players tend to make the jump to the NHL rather than play hockey in their respective European leagues. However, for some countries, the impact is not as bad as it for Canada and the USA who would otherwise be icing Olympic hockey teams made up of all NHL players.

It was the NHL's decision to not participate this year. It seems like the NHL is looking to be more strategic in their participation as rumours have circulated that they are definitely interested in participating in Beijing 2022. It's a lot of political stuff that's gotten in the way. NHL doesn't want lose money for 2 weeks having to shutdown their league or risk losing star players to injuries so that the IOC can use their athletes as a showcase piece of their Olympic games all for free. They tried to negotiate with the IOC and the players to find any kind of win that they could hang their hat on and came up empty so they said no to participating.

[Garden Wafers]

I'm curious, is there any chance that ice hockey could be dropped as an Olympic sport because of the NHL's decision? I vaguely remember that baseball was dropped for the London Games partly because of the MLB's refusal to release players and only regained its status for the upcoming Tokyo Games because of its popularity in Japan. 

[galaxygirl76]

I don't think so, it's pretty popular among most of the winter sport nations unlike baseball which has a lot of fans in mainly the US and Japan.

[SeanC]

46 minutes ago, Garden Wafers said:

I'm curious, is there any chance that ice hockey could be dropped as an Olympic sport because of the NHL's decision? I vaguely remember that baseball was dropped for the London Games partly because of the MLB's refusal to release players and only regained its status for the upcoming Tokyo Games because of its popularity in Japan. 

No.  Ice hockey has been in the Winter Olympics since they began.  The NHL participating is a recent thing.

[cleo]

2 hours ago, RHJunkie said:

All countries benefit from the NHL participating in the Olympics because for the most part, the best hockey players tend to make the jump to the NHL rather than play hockey in their respective European leagues. However, for some countries, the impact is not as bad as it for Canada and the USA who would otherwise be icing Olympic hockey teams made up of all NHL players.

Thanks. I was wondering after watching the Canadian men's team lose to the Czechs (sp?)...I wanted to find a reason/excuse why we might not win the gold, lol. But i guess I can't use that as an excuse. I don't know anything about hockey or evaluating teams, that game was the first I've watched since the last Olympics probably, but I got a little concerned. Media in Canada is also saying the Canadian Men's team needs to do better if they're going to compete. Although I just checked the standings and so far we're doing okay, but I assume the real challenge is still to come. 

[Daisy]

2 hours ago, RHJunkie said:

All countries benefit from the NHL participating in the Olympics because for the most part, the best hockey players tend to make the jump to the NHL rather than play hockey in their respective European leagues. However, for some countries, the impact is not as bad as it for Canada and the USA who would otherwise be icing Olympic hockey teams made up of all NHL players.

It was the NHL's decision to not participate this year. It seems like the NHL is looking to be more strategic in their participation as rumours have circulated that they are definitely interested in participating in Beijing 2022. It's a lot of political stuff that's gotten in the way. NHL doesn't want lose money for 2 weeks having to shutdown their league or risk losing star players to injuries so that the IOC can use their athletes as a showcase piece of their Olympic games all for free. They tried to negotiate with the IOC and the players to find any kind of win that they could hang their hat on and came up empty so they said no to participating.

 

honestly, it was the best one - and I hope they don't go to future Games. 
though had the IOC decided to make the NHL a rights holder  (and allowed them to actually use video isntead of still photos), I have to wonder if this would have been a more smooth deal. because the NHL (ownership) gets nothing from the players going. they lose money, they risk injury to their players - teams get screwed off in the middle of playoff implication races and the ONE time they go "okay - can we be considered a broadcaster so We can actually show video of OUR players post Games, amping up the best of the world thing", IOC says no. it was so dumbo. 

[RHJunkie]

1 hour ago, cleo said:

Thanks. I was wondering after watching the Canadian men's team lose to the Czechs (sp?)...I wanted to find a reason/excuse why we might not win the gold, lol. But i guess I can't use that as an excuse. I don't know anything about hockey or evaluating teams, that game was the first I've watched since the last Olympics probably, but I got a little concerned. Media in Canada is also saying the Canadian Men's team needs to do better if they're going to compete. Although I just checked the standings and so far we're doing okay, but I assume the real challenge is still to come. 

If it makes you feel any better, it's definitely not an excuse to say that Canada and USA are more disadvantaged than any other country by not having the NHL present, lol. Team Canada would have easily been seen as the top heavy favourites of the tournament. They were absolutely dominant in Sochi and this year they could have had a prime Sidney Crosby and a young phenom in Connor McDavid playing together on the roster. USA is losing young exceptional talents like Matthews and Eichel injected into their line-up. While all countries are losing out on important players who are in the NHL, they are still able to get the next beset players come from the top tiers of European leagues. For North America, there is a significant drop in talent from the NHL level to the B/C tier leagues that North Americans are playing in now over in Russia/Europe. I'm not even sure how many of those guys would make the AHL here in North America.

Canada could ice a roster of toddlers and the media expectations would still be a gold medal and talks about how Team Canada needs to step up their game, lol.

[RHJunkie]

1 hour ago, Daisy said:

 

honestly, it was the best one - and I hope they don't go to future Games. 
though had the IOC decided to make the NHL a rights holder  (and allowed them to actually use video isntead of still photos), I have to wonder if this would have been a more smooth deal. because the NHL (ownership) gets nothing from the players going. they lose money, they risk injury to their players - teams get screwed off in the middle of playoff implication races and the ONE time they go "okay - can we be considered a broadcaster so We can actually show video of OUR players post Games, amping up the best of the world thing", IOC says no. it was so dumbo. 

The fan in me misses seeing the best that Canada has to offer but I definitely appreciate the business side of things and understand why the owners chose to note participate. They needed some sort of benefit to the compromises they would be making in terms of expenses and risk to competitiveness once the season resume. They tried to appeal to the IOC's interest in having the NHL players there by asking for broadcasting rights (which personally think is a small ask given the exposure and publicity IOC gets from having NHL players at the Olympics at the expense of the NHL owners. That didn't work. Then they tried to negotiate extra years tacked on to the bargaining agreement with the players and that didn't work. Tough business decisions but I'm not going to be at the owners for wanting to respect their money and how they spend it.

[SeanC]

4 hours ago, cleo said:

Thanks. I was wondering after watching the Canadian men's team lose to the Czechs (sp?)...I wanted to find a reason/excuse why we might not win the gold, lol. 

While we are definitely impacted by the lack of NHL players, the Czechs usually have a good team.  We lost to them in 2002 on our way to winning gold.

[galaxygirl76]

34 minutes ago, SeanC said:

While we are definitely impacted by the lack of NHL players, the Czechs usually have a good team.  We lost to them in 2002 on our way to winning gold.

I believe the Czech team was also responsible for Canada not going to the final in 1998

[galaxygirl76]

So I take it that the shootouts in hockey are the opposite from penalty kicks in soccer? Hockey it seems like nearly impossible to score(or the US and the Czech's were really bad at it).

[SeanC]

8 hours ago, galaxygirl76 said:

So I take it that the shootouts in hockey are the opposite from penalty kicks in soccer? Hockey it seems like nearly impossible to score(or the US and the Czech's were really bad at it).

It’s not as easy as soccer, but generally you’ve got a good chance at scoring one-on-one.

In a huge upset, Germany beats Sweden to make it to the semi-final against Canada.  For comparison, the German team hadn’t so much as won a game at the Olympics since Salt Lake City until this year.

[mledawn]

Women's gold medal game between Canada and the USA tonight. I probably won't even be able to watch, it's so stressful. I generally care far less about the men's tournament at the Olympics, because the women's game is their Stanley Cup.

Having said that, yay to Canada for advancing in a squeaker past Finland this morning. Sad to see Ben Scrivens is now out, though. I love that guy.

[walnutqueen]

9 minutes ago, mledawn said:

Women's gold medal game between Canada and the USA tonight. I probably won't even be able to watch, it's so stressful.

I'm going to need another gallon of vodka - or perhaps just a case of really good beer, eh.  (Oh, who am I kidding, I haven't had a really good beer since the last time I was in Canada!).  I suspect my recliner will become a rocker-recliner by the 3rd period - long after I've lost my proverbial shit!   ;-)

[Daisy]

Canada Vs. USA for Gold. 

gotta love it lol

[cleo]

I really want to watch it but the only way I can manage to stay up that late is if I have a couple of rum and cokes or something. Which I happen to have in case of emergencies. But I also have a busy day tomorrow. So it's a tossup.

 

walnutqueen you should really come visit Toronto. So much good craft beer. :)

Edited February 21, 2018 by cleo

[walnutqueen]

44 minutes ago, cleo said:

I really want to watch it but the only way I can manage to stay up that late is if I have a couple of rum and cokes or something. Which I happen to have in case of emergencies. But I also have a busy day tomorrow. So it's a tossup.

 

walnutqueen you should really come visit Toronto. So much good craft beer. :)

 

Die hard West Coaster here - Vancouver is my home town, even though I'm enjoying the sunny climes of San Diego these days.  I could probably find a semi-decent craft beer hereabouts, if I'd venture more than a mile from my house!  ;-)

ETA - you can sleep any time; Olympic hockey comes but once every 4 years, eh!

Edited February 22, 2018 by walnutqueen

[cleo]

Well you convinced me lol. And I hear Vancouver is great, I want to go sometime.

Go Canada go!

[mtlchick]

1045 PM Eastern start?  I'm going to try to snooze for the first 2 periods and try to watch part of the 3rd since I have work at 8 AM!

[Minneapple]

No matter who wins the women's game, they should just give the gold medal to the University of Wisconsin. Nine current or former Badgers between the two teams. On Wisconsin!

[walnutqueen]

3 minutes ago, mtlchick said:

1045 PM Eastern start?  I'm going to try to snooze for the first 2 periods and try to watch part of the 3rd since I have work at 8 AM!

I couldn't live without my DVR - I never miss anything worth watching, and can fast forward though the rest.  ;-)

[opus]

38 minutes ago, mtlchick said:

1045 PM Eastern start?  I'm going to try to snooze for the first 2 periods and try to watch part of the 3rd since I have work at 8 AM!

Puck drop is actually not till 11:10pm ET

[mledawn]

38 minutes ago, Minneapple said:

No matter who wins the women's game, they should just give the gold medal to the University of Wisconsin. Nine current or former Badgers between the two teams. On Wisconsin!

Absolutely! Canada has more Badgers though, so I think they should get the edge :)

[Daisy]

okay i need someone to hold me for the next 2 hrs. 

i am so stressed. 

[Thumper]

3 hours ago, Minneapple said:

No matter who wins the women's game, they should just give the gold medal to the University of Wisconsin. Nine current or former Badgers between the two teams. On Wisconsin!

How many of them are originally from Minnesota?  I get such a kick out of my family in Wisconsin claiming players as "theirs" because they went to UW, while here in Minnesota (where I now live), they are claimed as theirs because they grew up/went to high school here.  Typical rivalry in many areas!

[Daisy]

this game compared to others is v. sloppy. it's like they are both SO nervous. 

(also. Ref? 2002 called, you can stop with the Salt Lake City impression)

[Minneapple]

58 minutes ago, Thumper said:

How many of them are originally from Minnesota?  I get such a kick out of my family in Wisconsin claiming players as "theirs" because they went to UW, while here in Minnesota (where I now live), they are claimed as theirs because they grew up/went to high school here.  Typical rivalry in many areas!

If Minnesota can claim players who went to Wisconsin, then Wisconsin can claim Amanda Kessel.