Ahh... is that why they showed him yelling at somebody when he sat down right before they cut to commercial? If so, epic shuster on the coach's part.
Total pwnage. They may not get rest but they are a deeper and more talented team than Russia if you go beyond the top 2 forward lines and goaltending for the respective teams, where they are both similarly strong (Nabokov/Bryzgalov are very good goaltenders even if they aren't as well known as Brodeur/Luongo). In a short tournament where a lot of the players have never/rarely played together, the extra game to gel together may even cancel out having to play back-to-back games. Maybe not. I could see anything happening but if I had to guess, I'd say it ends up something like 4-3 or 5-3 in either direction. I wouldn't be surprised to see OT, either.
The Germans were arguably the worst team in the Olympics. One of 2 teams to not get a point in the standings. They scored the fewest goals in the prelims and only Norway allowed more goals (and that's because USA and Canada beat them by a combined 14-1). Germany was shut out twice and their only competitive game was against Belarus whose only win game against the Germans. Canada should have kicked their ass and they did. Anyway, USA vs Switzerland at 2 PM on NBC. Canada vs Russia at 6:30 on CNBC.
Actually not having 4 deep lines may be a good thing, the top players are used to playing 20-24 minutes a game but are now being asked to produce with less ice time. Well at least that was the excuse some Canadian players were making after their loss to one of the teams in this tournament. I wish to see a rematch against that team so I want Canada to win against Russia, but it will be tough, their top two lines are an offensive nightmare, until now they havn't even shown it, at some point they will break out, just hope it isn't against us.
The thing is those 3rd and 4th lines for Russia are top flight stars in the KHL getting 1st line minutes so there really is no difference in terms of the minutes they're accustomed to getting compared to the Canadian 3rd/4th liners. They just play in an inferior league. I'm not sure what'll happen tomorrow. You know as well as I do that anything can happen in one game. Funny bounces, a goaltender standing on his head, sketchy officiating, etc... Two things are certain: There will be intensity and there will be at least one hockey superpower going home without medals.
Didn't mean it like that, Russia plays its top two lines more heavily that its bottom two, allowing the top players to play their accustomed minutes. The Canadian team on the other hand is playing all four rather equally, so players were complaining that they have to get used to that. Just pointing out that having some players who are used to playing heavy minutes to produce might play to the advantage of that team. I agree with you that one game doesn't determine who is the better hockey team, need a series of games to find that out. I would have liked to see Russia vs. Canada in the finals, but I don't mind that they are meeting now, its better than them not meeting at all, which would have been bad for the sport. It's definitely going to be a great game.
I see what you're saying. I didn't realize Canada was rolling their lines that evenly. That's also a good point that them meeting is better than not meeting at all. It obviously had the makings of a much more epic game if it was for the Gold. The media still isn't talking enough about Sweden. It's all Canada, USA, Russia... I understand that I'm mostly exposed to North American media outlets but still.. Sweden is a terrific and well-rounded team and could absolutely repeat. I think they are the second best team, talent-wise, after Canada. Russia isn't nearly as well-rounded.
...a little bit of hockey talk and this thread dies... :grin: ... FYI... USA is playing the Swiss right now.
Man, hit the post in the first period, and then over the line after time expired in the 2nd. I though Swiss cheese had holes in it? DD
