They did the same thing for Switzerland and Norway (they tripled Norway). I'm not saying Canada isn't the best team in the tournament. I'm just saying that it's not like they're motivated now and they weren't before. They've always been motivated. Regardless of the outcomes or number of goals scored, Canada has been playing consistently at a high level. Saying that the loss to the USA "woke them up" is a cop out and is meant to excuse the loss because it implies that they weren't playing as well before. If the USA and Canada meet again in the gold medal game, I don't expect Canada to play significantly better than they did in the last meeting because they were already playing well in that game. USA has already seen Canada at it's near best and beat them, so it shouldn't seem like a long shot for them to do it again.
Canada humiliated the Russians. The Russians didn't play any semblance of team hockey while the Canadians looked like a well-oiled machine. The Canadians are more talented, top to bottom, so the Russians had to outwork them and outexecute them on a team level. They did neither. I also think the Russian coaching staff was severely out-coached by the Canadian coaching staff. The Russians had no cohesion whatsoever. The coaches didn't seem to have a gameplan or weren't able to instill one in their players. They didn't seem to make any in-game adjustments, e.g., get the players to play dump and chase after seeing them get stood up at the blueline and in the neutral zone over and over again. The Russian players were largely playing one-on-one pond hockey with no defensive awareness, particularly the forwards (outside of a select few, e.g., Datsyuk). On top of having the greatest collection of talent, the Canadians have played incredibly cohesively in recent, particularly against Russia. Only the now knocked off Swedish team played with as much chemistry in this tournament. Credit the coaches for getting a very talented group of players to buy in and stick to the gameplan. Credit the players for buying in and executing like a team that has been together for much more than a couple of weeks.
I agree, but Brodeaur made some very stupid mistakes that cost Canada two goals, while miller on the on the other hand was red hot. I really dont see Miller staying hot if they are too meet again, and I dont expect the Canadian goalie (whether its Lu or Bro) to make the same stupid mistakes again. so i say they are about even, but canada did out shoot US by a lot. And when you have that much volume, some are bound to go in
The Czech Republic lost a possible chance at the medal rounds because of a $1.00 piece of plastic. With about 6:30 left in the 3rd a Czech defenseman lost his helmet when the plastic clasp broke off of it. In international rules you have to get your helmet or get off the ice. When he went to get his helmet behind the net, it left a wide open area for the Fins to shoot. I don't fully blame him not being in position for why they lost the game (they also pulled their gk way too early, but that wouldn't have happened had the game still been tied at 0), but when you watch replays you can see where he was supposed to be and it would have at least impeded the shooter from getting a great look at the goal. It also doesn't guarantee they would have won, but IMO it really did make a huge difference in the game. I understand the rule and why it is place, but it is just a real crappy way to lose.
watched the sweden/british curling teams. Wow, some amazing shots. After watching the american teams the last few days it was a treat to watch a couple of excellent teams play and actually make great shots
The Canadians played 10x better vs Russia then they did against the USA, and any other team for that matter. It's not even close. If we continue to play like we did against the Russians, I don't see how anyone, without a super human goalie (USA), can beat us. Here's to another epic USA vs CANADA clash in the finals.
The U.S. just took gold and silver in the men's large hill nordic combined. Johnny Spillane has to be the biggest surprise on the U.S. team. 3 medals in a discipline that the U.S. had never medaled in.
Wow, did anyone see the trailer for Clash Of Titans on NBC.. I think it's the same dude from Avatar and by the looks of the trailer, it looks more badass than a bunch of blue smurfs in a rain forest...
I'm not a fan of figure skating but its gotta take nerves of steel to try to do all that flawlessly at the Olympic level with the hopes of your whole country riding on you.
Cautiously optimistic...they've had to do reshoots...and they decided to slap the 3D onto it only after the success of Avatar.
Did anybody catch the fight that broke out during the women's bronze medal hockey match between the Swedish and Finnish team?
