Olympic ice hockey thread

[Sea Bass]

Interesting that no one has repeated in more than 20 years and the defending gold medalists (Sweden in 1998, Czechs in 2002, Canada in 2006, Sweden in 2010) haven't made the podium the next time around.

Considering how all countries - and not just the Russians/Soviets - have been sending pros since 1998, your first point is explained pretty easily.

As for the last four gold medalists falling flat the next time around, that is indeed interesting.

I hope I'm wrong, but I don't think either Canada or the U.S. makes the final. The only times either of them have made it in the post-Lillehammer era, the tournament has been on North American ice. I don't think that's a coincidence.

 

[Mark2010]

Yeah, that factored into my thinking as well. Not sure how much the larger ice surface will be a factor. To me, it's just that the North American teams won't have the extra boost they had in Salt Lake and Vancouver.

 

[JC]

Although Hitchcok disputes it, Salt Lake was played on Internationional ice.

 

[Sea Bass]

Holy shirt - I'd forgotten that. My apologies.

 

[Mark2010]

True. And some knucklehead buried a Canadian coin in the ice.

I think it's more than the ice surface, though. If you've ever traveled abroad, maybe you agree that it takes some time to adjust. Not just the time difference. Hard to explain exactly, but going to Europe just has a different feel than going to, say, New York or Toronto. Yes, I realize that all the teams have players who play regularly in the NHL (some countries more NHLers than others). But it's just a different feel that seems hard to adjust to in a couple of days.

One downside to the NHL influence is that fact teams no longer get much of a chance to practice together as they did in the old days.

 

[Mark2010]

Let me say if the format were different, like a best of seven series, I would probably pick either Canada or Sweden to win. Their teams seem the deepest. But in this format, upsets are more likely than in a longer format.

 

[Double J]

Knucklehead??

 

[Mark2010]

Knucklehead??

I don't remember the guy's name. I don't think it was Gretzky who did it. All in good humour, of course. Hey, I was glad to see Canada win that year. But I was surprised they didn't fare better in Torino in 2006.

 

[Mark2010]

So who starts in goal for the first game? I say Luongo for Canada and Quick for the USA and Lehtonen for Finland.

 

[Mark2010]

Why are all three of the medalists from Vancouver (Canada, USA, Finland) in the same group in the 8-team women's tournament? One of them won't make the medal round. Seems more logical to split USA, Canada, Sweden and Finland two each into group.

 

[JR]

Yeah, that factored into my thinking as well. Not sure how much the larger ice surface will be a factor. To me, it's just that the North American teams won't have the extra boost they had in Salt Lake and Vancouver.

The larger ice is a huge factor. It's a huge challenge for NHL players.

The space between the dots and the boards fork up the goalies' positioning and defense have to play differently because their angles are skewed.

Rick Nash who played in a few World Championships said the biggest difference is decision making. A player has an extra half second to decide what to do with the puck. It changes the timing for each player.

The game on larger ice is horrible. In regular games in Europe, the game is slower, it's easier to trap and coward players get to hide from the physical part of the game.

 

[Mark2010]

Didn't realize they had changed the format for the women's tournament. So all four teams from Group A (Canada, USA, Finland, Switzerland) all advance to the quarterfinals, regardless of the results of the prelim round. Only two teams from Group B advance.

I liked the old format better.

I also liked the Torino format for the men better, where you had two groups of six teams and everyone played five preliminary games.