XXI Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver! Discussion! Preds! Fantasy!

[RWG]

It's the-elite's wet dream come true!  Finally, here is the thread where we can discuss, predict and play fantasy on all of your favorite sports from curling to bobsled to ski jumping!

Key notes:

The Opening Ceremonies will be held on February 12 at 18:00 PST, 21:00 EST, or on February 13 at 2:00 GMT, 12:00 AEST.

The games will run from Feb 12 to Feb 28.

First a few links to get us started;

Games of the XXIX Olympiad Thread (Beijing)

XX Olympic Winter Games Thread (Torino)

Calendar of Events

In depth Schedule

Medal Count

What Channel are the Olympics on?

So now we can move on to discussing what a great event we just saw, who we want to win, what is going on, what bets we made and all sorts of fun stuff.

There is a Men's Ice Hockey fantasy pool going on here; http://fantasy.ctvolympics.ca/ctvo/player2010/promo/index.html

You can win prizes from Samsung and other stuff.  I think it's for Canada only but there are other contests going on everywhere.  I'm sure you can find one to suit your country's needs and then post it here.

Jon "Ngamer" Bearder still owes us his rendition of O Canada while wearing a towel.

[proof: http://perfectdarkelite.yuku.com?topic=14537?page=1]

[RWG]

Goose bets the 2010 Winter Olympics!

Freestyle Skiing, Ladies' Moguls (Feb 13, 19:30)

Jennifer Heil to win Gold, $3.00 to win $4.77

RESULT: LOST $3.00 (Heil won Silver)

Biathlon, Men's 10km Sprint (Feb 14, 11:15)

Ole Einar Bjoerndalen to win Gold, $1.50 to win $2.73

RESULT: LOST $1.50 (Bjoerndalen placed 17th)

Speed Skating, Ladies' 3000m (Feb 14, 13:00)

The Field [vs. Martina Sablikova and Stephanie Beckert] to win Gold, $2.00 to win $3.28

RESULT: LOST $2.00 (Sablikova won Gold)

Snowboard, Men's Snowboard Cross (Feb 15, 14:53)

Pierre Vaultier to win Gold, $2.50 to win $3.00

RESULT: LOST $2.50 (Vaultier was eliminated in the quarterfinals)

Ice Hockey, Men's U.S.A vs. Switzerland (Feb 16, 12:00)

Switzerland moneyline, $2.17 to win $23.41

RESULT: LOST $2.17 (U.S.A. won 3-1)

Biathlon, Men's 12.5km Pursuit (Feb 16, 12:45)

Ole Einar Bjoerndalen to win Gold, $1.50 to win $2.25

RESULT: LOST $1.50 (Bjoerndalen placed 7th)

Snowboarding, Women's Halfpipe (Feb 18, 18:00)

The Field [vs. Kelly Clark, Gretchen Bleiler and Torah Bright] to win Gold, $1.33 to win $12.00

RESULT: LOST $1.33 (Bright won Gold)

Speed Skating, Men's 1500m (Feb 20, 16:15)

The Field [vs. Shani Davis] to win Gold, $4.00 to win $5.32

RESULT: WON $5.32 (Davis won Silver)

Ice Hockey, Men's Germany vs. Belarus (Feb 20, 21:00)

Belarus moneyline, $1.32 to win $2.51

RESULT: WON $2.51 (Belarus won 5-3)

Ice Hockey, Men's Sweden vs. Finland (Feb 21, 21:00)

Sweden moneyline, $1.83 to win $3.09

RESULT: WON $3.09 (Sweden won 3-0) 

Curling, Men's China vs. U.S.A. (Feb 22, 19:00)

China moneyline, $1.00 to win $1.33

RESULT: WON $1.33 (China won 11-5)

Ice Hockey, Men's Czech Republic vs. Latvia (Feb 23, 19:00)

Czech Republic -3.5 goals, $4.30 to win $4.22

RESULT: LOST $4.30 (Czech Republic won 3-2 in overtime)

Bobsleigh, Two-Woman's Better Finishing Position [Helen Upperton vs. Erin Pac] (Feb 24, 18:10)

Erin Pac, $1.93 to win $3.67

RESULT: LOST $1.93 (Upperton finished winning Silver, Pac finished winning Bronze)

Ice Hockey, Women's Gold Medal Game (Feb 25, 15:30)

Canada moneyline, $10.02 to win $9.03

RESULT: WON $9.03 (Canada won 2-0)

Curling, Women's Bronze Medal Game (Feb 26, 9:00)

China moneyline, $2.75 to win $2.05

RESULT: WON $2.05 (China won 12-6)

Short Track, Men's 500m (Feb 26, 19:14)

Charles Hamelin to win Gold, $2.50 to win $5.43

RESULT: WON $5.43

Bobsleigh, Four-Man (Feb 27, 14:40)

The Field [vs. Andre Lange] to win Gold, $1.05 to win $1.50

RESULT: WON $1.50 (Holcomb won Gold)

Ice Hockey, Men's Bronze Medal Game (Feb 27, 19:00)

Total goals OVER 5.5, $1.00 to win $1.20

RESULT: WON $1.20 (7 total goals were scored)

Ice Hockey, Men's tournament (Feb 28, 12:15)

Russia to win Gold, $2.50 to win $6.65

RESULT: LOST $2.50 (Russia were eliminated in the quarterfinals)

Will Germany to win the most total medals?

Yes -0.5, $2.00 to win $2.74

RESULT: LOST $2.00 (U.S.A. won the most total medals)

________________________________________________________________

Running  tally; +$6.78

[Scrambler Fanny]

preds?  lol!  

[Matis]

Didn't a guy just die doing a test run on the luge...way to go Canada.

[Infected Mind]

That luge looks dangerous. But eventually was bound to happen for such a dangerous sport. I feel really sorry for the guy and his country, but the sport is extremely dangerous. That track probly didn't help things at all but It seems like it was bound to happen eventually. I think its insane it never happened earlier to be honest.

 but That track definately needs to be redone as the way it is now seems extremely unsafe. It could have happened any where in the world

[RWG]

Yeah.  It's funny how people think Skeleton is more dangerous than Luge.  Lugers go about 25km/h faster (up to 160km/h [100mph] rather than 130-135km/h.)  You have far more control sliding face first than you do on your back, and when you are going that fast, does it really matter if you are "headfirst" like all these apparently luge experts (read: casual spectators) seem to claim?

Tragic yeah, but the people being complete idiots about the whole thing doesn't help.

[Ngamer]

Here's a handy png of the simplified Olympics schedule, for those who don't want to click the link over to the wiki page every time:

[Boss]

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

Rank	Country	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	United States	1	1	2	4
2	South Korea	1	1	0	2
3	Netherlands	1	0	0	1
3	Slovakia	1	0	0	1
3	Switzerland	1	0	0	1
6	Canada	0	1	0	1
6	Germany	0	1	0	1
6	Poland	0	1	0	1
9	Austria	0	0	1	1
9	France	0	0	1	1
9	Russia	0	0	1	1

[Infected Mind]

Those koreans had such bad luck on that speed skating. I have a feeling this olympics will be full of ridiculous upsets and misfortuntes

[RWG]

I agree.  I legitimately think that someone like Switzerland or Germany can win hockey gold.  If someone like Slovakia does it, I wouldn't even consider it an upset.

[Boss]

Man the Biathlon was a disaster from what I saw today.  The brief snow literally took out over half the field from even coming close to a medal.  The weather there makes Minnesota weather look good lol.  I'm just so used to shaky weather all year around that it's funny to see another place have it messed up like it has been for the last week.

[Infected Mind]

Winnipeg has the most irradic weather in the world. Litteraly up to -40 difference days apart with rain snow hail thunderstorms blizzards you name it. lol

[Boss]

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

Rank	Country	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	United States	1	2	3	6
2	Germany	1	3	0	4
3	France	2	0	1	3
4	Canada	1	1	1	3
5	South Korea	1	1	0	2
6	Italy	0	0	2	2
7	Czech Republic	1	0	0	1
7	Netherlands	1	0	0	1
7	Slovakia	1	0	0	1
7	Switzerland	1	0	0	1
11	Australia	0	1	0	1
11	Norway	0	1	0	1
11	Poland	0	1	0	1
14	Austria	0	0	1	1
14	Croatia	0	0	1	1
14	Russia	0	0	1	1

[RWG]

We got screwed hardcore on the Men's Moguls.  Canadians Marquis and Rousseau who placed 4th and 5th had FAR better runs in all three aspects than the Aussie Begg-Smith, yet Begg-Smith scored almost a full point higher.  Really if you watch the runs, his score makes absolutely no sense.  American Wilson's run was about as good as Begg-Smith, but scored high because of this skewed judging on the last 4 skiiers.  There should have been a Canadian sweep.  Pretty gay but we won't let it put a damper on our first Gold on home soil.

[Time was untied when set.]

preds?  lol!  

One of the few times you will see me quote afan

[AZ]

Kalla!!!

[wheatrich]

the coverage here is abysmal.  Events going on and half the time they're talking about themselves or some random nonsense nobody wants to see.   They moved USA canada hockey even to the sister network because more girls watch the olympics (yeah primetime  MORE ICE DANCING instead of US Canada lol) than guys.  Hell half the time they're showing some informercial instead of coverage.  Pretty ridiculous.  (though when they spout the we lost whatever figures--it's their own fault--if they can't make more $ showing events rather than random informercials  they're the ones who fucked up lol)

best of all--west coast US  still has time delay for events despite being in the same time zone.

god fuck how much ice dancing is in the olympics?  Every time I turn on nbc it's ice dancing and there's no other channels showing anything!  

[RWG]

Actually Wheat, I don't know what you are talking about because there is no Ice Dancing scheduled until February 19.

Though yeah, NBC's coverage always has been and always will be abysmal.  The time delay is one of the more hilarious things I've ever heard come out of capitalist America.  Way to fail.

[Boss]

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

Rank	Country	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	United States	2	2	4	8
2	Germany	1	3	1	5
3	France	2	0	2	4
4	Canada	1	2	1	4
5	Switzerland	3	0	0	3
6	South Korea	2	1	0	3
7	Norway	0	2	1	3
8	Italy	0	1	2	3
9	China	1	1	0	2
10	Czech Republic	1	0	1	2
11	Japan	0	1	1	2
12	Netherlands	1	0	0	1
12	Slovakia	1	0	0	1
12	Sweden	1	0	0	1
15	Australia	0	1	0	1
15	Estonia	0	1	0	1
15	Poland	0	1	0	1
18	Austria	0	0	1	1
18	Croatia	0	0	1	1
18	Russia	0	0	1	1

[wheatrich]

it's impossible to tell the difference between pairs figure skating and ice dancing if you only watch 5 seconds.

[Ngamer]

Goose seems to think this has been the worst start to an Olympics in many years, but I disagree.  There have already been some very inspirational stories:

http://www.theonion.com/content/news_briefs/world_inspired_by_first

[Boss]

Germany has now taken the lead in the medal totals and Canada is picking up a bit of steam aswell.  Russia is off to a slow start considering they generally do well in the winter games.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

Rank	Country	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Germany	3	4	2	9
2	United States	2	2	4	8
3	France	2	1	4	7
4	Canada	2	2	1	5
5	South Korea	3	1	0	4
6	Switzerland	3	0	1	4
7	China	1	1	1	3
8	Austria	0	2	1	3
8	Norway	0	2	1	3
10	Italy	0	1	2	3
11	Sweden	2	0	0	2
12	Slovakia	1	1	0	2
13	Czech Republic	1	0	1	2
14	Japan	0	1	1	2
15	Netherlands	1	0	0	1
16	Australia	0	1	0	1
16	Estonia	0	1	0	1
16	Poland	0	1	0	1
19	Croatia	0	0	1	1
19	Russia	0	0	1	1

[RWG]

Yeah, we're tearing ass right now.

I have to admit that despite Canada's first men's hockey game, men's singles figure skating and the start of the curling tournament, the most exciting thing I watched all day was the men's 12.5k biathlon pursuit.  When like 12 leaders all hit the range at the same time, chaos was sure to ensue.  I'm disappointed that Bjorndalen couldn't pull out the win but it was surely a great event

Russia's failing is really weird.  I wonder what the media reaction is like over there.  On the other hand, a usually middle of the pack team in France is tearing even more ass than Canada right now.  It will be interesting to see how they hold up.

[octoinky]

I'm with wheat.  Our coverage blows.  They pick 2, maybe 3 events, and show them from 8-12PM even here on the west coast.  By the time I get home, I know all the results anyway from my iPhone app, lol.  Then they just show like.. 5/50 runs in a few select events (all the americans and the medalists).  It's just 3 hours of figure skating and a few other things.

Then just awful commentary, stories, and sooo many commercials.

And then it gets ridic high ratings.  I guess our country is so self centered that really is all they want to watch...

On top of that, NBC won't sell highlights to anybody, so if you don't wait up until midnight (some people have to work...) you don't even get to watch the final results, EVER.

---

When I was in Italy for the summer olympics, coverage was 10000 times better.  I can't imagine what a phelps lovefest disaster it must have been here.  At least in Italy they just jumped from run to run, whatever was live, all day long.  Didn't favor the Italians TOO much, and weren't scared to show qualifying heats, lol events like shotput, etc.

---

I'm trying to get into the olympics, I really am, but I'd like to be able to turn the TV on when I get home and watch what is going on IN MY TIME ZONE, and that includes all of the sports and nations that are good at them.

[youseinthehouse]

I legitimately think that someone like Switzerland or Germany can win hockey gold.  If someone like Slovakia does it, I wouldn't even consider it an upset.

Canada is the best team in the field by a wider margin than some pundits will have you believe.  I personally think that all these Canadian talking heads (& Goose's quote by extension) are just touting the depth of the tournament as a means of bracing for epic fail.  I still think Canada takes the gold medal, but if they come up short with the strongest team AND home ice advantage, it will be even more embarrassing than:

I'm just bemused by these pansy Canadians who are afraid to talk about how their team is going to roll the entire tournament, as it is capable of.  Anyway, I love Olympic hockey more than any other form of hockey.  I'm skipping a ton of real life stuff just to watch random games throughout the day.  CZE/SVK has been a tight, well-played game so far (10m into 3rd per), difference only being a couple of spotty penalty calls against the Slovaks.

[RWG]

You hit the nail on the head Youse, a team with Gaborik, Chara, Hossa, Visnovsky, Palffy and Halak sure fucking sucks!  It would be plain EMBARRASSING to lose to them.

Ready for your cumdumpsters to lose 12-0 in the gold medal game?  If you want to talk embarrassing...

[youseinthehouse]

I'll also be the one to give NBC some credit.  Not on their overall coverage, but I think their presentation of individual events is very well done, for the most part having good announcers who walk the fine line of explaining their more obscure sport to the layman viewer (me) while keeping up a proper level of excitement and attention to detail that their sport's hardcore fans look for.  If only their bigwigs were making better decisions about overall presentation, because I wholeheartedly agree with a lot of the "bad" you guys are talking about.  (deciding which events to show, too much backstory crap when we could be watching more qualifying heats, too many commercials, time delay crap, breaking for local news at dinner time and midnight, etc.).  Although the time delay affects us on the east coast much less, which is nice.  And those bastards are forcing me to watch Canada/USA online.  WITH MICROSOFT SILVERLIGHT, an even more locked-down, shitty version of Flash (and who'd think that was even possible!).  So yeah, don't get me wrong, I still hate NBC.

[youseinthehouse]

A post of ups and downs for you.  Let's analyze.

a team with Gaborik, Chara, Hossa, Visnovsky, Palffy and Halak sure fucking sucks!

I didn't say this, so you're completely misrepresenting my argument.  But way to name the handful of superstars on one team's roster.  Every single name on Canada's roster is a superstar.  By the way, you're really reaching to make your point here after the first three names.  Which brings us to:

Palffy

LOL.

It would be plain EMBARRASSING to lose to them.

Here you're talking some sense actually.  This is the "up" I mentioned above.

Ready for your cumdumpsters [sic] to lose 12-0 in the gold medal game?

Not sure who you're talking about here, but if it's team USA, I would be thrilled if they even made the medal round.

[RWG]

cumdumpsters = women... you're more stupid than I thought.

NBC's coverage is beyond abysmal.  Like octo said, they show 10 minutes of an event... the American's runs and the medalist's runs.  The only events they show properly are Figure Skating and Biathlon.  While Biathlon is one of the most epic events in the entire Olympics, it's pretty weird that they show it in full coverage for all of America to see.

A time delay for the Pacific timezone... has a worse idea ever existed?  Funnily enough this is still somehow only the 2nd worst decision by NBC in the past month (Conan !)

NBC's coverage is among the worst in the world.  A 360p stream from a security camera in the speedskating oval would be more watchable than NBC's coverage... not to mention you'd actually get to see the races live.  Americans should be ashamed of NBC.  What a disgrace to such a "great" country.


As far as hockey goes... I have no idea what you are talking about.  Patrice Bergeron is not a superstar.  Brendan Morrow is not a superstar.  Drew Doughty is not a superstar.  Brent Seabrook is not a superstar.  Calling Patrick Marleau, Duncan Keith or Dan Boyle "superstars" is a stretch to say the least.  Not to mention we have Joe "the choke" Thornton on our team... 'nuff said.

Look at a team like Russia.  Alexander Ovechkin is a superstar.  So is Evgeni Malkin.  So is Ilya Kovalchuk.  So is Pavel Datsyuk.  So is Alex Semin.  Ilya Bryzgalov is the 2nd best goaltender in the world right now (next to Ryan Miller.)  Sergei Fedorov's credentials as far as experience and leadership go are head and heels above anything that anyone on Team Canada has (but then again Fedorov was Yzerman's wingman [I know they were both centres, but you get my point] so...)  Throw in 10 KHLers who kick more ass that we'd ever know in this shitty league run by Jews and Americans and you have yourself "a potent mix" as Col. Quatrich says in Avatar.

Look at our '02 Gold Medal winning team.  CAPTAIN - Mario Lemieux (2 Stanley Cups, 10 time All-Star, 3 Harts, 2 Conn Smythes, 6 Art Rosses, inducted to the Hall of Fame in 1997, five years BEFORE the '02 Olympics)  ASSISTANTS - Joe Sakic (2 Stanley Cups, 13 time All-Star, 1 Hart, 1 Conn Smythe) & Steve Yzerman (3 Stanley Cups, 10 time All-Star, 1 Conn Smythe, and the greatest playoff goal ever that made even Wayne Gretzky look like a fool.)

Keep in mind we barely made it out of the preliminary round, fluked a semi-final match against Belarus (thanks Tommy!) and then had a hard fought 5-2 win over a STACKED American team (Hull, Amonte, Modano, Richter, Chelios, Weight, Tkachuk, Guerin, Leetch, Leclair, Roenick, Housley... the list goes on.)

Look at our '10 team.  CAPTAIN - Scott Niedermayer, ASSISTANTS - Sidney Crosby, Jarome Iginla & Chris Pronger 

Try comparing.  Niedermayer, Crosby and Iginla to Lemieux, Sakic and Yzerman.  That's similar to comparing Nodar Kumaritashvili's 2010 Olympic performance to that of Sven Kramer, Lindsey Vonn and Evgeni Plushenko combined.  No offense to Niedermayer, Crosby and Iginla, but they are nowhere near the same level of those three hockey Gods.

Not enough?  Well why don't you just go ahead and replace Ray Bourque, Adam Foote, Rob Blake, Al McInnis and Scott Stevens with "superstars" Brent Seabrook, Drew Doughty (I am seriously rofling as I type this,) Duncan Keith, Dan Boyle and Shea Weber.

If you knew anything about hockey (hint: you don't) you'd know that every single Stanley Cup since 1993, as well as every Olympic Gold since the pros started playing in 1998 has been won because of a solid defense.  NONE of these were won on offense.  Go ahead, try to prove me wrong.

Our team is nowhere near as good as the 2002 team.  Arguing this would be plain stupid.  And we barely won in '02, so where does that leave us now?

Let's make it even simpler for your feeble mind;

Ovechkin + Malkin + Semin + Datsyuk + Kovalchuk > any five Canadian forwards

Ovechkin + Malkin + Semin + Datsyuk + Kovalchuk vs. "superstars" Dan Boyle, Brent Seabrook, Duncan Keith and Drew Doughty is just about the biggest blood bath I've thought about since I saw the film 300 in theaters.  Pronger is a goon who takes bad penalties.  Niedermayer is reaching Chelios status... his grey beard is more fit for Dos Equis commercials than it is for an Olympic defender.  Shea Weber is just about the only bright spot we have on our defense.

Bryzgalov or Nabokov > Luongo... I hope to God we have the sense to play Brodeur. 

Markov and Gonchar on the PP are deadly.  Weber and Pronger are comparable, but the edge is definitely on the Russian's side.  Russia's defense are bigger, stronger, and can break the puck out better.  Slovakia's defense is also great with all of these criteria for that matter...

Look at Sweden's '06 team.  Mats Sundin.  Daniel Alfredsson.  Sedins.  Nicklas Lidstrom.  Holmstrom, Zetterberg, Forsberg, Kronwall, Samuelsson, Modin, backed in net by Lundqvist (when he was good) and Guldpucken winner Stefan Liv.

My point is, it takes a fucking good team to win gold at the Olympics.  If you think Canada's 2010 team is anywhere near as good as our 2002 team or Sweden's 2006 team, then you are an uneducated n00b who is either unaware of his surroundings or just perhaps doesn't understand the game of hockey.

Yes, the team is good.  I was impressed by our play against Norway.  On paper however, we do not have the same sort of power that teams like Russia, Slovakia or Czech Republic have.  Calling "the entire Team Canada" superstars is one of the more troll things you've ever done on these boards.

We taught the rest of the world how to play hockey and now we are paying for it.  Our bad.

Maybe if Yzerman didn't pick random ass guys like Patrice fucking Bergeron to be on the team we would actually have a shot.  Boston plays in the same loop as my precious Leafs and not once have I ever taken notice of Bergeron when he was on the ice.

Now watch a Capitals or Thrashers game... whenever #8 or #17 are on the ice, they completely control the game, nearly Bobby Orr style.  There is no one on Team Canada who can do this every shift.  Rick Nash can do it here and there, but we're talking two major game changers in Ovechkin and Kovalchuk.

I don't know how to better explain it.  If you really think that Canada's team is that much better on paper than any other team, then you simply don't know hockey.  We might win Gold.  We might not.  There are two things which are for sure;

1. If we don't win Gold, it will go down in history as the greatest hockey disaster of all time.

2. It shouldn't.

Btw, complete roflcopter at you saying "I'd be thrilled if the US women made the medal round."  and YOU have the gumption to say that I'm talking Men's Team Canada down???  Wow.

TL;DR - This team is about 109283091283x worse than the '02 team, or Sweden's '06 team, or any team that has any right winning Olympic Gold.  Our team is not full of superstars no matter which way you cut it, and Russia has the most insane team ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever.

There is only ONE hole in this argument.  Russia's defense.  It's certainly not "full of superstars" but ours isn't either.  These games are a rare occasion where the Gold will be won on offense.

Again.  OVECHKIN, MALKIN, KOVALCHUK, SEMIN, DATSYUK, GONCHAR, MARKOV

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

CROSBY, NASH, IGINLA, THORNTON, HEATLEY, PRONGER, WEBER (YES WEBER IS ACTUALLY OUR 2nd BEST OFFENSIVE DMAN)

Furthermore, I have no idea what you are talking about when you say that "Canadaheads are talking the field up so they won't look bad if they lose."  PDO thinks this is the greatest team ever and every pick were golden children from the moment of birth.  Modest infil thinks that Canada "is the best team in the tournament and it's not even close" (his words.)  All the broadcasters are in agreement, and the bookies (who know best) haven't offered anything better than 5:2 odds of Canada winning Gold since the day the roster was announced.  I seem to be the only one who knows that the rest of the world isn't a pushover...

[youseinthehouse]

A lot of it WHARGARBLE, but still a ton of ammo for my cannon:

(Conan !)

No sane person cares about late night tv, because NONE OF THEM are funny, and definitely not Conan.

Calling Patrick Marleau, ... "superstars"

62 GP 38G 26A +21

Look at a team like Russia. Alexander Ovechkin is a superstar. So is Evgeni Malkin. So is Ilya Kovalchuk. So is Pavel Datsyuk. So is Alex Semin. Ilya Bryzgalov is the 2nd best goaltender in the world right now (next to Ryan Miller.)

First you name the handful of Canada's "weakest" players, and provide an equal number of Russia's strongest players.  This is somehow supposed to be proof Canada < Russia.  Proof fail.

Throw in 10 KHLers who kick more ass that we'd ever know in this shitty league run by Jews and Americans

I'm the troll?

Al McInnis

I'm the one who doesn't know about hockey?  At least I know how to spell Al MacInnis's name.

Our team is nowhere near as good as the 2002 team.  Arguing this would be plain stupid.  And we barely won in '02, so where does that leave us now?

On home ice.

Ovechkin + Malkin + Semin + Datsyuk + Kovalchuk > any five Canadian forwards

At what, being inconsistent?  All but Ovi are, wildly so.  Datsyuk - Zetterberg = downgrade from great player to good player.

I hope to God we have the sense to play Brodeur.

Again, I don't know hockey?  #30 is the greatest goaltender ever, but he's under .500 in 2010.

Now watch a Capitals or Thrashers game... we're talking two major game changers in Ovechkin and Kovalchuk.

I will not be able to find Kovalchuk if I watch a Thrashers game.  And so a third time I ask, I'm the one who doesn't know hockey?
 

[RWG]

(Conan !)

No sane person cares about late night tv, because NONE OF THEM are funny, and definitely not Conan.

Calling Patrick Marleau, ... "superstars"

62 GP 38G 26A +21

Al McInnis

I'm the one who doesn't know about hockey?  At least I know how to spell Al MacInnis's name.

Our team is nowhere near as good as the 2002 team.  Arguing this would be plain stupid.  And we barely won in '02, so where does that leave us now?

On home ice.

Now watch a Capitals or Thrashers game... we're talking two major game changers in Ovechkin and Kovalchuk.

I will not be able to find Kovalchuk if I watch a Thrashers game.  And so a third time I ask, I'm the one who doesn't know hockey?

This is the very definition of trolling.  Take 4 irrelevant holes in a 3000 word post and use them as a counter argument.  What about the rest of my post?

You must have missed this part;

"Well why don't you just go ahead and replace Ray Bourque, Adam Foote, Rob Blake, Al MacInnis* and Scott Stevens with "superstars" Brent Seabrook, Drew Doughty (I am seriously rofling as I type this,) Duncan Keith, Dan Boyle and Shea Weber."

Do you honestly believe the former 5 and the latter 5 are equal???

Regarding Marleau, here is some fun for you...

Bernie Nicholls 1988–89    Los Angeles Kings    NHL    GP79   G 70    A80    P150

Rob Brown 1988–89    Pittsburgh Penguins    NHL    GP68    G49    A66    P115

Zigmund Palffy 1996–97    New York Islanders    NHL    GP80    G48    A42    P90

Jason Allison 1997–98    Boston Bruins    NHL    GP81   G33    A50    P83

Craig Simpson 1987–88    Edmonton Oilers*   NHL    GP59    G43    A21    P64

Ray Ferraro 1991–92    New York Islanders    NHL    GP80    G40    A40    P80

Jason Blake 2006–07    New York Islanders    NHL    GP82   G40    A29    P69

I guess all of these men are superstars...

 

Now let's try this again...

You must have missed this part;

"Well why don't you just go ahead and replace Ray Bourque, Adam Foote, Rob Blake, Al MacInnis* and Scott Stevens with "superstars" Brent Seabrook, Drew Doughty (I am seriously rofling as I type this,) Duncan Keith, Dan Boyle and Shea Weber."

Do you honestly believe the former 5 and the latter 5 are equal???

You must have missed this part;

"Well why don't you just go ahead and replace Ray Bourque, Adam Foote, Rob Blake, Al MacInnis* and Scott Stevens with "superstars" Brent Seabrook, Drew Doughty (I am seriously rofling as I type this,) Duncan Keith, Dan Boyle and Shea Weber."

Do you honestly believe the former 5 and the latter 5 are equal???

You must have missed this part;

"Well why don't you just go ahead and replace Ray Bourque, Adam Foote, Rob Blake, Al MacInnis* and Scott Stevens with "superstars" Brent Seabrook, Drew Doughty (I am seriously rofling as I type this,) Duncan Keith, Dan Boyle and Shea Weber."

Do you honestly believe the former 5 and the latter 5 are equal???

You must have missed this part;

"Well why don't you just go ahead and replace Ray Bourque, Adam Foote, Rob Blake, Al MacInnis* and Scott Stevens with "superstars" Brent Seabrook, Drew Doughty (I am seriously rofling as I type this,) Duncan Keith, Dan Boyle and Shea Weber."

Do you honestly believe the former 5 and the latter 5 are equal???

You must have missed this part;

"Well why don't you just go ahead and replace Ray Bourque, Adam Foote, Rob Blake, Al MacInnis* and Scott Stevens with "superstars" Brent Seabrook, Drew Doughty (I am seriously rofling as I type this,) Duncan Keith, Dan Boyle and Shea Weber."

Do you honestly believe the former 5 and the latter 5 are equal???

Now that we have that out of the way, why don't we talk about home ice...

You do know what home ice is... right?  Home ice gives you the advantage of making last change, putting your stick in last to take the draw, decision on which colors jersey to wear, and a few other advantages.

Canada doesn't have home ice for the entire tournament... we have home ice no more often than any other team will.

The crowd =! home ice

and the crowd doesn't make a helluva difference.  It's the home ice which makes the difference.

Who knows hockey now?

[youseinthehouse]

It's not worth quoting you anymore.

A) I don't care about comparisons to past teams.  And even if I did, you're again idiotically comparing (BEST OF SET A) with (WORST OF SET B).  Learn some basic logic.  This argument holds no water.  Niedermayer and Pronger are two of the best D to EVER play the game.  Funny you left them off your list.  Also, compare those you listed with any other defensive core, side by side, in this Olympics.  There is none better.  (And Phaneuf, Green, and Jay Bou. aren't even skating for the team!)
B) By home ice, I was simply referring to geographical location & crowd.  Even if these benefits are small, they are still benefits.

Seriously, leave it to Canada to get into an argument about why their team isn't #1.  Pretty much every other group of fans in the world would relish in their team's greatness, rather than preemptively make excuses for a potential failure.  Where are your collective cojones, O Canada?

[RWG]

 Niedermayer and Pronger are two of the best D to EVER play the game.  

Just because your team is the best doesn't mean you will always win, nor that you should win.  Particularly not in a tournament with 12 teams and an Olympic style format.

Again, as far as I know, I'm the only Canadian who seems to think that the team ISN'T stacked and SHOULDN'T be the Gold medal favorite.  I am not a reflection of Canada's general opinion.

The only reason I am going on about how we aren't that great is because IF we lose... EVERYONE is going to go "ROFL CANADA THAT'S THE BIGGEST CHOKE OF ALL TIME" when it will actually be far from it.

Home ice has only worked TWICE in Olympic men's hockey... both times for USA (actually a pretty cool fact.)  Though this could be a factor of the Winter Olympics never being held in Russia when they cheated for 40 years by sending professionals who, as a byproduct of the communist Soviet Union, weren't paid enough money to be considered "professional."  The advantage playing in your home country has is intangible, if anything.  And I didn't think you were a spiritual type, Youse.

Please don't tell me you actually consider Patrice Bergeron to be a superstar.

Lastly http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qb7M9JVnPO4

PS: I do admit to using lulzy logic (I am a troll after all) with my Worst '10 to Best '02 comparisons and the like.  You're just too smart to fall for it 

[RWG]

I'm just bemused by these pansy Canadians who are afraid to talk about how their team is going to roll the entire tournament, as it is capable of.  

Canadians have something Americans lack... it's called humility.

[youseinthehouse]

I think humility is one of the greatest virtues in humankind and often fall short of my goals of achieving it.  I just don't think it belongs in sports, at least from a fanbase perspective  Makes things too boring.  "Your team is better."  "No, yours."  "Let's just call it a tie, eh?"

I firmly believe Canada will take gold, and I think they can do it without too much trouble.  That said, I wouldn't be surprised if Canada lost either, I'd just like to see more of the Canadian media truly get behind their team.  But I guess casting doubt is a tactic that sells.  Given the greatness of some of the other teams, I don't think it would be the most epic fail ever.  All I said on this front is that it'd be more embarrassing than "Carlsowned.gif".  Which is true.

As for intangibles, I am a firm believer in the role of emotion and momentum in sports, despite the trend toward Sabermetricizing everything, so espoused by some others 'round these parts.  It's why no matter what numbers people pull out of their ass, I will never be convinced Belichick 4th Down v. Indy was ever even CLOSE to the right thing to do... that move simply crushed that defense's soul for the rest of the year.

And as for "Lemieux's Goal".  That is pretty much one of the best hockey plays I've ever seen.  Which made up for him COMPLETELY MISSING a WIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIDE open net earlier (or was it later?) in that same game.  I mean literally 100% of the net to shoot at from 4 feet away, God knows where the goalie was.  And from a very frontal angle, working with a very slow moving, non-bouncing puck, he completely missed.  You may remember it, he even turned both his palms to the sky, as if to say "HUH!?!?!?!"

[RWG]

Agreed that it would be more embarrassing, because our loss in the 2010 WJHC wasn't embarrassing at all.

I'm glad you understand the value of the intangibles in sports.

That's all.  This discussion appears to have reached a resolution.

[youseinthehouse]

Other than your being in complete denial over being Carlsowned, yes.

6-1 win for the RW&B today (seems like that's almost every team now actually...  we may have started something over here).  Great start, ugly middle, great finish. PP in the middle stretch was awful (even gave UP a goal). It seemed like the players were trying too hard to establish a chemistry.  Way too much passing and being static, rather than anyone daring to cut towards the net or take a shot.  If we want any shot at a medal, we're going to need more people than just "grinders" Chris Drury and David Backes to bring their killer instincts. Toward the end of the game I started to see some of that fire in more players on the team, incl. Parise and Kessel.  This enabled some of the lengthiest offensive zone cycles I've seen in the entire tournament so far, resulting in many quality scoring chances.  Our best players stepping up like this at the end of a game is a good sign.

Can't wait til Sunday.  Miller Time.

[youseinthehouse]

ZOMG, YES.

[octoinky]

Meh, Goose is obv talking down Canada to brace himself emotionally if they lose.  Everybody does it all the time.  

Same way US media won't STFU about Vonn's injury - she's got the hype but a way out if she blows it without making it look like our countries star failed (and she did this afternoon!)

[Boss]

Shaun White = Insanity

US has taken a commanding lead, but a lot of our big guns have already done their best events.  I would still expect Germany/Norway/Canada etc to factor in for medal totals come the end.  Canada could win 4 Golds just in Hockey and Curling alone!

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

Rank	Country	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	United States	6	5	7	18
2	Germany	4	4	3	11
3	Norway	3	3	2	8
4	Canada	3	3	1	7
5	France	2	1	4	7
6	South Korea	3	2	0	5
7	Austria	1	2	2	5
8	Switzerland	3	0	1	4
9	China	2	1	1	4
10	Russia	1	2	1	4
11	Italy	0	1	3	4
12	Sweden	2	0	1	3
13	Netherlands	1	1	1	3
14	Japan	0	1	2	3
15	Australia	1	1	0	2
15	Slovakia	1	1	0	2
17	Czech Republic	1	0	1	2
18	Poland	0	2	0	2
19	Belarus	0	1	1	2
20	Estonia	0	1	0	1
20	Finland	0	1	0	1
20	Kazakhstan	0	1	0	1
20	Latvia	0	1	0	1
24	Croatia	0	0	1	1
24	Slovenia	0	0	1	1

[RWG]

Wtf??? I said from Dec 30 when the roster was announced that Russia should be the favorite to win gold.  Like I say, Drew Doughty, Brent Seabrook, Duncan Keith and Dan Boyle aren't exactly superstars, I've never been a fan of Chris Pronger or Scott Niedermayer, and picking a guy like Patrice Bergeron instead of Shane Doan is pure idiocy.

Think what you want... I'm not some sort of naysayer.  I am a truth teller.  I am Dreamz.

[RWG]

SHIT Youse.  You were right!  Slovakia fucking SUCKS.  LOL @ Pavol Demitra and Josef Stumpel.  I can't believe these guys are in the same tournament as Patrice Bergeron and Brent Seabrook.  What a misfit!

[youseinthehouse]

You're the one who was talking up Russia, chump!  Shame I fell asleep before being able to watch that game.  Sounded epic.

[wishiwasfamous]

Angry troll is angry.

[RWG]

DAMN Youse!  I can't believe all those Swedish fans talking down their team... they must have been bracing for an EPIC FAILURE.  If their mere 4-2 win over Belarus is any indication... that might just be coming for them!  What a shame for a team FULL OF ALL STARS !

[Infected Mind]

the olympic hockey is pretty poor considering all the talent. No ones playing well as a team at all lol

[youseinthehouse]

+1 octo, wiff

Alex, you're right, but the teams haven't had much practice together.  The NHL was playing games on Valentine's Day, AKA technically DURING THE OLYMPICS.  Throw in a day for travel, and you basically have a collection of talented pieces thrown together with no real cohesion.  (I'm not sure when the KHL or SEL stopped their play, if they even did).  The exception is the Heatley/Thornton/Marleau line, which has been playing really, really well despite not getting too many goals yet.  But chances, a bazillion.  Too bad for them Jonas Hiller played the game of his life the other day.

Amazing that Latvia scored two against Czech Repo today.  I was really happy for their team.  Somehow there were three super hot blonde Latvian chicks bouncing around with the Latvian flag after the goals.  How the heck did Latvia get hot blonde chicks?

Hot damn, I love Olympic ice hockey.  I intend to join a beer league team soon.  I am going to put enough time and effort into being good at ice hockey that you can all expect to see me in Sochi, 2014.

[RWG]

The exception is the Heatley/Thornton/Marleau line, 

You forgot to mention SUPERSTAR PATRICE BERGERON 

[OO]

Selänne had an assist to Finland's 3-0 goal against Germany tonight. He is now all-time points leader in Olympic hockey.

Teemu Selänne (Finland) - 37 points
Vlastimil Bubnik (Czechoslovakia) - 36 points
Harry Watson (Canada) - 36 points
Valeri Kharlamov (Soviet) - 36 points
Vyacheslav Fetisov (Soviet) - 33 points


Epic! Teemu has always been one of my all-time favorite hockey players ever since I was a kid. Quite amazing that he is still able to play in an Olympic tournament at his age. Then again, why not, as Fedorov, Jagr, Palffy and Lidström does it as well. On Sunday it's Team Finland vs Sweden. Looking forward to it, although I still remember the bitter loss in Torino 2006 Olympic gold game like it was yesterday. It's time for revenge! Going to skip class to be able to watch this classic (early monday class ftl).

I love Olympic hockey, watched every game so far.

[AZ]

I love Olympic hockey, watched every game so far.

Me too, I've seen every game but two and I've also seen like the majority of the ladies matches. It's funny beacuse I don't give a fuck about hockey outside the Olympics. And that's pretty epic what Selänne just achieved!

btw, what's your guys favourite/most dislike Olympic event? My favourites are hockey, skiing/biathlon and some alpine skiing and I easily dislike Curling the most; every game takes like 3-4 hours or more if I'm not mistaken. Bobsleigh/luge/skeleton can be spectacular to look at, but I find it rather boring in the long run. Snowboarding and freestyle sucks too.