Sochi Olympics 2014

Waitsian

So is anyone else going to watch the live announcement of the Canadian team at 11 am EST, which is 4 pm here of course? It should be interesting, lots of debate about who'll make it.

The US team left out a few players doing very well, and the Czechs are sending quite the aged team. Petr Nedved?! Tomas Kaberle?! Yikes! No Vrbata? Very strange.

Any thoughts on a favourite? Canada I suppose, but I reckon the Swedes and Russians could do well. Dark horse? Switzerland.

smackbunnybaby

Good thread!

I am intrigued as to whether they will bring Stamkos.

When his injury occured they said he would be ready in time. Stamkos, as we know is a goalscoring god, but is it the right place to bring him back?

smackbunnybaby

TSN saying Stamkos is a lock for RW.

mickydcork

I thought USA made a balls of their selection.
To leave Keith Yandle behind and take Brooks Orpik is foolish imo, especially on the big ice. And then they thrash Bobby Ryan when they could very well need to call him up if someone gets injured?

I have no idea what the hell the Czechs are doing? No Hudler, no Vrbata and they're taking Petr Nedved at 42 years old!!

I think the Swedish roster looks pretty strong (although no Hedman) and they're taking some guy called Jimmie Ericsson over guys like Marcus Johanson or Carl Soderberg?

Canada will be favourites, although I think the Swedes may cause an upset again.

Waitsian

smackbunnybaby wrote: »

TNS saying Stamkos is a lock for RW.

I think the feeling with Stamkos is that if he doesn't make the trip over he can be replaced under the rules. Still taking a risk though if he's passed fit. He has great skills sure, one of the world's best, but will he be up to speed, 'match fit' as they say in football? Can he take on so many games in such a short tournament? It's a tough call for Yzerman and co.

Kunitz, Fleury, Iginla, Nash, Richards, Eric Staal, Giroux? A lot of people saying they shouldn't go but will. Do you take 25 best players? Do you try to mould a team, taking specific players for specific jobs? Should you take centres and play them as wingers? Do you take 4 left D and 4 right D or not worry what side they play on? Should age and experience count? Do you take 4 job specific lines? :eek: I think the US fecked up their goalie selection; be interesting to see what Canada does.

Regardless, there'll no doubt be plenty of teeth gnashing and jawing!

Btw I'm a neutral in all this, don't support any team, just interested in the fun! I'll be cheering for Leafs players to do well as individuals, that's all.

smackbunnybaby

I'm listening to TSN Montreal at the moment...http://www.tsn.ca/montreal/listen/

The TV stream isn't working for me. anyone else having problems?
http://www.tsn.ca/live/hockeycanada/

Latest from Bob McKenzie:
"TSN's latest projections: Claude Giroux out and Jeff Carter in on RW; Chris Kunitz in and Logan Couture out on LW. Our only changes."

Waitsian

smackbunnybaby wrote: »

The TV stream isn't working for me. anyone else having problems?
http://www.tsn.ca/live/hockeycanada/

It doesn't work for me either. Isn't it a Canada only stream though? I'd have thought NHL.com would be showing it, no?

Waitsian

http://www.sportsnet.ca/sportsnet-live/

smackbunnybaby

Ah yes, probably Canada only.

NHL arent advertising anything on their site.

Radio will do. 20 minutes!

Waitsian

smackbunnybaby wrote: »

Ah yes, probably Canada only.

NHL arent advertising anything on their site.

Radio will do. 20 minutes!

There's TV that works:

http://www.680news.com/livevideo/

I'm watching it now, from Toronto's MCC.

Unfortunately we have to listen to Kypreos and MacLean but sure mute is great til the announcement starts.

mickydcork

Rumour of no Logan Couture for Canada.

Mad if true, but maybe reflective of the insane depth they have, particularly at center.

edit: just read that he is injured and requires hand surgery.

He's a loss.

Waitsian

Subban is going apparently, soon find out.

smackbunnybaby

Here it is...

G
Luongo
Price
Smith

D
Bouwmeester
Doughty
Hamhuis
Keith
Pieterangelo
Subban
Vlasic
Weber

F
Benn
Bergeron
Carter
Crosby
Duchene
Getzlaf
Kunitz
Marleau
Nash
Perry
Sharp
Stamkos
Tavares
Toews

mickydcork

Marleau is a surprise for me, but he still is a great skater I suppose.

I wouldn't have Nash, he hasn't shown much form this season.

Kunitz is also very lucky to make it.

Waitsian

No Thornton, no Seabrook, no St. Louis, no Staal, no Boyle.

Smith? ugh. They better hope Price starts all games and plays well. Nash? Huh. Reputations...

mickydcork

Subban over Seabrook also?

Seabrook is a proven pressure performer and plays really well with Keith

Waitsian

mickydcork wrote: »

Kunitz is also very lucky to make it.

The greatest player in the world today can't play with just anyone you know...:rolleyes:

Waitsian

mickydcork wrote: »

Subban over Seabrook also?

Seabrook is a proven pressure performer and plays really well with Keith

I'm glad Subban got picked but don't see the point in taking him if he doesn't start. He's a very good player, deserves it without question imo.

mickydcork

mod9maple wrote: »

The greatest player in the world today can't play with just anyone you know...:rolleyes:

It's a strange situation - if Crosby is healthy then Kunitz is on the first line

but if Crosby gets injured Kunitz probably is a healthy scratch

mickydcork

mod9maple wrote: »

I'm glad Subban got picked but don't see the point in taking him if he doesn't start. He's a very good player, deserves it without question imo.

Great offensively.
Great on the powerplay.
Great potential.

But not a great defender. Gives up too many turnovers. Discipline is suspect.

Why do they need him when they have Doughty, Pietrangelo, Keith and Vlasic who are just as good on the PP?

smackbunnybaby

Basically reputations yeah..

Like for goaltenders they had a discussion before the show on the radio, and the best goaltender in the last year or so is Josh Harding.

He deserves to be there at least at #3 ahead of Smith. Begs the question what you have to do to get in there.

smackbunnybaby

Russia go with a relatively balanced NHL/KHL Team. You will recognise some names on the KHL side for sure:

Goaltenders

Sergei Bobrovsky (Columbus Blue Jackets)
Semyon Varlamov (Colorado Avalanche)
Alexander Eremenko (Dynamo Moscow)

Defensemen

Anton Belov (Edmonton Oilers)
Slava Voynov (LA Kings)
Alexei Emelin (Montreal Canadiens)
Andrei Markov (Montreal Canadiens)
Evgeny Medvedev (AK Bars)
Nikita Nikitin (Columbus Blue Jackets)
Ilya Nikulin (AK Bars)
Fedor Tyutin (Columbus Blue Jackets)

Forwards

Artem Anisimov (Columbus Blue Jackets)
Pavel Datsyuk (Detroit Red Wings)
Ilya Kovalchuk (SKA St. Petersburg)
Denis Kokarev (Dynamo Moscow)
Nikolai Kulemin (Toronto Maple Leafs)
Evgeni Malkin (Pittsburgh Penguins)
Valeri Nichushkin (Dallas Stars)
Alex Ovechkin (Washington Capitals)
Alexander Popov (Vanguard)
Alexander Radulov (CSKA Moscow)
Sergei Viktorovich (Dynamo Moscow)
Vladimir Tarasenko (St. Louis Blues)
Alexey Tereschenko (AK Bars)
Viktor Tikhonov (SKA St. Petersburg)

smackbunnybaby

The Swedes have a great chance of Gold if Lundqvist turns up:

Goalies:
Jhonas Enroth, Buffalo Sabres (NHL)
Jonas Gustavsson , Detroit Red Wings (NHL)
Henrik Lundqvist , New York Rangers (NHL)

Defensemen:
Alexander Edler, Vancouver Canucks (NHL)
Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Phoenix Coyotes (NHL)
Jonathan Ericsson , Detroit Red Wings (NHL)
Niklas Hjalmarsson, Chicago Blackhawks (NHL)
Erik Karlsson, Ottawa Senators (NHL)
Niklas Kronwall, Detroit Red Wings (NHL)
Johnny Oduya, Chicago Blackhawks (NHL)
Henrik Tallinder , Buffalo Sabres (NHL)

Forwards:
Daniel Alfredsson, Detroit Red Wings (NHL)
Nicklas Backstrom, Washington Capitals (NHL)
Patrik Berglund, St. Louis Blues (NHL)
Jimmie Ericsson, Skellefteå AIK (SWE)
Loui Eriksson, Boston Bruins (NHL)
Johan Franzen, Detroit Red Wings (NHL)
Carl Hagelin, New York Rangers (NHL)
Marcus Kruger, Chicago Blackhawks (NHL)
Gabriel Landeskog, Colorado Avalanche (NHL)
Daniel Sedin, Vancouver Canucks (NHL)
Henrik Sedin, Vancouver Canucks (NHL)
Jakob Silfverberg, Anaheim Ducks (NHL)
Alexander Steen, St. Louis Blues (NHL)
Henrik Zetterberg, Detroit Red Wings (NHL)

smackbunnybaby

The Finnish squad. Hard to believe the goalkeeping depth, when you consider Pekke Rinne is out still:

Goalies:
Kari Lehtonen, Dallas Stars (NHL)
Antti Niemi, San Jose Sharks (NHL)
Tuukka Rask, Boston Bruins (NHL)

Defencemen:
Lasse Kukkonen, Kärpät Oulu (FIN)
Juuso Hietanen, Torpedo Nizhni Novgorod (RUS)
Sami Lepisto, Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg (RUS)
Olli Maatta, Pittsburgh Penguins (NHL)
Sami Salo, Tampa Bay Lightning (NHL)
Kimmo Timonen, Philadelphia Flyers (NHL)
Ossi Vaananen, Jokerit Helsinki (FIN)
Sami Vatanen, Anaheim Ducks (NHL)

Forwards:
Juhamatti Aaltonen, Kärpät Oulu (FIN)
Aleksander Barkov, Florida Panthers (NHL)
Valtteri Filppula, Tampa Bay Lightning (NHL)
Mikael Granlund, Minnesota Wild (NHL)
Jussi Jokinen, Pittsburgh Penguins (NHL)
Olli Jokinen, Winnipeg Jets (NHL)
Mikko Koivu, Minnesota Wild (NHL)
Leo Komarov, Dynamo Moscow (RUS)
Petri Kontiola, Traktor Chelyabinsk (RUS)
Lauri Korpikoski, Phoenix Coyotes (NHL)
Jori Lehtera, Sibir Novosibirsk (RUS)
Antti Pihlstrom, Salavat Yulayev Ufa (RUS)
Tuomo Ruutu, Carolina Hurricanes (NHL)
Teemu Selanne, Anaheim Ducks (NHL)

smackbunnybaby

Lots of Experience in the Czech squad...

Goalies

Ondrej Pavelec (Winnipeg Jets)
Jakub Kovar (Jekaterinburg)
Alexander Salak (Petrohrad)

Defensemen

Marek Zidlicky (New Jersey Devils)
Ladislav Smid (Calgary Flames)
Radko Gudas (Tampa Bay Lightning)
Michael Barinka (HC Vitkovice)
Lukas Krajicek (Dinamo Minsk)
Michal Rozsival (Chicago Blackhawks)
Zbynek Michalek (Phoenix Coyotes)
Tomas Kaberle (Rytiri Kladno)

Forwards

Jaromir Jagr (New Jersey Devils)
Patrik Elias (New Jersey Devils)
Tomas Plekanec (Montreal Canadiens)
Ales Hemsky (Edmonton Oilers)
Jakub Voracek (Philadelhia Flyers)
Michael Frolik (Winnipeg Jets)
Martin Hanzal (Phoenix Coyotes)
Vladimir Sobotka (St. Louis Blues)
Ondrej Palat (Tampa Bay Lightning)
Milan Michalek (Ottawa Senators)
David Krejci (Boston Bruins)
Roman Cervenka (Petrohrad)
Petr Nedved (Bili Tygri Liberec)
Jiri Novotny (HC Lev Praha)

smackbunnybaby

The USA team:

G
Jimmy Howard
Ryan Miller
Jonathan Quick

D
John Carlson
Justin Faulk
Cam Fowler
Paul Martin
Ryan McDonagh
Brooks Orpik
Kevin Shattenkirk
Ryan Suter

F
David Backes
Dustin Brown
Ryan Callahan
Patrick Kane
Ryan Kesler
Phil Kessel
T.J. Oshie
Max Pacioretty
Zach Parise
Joe Pavelski
Paul Stastny
Derek Stepan
James van Riemsdyk
Blake Wheeler

Waitsian

smackbunnybaby wrote: »

Lots of Experience in the Czech squad...

That's putting it diplomatically!

Waitsian

smackbunnybaby wrote: »

The Swedes have a great chance of Gold if Lundqvist turns up:

Defensemen:
Alexander Edler, Vancouver Canucks (NHL)
Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Phoenix Coyotes (NHL)
Jonathan Ericsson , Detroit Red Wings (NHL)
Niklas Hjalmarsson, Chicago Blackhawks (NHL)
Erik Karlsson, Ottawa Senators (NHL)
Niklas Kronwall, Detroit Red Wings (NHL)
Johnny Oduya, Chicago Blackhawks (NHL)
Henrik Tallinder , Buffalo Sabres (NHL)

I still can't quite believe they left Carl Gunnarsson out of the team. He faces the league's top lines game in, game out.

Izy

Get off Kunitz the lot of you

He did play on a line with getzlaf and perry in Anaheim and won a cup too...

And Steve Y sad that Kunitz would've been picked regardless of Sid

GvidoR

Go team Latvia. :P

aaronm13

Michal Rozsival is mind boggling. He can't even make the Hawks most nights. He was fairly solid last season but has dropped off considerably this sason.

Waitsian

GvidoR wrote: »

Go team Latvia. :P

I'm cheering for Sweden. I grew up in Hamilton in the 70s and my Dad used take me to the Gardens to watch Borje Salming (amongst others of course - Sittler, Palmateer, McDonald, Turnbull to name just a few!). He was my first sporting hero. I've had a soft spot for Sweden ever since.

Paco Rodriguez

I'm shouting for Slovakia!!! Because my friends are Slovak.

I'm really looking forward to it!

smackbunnybaby

Paco Rodriguez wrote: »

I'm shouting for Slovakia!!! Because my friends are Slovak.

I'm really looking forward to it!

Here is the squad! Plenty of NHL names. Though Visnovsky and Gaborik might not play...

G Peter Budaj
G Jaroslav Halák
G Ján Laco

D Ivan Baranka
D Zdeno Chára – C
D Dominik Graňák
D Martin Marinčin
D Andrej Meszároš
D Andrej Sekera
D Michal Sersen
D Ľubomír Višňovský

F Milan Bartovič
F Marián Gáborík
F Michal Handzuš
F Marcel Hossa
F Marián Hossa
F Tomáš Jurčo
F Tomáš Kopecký
F Tomáš Marcinko
F Michel Miklík
F Peter Ölvecký
F Richard Pánik
F Tomáš Surový
F Tomáš Tatar
F Tomáš Záborský

GvidoR

Marcel Hossa from Dinamo Riga is playing in the olympics too, awesome.

smackbunnybaby

GvidoR wrote: »

Go team Latvia. :P

Here is their squad. Can't say I know many of them...other than the young forward for Buffalo..

G

Edgars Masaļskis
Kristers Gudļevskis
Ervīns Muštukovs

D

Artūrs Kulda
Oskars Bārtulis
Ralfs Freibergs
Sandis Ozoliņš
Arvīds Reķis
Krišjānis Rēdlihs
Kristaps Sotnieks
Georgijs Pujacs

F

Jānis Sprukts
Kaspars Daugaviņš
Mārtiņš Karsums
Ronalds Ķēniņš
Miķelis Rēdlihs
Vitālijs Pavlovs
Armands Bērziņš
Lauris Dārziņš
Mārtiņš Cipulis
Juris Štāls
Miks Indrašis
Herberts Vasiļjevs
Zemgus Girgensons
Koba Jass

GvidoR

Daugaviņš played for Bruins and Senators.
Ozoliņš played for Sharks, Devils, Hurricanes...
Karsums played for Lightning
Girgensons playing for Sabres
Gudļevskis the goaltender is playing for Syracuse Crunch of AHL
Indrašis is one of team leaders in KHL

^ They're the best players of the list.

smackbunnybaby

Stamkos will not play at Olympics!

http://www.thehockeynews.com/blog/steven-stamkos-will-not-play-for-team-canada-at-2014-olympics/

COYW

smackbunnybaby wrote: »

Stamkos will not play at Olympics!

http://www.thehockeynews.com/blog/steven-stamkos-will-not-play-for-team-canada-at-2014-olympics/

Such a shame. I can't think of one hockey fan who wouldn't want to see a player of his calibre play at the Olympics. He'll be back on the ice for the Bolts after the break which is great for hockey fans in general but bad news if you have to play against him.

smackbunnybaby

Watching him and Crosby on the same line would have been so amazing.

Canada are now in an awful poistion of having to find a replacment, will it be Claude Giroux (probably) or Martin St. Louis?

COYW

smackbunnybaby wrote: »

Watching him and Crosby on the same line would have been so amazing.

Canada are now in an awful poistion of having to find a replacment, will it be Claude Giroux (probably) or Martin St. Louis?

I'd go for Claude Giroux out of those two. I think it would be a mistake for team Canada not to call him up, even at this late stage.

scottmcb04

think they announced earlier that st louis has been called up...

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/olympics/martin-st-louis-to-replace-stamkos-on-team-canada/article16725085/

canada have left 2 of the top 15 points scorers in the nhl out of their olympic roster! (thornton and giroux)

*Henrik Sedin out for sweden

COYW

scottmcb04 wrote: »

think they announced earlier that st louis has been called up...

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/olympics/martin-st-louis-to-replace-stamkos-on-team-canada/article16725085/

canada have left 2 of the top 15 points scorers in the nhl out of their olympic roster! (thornton and giroux)

Shocking that they would call in St. Louis ahead of Claude Giroux. St Louis is a fine hockey pro but Giroux is from the top shelf of the NHL.

Absoluvely

Switzerland (men) just beat Latvia 1 - 0 with the goal after 59:52 :eek:

Leaving it late

Official event webpage here.

GvidoR

Un-freakin-believable. I want to cry.

GvidoR

Crazy hockey today.

Finland 8 : 4 Austria
USA 7 : 1 Slovakia
Russia 5 : 2 Slovenia

PerrinV2

Hey guys,watching a bit the ice hockey at Sochi,don't know a whole lot about the sport.
Few questions though
How strong of a team have the usa/canada sent over for the games?
As in would the best players from the nfl be there?
Also how important is Gold to the likes of usa/canada/russia

scottmcb04

PerrinV2 wrote: »

Hey guys,watching a bit the ice hockey at Sochi,don't know a whole lot about the sport.
Few questions though
How strong of a team have the usa/canada sent over for the games?
As in would the best players from the nfl be there?
Also how important is Gold to the likes of usa/canada/russia

Yeah they have sent nearly there best teams over there, any of the really good players that have been left behind, were left behind because they are too small/slow for the bigger international ice(wider rink)

Home team obviously have the biggest want for it, russia and canada are massive hockey countries so they obviously want it... usa a bit less i would think, but it seems to be the crowning glory of the winter olympics(always the last event) so i would assume they all want it...

GvidoR

This the first time Slovenian team qualified for winter olympics.

Everyone wants the medals though, ofcourse. What kind of a team would it be if their motivational speech was something like: "Okay, let's go lose a bunch of games and get one of the last places!" ?

PerrinV2 wrote: »

As in would the best players from the nfl be there?

American football is not in the olympics. :P

Stheno

scottmcb04 wrote: »

Yeah they have sent nearly there best teams over there, any of the really good players that have been left behind, were left behind because they are too small/slow for the bigger international ice(wider rink)

Home team obviously have the biggest want for it, russia and canada are massive hockey countries so they obviously want it... usa a bit less i would think, but it seems to be the crowning glory of the winter olympics(always the last event) so i would assume they all want it...

I was working in Canada recently, they live and die by the ice hockey results! I became a massive fan while there, it's a super game

A lot of foreign players in the nfl though, they had a routine in the past few games I was there where they called out players attending the olympics and a fair few were non Canadian/US

scottmcb04

GvidoR wrote: »

Everyone wants the medals though, ofcourse. What kind of a team would it be if their motivational speech was something like: "Okay, let's go lose a bunch of games and get one of the last places!" ?

ha the last place playoff would be epic, 6 on 6 hockey, and a end scoreline of about 36-35...