NHL Thread

Taxman · 01-05-2014, 11:12 AM

Canada is pretty strong, as always, but does a bigger rink bother them? Russia is strong as always but does they have too big pressures? (Can I say so? Not sure, I'm not familiar with English sport terms). Swedes are good, maybe a little bit too good. I think that either Canada or Russia or Sweden win, but dunno. USA can surprise, though.
We Finns are quite weak this year, but it is always so. The best we can get is a bronze and it would be possible only if everything succeeded. Dunno.

Paul Smeenus · 01-05-2014, 12:43 PM

Jamaica for the gold

Burning Down · 01-05-2014, 12:56 PM

Woah, that 7-1 loss for the Leafs, against the Rangers, was so embarrassing. Especially after the win at the Winter Classic. Thanks to Lupul for not making it a complete shutout.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Taxman

Canada is pretty strong, as always, but does a bigger rink bother them? Russia is strong as always but does they have too big pressures? (Can I say so? Not sure, I'm not familiar with English sport terms). Swedes are good, maybe a little bit too good. I think that either Canada or Russia or Sweden win, but dunno. USA can surprise, though.
We Finns are quite weak this year, but it is always so. The best we can get is a bronze and it would be possible only if everything succeeded. Dunno.

For Canadian & American players, I don't think the big rink is too bothersome for veteran Olympians and players who have played in Europe. That goes for men and women hockey players. I think that Olympic rookies may find the bigger rink intimidating at first, but I don't imagine that it's hard to get used to, considering that both Canadian and both US teams have done quite well in the competition. I actually think the women's teams are far more used to the larger rinks since they seem to participate in more international competitions and many of them play in Europe since they can get farther in their careers over there.

Here, most rinks that we play on, or just skate on for fun, conform to NHL size regulation. I've never seen the Olympic sized rink in real life.

The USA teams have gotten as far as a silver medal in recent years (2002 and 2010 were silver medals for them). I would say that they are in medal contention, as well as Canada and Russia, but I would not count out Sweden or Finland either. I don't know if they are as strong, though.

Paul Smeenus · 01-05-2014, 01:18 PM

Fins have great goaltending, that could take them a lonv way.

Taxman · 01-05-2014, 01:28 PM

Yeah, but we have no snipers. And you can't win if you don't score, but good goaltending helps, of course. Anyway I'm not expecting that we'll get a medal, but it would be a nice surprise anyway.

Laces Out Dan! · 01-05-2014, 01:31 PM

The states on paper dont look like a gold contender when you look at some of the other country's rosters. And it was like that last year as well...same goes for the World Junior tournaments. And they got gold last year. When you look at the positions the players were drafted from Team Canada and Team USA...its staggering, but whenever those guys get together for a tournament they really play well, which is why I think they're the biggest rivals for Canada in the last few years. When it comes to the USA Olympic roster...I believe there are only 3 players that would even crack a spot on team Canada if they were Canadian born..and those players are Patty Kane because you cant deny his pure offensive abilities, Jonathon Quick, because I believe when healthy hes likely the best in the game, and Ryan Suter.

Paul Smeenus · 01-05-2014, 01:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Taxman

Yeah, but we have no snipers. And you can't win if you don't score, but good goaltending helps, of course. Anyway I'm not expecting that we'll get a medal, but it would be a nice surprise anyway.

If the other team can't score, they can't win either

Taxman · 01-05-2014, 01:36 PM

And when,it comes to rinks, yes. I have never seen a north-American rink in,a real life so I can't tell the difference. However, I'm not an expert but I would imagine that if you are used to play in a smaller rink, it is not a problem if you play in a little bit bigger rink, you just have a bit more time to do what you do. But maybe it's bigger problem if you are used to play in a big rink and suddenly you have less time? At least I would suppose it could be so.

Paul Smeenus · 01-05-2014, 01:36 PM

@Dan: Ryan Miller is a pretty damn good second goalie too

Taxman · 01-05-2014, 01:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paul Smeenus

If the other team can't score, they can't win either

Yeah, but everyone else has as good goaltenders as ours. But we don't have snipers at all. Only playmakers and even they are not particularly good. And Barkov/Granlund both are too young and inexperienced anyway.

01-05-2014, 11:12 AM	#1611 (permalink)
Taxman watching the wheels Join Date: Oct 2013 Location: Finland Posts: 470	Canada is pretty strong, as always, but does a bigger rink bother them? Russia is strong as always but does they have too big pressures? (Can I say so? Not sure, I'm not familiar with English sport terms). Swedes are good, maybe a little bit too good. I think that either Canada or Russia or Sweden win, but dunno. USA can surprise, though. We Finns are quite weak this year, but it is always so. The best we can get is a bronze and it would be possible only if everything succeeded. Dunno. __________________ ...

01-05-2014, 01:28 PM	#1615 (permalink)
Taxman watching the wheels Join Date: Oct 2013 Location: Finland Posts: 470	Yeah, but we have no snipers. And you can't win if you don't score, but good goaltending helps, of course. Anyway I'm not expecting that we'll get a medal, but it would be a nice surprise anyway. __________________ ...

01-05-2014, 01:31 PM	#1616 (permalink)
Laces Out Dan! I love Puck Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: British Columbia Posts: 4,614	The states on paper dont look like a gold contender when you look at some of the other country's rosters. And it was like that last year as well...same goes for the World Junior tournaments. And they got gold last year. When you look at the positions the players were drafted from Team Canada and Team USA...its staggering, but whenever those guys get together for a tournament they really play well, which is why I think they're the biggest rivals for Canada in the last few years. When it comes to the USA Olympic roster...I believe there are only 3 players that would even crack a spot on team Canada if they were Canadian born..and those players are Patty Kane because you cant deny his pure offensive abilities, Jonathon Quick, because I believe when healthy hes likely the best in the game, and Ryan Suter. __________________ We are entirely smooth, We admit to the truth, We are the best at what we do.

01-05-2014, 01:36 PM	#1618 (permalink)
Taxman watching the wheels Join Date: Oct 2013 Location: Finland Posts: 470	And when,it comes to rinks, yes. I have never seen a north-American rink in,a real life so I can't tell the difference. However, I'm not an expert but I would imagine that if you are used to play in a smaller rink, it is not a problem if you play in a little bit bigger rink, you just have a bit more time to do what you do. But maybe it's bigger problem if you are used to play in a big rink and suddenly you have less time? At least I would suppose it could be so. __________________ ...