Canada’s weaknesses? Not many. Just scoring, defense, goaltending
February 21, 2010 · 68 Comments
United States 5, Canada 3
What a strange team. For an enormously hyped showdown with the United States on Super Sunday, they start flat. They look disorganized. They are erratic.
But, they recover, and, for a while, they dominate. Still, it wasn’t enough. Mistakes kill them and U.S. goalie Ryan Miller shuts them down. CTV’s Olympic hockey broadcasters gave Miller most of the credit for the American win. He played well and perhaps he was phenomenal, as game analyst Pierre McGuire said, but the offensively challenged Canadians helped make him look brilliant.
The forwards: Canada controlled the puck in the U.S. zone for long periods of time and, like any good Canadian team, they could cycle forever. But they couldn’t finish. Is it too early to ask what Corey Perry, Mike Richards and Patrice Bergeron are doing on this team?
The defense: Widely praised as a major strength when the roster was announced, it hasn’t been. Chris Pronger and Dan Boyle can’t compete at this level. Scott Niedermayer is too far along on the downside of his career to be a major player. The only hope is to go with the young guys, Shea Weber, Brent Seabrook, Duncan Keith and Drew Doughty. Cut back on Niedermayer’s time, don’t play Pronger or Boyle, and hope for the best.
The coach: How can you like what Mike Babcock has done? His team starts the game as if it’s in a daze. It seems unprepared. It plays soft in its own end. When it’s defending, it doesn’t block off the shooting lanes very well. He fails to call a time-out late in the game. He doesn’t know what to do with Canada’s best player, Sidney Crosby. Doesn’t give him enough ice time, keeps changing his linemates. Yes, Crosby was a minus for the night, but this team doesn’t have a hope without him.
The goaltending: Good for CTV anchor James Duthie to ask the question after the first period: Do you pull Martin Brodeur, who allowed two goals? The correct answer, given by analyst Nick Kypreos, was: Absolutely. You get him out of there and you don’t bring him back. With Brodeur, it’s always going to be a risk/reward situation. He’ll give you great saves and bad goals. In a high powered tournament like this, you play the odds and go with the guy who will give you least amount of grief, who will play the steadiest. That would be Marc-Andre Fleury, but apparently it has been decided he won’t play. So, yes, Brodeur should have been pulled and replaced by his backup Roberto Luongo.
A few weeks ago, Scotty Bowman said success in a short, scary tournament like this required a coach to keep it simple and be ruthless. I wonder if the Canadian hockey brain trust has the creativity and ruthlessness to make the roster changes needed to give this team a chance to win?
But take heart, Canada. As CTV’s Rod Black noted last night, the United States may have beaten the Canadians in hockey. But Canada bettered the United States in ice dancing.
UPDATE: Luongo starts against Germany. Canada will go with an NHL format from here on, using 12 forwards and shortening its bench early if needed. Management was not happy with Babcock failing to call a timeout late in the game.
SECOND UPDATE: CTV and its associate channels drew the second largest audience of the Vancouver Olympics for the Canada-United States hockey game: 10.6 million viewers. The opening ceremony was watched by 13.3 million on CTV and its associate channels.
In an email message, Keith Pelley, the head of the CTV-Rogers Olympic broadcasting consortium, said, ”With last night’s numbers we are over the moon and thrilled with viewer response…these are Canada’s games…the patriotism is simply overwhelming….this will literally change the way kids feel about being Canadian.”
Joe Clark, author and activist for the disabled, charges the official Vancouver Olympics website, Vancouver2010.com, and also the CTV website CTVOlympics.ca, are “inaccessible to people with disabilities — in some cases hugely so.” He adds that he does not see “any practical way for a blind person to use the site, for example.” Clark says he’s surprised, “as John Furlong promised in 2004 that VANOC’s sites would be accessible. The Athens Olympics, he said, “had quite accessible sites (I didn’t test Turin). As ever, in Canada we go for the bronze, it seems.”
The Salt Water Music blog caught the people at MTV Canada dissing the Australian Olympic broadcasters who are accused of making homophobic remarks about American figure skater Johnny Weir. As Rob at Salt Water points out, MTV was able to limit its disapproval to the Aussies. Didn’t mention the world of trouble that RDS is in over the same issue. Is that because RDS and MTV Canada are owned by the same company?
SportsBusiness Journal reports: The International Olympic Committee is getting a tepid response from U.S. broadcasters in Vancouver as it tries to build up interest in the next round of bidding for Olympic rights in 2014 (Sochi) and 2016 (Rio).
Two potential bidders decided against making the trip to Vancouver, and the ones that ventured north were prepared to tell IOC executives that they will not bid as much as NBC bid on the 2010 and 2012 Games. NBC paid $2.1 billion in rights for the Vancouver and London Olympics.
The IOC is hosting top executives from ESPN and Turner Broadcasting during the Games. But executives from other potential bidders, Fox Sports and CBS, are not planning to travel to Vancouver during the two-week event, and their absence deals a blow to one of the IOC’s biggest selling points around the Games.
In Canada, CBC will bid for 2014 and 2016, as will CTV, most likely, but CTV’s level of interest isn’t clear. The CTV-Rogers consortium paid a record $153-million (U.S.) for Vancouver and London. Sochi 2014 and Rio 2016 will likely fetch little more than $100-million.
A reader points out that CTV’s Canada-United States men’s hockey telecast on Sunday missed the opening faceoff. Yep. Went to a crowd shot just before the puck was dropped. Sloppy.
Announcer Jamie Campbell’s work at the Cypress Mountain venues last week drew some sharp criticism from me. His work Sunday for the men’s ski cross was solid. He effectively drew out his analysts Chris Kent and Dave Duncan with good questions.
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RE: A reader points out that CTV’s Canada-United States men’s hockey telecast on Sunday missed the opening faceoff. Yep. Went to a crowd shot just before the puck was dropped. Sloppy. `
Too bad that CTV is doing it`s own hockey coverage instead of taking the World feed when that feed is being produced by the best Canadian hockey crew put together.
Hockey fan.
Shocking really, everyone knows you can fill the net on Campbell if you go five hole…..
I heard his two-hole was his weakness…
As an aside I love how the Globe cheerleaders (namely Gary Mason & Christine Blatchford) are imploring taxpayers be screwed out of even more money to support these underachievers. Apparently that’s the reason they haven’t owned the podium at these games. Yes folks, it’s our fault – we must pay more if we want success from our freeloaders, err, athletes.
Note that the US govt gives zilch, nada to their athletes yet they can win a boat load of medals while our athletes come up short on performance and long on excuses.
http://www.ctvolympics.ca/news-centre/newsid=4918...
http://www.ctvolympics.ca/news-centre/columnists/...
Underachieving freeloaders….wow. Why are you even watching? Spend your time and energy on something you can get behind, Roger, instead of spreading the hate.
BREAKING NEWS: The consortium is reporting that Jamie Campbell will be in between the pipes for Canada tonight. "Jamie was a great goalie in midget, so we BELIEVE he can get the job done," consortium big wigs said. He will report on his experiences following the loss to Germany. "This great country just got another great goalie," someone overheard. After the start, he'll head over for a half hour interview with Brian Williams, replacing any live coverage of events. Then, he'll be shuttled of to Whistler for a beer swilling chat with Jennifer Hedger. Following eight hours of post-game campbell coverage, CTV will resume it's live event coverage.
The email comment from Keith Pelley is priceless. Just wonder if the wee little fella hasn't been partaking in some Coast Island mushrooms combined with some good ol' B.C. combustibles.
Nobody has adequately explained to me as to what possible qualifications an ex-president of the Argos could bring to the most massive telecommunications undertaking in this country's history.
Pelley is a 1st-class a$$kisser and and has never seen a butt that he doesn't smack if there is dollars in it for him. All you have to do is watch the little smurf "in action" to see how he wheels and deals everything to his personal financial favour – just like a used car salesman, but without the integrity.
Mr. Houston, great column on yahoo today, just read it. everyone should read it, great info on the real ratings story, cutting behind the spin, great job, kudos to you. you should post a link here to it, it's a great read, also good job on the hockey coverage. Cheers, Fred T.
"this will literally change the way kids feel about being Canadian" Are you serious? Is this guy for real?
rod black totally over the top with the stupid "believe" line. so hokey. it's a stupid line everyone hates, why bring it up and ruin the moment? everyone here groaned when he pulled that out. too bad, he was doing so well up until then.
Considering the concern about Canada's goaltending choices for the do or die game against Germany (tues)…
It would make sense to go start Luongo (as is expected) and use Fluery as the back up on the bench …..rather than the obviously shell shocked Broduer.
If Luongo has an off nite too, the young guy might as well get his chance afterall he has 30 plus playoff wins and is the defndeing stanley cup champion
I am slightly surprised that US networks wouldn't be more interested in the 2014 & 2016 package, if only because the summer games will be held in a timezone that's *relatively* good for broadcasting to the North American east coast. Evening and nighttime events could be shown live (or just with a slight delay) to North Americafor the first time in a summer Games since 1996.
Considering that Rio is just an hour away from the Eastern Time Zone, I am quite certain when it comes up for negotiation, ABC/ESPN and NBC will bid aggressively. I would be very interested if ABC/ESPN will outbid NBC for the US rights this time around. ABC/ESPN has ABC/ESPN/ESPN2/ ESPN News/ ESPN News/ ESPN Regional/ Disney/ A&EESPN 360 and ESPN desportes at their disposal vs the NBC-Unversial Family of Networks.
As for Canada, I am not sure who CBC can bid with? Canwest Global? They didn't express any intrest as a partner for 2010 and 2012 rights and besides they are broke The Score? Could be a possiblity. The Score could be up for sale and if CBC has part ownership, it could be a possiblity. Rogers? I am not sure if Rogers will team up with CTV/TSN for 2014 and 2016. If there is any rumblings that CTV-Rogers are not seeing eye to eye, it could get interesting. On the other CTV/TSN may bid alone using TSN2 and gulp…MTV at their disposal if Rogers decides not team up.
Considering that Rio is just an hour away from the Eastern Time Zone, I am quite certain when it comes up for negotiation, ABC/ESPN and NBC will bid aggressively. I would be very interested if ABC/ESPN will outbid NBC for the US rights this time around. ABC/ESPN has ABC/ESPN/ESPN2/ ESPN News/ ESPN News/ ESPN Regional/ Disney/ A&EESPN 360 and ESPN desportes at their disposal vs the NBC-Unversial Family of Networks.
As for Canada, I am not sure who CBC can bid with? Canwest Global? They didn't express any intrest as a partner for 2010 and 2012 rights and besides they are broke The Score? Could be a possiblity. The Score could be up for sale and if CBC has part ownership, it could be a possiblity. Rogers? I am not sure if Rogers will team up with CTV/TSN for 2014 and 2016. If there is any rumblings that CTV-Rogers are not seeing eye to eye, it could get interesting. On the other CTV/TSN may bid alone using TSN2 and gulp…MTV at their disposal if Rogers decides not team up.
William, Do you know if Rogers will be bidding with CTV for the 2014 & 2016 TV rights this time around? You mentioned that CTV will bid, but level of intrest is unknown. Will they bid on their own this time around or with Rogers or some other partner?
And for that matter – who would CBC team up with? I'm assuming the partnership that they had with TSN the past few Games is out the window, and seeing as Sportsnet also seems to be in the CTV/TSN corner… who does that leave? The Score? Or does CBC go it alone with their cable channels? Maybe try and convince the CRTC to loosen the rules on CBCNN just for two weeks every two years?
I don't think CTV will need Rogers for 2014 and beyond. They can easily replace Sportsnet with TSN2 and OLN with say Discovery. And while CTV doesn't have a good replacement for the FAN stations, are radio broadcasts really THAT important nowadays.
CBC won;t want to touch this mess with a 55 million foot pole after the money the consortium has lost on this debacle. they'll let ctv over pay and mess it all up again. why wouldn't they? ctv will spin this as the best ever, but the losses are mounting
You were doing good until you said that Fleury is a steadier goalie than Luongo. Evidently you don't watch much NHL, if he was steady, the Pens would have been the top seed in the East the last 3 years. His lack of consistency is Pittsburgh's biggest weakness. That comment just makes it seem like you have it out for Hockey Canada. I never understood the hype on Brodeur. He cleaned up playing for a team that didn't even try to score for a decade. He is the worst positional goaltender I've seen in the NHL for 20 years. He's never square and he doesn't take away the bottom of the net or much else. BTW, getting 3 goals past Ryan Miller this season is pretty good, any goaltending and we win easy.
Re: Own the Podium … Yes, you want the organizing committee to come up with something to inspire the athletes, but, as with all PR schemes. it's nothing more than words and, when it doesn't happen, you look like shit. Instead of Own the Podium, we're renting a basement apartment. Canada has already done better than in past Olympics, but because VANOC is admitting the complete failure of OTP, we're all disappointed.
And BTW, for all those people discussing how the hockey team can get better (or not) what has any of that to do on a blog about sports media?
The real problem with “Own the Podium” was that in positioning Canada’s Winter Olympics brand that way, the COC needed to be absolutely sure that they could deliver on this primary promise. Since this is not going to be the case, everything else the brand stands for has become unbelievable.
The same applies to the Olympic broadcast coverage. Prior to the Olympics, Keith Pelley stated:
“The advantage of the Consortium is the diverse and broad scope of talent from various assets, giving us expertise and star power in all areas — sports, news, entertainment and music. The breadth and depth of high-calibre talent available to the Consortium is unparalleled."
It goes without saying that the Olympic Broadcast brand has been found out to be a fraud and no spin in the world will be able to change that.
To paraphrase David Ogilvy: “Don’t judge the brand by what she says, but rather by how she behaves.”
I really appreciate your posts Insider, as you really shed a lot of light on what is going on that the average fan would have no clue on. I will take quality over quantity anytime. To be fair, the changes on the fly such as keeping us up to date on what and when other events are happening was finally added on, and thankfully we have had less events of late from Cypress, so just getting a break from Jamie Campbell has helped my sanity.
Insider, I couldn't agree more! Perfect case in point: tonight, they aren't prepare for the Virtue/Moir gold, and have to rely on an RDS reporter to get an interview that is then interrupted. The RDS reporter is speaking french. Just before this, there's confusion and an apology from someone as they then cut away. Then- after the interview-if you can believe it- NBC sticks with coverage and you see them backstage in some great moments, while ctv is back on brian williams. shocking. this is revolutionary coverage? where was the ctv reporter?
mr. houston, you have to watch the tape of this. BRUTAL.
The bough has broken and the gloves are coming off!
Just finished listening to Jack Armstrong and Eric Smith on the Fan 590. Armstrong was responding to the statement from COC CEO Chris Rush “ that Canada is going to be short of its goal.” Armstrong began by stating his disbelief in the “Own the Podium” positioning (“it is better to under promise and over deliver”) and wandered “who on earth came up with this (own the podium).” This started a rant by Eric Smith about some broadcasters’ (“I am not naming names”) “(who are) blatant homers in their coverage” and “blowing up smoke about the performances of a lot of our athletes.”
Since The Fan is part of the Consortium, this clearly indicates that there now is trouble in paradise and it is going to be interesting to see if the love-in continues.
Good on Armstrong and Smith and good on this blog!
I'm really sorry you had to listen to the Fan…awful.
Eric Smith is nothing more then an American wannabee.
He's probably mad at the Olympics because nobody is noticing his basketball team.
Um… ok. That is 100% false and adds nothing to the discussion. Great job as always rick.
They're totally right,, some announcers have been over the top in their homerism. I don't mind the "own the podium" strategy to win, but don't suddenly act as if we shouldn't be upset when we are getting beaten up mid games.
On a somewhat different note, Damien Cox has been grasping at every straw possible to defend his co-author Martin Brodeur's performance yesterday. While its probably well known amongst hard-core sports fans in Toronto, Cox would do well to bring up the fact from time to time that he might be SLIGHTLY biased.
I'm glad someone else noticed this. Did you see the piece today (23rd)? Talk about Cox having no credibility on the issue! How can he possibly write an objective assessment of the goaltending situation when he wrote a book with one of the principals to coincide with what he hoped would be said goalie backstopping the team to a gold medal. Not even a declaration of a conflict of interest? What a buffoon.
Why does Chris Cuthbert constantly throw in irrelevant notes in the midst of end-to-end action? Pointless comments about one Swiss player being as popular as Roger Federer would be OK during stoppages in play, but he breathlessly blurts them out in the middle of whirlwind action.
I noted in a previous post that Cuthburt constantly informs us as to where a player is from during the play-by-play.
Eg. “John Smith of Penticton BC, former Regina Pat who enjoys embroidery, carries the puck up the ice.”
I thought Ron McLean was the guy who couldn't go 5 minutes without mentioning a players home town.
In response to Mr. Houston's mea culpa about Jamie Campbell:
Let’s not start clutching at straws and remain frank here. The broadcast coverage, with some rare exceptions, is delivering exactly what was promised. Painfully inept on-air personalities who are by-and-large out of their depths without the trusted teleprompters, ad hoc direction and mass-confusion that result in an ongoing embarrassment.
There are some bright spots that are doing their best to keep this sinking ship afloat: James Duthie (who should be signed up now to replace Williams for London 2012), Martine Gaillard, Brad Fay, Dave Randorf, Rob Faulds, Vic Rauter and Bryan Mudryk come to mind.
But to have to watch and listen to the likes of Lisa LaFlamme (if Diana Swaine was Clueless in Beijing, she is clearly being surpassed by Comatose in Vancouver), Jennifer Hedger (unwatchable and incomprehensible on TSN and even worse now), Michael Landsberg (who should be off any record, period!), Darren Dutchyshen (have another donut Darren), Chris Cuthbert and his ugly cousin Peter Loubardias (how fast can I hit the mute button?), Rod Black (back to World Vision, please!) Melissa Grelo (to satisfy the intellectually challenged demo?) and Jamie Campbell (so what if he made Rogers’ Blue Jays coverage unwatchable, let’s give him Snowboarding) remains cruel and unusual punishment.
Hey "Insider'. Put your money where your mouth is and stop tossing around generalities. What's wrong with Hedger's work in these Olympics? Be specific. I think she's done a great job working in what must be a very challenging environment.
Insider must be masochistic. He seems to opine a lot on people who clearly cause him pain and discomfort. Campbell has been solid, save for his overt nationalism and puzzling interpretation of Mike Robertson’s silver medal meltdown. Black has been great in Figure Skating and Speed Skating, and you really can’t say much about the hockey guys because they’ve been providing the same commentary you see all the time.
Can’t say I’m much into all the fluff and filler, but after a rocky start, things have been much smoother overall between all the hosts and venues.
Maybe you should have waited the full, excruciating day it was going to take me to publish my full findings on Olympic Web accessibility, Bill.
Since Insider brought up Canada's overall performance again and I haven't seen Bill mention it yet on his site (unless I missed it), are we currently the only country to have one of our athletes disqualified?
Of course Michael Douglas was late to have his sled given the once over by the cheat police. You'd be late too if you were leaving Catherine Zeta-Jones back at the chalet.
The damage control about Canada’s underwhelming medal count has officially started. When Brian Williams discussed the results of the Cross-country 30-kilometre pursuit he pointed out that despite no medals, Canada’s performance had improved over 2006. Quite a departure from crowing about “Owning the Podium.”
The latter will probably change soon to “Watching the Podium – From a Distance – With Binoculars.” Since we are currently trending toward not even matching Torino’s medal haul, it’ll be interesting to eventually find out how much more this has cost us as compared to 2006.
Not to be outdone, Nil–Nil Dobson stated during the runs by the hapless Canadians in the Men’s Super Combined that “it is not about the position, but rather about enjoying the Olympic experience.”
Mark my words, pretty soon they’ll be dusting off old Pierre de Coubertin to justify our over the top participation.
Williams and Dobson’s change in tune is compelling evidence that besides their role as cheerleaders, “our esteemed network talent” is also charged with being mouthpieces for VANOC and COC.
To be fair, I watched Williams talk last night about not "sugarcoating it" about how Canada hasn't performed to expectations.
Always enjoy your posts, Insider! I thought the same. Here we go again.
The spin continues as Michael Landsberg, the Rachael Ray of sportscasters, tried to explain away the dominance of the U.S. at the Alpine events vis-a-vis the underwhelming Canadian performance by bringing up the age-old injuries excuse.
Insider, that 30km performance was amazing by Canada. No, not a medal, but having 3 men in the top 9 and 4 in the top 16 was outstanding. This team will probably end up peaking in 4 years, but you have to walk before you can sprint.
"Sid the kid" showed his true colours tonight. He's nothing when he isn't around other great players. 1 goal and 3 shots on net? Sorry, but that isn't what I consider a "star player"…..
I don't think he's played well in the NHL for years. The guy is slow, period. – not only skating, but passing and making decisions. You can't play like that against competition like this. He's also ALWAYS a danger to take a stupid penalty. Watch – I'll guarantee he takes a stupid retaliatory penalty (punch a guy in the head or something ) against Germany.
Hi William, Is it me or does Nick Kypreos stick out like a sore thumb? In the intermission you point out that the Longo-Brodeur question Kypreos seemed to agree to pull the goalie and then not to pull the goalie. I wonder if Pang and Bob McKenzie can't believe that this guy is on the panel. He seems to be a guy brought up from the B team and is trying to make a name for himself. Richard
That was brutal. I wish I knew who said it, but some talking head referred to this tournament as the greatest hockey tournament ever. I think it may have been Gord Miller but am not sure. It makes sense given what you quoted him as saying. If anyone can recall who said it please post. I am not sure what context it was given in, but regardless it was a moronic comment. Firstly, the tournament has not even entered the knock-out phase, and secondly, there was this tournament back in 1972, you may have heard about it, Canada versus the Soviet Union. I hear it had a little bit of drama associated with it and may be worth checking out if you missed it.
Seems to me Pronger plays well in the NHL but never plays well in the Olympics (slow, gives puck away). He doesn't really ever seem into it. Wish they had not chosen him.
That’s a great point HappyHab. The guy’s a force in the NHL , even today, but has always struggled at the Olympics – even going back to 1998.
I remember just a few weeks ago watching on Sportsnet the brain trust for the Cdn team meet to decide the roster for this team. When Chris Pronger’s name was brought up, it was obvious to these guys that he would be on the team: ‘no doot aboot aboot it’ one ‘genius spouted.
Its now obvious to most people, he didn’t belong on this team and neither did Neidermayer.
On a positive side – love the work of Gord Miller. Way better than Cuthburt. Anyday of the week.
Does anyone know where Iginla has gone? He was solid in game 1, but has vanished since (agreed, not alone) , the exception being the big hit he took against the Swiss. I rarely hear his name, it's like he's MIA. The team looks slow, and seems not to have the killer instinct needed to win. It's like they feel the fact that they are Canada is enough, but the other teams are well coached and up for the challenge of trying to beat them. My opinion is our Team Canada veterns are letting us down (Pronger, Neidermeyer, Iginla, Brodeur) and if they don't shake the funk, Russia will be our end.
Pulling Brodeur after the second goal would've been the right move. If Hitch were running the bench you can bet Brodeur would have been done, and I'm a little surprised Babcock didn't go through with it. You wonder if there are too many cooks in the kitchen on this one.
I can't for the life of me understand why Getzlat-Heatley-Nash hasn't been re-united, they were brilliant at the 2008 Worlds (again, if Hitch were running the bench, like he was for that tournament…). Heatley's carrying Thornton and Marleau right now, Perry's inability to get anything done offensively is dragging Getzlaf down, and for all the insistence that Crosby and Nash have chemistry I just don't see it, and Crosby was virtually invisible against the US. I'd be riding Getzlaf-Heatley-Nash next game, putting Crosby and Staal together, since Staal had some jump last night, probably with Toews or Bergeron, and either try Iginla with Thornton and Marleau or reduce Thornton, Marleau and Perry to spot duty and play Richards-Morrow-Iginla as a crash line.
Doughty was clearly the bright light last night for Canada. What a fantastic player. The spin move he did at the blueline near the end of the game? Brilliant. I'd be riding him and Keith for at least 27 minutes a game for the rest of the tournament, running Weber for about 25 minutes, Seabrook for about 20, and split the remaining 21 minutes or so between Boyle, Niedermayer, and Pronger, alternately pairing them with Weber or Seabrook. I'm a little surprised that Boyle's been so ineffective, not so much Niedermayer and Pronger. I guess Boyle really is just a glorified power play specialist. Mike Green would've been a welcome sight in his place yesterday.
Babcock should wear this loss and here's why:
- He should have showed the leadership to pull Brodeur after the third goal. How impactful would it have been to have possibly the best goaltender of all time yanked because he wasnt getting it done? Trust me no player on that bench we feel entitled through the rest of the tournament.
- He should have taken action when Thornton and Marlowe looked out of place. Heatly was on his own.
- With Canada pressing at the end of the game he didnt call for a time out to rest the hot Crosby line, or to put together a power-line with Brodeur on the bench.
It will be interesting to see if he lets the youth of this team get the job done as Pronger, Neidermeyer, Thornton, and Brodeur should play supporting character roles at this point and are not the go-to players anymore.
Has there been any mention of CBC News Network accidently routing 45 minutes of live coverage on air last Friday?
I thought it was my box acting up…so it wasn't just me.
Nope. A Mother Corp spokesthingy said it was a "technical issue". How do you ignore 45 minutes of foreign signal going out on your channel?
Like it or not, the personnel on the team can't change, but ice time can. The bench has to be shortened, even with back to back games. Play your top players and bury Germany. Once the game is in hand, you can play the rest of your scrubs, since you are on a back to back game situation. Regarding Nash, he has had tremendous success at the World Championship level playing with Heatley but that was on the bigger ice surface. I doubt the ice surface matters, but I would reunite those two as they had tremendous chemistry together. If anything, just to get Thornton off the ice will be addition by subtraction.
The United States is looking at a bye to the quarter finals, and then they get either Switzeraland or Belarus, and then likely either the Czechs or Finns. It sure looks like their path to the final is tantalizingly there. Canada, on the other hand, has dug themselves quite the grave with Germany, Russia and then likely Sweden to beat just to get to the Final.
Well, Babcock has already gone with the young blueliners — Keith, Doughty and Weber had the bulk of the ice time in the game and for the most part were solid. I haven't a clue what Pronger's issue is, but Niedermayer's had a poor season all along and likely should serve only as the seventh defender.
This team generated 45 shots, double their opponent, and put three goals past the best goaltender in the league this season. Brodeur wasn't good and shouldn't play again, and of the criticisms, not subbing in Luongo during the game seems to be the most valid one.
You should be able to win a game in which you score three goals and allow only 23 shots. Even so, too many of these guys appear to be playing stiff.
It's hard to believe, but nerves seem to have gotten to them.
Canada's had rotten preliminary rounds pretty much in every Olympics, so we'll see where this goes. Their road to a medal isn't an easy one.
Pronger's playing like he's afraid to get a penalty.
Canada's best player has scored as many goals, as he as deflected in for the opponents. If not for Danny Heatley scoring against Switzerland team Canada would have 1 win and 2 losses at this point. But your point is somewhat taken with the fact that Crosby lead Team Canada's forwards in Ice Time and Drew Doughty led the team in total ice time. So your comments there make no sense. Look at the stats the coach has already done what you have suggested.
I always felt fleury could do the job. Cup winner, young and hungry.
A tough US team- but a tougher Russian team.
Good game- but was it just me or did you miss Ron and Don at the intermission?
I hope it was just you. On a different note, the competition for most ridiculous statement of the Olympics has a new frontrunner. Did Gord Miller actually try to compare that game to the Miracle on Ice? Is he on crack? Yeah, I guess there are a lot of parallels between this US team and the group of college kids who beat the Russians!