Canada!!

[Tilea]

Olympic womens gold medal champions
Olympic mens gold medal champions

And now the World Cup of Hockey champions!!

Canada is back on top of the hockey world!

I lub Joe Sakic!!!!!

[Tarissa]

heh

[Eomer]

Here's my extremely verbose post from Druzzil Ro! Basically it's a long version of "yay!"

Probably not many people here who give a damn, but the most important tournament in hockey (or second most, depends how you rate the Olympics) just concluded, and Canada won. IMO it was a pretty damn good tournament. The tournament was played for the first time in 8 years, and was previously called the Canada cup and had been played for decades previously on an irregular basis. Some of the best hockey ever has been played for this title (The US won in 96, btw). The thing that differentiates this from the Olympics is the rules. In the Olympics they are played according to international rules, which differ NHL rules in a few ways (two lines passes are allowed, which the Swedes used to hammer Canada in one of the opening games in 2002 Olympics) and is also played on a wider ice surface. The basic idea is that international rules tend to emphasize passing and finesse, and are less physical. There is also the World Championships played every May, however it's not rated nearly as high as generally the teams are not comprised of the best of the best, more the best of the leftovers (players whose teams didn't make the NHL playoffs or were eliminated early, and even then a lot opt to take a break). The current plan is to play the World Cup every 4 years, staggered with the Olympics, so every 2 years there will be an absolute best on best world wide hockey tournament.

Overall I thoroughly enjoyed the tourney. I thought the hockey was very very good, if low scoring, which seems to be an ugly reality in today's game due to better coaching and play systems and goalies who look like the Michelin man. It was very physical, which was a nice change of pace from 2002 when there was not nearly as much hitting. This plays into Canada's hands quite nicely, as Canadian hockey for youngsters is geared much more towards physical play than American or European hockey is, and our players thrive on it. I still think the best hockey I have ever seen was the 2002 Olympics (several of the goals in the US vs. Canada final were so beautiful), but this was pretty good too.

It was also nice to see an underdog, Finland (population 5-6 million) make it to the final. Many of it's players and journalists were saying it's the greatest accomplishment in Finnish hockey history, so congrats! They may not have had much in terms of individual ability, but their team play was extremely good, very disciplined. I was pretty happy to see them beat the US though, I felt that they were the easier team to play.

The thing that makes me smile, though, is that Canada is probably going to absolutely dominate international hockey for the next 6-10 years. We were by a large margin the youngest team in the tournament, with a shitload of players who have never played in this setting before. 10 players were from 2002, the other 2/3 of the team was not. The majority of the team was under 30. 4 of our top 6 defencemen didn't make the tournament at all, or were hurt in the first two games. Yet we still managed.

Contrast this to the US team, which is getting very old and creaky, and has very few young bright stars coming up right now. Things are not looking so good for the US in international play in the coming years. Most of the team is ready to retire.

The Czech's played better than I ever expected them to, considering their head coach died just prior to the tournament, and it seemed like they just didn't give a shit at the start of it all. But man did they pull it together, they legitimately deserved to have beaten Canada in the semifinal.

Slovakia lost 3 of their top forwards and couldn't score a goal for the life of them, they way underperformed overall. They really need some better goaltending as well.

Russia, well, Russia's team was a goddamn mess. A lot of their best players chose not to attend (Mogilny, Bulin Wall, Yashin, oh wait Yashin was there in name) because of upheaval within the team. They do have a pretty big bright spot in Ovechkin, who may be one of the best hockey players in the world in the next 15 years. I think Alexi Yashin is very indicative of the Russian team, he just doesn't seem to give a shit, nor is he willing to sacrifice to better the team. And they pick him as Captain, a selfish, lazy player, a guy who has NEVER lived up to his potential. Their choice I guess.

Sweden, man, poor Sweden. They should have been the best or second best team in the tournament, they have so much offensive talent. Yet they played very poorly, and had even worse goaltending. After the 2002 debacle with Belarus, I imagine the Swedish press is calling for Peter Forsberg's and Marcus Naslund's balls on a platter, and I don't really blame them. Their goaltending, wow. Tommy Salo has been awful both in international play and the NHL for at least 3 years now, and he was only above average to begin with. Time to pass the torch. I somewhat feel sorry for him, as I think he has emotional problems, or at least did in the past (the rumors around town are that Mike Comrie banged his wife, and possibly even got her pregnant in the 2002-2003 season with the Oilers, and this would make sense as Salo divorced his wife last year and played his worst hockey ever, and Comrie was basically hated by his entire team for reasons that the media never really reported).

Germany, well, it's Germany. I think 4 ex-Canadians play on the team. Not much to say here, but good luck next time!

Individual player notes:

Brett Hull - do yourself a favor and retire. You're an embarassment to the player you once were. Before you had the skills to back up your big mouth, now you're old, tired, and damn near useless. You don't give a shit about your teammates, and spend most of your time on the ice cherry picking, refusing to backcheck, and dodging hits instead of fighting for the puck. It's not surprise Ron Wilson didn't want to play you anymore, you were awful in exhibition, and awful against Calgary in the playoffs (again, dodging hits like nobody's business).

Mika Kiprusoff - might be the real thing, but showed that pressure DOES get to him after all. Second goal against Canada tonight (Niedermayer) was god awful. People are comparing him to Brodeur, but until he wins a World Cup, three Stanley Cups, 400+ NHL games, and a few Vezina's I think it's a bit premature.

Martin Brodeur - showed why he is the best goalie in the world, and why he may be the best of all time. He still has a good 6 or 7 years left in him, he can easily beat Roy's record for wins (thank god, I hate that guy).

Mario Lemieux - Good players often say that when they are on a roll, the game slows down for them. Lemieux is so good that he slows the game down. It's amazing to watch him play sometimes, he doesn't do anything at high speed really. He's the definition of graceful. Maybe part of it is that guys back off and give him too much respect, but it's certainly a treat to watch him out there. It's also a shame that injuries and a lack of interest in his younger years slowed him down, otherwise he might be the Great One and not Gretzky.

Ryan Smyth - god this guy gets beaten up, he's the epitome of perserverance. I used to think Stevie Y looked beat up, yet Smyth is already close behind him in terms of facial scars and is about 10-12 years younger. Tonight he took one hell of a high stick in the face and had his nose very obviously broken. After getting up off the ice and going to the bench (he will never stay down for a whistle), the camera zoomed in to him on the bench getting a cut on his cheek dabbed with a towel. The towel pushed up against his nose, and moved it side to side in a pretty gross fashion. The guy never missed a shift. Nice to see him get some goals and points in the tourney, as well, a lot of people were questioning if he really deserved to be on the team.

Vincent Lecavalier - This kid is going to be one of the best players around in the coming years, wow. From not even originally being picked for the team, to winning the MVP, nice work.

Martin St. Louis - flash in the pan. He can score lots in the regular season when the game isn't as intense or hard hitting, but when it comes to playoff time in the NHL or World Cup, he just can't do as much. Don't get me wrong, he's still very good, but not nearly as good as what people believed after winning the scoring title last year.

Scott Hannan - looked really shakey on D in the quarter and semi finals, coughed the puck up a ton. Maybe he was just nervous, I don't know, but the coaches sure noticed and cut his ice time way back in the final.

Eric Brewer - really stepped up his play in the tournament with all the injuries. I believe he led the team in scoring from the point, and was very very solid defensively. Again, a lot of people were questioning if he deserved to be there, and I think he really showed he did.

Simon Gagne - why is this guy on our team? I mean really, why?

And uh, I think I should stop now!

[Andriana Duskrose]

Televised sports are lame. Move along, nothing to see here.

[Crimsonbanshee]

Pfft go back to your squats andri =p

[Andriana Duskrose]

Pfft go back to your squats andri =p

Monday my dear, Monday, and you're welcome to join me! ;)

[BobDole901]

I thought hockey got canceled.

[Eomer]

The NHL did yes, since the CBA is up for re-negotiation. The World Cup was put on between the NHL and NHLPA, but scheduled so that the CBA expired the day after the final. The lock out won't affect other leagues or tournaments (World Championships every spring for example I believe will still go on, and for once this year might have a high proportion of top flight players if there is no season), except for there now being a glut of unemployed hockey players :D. Swedish elite league is gonna be really good this year, a ton of guys going over to play there. The WHA says it's going to have a season, but I don't really buy that at all.

Personally I am thinking of getting season's tickets to the Oiler's AHL farm team. They were smart and planned ahead, and moved it to Edmonton this year to play in the same arena as the Oilers normally would. They are going to make money hand over fist cause people will still want to watch hockey.

[Vidmer]

Alls Canada needs to do now is win the Para-Olympic gold to complete its sweep. I know Tilea will play extra hard in this tournament to make it happen!

[Karendra]

Canada? where was that again? :(

oh and
Vido >>>>>>>> Vidmer

[Eomer]

Canada: leading the world in being just North of the United States.

[Vinilaa]

Canada: leading the world in being just North of the United States.

ROFL!

[Tilea]

Alls Canada needs to do now is win the Para-Olympic gold to complete its sweep. I know Tilea will play extra hard in this tournament to make it happen!

Don't anger Canadian chicks. We will make you wish you were a paraplegic.

So Saturday night some frat at UoT was throwing a keg party, all you can drink and only $10 at the door. Boy did those suckers lose money on my friends and I. Drinking is my olympic event.