Gretzky's fault.

I BLAME WAYNE!

Caper_hab_fan wrote:

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You can't expect to go into the Olympics and not score and get a medal do you?  I am disgusted with the way these guys played for our Country.  Doan, shouldn't be there, thank Gretzky for that.  McCabe seen way to much ice time, thanks Quinn. And Pronger, yeah he use to be good, but he played absolutely stupid out there.  Draper...????  Look at Russia, Malkin is 18 not in the NHL, but Crosby, who showed everyone he can play at this level is not there, and Spezza, and Stall.....sorry to vent but come on.

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I agree, Caper.  As I saw Ovechkin flying out there - first star of the game, I might add - I was thinkin "Why not Crosby?"...............

Nil d wrote:

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AWOL wrote: These guys played like crap throughout the tournament. I am disgusted that Spezza and Staal didn't make the team... Just pathetic. I am now rootin' for Finland. Go Saku! Me too (now that Switzerland is out).

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Canada sorely lacked a game breaker like Crosby.  I also thought a speedster like Sullivan could have helped out.  WAAAAAAY too big and waaaay too slow for this ice surface.  The thing that lost it most of all was zero intensity, zero urgency and no heart. What an embarassing effort. 

On a positive, at least the REAL hero's of the games can shine through now that the media blitz is off of Team Disapointment.  Our athlete's have had a fantastic games so far and they never seem to get the credit they deserve.  Instead, we all drool over these overpaid zillionaires who "grace" us with their presence, and not the guy or girl who has worked their tail off to get to where they are in some sport that gets zero recognition in Canada.

24 Rings wrote:

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Canada sorely lacked a game breaker like Crosby.  I also thought a speedster like Sullivan could have helped out.  WAAAAAAY too big and waaaay too slow for this ice surface.  The thing that lost it most of all was zero intensity, zero urgency and no heart. What an embarassing effort.  On a positive, at least the REAL hero's of the games can shine through now that the media blitz is off of Team Disapointment.  Our athlete's have had a fantastic games so far and they never seem to get the credit they deserve.  Instead, we all drool over these overpaid zillionaires who "grace" us with their presence, and not the guy or girl who has worked their tail off to get to where they are in some sport that gets zero recognition in Canada.

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Total agree with your comments in the second paragraph. The sad part is these overrated stiffs will still get wall to wall media coverage, while the true achievers like Klassen and her tremendous achievement of the day will be overshadowed by our hockey players and all their excuses.

      The problem I have with all the second guessing as to player selections is it again creates the impression that with the likes of Stahl,Crosby,Kariya that the outcome would have been different, I am not so sure. There were fundamental problems with this team. I think 90 percent of Canada would have agreed with the selection of Thornton,Iginla,Gagner,Lecavailer,Nash,Sakic. That is the nucleus of two good scoring lines and they did not produce. Second guessing of the selections ltes these guys off the hook. Secondly, it plays back into this Canadian arrogance that we are the best and it was simply bad coaching or bad player selections that was the problem. Wrong. We are only one of six hockey powers out there, and based on this weeks performance we are at the bottom of that pool. Canada was slow, tenative, and did not have the pure talent to match up with the Russians today. This so called Canadian intimidation factor? It is no longer a factor. For all the excuse making does not deal with the real issue....we are simply not that great. Out of the last three olympics of sending our so called best, one gold medal.

 Maybe I'm not as patriotic as I thought  because after the loss, I just didn't care! The Olympics obviously are important to the athlete but to me, that little round medal, is no Stanley Cup!

 My thinking is way too many pretty boys and not enough role players to do the dirty work! Also Pronger has a fractured foot and shouldn't be there. Don't blame his play, blame his decision to be there!

 Also, how can you win without the likes of Lemieux and Yzerman unless a couple new generation players step up to the podium or steps on toes! Sakic is too quiet for the off ice stuff! When Mario or Steve speak, they're like hockey Gods and not to be taken lightly!

 I miss the Hab games! Let's get these games over with!

AB Habman wrote:

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 Maybe I'm not as patriotic as I thought  because after the loss, I just didn't care! The Olympics obviously are important to the athlete but to me, that little round medal, is no Stanley Cup!  My thinking is way too many pretty boys and not enough role players to do the dirty work! Also Pronger has a fractured foot and shouldn't be there. Don't blame his play, blame his decision to be there!  Also, how can you win without the likes of Lemieux and Yzerman unless a couple new generation players step up to the podium or steps on toes! Sakic is too quiet for the off ice stuff! When Mario or Steve speak, they're like hockey Gods and not to be taken lightly!  I miss the Hab games! Let's get these games over with!

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I tend to agree. Let us compare the men to the women. The women's hockey team makes great sacrifices to get to the Olympics. They are not highly paid millionaires. Many train all day and then work part time jobs to get to the Olympics. When the women won the gold medal you could just see the emotion in their faces. Why? Because they are standing there thinking about all the sacrifices that they made, that their parents or husbands made, to help them achieve their goal.

The men on the other hand? Sacrificed 2 weeks out of the year to go play some hockey. They know that Monday they get to go back to their old team and draw their big paychecks. To the women, this is it. There is no tomorrow. The European players have a bit more motivation, even the NHL'ers. Don Cherry has said it for years that many Europeans do not grasp what it is to win a Stanley Cup like the Canadians do. To the Eurpoeans THIS and the World Championships are their Stanley Cup. I for one am all in favor of getting the highly paid millionaires OUT of the Olympics and go back to the old way of developing players. Have the National Team based in Calgary again. It is a slap in the face to people liek the cross country skiers who sacrifice so much just to get to the Olympics.