North American Hockey Crisis?

Chris68 · Veteran Member

North American Hockey Crisis?

barry33 · Guru

Chris68 wrote:

Now that both USA and Canada were eliminated, and Europeans left (Finland, Sweden, Russia and Czech or Slovakia), it seems to me the biggest crisis of North American hockey. There is no excuse that some players were not available due to the NHL. What do you think? Do those guys need to change the style of game? Or is it just because of the bigger ice rink? What astonished me most was that both USA and Canada had troubles with scoring, while having the best (over)rated players in their squads. What do you guys think?

Nooooo...we lost the Olympics..did not play as well as we should have. It happens. We played on the wide surface last Olympics..GOLD. We beat the Russians handily in the world Juniors...GOLD. World Championships? GOLD. We cannot win them all. I do feel we probably did not have as good chemistry this year as we have in the past. Really missing an Yzerman or a Mario. I would have picked some of the younger legs out there because alot of our players just looked slow. But it is not panic time. We are still the undisputed best hockey power in the world. Sometimes these things go in cycles and you need to regroup and reload with younger players. Pronger should not have been there. Ditto McCabe and Shane Doan. Ditto Bertuzzi. So Canada will re-examine and reload and be back. My advice to the other country's? Savour this one.

24 Rings · Guru

I totally agree. The team selected was not built for large Olympic ice and there was zero chemistry. They looked slow and lumbering most of the time and you would be hard pressed to find a standout other than Marty B.

Scoring in only 1 period in your last 4 games isn't a sign of a good team. They totally deserved to lose and never even threatened to be a contender.

We'll be back.

barry33 · Guru

24 Rings wrote:

I totally agree. The team selected was not built for large Olympic ice and there was zero chemistry. They looked slow and lumbering most of the time and you would be hard pressed to find a standout other than Marty B. Scoring in only 1 period in your last 4 games isn't a sign of a good team. They totally deserved to lose and never even threatened to be a contender. We'll be back.

Chemistry is a funny thing..in past years defence has been an issue..scoring never was an issue. This year I felt that Canada could not deal with the Europeans clogging up the middle. The trap has not been played in the NHL this year and the Russians, Fins and Swiss used that well. They played a modified 4-1 trap meaning they were stacking 2 forwards on Canada's blueline, a forward and dman at center, and one dman back. Because of this Canada looked confused and disorganized. HOWEVER, good coaching would have overcome that. There are ways to overcome a 4-1 trap and Quinn did nothing to address that (or at least if he did the players did not listen). Because of this, Canada never really overcame it and got untracked.

Nil d · Guru

Right on, Barry! This was only a blip. No one wins them all (except the Canadian Women, apparently).

wright · Veteran Member

Nil d wrote:

Right on, Barry! This was only a blip. No one wins them all (except the Canadian Women, apparently).

This was a blip?!! Who are you kidding. This team was shut out in three of the four games it played. The so called elite goal scorers, Heatley,Gagner,Sakic,Iginla,Thornton,Nash could not score and looked like they had hands of stone. Are so called speedsters, St.Louis,Lecalvier,Draper looked like they were skating in cement. Are so called physical players, Bertuzzi,Pronger,Doan did liitle in that department. This team looked old and slow, and were totally outclassed by the Finns, and the Russians who showed skill at a high speed.

Canada has now lost in two out of the last three olympics. The core of this team was badly beaten in the world championships last April by the Czech's. In these olympics, the Swedes, the Slovaks, the Czech's, the Russians and the Finns were all playing at a higher tempo and a superior skill level than the sorry lot from Canada. This notion of hockey superiority in this country is a mirage.

Nil d · Guru

wright wrote:

Nil d wrote: Right on, Barry! This was only a blip. No one wins them all (except the Canadian Women, apparently). This was a blip?!! Who are you kidding. This team was shut out in three of the four games it played. The so called elite goal scorers, Heatley,Gagner,Sakic,Iginla,Thornton,Nash could not score and looked like they had hands of stone. Are so called speedsters, St.Louis,Lecalvier,Draper looked like they were skating in cement. Are so called physical players, Bertuzzi,Pronger,Doan did liitle in that department. This team looked old and slow, and were totally outclassed by the Finns, and the Russians who showed skill at a high speed. Canada has now lost in two out of the last three olympics. The core of this team was badly beaten in the world championships last April by the Czech's. In these olympics, the Swedes, the Slovaks, the Czech's, the Russians and the Finns were all playing at a higher tempo and a superior skill level than the sorry lot from Canada. This notion of hockey superiority in this country is a mirage.

Not trying to kid anyone, wright. By "blip", I meant that their loss in Torino does not equal a catastrophy in terms of Canada's hockey future. I look to the juniors to see what the future holds, and you will recall our Juniors kicked a$$ the past two years. I have no delusions that we are miles ahead of the pack - we're not - but I am not worried either. The future looks bright to me.

Key Lime · Guru

Many posters tend to disagree that player selection wasn't the problem. I disagree. It surely was one of the problems, without a doubt.

Here's why:

When they were selecting the players to play in the 2002 Olympics, Gretz's clan confirmed that they based themselves on choosing players that would beat the USA. The USA being the strongest challenge. By doing this, they won gold!!!!

This year Gretz's clan knew that the US wouldn't be their main rival. The European teams would be. Why did they not select a team based on that this year? Players that can wheel with the skilled Europeans. It just doesn't jive for me. Like I said, the player selection was one of the problems.

With the US not being of the same caliber, why do you need a grit line and a shut down line? Makes no sense at all. Why do you need Smyth, Draper, Bertuzzi, etc? You're trying to tell me that KARIYA / STAAL / BERGERON / CROSBY etc. wouldn't of made a difference? Let's admit that the player selection strategy was wrong from the get-go. Gretz admitted that he was responsible. I love you Wayne, but you're right on that one.

Another point...I admit that when you have as many top Canadian pro players, it becomes more of a challenge to chose the right players. For most of the other teams in the tourney, it was a no-brainer. Most of hese countries have less depth. BUT hey! They say it's usually better to have more of a choice than less.