Since I'm Canadian, I'm obviously excited for this, particularly for hockey. I'm kind of worried since the Vancouver ice wasn't the larger international surface that gave our guys problems in Turin. That said, our roster looks outstanding, and the only two names that I would swap out would be Nash and Carter. Nash was phenomenal when we won the gold, but has been pretty injury-prone and hasn't produced nearly as well the past couple seasons. I like Jeff Carter and his ability to play pretty much any position and play it well, but I would have liked to see Giroux and St. Louis make the team here as well. Finland is stacked in the goalie department with Rask, Niemi, and Lehtonen, but their offensive lines don't exactly blow me away. And the US team left Keith Yandle and Bobby Ryan out, which makes me less nervous to see them play Canada than I am to see the Russian line of Ovechkin, Malkin, and Datsuyk flying down the ice. Focus: Discuss the upcoming Olympic Games.
Nice to have back the Olympics that have exciting events and that don't use emotional blackmail to make you give a shit about an athlete's entire personal life. And hockey. The best hockey you'll see in four years. Let's hope these games don't get blown up or Putin funnelling all the athletes into re-education camps once he has them trapped behind his walls. He is, after all, a cold, melevolant, narrow-minded murderous sociopath. Another thing: I'm pissed off everything is at the crack of dawn. Do they not realize that we, The West, are who the world is supposed to adjust their scheduling times to? Have they forgot only we matter? Selfish, that's what that is.
The American goalies make sense aside from Howie, choosing him over Bishop is a bit confusing. But its for the three spot so it doesn't matter. Not adding Ryan is stupid, but considering Brian Burke chose the team I'm not surprised. I think the Canadian goalies have everything to prove. Price will be the #1 undoubtably, but he hasn't done shit in the playoffs and has actually folded a couple times. The weakest spot on that team without a doubt is the netminders. I think this Olympics has some real security concerns. Putin is really poking the bear by putting them so close to Chechnya.
Patrick Kane was the single most exciting player last Olympics. I said after Canada won America is the team to beat in Russia, but the line-up didn't blowy skirt up like I thought. Ryan not in? Burke is such a fucking cunt. Yeah, sit in your climate-controlled box and bark how one of the best American players doesn't have "intensity" in his vocabulary. Fucking blow me. With the shitty times the games are at, I have no clue if this will be even fun at all, good thing they're in such a fun country this time.
What I'll find interesting is what they will do if a member of the US roster gets injured. Would Bobby Ryan swallow his pride and play "for" someone who belittled him in a public forum for no reason, or would he tell them to fuck themselves? Realistically, these guys feel like they're playing for their country and not for Brian Burke so I doubt he would say no, but it is interesting to think about. There's also the question of whether or not they would even approach him at this point. That situation is a lot more likely to happen than you'd think since Parise is still on the mend and TJ Oshie is potentially injured from a knee-on-knee hit that happened last night. I personally think Ryan should have been on the team regardless, but I'm sure as shit not angry that the Team Canada goalies don't have to deal with him. As someone else already said, goaltending is by far our biggest question mark, and every single one of those guys make me a little bit uneasy. I wouldn't be surprised to see them start with Price and then go to Luongo after a tough game or two, simply by virtue of him winning it for us last time after Marty didn't play well.
I think Ryan would suit up for the U.S. if someone got hurt. He's not playing for Brian Burke, he's playing for his country. Maybe he would use it as motivation and come out strong. I hate that Orpik is on the team and Yandle isn't. I really like Ryan Callahan but there's not way that right now he's better than Kyle Okposo. I would much rather have Bobby Ryan on there instead of Dustin Brown or Derek Stepan. Both of them are good players, and I know leadership is necessary but not at the cost of talent. BUrke fucked the dog with this roster. As far as Canada goes, Rick Nash has no business being on that roster. I don't know why TSN and Sportsnet are on this dude's nuts. He's inconsistent as hell and injury prone. St. Louis or James Neal should have been on there instead of him. I think Kunitz was picked mainly because he's Sid's linemate and why break up a good thing. I don't beleive he's better than Neal or St. Louis.
St. Louis is a great player who noticeably plays not-so-good wearing a Canada jersey. I've never seen him stand out in any international event. Maybe that's why. I think they put Nash on because he's widely-loved up here, and when he's on his game (or not hurt) he is amazing.
Its been said St. Louis was left off because they were really emphasizing size and speed. Marty obviously lacks size and is 38, so he lacks speed as well. Has to be awkward between Marty and Yzerman though.
So I guess they want to (once again) ban pros from playing hockey. Nothing like eliminating the sport's best players to show top country representation at the Olympics. Fuck that idea completely.
I think the WJC is probably the best hockey to watch all year. Great tourney, always exciting. Can you show the link where you found that story? I find that very hard to believe.
I heard it on the radio news. I think it's only being considered, it's beyond stupid. They'll destroy the ratings and interest of the games if it gets legs.
I have zero fucks to give about the Winter Olympics. I'm just hoping for no terrorist attacks. Maybe next time the Russians get the rights to host, they won't host it in a city within a day's drive from Chechnya. Just a thought.
Well, I do give a fuck about the Winter Olympics. However, I question the bathrooms in Sochi... Spoiler
I wouldn't call double toilets "commie speak". I would call them "unhygienic" and "requiring of far greater comfort with the bodily functions of potential strangers". Also, I have a facebook group you should join.
He and Kane are my two greatest fears this time, provided Kane can avoid getting beat up in public by men with crew-cuts for acting like the titanic shitheel he is.