Medal predictions

[oldman 1]

_{Tavares out for the season, knee injury versus Latvia. Hoping to be back for training camp in the fall.}

[icewalker_bg 126]

Thank you USA ! GO Canada !

[chrisehyoung 14]

Regret the bet?

[IPv6Freely 2087]

He's all yours, America! :)

[Stewie 721]

Gold- Finland

Silver- Sweden

Bronze- Canada

well, i got all the podium teams correct, just in the wrong order. Ill blame that on injuries. As a wings fan, I think i have to side with Sweden at this point.

[psh 25]

Canada, by virtue of their depth

Sweden, for the same reason

Finland, for their goaltending

Me, too. I may have gotten it exactly right, but I'm still not buying lottery tickets or going to Vegas. I'll also be pulling for Sweden, even if it would prove me wrong.

[Stewie 721]

Me, too. I may have gotten it exactly right, but I'm still not buying lottery tickets or going to Vegas. I'll also be pulling for Sweden, even if it would prove me wrong.

you sir are the winner!

[boo10 323]

Read through this thread and found it interesting that a lot of people did not pick Canada for Gold. Odd, considering Canada has far and away more depth than any other country. Was it a true belief that Canada would falter or a case of wanting the favourite to come up short?

It was a thoroughly enjoyable tournament, and while Canada dominated defensively, their lack of offensive production almost cost them a medal. One lucky bounce and Latvia finishes no worse than fourth!

[wrangler 157]

I thought that I saw some opinions based on goaltending, among other things. And, as you point out, the low scoring of the Canadian offense made some games quite close.

[Chadd 916]

In the games I saw, their goaltending wasn't really all that much of a factor, the other teams didn't have many quality chances against them.

[chippa13 1844]

Canadian goalies could have played on rocking chairs. They did a great job of limiting chances.

[IPv6Freely 2087]

Yeah exactly. I thought goaltending would hurt them, but it was never a factor.

[Stewie 721]

I think a huge problem for the Finns and swedes was too many offensive injuries. That also made it a lot easier on Canadian d and tending. I stand by my picks assuming the tournament had all teams healthy and represented

[hunterphfr 12]

I think a huge problem for the Finns and swedes was too many offensive injuries. That also made it a lot easier on Canadian d and tending. I stand by my picks assuming the tournament had all teams healthy and represented

Canada lost one of hockey's current leading scorers before the games even began. They then lost one of the best players of the game in the quarter finals. I would say the loss of Stamkos and Tavares would have to be as big a blow to Canada's roster as any other injury losses of these Olympics.

[Chadd 916]

Canada lost one of hockey's current leading scorers before the games even began. They then lost one of the best players of the game in the quarter finals. I would say the loss of Stamkos and Tavares would have to be as big a blow to Canada's roster as any other injury losses of these Olympics.

The Finns were down their top three or four centers, the Swedes were down Sedin, Zetterberg and Fanzen, etc... Everyone has injuries and it's part of the deal in a short tournament. Canada is/was the one nation with the depth to handle a couple of injuries at any position.

[Stewie 721]

The Finns were down their top three or four centers, the Swedes were down Sedin, Zetterberg and Fanzen, etc... Everyone has injuries and it's part of the deal in a short tournament. Canada is/was the one nation with the depth to handle a couple of injuries at any position.

that's exactly my point. Was the stamkos injury really as bad as the Finns losing 4 top centers? Or Sweden being without backstrom zetterberg franzen and a sedin for the final? Canada replaced stamkos with Marty St. Louis, one of the leagues top points guys for years, Sweden was down to replacing guys with Gustav Nyquist, a much larger step. When I made my predictions, their offenses looked much better on paper.

[boo10 323]

I guess the lesson here is always bet on Canada. jk

[IPv6Freely 2087]

Yea I'm not so sure Stamkos would have been as valuable to Canada as the guys the Finns and Swedes lost were to their teams. Canada had a good enough team that having or not having Stamkos would have likely made no difference in the outcome. They certainly weren't going to lose because he was missing.

[deathb4dismount 11]

When Bergeron starts out as a fourth liner, you are all set for depth

[pittu 15]

I noticed that after the game there was a marked difference between Lundquist and Price. Lundquist looked like he had been thru hell and was absolutely covered with sweat, Price looked like he had just skated out for the warmups. Big difference between the two as far as action went. Says alot for Canada's style of play, ala the Babcock defensive program....

I only got to watch the gold medal game since NBC seems to think that showing 2 hours of Xcountry skiing is more interesting than showing USA hockey on Network TV (We dont have access to cable)....anyone know where or if its possible to buy the olympic hockey games on DVD???

[bigdmac 12]

The DVD's will probably be available shortly. Just let things die down a little and they'll most likely release an entire series of every game, or they might just release all of USA's game on a separate DVD set. I've bought the Canadian games only previously, but don't know if you guys have that option in the US.

[hunterphfr 12]

The Finns were down their top three or four centers, the Swedes were down Sedin, Zetterberg and Fanzen, etc... Everyone has injuries and it's part of the deal in a short tournament. Canada is/was the one nation with the depth to handle a couple of injuries at any position.

You're right about depth. Canada could have fielded a second team and they would have had depth.

[bar down 1]

canada - gold, sweden - silver, finland - bronze

nailed it

[Chadd 916]

When Bergeron starts out as a fourth liner, you are all set for depth

Exactly, when you have a guys with that kind of talent, who can also play a strong defensive game, you are in good shape. When those guys are willing to perform a shutdown role and not a scoring role, you have the potential to win.

That said, I don't think that the questions about the Canadian roster were unjustified. Kunitz didn't play like he belonged for most (or all) of the tournament. The biggest surprise for most people was Benn, and putting him with Getzlaf and Perry turned out to be a fantastic move by Babcock.

[IPv6Freely 2087]

Benn was indeed fantastic.