[ethan961]

Anyone else watch this game? I missed the first period, and came home fully expecting to see Russia winning.. but on the radio the DJ announced the score was 4-1! I fully expected us to lose this game going into it, but I guess this is a good example of why you need to play as a team (and why not to let tradition get in the way, Russia had not pulled their goalie in 10 years or something and left Nabokov in net too long, possibly to keep with that mentality.)
I too was looking forward to a Russia vs. Canada gold medal game, but it looks like that would have been lackluster anyways

 

[Rednamalas1]

I wouldnt call it an upset, at all. True, Canada hasnt beaten Russia in olympics for a long time - but this is only 4th olympic that NHL players were allowed to play in olympics (while Many of Russian/Soviet Union players couldn't play in NHL but allowed to play in Olympics) so Russia has dominated NHL-less Canadian team from 1956-1994 period. (1-9-0 record against USSR/Russia).

I'm unsure of official rankings of olympic ice hockey, but most broadcasters, sport journals rank: Canada - Russia - USA - Sweden - Czech - Finland - Slovakia

an upset? I wouldn't quite say so, but what a show Canada Put on tonight.

Only real upset we had so far was...slovaks beating the russians in prelims, and slovaks beating sweden just today. They're playing some great hockey, for sure.

 

[intoflatlines]

I agree that it's probably not an upset. I didn't catch the game but I saw the score was 7-3 while at the gym, and I was pretty surprised.

I saw the USA/Switzerland game today though.. Despite the lack of goals that game was pretty amazing. Lots of great saves and defensive plays on both sides, not to mention that crazy pop up over Hiller that crossed the goal line literally hundredths of seconds after time expired, that shot that deflected off the bar and floated exactly parallel over the goal line, and the fact that Switzerland pretty much went empty net straight from the last face off with <2 min left in the 1-0 game..

 

[Rednamalas1]

^ I thought that goal at the end of 2nd period was in, and americans got little unlucky.

but that luck came back at the end of 3rd, with that fortunate bounce off hiller.
it's been an entertaining tournament for sure.

 

[mark2410]

isnt ice hockey canada's thing? bar the US does anyone else in the world really play it?

 

[Rednamalas1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mark2410 /img/forum/go_quote.gif isnt ice hockey canada's thing? bar the US does anyone else in the world really play it?

There are other leagues outside of Canada/US....

Russia has Kontinental Hockey League (formerly Russian Super League), Swedish Elitserien, SM-liiga in finland, Czech Extraliga, along with leagues from Slovakia, Germany and Swiss as well. Even England has EIHL, which had few former NHL players playing in it.

But yes, hockey is insanely popular in Canada, with major tournaments' TV coverage hitting #1 televised event regularly.

EDIT: the game between Canada vs USA drew 10.6 million viewers - which is amazing considering we have population of about 34 million.

 

[Joelby]

The real upset was Slovakia knocking out Sweden. Can't wait to see the next games. Very exciting turny thus far!

 

[intoflatlines]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mark2410 /img/forum/go_quote.gif isnt ice hockey canada's thing? bar the US does anyone else in the world really play it?

Ice hockey is pretty huge in especially in eastern Europe areas, but probably the reason why it's seen by some as a North American thing is because the best pro league (NHL) is a Canada/USA league. A huge percentage of NHL players are from Europe.

 

[grokit]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joelby /img/forum/go_quote.gif The real upset was Slovakia knocking out Sweden. Can't wait to see the next games. Very exciting turny thus far!

So with Russia and Sweden gone, the top seeds remaining are the US & Canada, eh? Could they meet in the finals?

 

[Joelby]

^ I sure hope so. Payback would be so sweet!

 

[3602]

How do you say pwn3d in Russian?

 

[ethan961]

True, it wasn't a real upset, but the whole country was worried it would be a really tough game.

 

[logwed]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rednamalas1 /img/forum/go_quote.gif ^ I thought that goal at the end of 2nd period was in, and americans got little unlucky. but that luck came back at the end of 3rd, with that fortunate bounce off hiller. it's been an entertaining tournament for sure.

GAHHHH don't remind me of that woulda-shoulda-coulda goal... I was pissed.

 

[deadhead12]

I was actually pulling for Russia cause I like Datsyuk and Ovi. Oh well. As long as Canada doesn't win gold I'll be happy.

 

[Happy Camper]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joelby /img/forum/go_quote.gif ^ I sure hope so. Payback would be so sweet!

So would hanging two on the high and mighty.