World Cup of Hockey 2004

[sensei_hanson]

Unless this thread has been started elsewhere, it's been eerily quiet regarding the only quality hockey we'll see this year.

From the exhibitions I watched, the only consistent performances by Canada were put forth by Brodeur and Heatley. The blueline is in some trouble from what I can tell. My guess is that Quinn rides his top four (Jovo, Redden, Foote and Neidermayer) for something like 20-25 minutes each per game. I don't like Robin Regher at all - he moves like he's wearing cement skates. Bouwmeester is a great young talent, but I question how well he'll deal with the intensity of this competition. It's not like he's been in a hockey pressure cooker with Florida the last few years. Brewer is probably the 5th d-man on the team and Hannan is just along for the ride.

The US would be a more legit medal shot if their defensive depth hadn't been raped and pillaged. You can't afford to lose guys like Hatcher, Schnieder, Leopold and Gill when your replacements are John-Michael Lilles and our former finance minister. This team only goes as far as my favourite American player, Billy Guerin, takes them.

In a major darkhorse-backing analysis, I'm picking Finland to win it all. I think Kiprusoff will continue his playoff form. I think they've got enough grinders. They're as close to full strength - Sami Kapanen is their only real loss - as they can be. I think the Ruutu brothers are going to play their way into Finnish hockey fame. I think we'll see a revived Teemu Selanne. Mostly, though, I think Kipper will be the real difference, especially when you see that every other contender, save Canada, has question marks in net.

My "I am Canadian" predictions: 1) Canada 2) Czech Republic 3) USA

My "Ignore Your Cultural Bias" predictions: 1) Finland 2) Czech Republic 2) Canada

[Hands of Stone]

Sensei, you are filling in great for Fasty ( Fast Show Who) I look forward to your witty comment and your very educational threads.

HOS is going with Sweden to win it all this year, Something about the Nucks connectiong and the little family selection.

hos

[Dapotayto]

I'll go with Iran.

Finland? They're fcuking finnished. Sweden can lick my meatballs and the States will have to suit up Rush Limbaugh on D pretty soon. I was going to take Slovakia as the dark horse but I think Palffy and a couple of others are out. I'll pick the Czechs to win, Canada to place and the U.S. to show.

Take it to the bank!

[filling the net]

Originally Posted by Dapotayto

I'll go with Iran.

Finland? They're fcuking finnished. Sweden can lick my meatballs and the States will have to suit up Rush Limbaugh on D pretty soon. I was going to take Slovakia as the dark horse but I think Palffy and a couple of others are out. I'll pick the Czechs to win, Canada to place and the U.S. to show.

Take it to the bank!

Go CZECHS.....My money is on Bertuzzi sitting in prison next month

[The Apprentice]

Finns 4- Czechs 0
Caught a bit of the game today and it was pretty obvious that the Czechs are still rattled by the sudden death of their coach a couple of weeks ago. They had very few shots and were completely outclassed by the finnish team.

[Dapotayto]

Er, I meant to say the Finns are fine and the Czechs will be bounced. Fack.

[sensei_hanson]

That was a disappearing act matched only by Houdini and David Blaine. The Czechs have seemingly adhered to the "lightswitch" philosophy, in which a tournament team will attempt to coast through the meaningless round-robin games (hell, everybody in this thing makes the quarterfinals), only to "turn it on" when the games become do-or-die. This philosophy relies heavily four things:

1) unwavering self-confidence
2) the ability to shrug off strings of shitty performances
3) the ability to hang onto past glory, or
4) the ability to believe the hype and expectations based on past glory.

Others who have applied such a philosophy - and failed, miserably: the last two LA Laker teams; US Mens Basketball; me, at the commencement of the most recent VMSL season (but all six were really close losses); Ben Stiller (inevitable when you release 97 movies a year) and Axl Rose (hard to flip the switch when the power's been cut off).

My guess is that Jagr will need to emerge from his four year nap and whip this team into a frenzy, if they have any aspirations of being a contender. I had a feeling Hlinka's death would either be a boon or bust for the Czechs; either they rally behind the tragedy and win one for the Gipper, or they crumble under the turmoil and lay an egg.

It is a very dicey situation when you're relying on Jagr to be an emotional leader, though. He could start the proceedings by whipping Malik like the mule he is, and telling Slegr to take off that damn turtleneck.

USA-Canada tomorrow. Ten bucks says Bill Guerin takes a massive run at Neidermayer, in an effort to mimic the massive shot he gave to Paul Coffey in '96.

[BlazeArmy]

Terrible, terrible jerseys.


Predators third jersey and Team Canadas alternate had a kid. And this is what it looks like.

[Regs]

Call me crazy, but I kinda like it, especially with CANADA across the back instead of last names.

~Crazy.

[sensei_hanson]

Intense game. The second period was magic, especially with all the post-whistle stuff going on. Ron Wilson must have really learned a thing or two from Calgary in the playoffs this year, coz he had the Yanks crashing Brodeur's crease with reckless abandon all night. But it fit the bill as this was a very physical game. Robyn "Iron Koho" Regher and Brewer were hitting like mad early on, but fizzled after that. Must have been tired after Jovo went out. I thought Neidermayer dancing with Halpern was a good sign as well, although I think any future Canadian fisticuffs should be handled by Iginla from here on in. Neidermayer had a chance to wallop Halpern in the 3rd when the little bastard ran Brodeur, but he opted give the "what the hell was that" gesture to the zebras, which did nothing.

Despite that, watching Mario flip dukes on Konowalchuk was great. You knew he was just holding on until a melee formed, but it was a good leadership move anyways. What really got me is that the US kicked it up a gear when it got really physical - I think Shane Doan coming within an inch of Eric Lindrosing (or Scott Stevensing, your choice) little Scotty Gomez actually benefitted the Americans more than it did the Canadians. I think the States firmly believe that those old legs can crash and bang their way to victory this year. They only need to do it for six games.

If Canada and the US meet in the final, it will be an all-out war. There is clearly some animosity from '96 and '02 - and the fact nobody likes Keith Tkachuk, who is a whiny little bitch.

[TheRob]

Couldn't happen to a nicer guy.

Team USA scratches Hull
Canadian Press

9/3/2004

ST. PAUL, Minn. (CP) - American coach Ron Wilson elected to take NHL star Brett Hull out of his World Cup lineup for a game against Slovakia on Friday.

Forwards Craig Conroy and Brian Ralston will join Hull in the press box as the U.S. tries to rebound from tournament losses to Canada and Russia.

Jeff Halpern, Jamie Langenbrunner and Bryan Smolinski will be inserted into the lineup after missing Thursday's 3-1 loss to Russia.

Wilson felt that a big shakeup was needed for the team's final round-robin game.

``It's not like they don't want to win,'' he said after Thursday night's loss. ``But they look like they're caught in a rut.

``We need some guys to come into our lineup, get back to basics and take some small steps.''

After he left the ice right after the game last night, what little amount of respect I had for the guy(VERY minimal)is gone. Thank God he went to play for the US. Loser.

Anyone else think Tckatchuk should be kicked out of the tourney?

[Dude]

As Swami says, Keith Tkachuk is a bitch, and a lousy team bitch at that.

[sensei_hanson]

Bob Cole ripped Tkachuk last nite too...priceless. Those cheap shots on Gonchar were brutal. I don't know what happened to Tkachuk, I know he was always a guy to play 'on edge', but he's such a lethal goalscorer - you'd think he'd make a better effort to keep his cool and stay on the ice. He looks like the easiest wind-up out there, to be totally honest. You've got Modano playing on one leg, Leetch playing way too many minutes because the rest of the blueliners are shit - and there's Tkachuk killing his team with stupid penalties in a close game. I'm surprised he wasn't scratched for tonight.

Team 1040 reports that DiPietro is getting the nod over Esche tonight. I don't know about this one. I know Wilson wants a shakeup and the win isn't all that important right now (they won't get home ice anyways), but Esche has been the best American player thus far. My guess is that unless DiPietro pulls out a 40+ save shutout against the Slovaks, we'll see Esche back in net when the quarterfinals start.

Can somebody explain to me why Smolinski and Langenbrunner were scratched in the first two games for the offensively-challenged Steve Konowalchuk and Jeff Halpern?

Oh, and a little World Cup Fun Fact: the US has only two skaters under the age of 28 on this team. Yikes.

[termatofylakas]

Hey Sensei, Esche wanted to rest because he said he is fatigued after yesterday's game. Can you blame him? Dipietro will do ok but I still think the U.S will get a maximum of 1 point from tonight. And wasn't it Cuthbert that was whining, isn't Mr. Senile Cole only doing the Canada games?

[sensei_hanson]

No, I can't blame him. Clearly the rest is a big benefit. I just wonder about his psyche after letting in a very soft 3rd goal against Russia last night, and then having to sit on it until the elimination games start. You could see he really wanted that one back....it was a softie.

And through two-thirds of this Slovak game, DiPietro has looked extremely sharp. Could it create a goalie controversy? Probably not, but if DiPietro slams the door shut in the 3rd (and gets the first US win in the tourney) he makes it a lot more difficult to go back to Esche next game. DiPietro plays the puck a helluva lot better than Esche does, which might be a plus against forechecks on NHL ice surfaces.

Am I the only one hoping Chara gets into a tussle with Tkachuk before this one lets out? I can just see Zdeno throwing these massive overhand shots into the top of Tkachuk's head with reckless abandon. Aim for the soft spot.

[filling the net]

I like the way the Germans are looking solid goaltending and their forwards really know how to put the puck in the net......Their my pick to take out team Latvia!

[Regs]

FTN,

Quit being so fcuking annoying.

~Regs.

[sensei_hanson]

Another classic Brett Hull sound bite after the US practice last night. Nothing says team cohesion like leaving 10 minutes before practice lets out and turning your nose up at wearing the coveted green "soooo...this is just so the guys don't hit me, right?" jersey.

(aside: the jersey thing would have been waaay more entertaining/effective/demoralizing if it had a picture of a orange pylon on it and the words "Press Box MVP" screened on the back. Then you instruct all the regular skaters to put the puck through his legs and do spin-moves on him all practice. Now THAT's a message.)

Also, apparently, Brett doesn't "give a fcuk about the fans anymore." My guess is his next move will be to pour a bag of sugar into Ron Wilson's gas tank and slash Langenbrunner's tires. There's no better vindication spot than the parking lot.

Prediction: With the Ruskies up 5-1 late in the 3rd period, CBC pans to Hull in the press box, where they are greeted with the double middle-finger salute and Hull mouthing the words "Gofe Huck Yur Self".

[filling the net]

Originally Posted by Regs

FTN,

Quit being so fcuking annoying.

~Regs.

Now you know how people feel when you open your trap about useless shit....it hurts to finally realize maybe people don't take you serious in life.. hey!!

As you were PATROL MONITOR!!

[Hands of Stone]

I see a banning coming our way if Peg losses in the final.
FTN will be hoping that Regs pulls off the move a few more times today.

hos