Siouxdonyms Posted February 16, 2006 Share Posted February 16, 2006 Former Sioux Jason Blake did register the first penalty of today's USA/Latvia game, taking a holding penalty. I didn't get to see the game live, so I'm not sure how much playing time Blake registered, or how he played overall. Team USA has to consider this game as a loss, which is probably due to the one practice yesterday, which lasted an entire hour! As far as USA hockey goes, our best bet for gold (or any medal for that matter) is the Women's team, who will need to get by Sweden and presumably Canada. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siouxhockey5 Posted February 16, 2006 Share Posted February 16, 2006 Blakers played quite a bit, and seemed very effective with his energy. The announcers did say that if Blake has someone chasing him around the ice, he is doing his job, and that he is very annoying to play against, which is a good thing, and hes a very tough player to play against. I thought those were some very good comments for him. Siouxhockey5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Siouxdonyms Posted February 16, 2006 Author Share Posted February 16, 2006 Blakers played quite a bit, and seemed very effective with his energy. The announcers did say that if Blake has someone chasing him around the ice, he is doing his job, and that he is very annoying to play against, which is a good thing, and hes a very tough player to play against. I thought those were some very good comments for him. Siouxhockey5 I've heard these types of comments quite a few times during Islanders games this year as well. It appears Blaker has carried over what he did with the Sioux to the NHL, and that is annoying the heck out of opposing players I really felt Team USA needed younger players like Blake, Gionta, Leopold. It's a rough tournament on a large sheet of ice, and one wonders if the older guys are going to have as much legs as the younger guys. Overall, I was pretty disappointed with team selection for the US squad. It also doesn't help that now that the NHL plays, olympic teams get very little practice as a squad before the games begin. As the coach of Team USA said, "At the beginning, you have to play good. To win the tournament, you have to play great." He also commented that the team that pulls together the quickest will have the most success. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sioux_Hab-it Posted February 16, 2006 Share Posted February 16, 2006 I did watch the game and the USA haven't come together as a team, most likely due to the lack of practice time. It would be tough to comment on Blake's play as they all looked more like individuals than linemates and unfortunately they have little time to try and get it together. Italy actually played evenly with Canada for the whole first period in their game and they are made up of mostly minor league Canadians whose parents were Italian. Latvia is also mostly non-NHLers who like the Italians have probably had plenty of time to practice together. I still think not picking Miller as Team USA's goalie was a huge mistake. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redwing77 Posted February 16, 2006 Share Posted February 16, 2006 Our women's team isn't our best bet for gold, it is our best bet to medal in hockey, period. Latvia has 3 NHLers and a bunch of no names. Do we even have a single player that is on the team that isn't in the NHL or at the very least the AHL? Sorry, our talent level is WORLDS better than Latvia. We should have KILLED them. I am predicting a 4th to 6th place finish for Team USA men's hockey. These guys aren't medal favorites in my book. Gold: Canada Silver: Czech Bronze: Finland (Yeah, Finland. I would have picked Russia but they choked today too) Of course... Team USA COULD win out and prove me wrong, but all it is going to take now is one loss to take us out of medal contention. Ties are worthless, just slightly better than a loss in Olympic hockey. Sorry, my expectations are high for Team USA. But the performance today was just pathetic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZSIOUX Posted February 16, 2006 Share Posted February 16, 2006 Our women's team isn't our best bet for gold, it is our best bet to medal in hockey, period. Latvia has 3 NHLers and a bunch of no names. Do we even have a single player that is on the team that isn't in the NHL or at the very least the AHL? Sorry, our talent level is WORLDS better than Latvia. We should have KILLED them. I am predicting a 4th to 6th place finish for Team USA men's hockey. These guys aren't medal favorites in my book. Gold: Canada Silver: Czech Bronze: Finland (Yeah, Finland. I would have picked Russia but they choked today too) Of course... Team USA COULD win out and prove me wrong, but all it is going to take now is one loss to take us out of medal contention. Ties are worthless, just slightly better than a loss in Olympic hockey. Sorry, my expectations are high for Team USA. But the performance today was just pathetic. there is no way anyone can say that the USA is a medal favorite to begin with, CANADA could field 2 1/2 teams to our 1 team, does that mean we cannot contend for a bronze?? hell no but when you tie latvia im not to sure if your sending the right message to the other teams in the field unless of course your trying to trick them wait 4 years and we will be better off to contend for a medal hopefully, the great thing is that the games are not played on paper but todays start sure didn't help much either....as for the czechs, no hasek = no medal (thats if he is out for the tourney with his injury) GOLD - CANADA SILVER - RUSSIA BRONZE - USA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Siouxdonyms Posted February 16, 2006 Author Share Posted February 16, 2006 wait 4 years and we will be better off to contend for a medal hopefully I'm sure we'll still have Chelios, who will be a grandpa by then, as our team Captain. Let's just hope the players don't trash the hotels again like they did a few years back, after a poor performance in the olympics. Perhaps we should cut our guys some slack though. After all, this Latvia team did practice together for an entire week! The Russia loss was a shocker, and I'm not sure how bad Hasek is injured, so I don't know about the Czech's. I would say that Canada is the best bet for gold. Finland and Sweden definitely hold a chance, but the dark horse has to be that monster Latvia team! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redwing77 Posted February 16, 2006 Share Posted February 16, 2006 Well, I don't agree with Russia as a Silver. At best, they are Bronze contenders. As for Czech, I'm still putting them with Silver even if Hasek is done. Why? Vokoun, the backup goaltender has been just as solid this year so far with Nashville and had just as solid of an Olympic tryout as Hasek did, according to various media sources heard on the radio. By the way, Vokoun is better than the US trio anyways so even if there is a decline, the Czechs could still beat out the field for Bronze. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZSIOUX Posted February 16, 2006 Share Posted February 16, 2006 Well, I don't agree with Russia as a Silver. At best, they are Bronze contenders. As for Czech, I'm still putting them with Silver even if Hasek is done. Why? Vokoun, the backup goaltender has been just as solid this year so far with Nashville and had just as solid of an Olympic tryout as Hasek did, according to various media sources heard on the radio. By the way, Vokoun is better than the US trio anyways so even if there is a decline, the Czechs could still beat out the field for Bronze. my picks were just out of left field guesses except for canada of course... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tsiouxnami Posted February 16, 2006 Share Posted February 16, 2006 Our women's team isn't our best bet for gold, it is our best bet to medal in hockey, period. Latvia has 3 NHLers and a bunch of no names. Do we even have a single player that is on the team that isn't in the NHL or at the very least the AHL? Sorry, our talent level is WORLDS better than Latvia. We should have KILLED them. I am predicting a 4th to 6th place finish for Team USA men's hockey. These guys aren't medal favorites in my book. Gold: Canada Silver: Czech Bronze: Finland (Yeah, Finland. I would have picked Russia but they choked today too) Of course... Team USA COULD win out and prove me wrong, but all it is going to take now is one loss to take us out of medal contention. Ties are worthless, just slightly better than a loss in Olympic hockey. Sorry, my expectations are high for Team USA. But the performance today was just pathetic. I TOTALLY agree here!! Latvia's "star" player, Sandis Ozolinsh had 2 assists today. This was his first game since NOVEMBER. He had been sidelined with a knee injury and then was in the league's substance abuse program. He wasn't reinstated until Tuesday. I guess on the positive side (if there is one?) The 1980 Olympic team also started their medal run to the gold with an opening round tie with Sweden Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sioux Traveler Posted February 16, 2006 Share Posted February 16, 2006 I'm sure we'll still have Chelios, who will be a grandpa by then, as our team Captain. Let's just hope the players don't trash the hotels again like they did a few years back, after a poor performance in the olympics. Perhaps we should cut our guys some slack though. After all, this Latvia team did practice together for an entire week! The Russia loss was a shocker, and I'm not sure how bad Hasek is injured, so I don't know about the Czech's. I would say that Canada is the best bet for gold. Finland and Sweden definitely hold a chance, but the dark horse has to be that monster Latvia team! Chelios info: http://media.putfile.com/chelios Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackheart Posted February 16, 2006 Share Posted February 16, 2006 It's a F***ing disgrace....Chelios is our best defenseman and he's 102 years old... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jloos Posted February 16, 2006 Share Posted February 16, 2006 I think Slovakia and the Czech Repubic will play in the gold game. Both teams have a ton of speed and adapt to the olympic ice very well. The only question mark for both teams is goaltending, with Hasek injured. I cannot figure out why people consider Slovakia beating the Russians is such an upset. Look at Slovakia's roster, they are loaded - Gaborik, Bondra, Hossa, Satan, Svatos, Chara.... The US should have beat Latvia, but I do not agree they should have "killed" them. Latvia has a number of former/current NHL and Russian elite players. The US did out play them, but Irbe was hot in net. Plus Latvia had likely been practicing together for some time. Look at Canada, they were tied with Italy in the second period. Hopefully the US has a better performance against another former Soviet state today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tsiouxnami Posted February 16, 2006 Share Posted February 16, 2006 WOW - Swiss team beats Czech Republic 3-2, thanks to the outstanding play of David Aebischer!! (Go Avs!!) Things are looking mighty interesting! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HockeyMom Posted February 16, 2006 Share Posted February 16, 2006 Team USA did have a longer trip to Italy than was expected thanks to the storm on the East Coast, hopefully they were just tired......and they get their game together. I can't help but think of Herb's thoughts on NHL players in the Olympics......and All-Star teams. As for the women's team. I think they are skating well.......well, that is if you throw out the first two periods of the Finland game. I was having a hard time believing that the Fins were skating with the US, their goalie did a heck of a job. Then the hole opened up and the scoring began. I did laugh after the game the color guy asked Krissy Wendell what the US needed to do if they wanted to beat Canada....and she looked at him like WTF?! and said they didn't need to change anything just play their game. I was a little upset with that question, because there are two semifinal games to be played before the Gold Medal game. We need to be thinking about Sweden and Sweden only. HockeyMom loves the Olympics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tsiouxnami Posted February 16, 2006 Share Posted February 16, 2006 Team USA did have a longer trip to Italy than was expected thanks to the storm on the East Coast, hopefully they were just tired......and they get their game together. I can't help but think of Herb's thoughts on NHL players in the Olympics......and All-Star teams. As for the women's team. I think they are skating well.......well, that is if you throw out the first two periods of the Finland game. I was having a hard time believing that the Fins were skating with the US, their goalie did a heck of a job. Then the hole opened up and the scoring began. I did laugh after the game the color guy asked Krissy Wendell what the US needed to do if they wanted to beat Canada....and she looked at him like WTF?! and said they didn't need to change anything just play their game. I was a little upset with that question, because there are two semifinal games to be played before the Gold Medal game. We need to be thinking about Sweden and Sweden only. HockeyMom loves the Olympics. I agree with Herb Brooks' way of thinking. There will never again be a "Miracle on Ice" for the men and I, for one, find that a bit sad. There is something about watching college aged kids play their hearts out and realize a dream! (I still get goosebumps everytime I hear "Do you believe in miracles?") Oh well, the women really do have to focus on the game at hand. Hopefully they can get by Sweden and then pull off the upset against Canada! That would be sweet! I am with you HockeyMom - I love the Olympics too!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Siouxdonyms Posted February 16, 2006 Author Share Posted February 16, 2006 Redwing, you still predicting Czech's getting the silver??? Let's hope for more upsets! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redwing77 Posted February 16, 2006 Share Posted February 16, 2006 Redwing, you still predicting Czech's getting the silver??? Let's hope for more upsets! I don't know anymore. I thought, since Aebischer is a sieve that couldn't even hold onto the #1 goaltending position for the Avs for a stretch this year, that the Czechs would steamroll them. But alas, it was not to be. What does a Czech loss mean to the US? Well... if they are able to beat their next opponent, it puts them right back into the medal hunt. Concievably now that both Czech and Russia have choked away a game, Team USA COULD, though it isn't likely, win as high as Silver. My revised predictions are: GOLD: Canada SILVER: Finland Bronze: Czech/USA (toss up) If Russia and Czech lose one more game, they're out of medal contention, IMO. If Team USA loses or ties another game medal contention will be VERY difficult. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NDFlyer Posted February 16, 2006 Share Posted February 16, 2006 I'm with redwing77 on this one in all aspects. Enough of the "no practice" crap. These guys have been playing hockey since September and have 55 NHL games under their belts. This is freekin LATVIA, fellas. LATVIA!! Not a world power in hockey. How many practices do you need before you can beat them? If you simply go through the motions you are going to lose especially in this type of tournament. There is no excuse for that tie and there is no excuse for not having Ryan Miller on the team. Grahame, DiPietro and Robert "Red Light" Esche ain't gonna cut it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tsiouxnami Posted February 16, 2006 Share Posted February 16, 2006 Slovakia is currently beating Latvia 4-1 in the first period. Irbe has allowed 4 goals on 14 shots (3 even strength goals, the other was short handed). Guess the USA wore him/them out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jloos Posted February 16, 2006 Share Posted February 16, 2006 Slovakia is currently beating Latvia 4-1 in the first period. Irbe has allowed 4 goals on 14 shots (3 even strength goals, the other was short handed). Guess the USA wore him/them out. Latvia is coming back, 4-3 last I saw. On paper I still think the Slovaks have the best offense, and maybe the best team. With Hasek out I see a Slovakia-Canada gold game. If Hasek comes back and can play well, replace the Czechs for the Canucks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tsiouxnami Posted February 16, 2006 Share Posted February 16, 2006 Slovakia up 5-3 heading into the 3rd period. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dropTHEgloves Posted February 16, 2006 Share Posted February 16, 2006 How about Cyphilis for Latvia... Every time they say his name I cringe! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZSIOUX Posted February 16, 2006 Share Posted February 16, 2006 How about Cyphilis for Latvia... Every time they say his name I cringe! i was just thinking the same exact thing watching this game... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tsiouxnami Posted February 16, 2006 Share Posted February 16, 2006 Boy, Canada just doesn't mess around, 2 goals (Redden and Sakic) on 4 shots in the first 8 minutes of the game against Germany. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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