Canuck

That was my first reaction when I saw the replay too, because he did appear to whiff (although the only and only replay angle we got was not very good). However, speaking from past experience, even the most glancing blow to the head can knock you goofy if it hits the right spot. Plus. the fact that neither Johnson nor anybody associated with Team USA has stated or even implied publicly that Downie took a dive, that speaks volumes. So who knows.

I believe he did. He skated over and was saying something in Downie's ear. The thing is, watch just about any random faceoff and opposing wingers are constantly batting at each others stick, jockeying for position. It happens all the time and is nothing more than gamesmanship. In this case, it just happens that Oshie's stick went flying. This would qualify as a mole hill, not a mountain. But, I would agree, certainly set a tone.

You don't want your stick knocked out of your hands? Squeeze your stick tighter. I didn't see the shoving you were referring to, but the flying stick made me giggle.

Yes, as a matter of fact I was. What did I say wrong? Tootoo took a run at him in the corner - I didn't say it was dirty - and when I saw the play (before slo mo reply was shown after I posted) it appeared the elbow was high. I didn't say it should've been a penalty, but obviously Greene didn't like something about the hit. I also indicated the Predators got a power-play out of it. Where are these tinted shades you speak of?

Yes, but he's a VERY physical, abrasive player who will drop the gloves on occasion.

I'll reply to my own post here. Nashville's Jordin Tootoo just took a run/elbow at Greene in the corner and Greene got up, dropped the gloves and grabbed Tootoo to try and exact a little payback, but Tootoo immediately turtled and Greene wasn't able to get any shots in. The Predators came away with a four-minute power play as a result.

Matt Greene is making his debut against Nashville as I type this. He's paired with Igor Ulanov on Edmonton's third defensive pairing. Game is on the NHL Center Ice package if you have it.

Listening to the audio, it sounded like Norway took a run at Pogge (Canada's goalie) at the buzzer and Pyatt got into a fight as a result. Judging by what the announcers said, Pyatt is fortunate he (and his opponent) wasn't given a fighting major, which would have resulted in him missing the U.S. game on Saturday.

Sioux_Hab-it....did you happen to watch the game? I was only able to catch the audiocast of it; was the officiating as wretched as it sounded? I've been watching this tourney (and international hockey period) long enough that I've come to expect "unorthodox" officiating, particularly from European officials, but tonight it sounded worse than usual.

Dissension among the Team USA fans now? (Dials TSN hotline...)

Awwww...poooor babieeeees!

Oh, he saw it. But he's been spending the bulk of his free time trying to submit his selections for the Olympic team to Hockey Canada. But much like Scarlet Johansson, they don't seem to be receiving his letters.

Since Robinson's resignation seems somewhat unexpected, I would venture to guess Lou is just filling in as a stop-gap while he has time to search for a permanent replacement.

Even our friends at INCH are getting in on the act:

And if anyone would like this verified, you could probably contact Hockey Canada's Communications Director - and former University of North Dakota (that's NCAA, right?) hockey player - Brad Pascall.

YAHTZEE!!!! It took a couple hours longer than usual, but we have our first conspiracy theory post!!! (Streamers and confetti falling; noisemakers screeching)

Yeah, but "only" four NCAA players (of the five invited) made the cut. Cue the anti-NCAA thread

Not sure if this has been posted anywhere already, but on the TSN World Juniors page, you can access a video clip of the TSN analysts (by clicking on 'World Junior Report') where they show highlights of Toews in the intrasquad game. McKenzie, Maguire and Miller all rave about him, highlighted by Maguire claiming if the NHL draft were held tomorrow, half the teams would select Toews first overall.

I wish I was that optimistic. Canada is awfully young this year, though you are right about Fleury, who actually cost us two gold medals in my opinion. Along those lines, as stacked as the U.S. is up front, and, to a lesser extent, on the blueline, Schneider/Frazee will be a giant X factor in how far that team goes.

Not to mention, 'What has he ever accomplished OFF the ice?'

I would agree. One of my favorite players to ever skate for Canada at World Juniors was a physical forward by the name of Dwayne Hay, who played on the '97 gold medal team. He was nothing more than a 20-goal scorer in junior, at best, but he was singled out to be a physical presence and at World Juniors he was good for at least one momentum-changing hit per game. He knew his role and accepted it and there were several others like him on that team. While the '97 team had top scorers like Joe Thornton, Peter Schaefer, Daniel Briere and Christian Dube, it also had a good mix of grinders like Hay, Trent Whitfield, Brad Larsen and Trevor Litkowski. In fact, I believe Larsen was the captain of that star-studded team. That works fine on smaller ice, but by contrast, Wayne Gretzky & Co. realized that it would never work so well on Olympic ice. When Canada fared poorly at the '98 Olympics, they did so with grinders like Rob Zamuner, Keith Primeau and Shayne Corson on the roster. When the Salt Lake Olympics rolled around, Gretzky put together a team of the best skaters and skill players, period. Of course, you still have to be careful to choose the correct skill players, guys who will still accept lesser roles, perhaps as penalty killers or late-game checkers.

Here we go again Every time I think I'm out, they pull me back in.

I would switch 2 and 3 and add a "Who cares about Europeans, period" option.

Right, and I thought it was a rather illogical point. Lemme get this straight: He didn't pick Crosby because he plays for an American team, and because of his pro-Canada bias, he picks American citizen Brandon Bochenski because he plays for a Canadian team?