Olympics

[JohnboyND7]

18 hours ago, Big Green said:

Then both teams get called for too many men and play 3x3.  lol 

Genuinely curious what the officials would have done if the two had said "we are playing 5x5. No shootouts. 20 minute periods." Was the olympic committee going to come in and shut the lights off and DQ the teams?

[cberkas]

5 minutes ago, JohnboyND7 said:

Genuinely curious what the officials would have done if the two had said "we are playing 5x5. No shootouts. 20 minute periods." Was the olympic committee going to come in and shut the lights off and DQ the teams?

NHL was pretty much running Olympic hockey. 

[Blackheart]

1 hour ago, cberkas said:

NHL was pretty much ruining Olympic hockey. 

Fixed your post.😉

[tnt]

In retrospect, the best thing that could have happened for the U.S. was Jeremy Swayman struggling in the opener.  I know there were many, including myself, that weren’t convinced Hellebuyck had the “it” factor, so was wondering if they would go with Oettinger or Swayman.  Who knows what happens if Swayman has a decent outing in the first game instead of the disaster with the shot from center ice.  I am thankful it worked out great for the U.S.!

[cberkas]

I'm glad ESPN doesn't have the rights to the Olympics. Bucci would have been extra annoying and glazing players. 

[Blackheart]

51 minutes ago, cberkas said:

I'm glad ESPN doesn't have the rights to the Olympics. Bucci would have been extra annoying and glazing players. 

Agree, he's turrrrrible.

[nodakvindy]

5 hours ago, JohnboyND7 said:

Curious if there will be a surge in youth numbers or any sort of future value that can be derived from this. New ice sheets going up all the time. Would be nice to see the US start get some more kids playing over the next 5-10 years.

It's going to be just like the post 80 boom.  Both boys and girls.  Especially if USMNT doesn't go deep in the World Cup. 

[NoiseInsideMyHead]

6 hours ago, JohnboyND7 said:

Curious if there will be a surge in youth numbers or any sort of future value that can be derived from this. New ice sheets going up all the time. Would be nice to see the US start get some more kids playing over the next 5-10 years.

Almost certainly.  USAH can't buy this kind of publicity.  Came up multiple times today on SiriusXM outlets spanning everything from Howard Stern to the PGA channel.  Darn near everyone is talking about it.  I even saw a social media post yesterday asking about ice availability.  Bauer and CCM stocks are probably a good buy.

I don't watch the morning talk shows, so maybe someone can fill in the details, but the biggest challenge for the media may be striking while the iron is hot with personal appearances, given that the NHL slate resumes almost immediately.  And heaven knows the White House and President are too polarizing for a celebratory meet and greet.

[Siouxperman8]

On 2/22/2026 at 6:45 PM, Oxbow6 said:

I have read that a couple times as well.  Not knowing the Russia game was the semifinals is ignorant and lazy in the context of today. But you know this is what the MSM does...right? 

It actually was a weird round robin tournament with no bracket play so no semifinals. 

Top 2 from each of 2 pools made the final 4 pool play.  The results from prelim pool counted so each team played the 2 from the other pool that qualified.  US tied Sweden in first pool play and beat Soviet Union and Finland in final pool.  The US had the best record so won the gold.   If we'd lost to Finland we'd have finished with 3 points so Soviets would have won the gold.