Which country will come out on top in the Canada vs. USA hockey game?

[zomgwtf]

Canada vs. USA! (Hockey)

Any of you hockey fans here EH? What you guys thinking about tonight game Canada vs USA? Being a Canadian I naturally am hoping that Canada kills the Americans in tonights game but I didn't feel they played exactly that great againt the Swiss...

 

[MotoH]

Well if this game goes anything like it did yesterday at Hockey Night in Kandahar, the US is going to lose.

But I have faith! Let's go USA!

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

what time is it on?

 

[MotoH]

7pm Central time

 

[zomgwtf]

7:40 est

 

[Phyisab****]

Apparently the game is on MSNBC and I only have basic cable. Who's idea was that and why have they not been shot yet? Instead I get to watch ICE DANCING

 

[Phyisab****]

Ohhhh thank you god I live near Canada, the Canadians have their priorities straight.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

USA up early!

 

[MATLABdude]

Of the powerhouses, I think that only the Americans and Swedes have not yet had a wakeup call after minimal-effort games against marginal opposition. Hopefully, this means that Canada brings their A game tonight! Otherwise, it might be Torino all over again...

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

I don't usually watch hockey, but this is pretty exciting!

 

[Phyisab****]

I don't watch hockey that often either but this is great.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

These MSNBC commentators are awesome. My heart is busting out! USA up 3-2 in the second.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

hahhaa this is soooo exciting! back to back breakaways blocked

 

[MotoH]

It is great to see so much fire on the ice. A lot riding on this game, national pride wise!

 

[zomgwtf]

Wow Brodeur is making some STRANGE plays with the puck... really questionable. He's made a few terrific saves but we're out shooting the USA by far and there are 3 goals against...

I also think Canadas defense is playing kinda of lazy but the intensity on the offense is crazy... and the Canadian forechecking is pretty amazing too. Hopefully we can make up for that last goal in the third ... I think we can win it easily in a shootout.

 

[MotoH]

That is Brodeurs style though. Extremely hybrid. No question in my mind Canada would win in a shootout, it is where Brodeur shines, and Miller is pretty questionable in shootouts. Let's hope the US can hold the lead!

 

[zomgwtf]

That is Brodeurs style though. Extremely hybrid. No question in my mind Canada would win in a shootout, it is where Brodeur shines, and Miller is pretty questionable in shootouts. Let's hope the US can hold the lead!

Nah Brodeurs style is handling the puck really well... not making questionable dives and trying to whack pucks out of mid air etc.

 

[GeorginaS]

Super fast-paced game.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

Usa usa usa

 

[rootX]

 

[MotoH]

Nah Brodeurs style is handling the puck really well... not making questionable dives and trying to whack pucks out of mid air etc.

He has dove for pucks his entire life! He played an excellent game as did Miller-time.

 

[Phyisab****]

Miller was incredible in the last 5 minutes or so.

 

[lisab]

Great game. It would have been soooo exciting to be there in person!

 

[zomgwtf]

He has dove for pucks his entire life! He played an excellent game as did Miller-time.

I've been a New Jersey fan my entire life and the way Brodeur played tonight was far from his spectacular old self. His game was definitely lacking tonight and I wouldn't be surprised if Luongo starts our next game against Germany.

Miller on the other hand had played an AMAZING game all night making great saves when the pressure was on. His control of the puck was insane team USA needs to thank him for the win in my opinion, not their own play, which was REALLY lacking. Team Canada outplayed USA offensively overall by far.

It really sucks that we lost this game but maybe we'll meet again in the finals!

 

[FredGarvin]

Brodeur should not have let in that Rafalski goal to get the lead back 2-1. What a punch to the gut that was. I agree that Brodeur was not on his game tonight. Good call about Luongo starting next game.

This was a good game, but it's not the finals. I hope there is a rematch. Russia looked pretty strong today against the Czech team. Ovechkin flattened Jagr. Awesome hit. Nice and clean.

 

[MotoH]

 

[gravenewworld]

I'm a huge hockey fan. This game just goes to show once again that you don't need elite offense to win a hockey game, all you need is a good defense. On paper, the Canadian team should be one of the best offenses ever assembled in the history of hockey. However their defense isn't up to snuff. The US won this game with their VERY stingy defense. The US defense is vastly underrated because they aren't really offensive oriented defensemen who score lots of points. They are super defensive defensemen. They won't score a lot of points (except maybe Rafalski), but they block a TON of shots, throw LOTS of hits, and have very good hockey sense. Oh yeah, plus Ryan Miller is pretty dang good.The New Jersey Devils make the playoffs every year and have won a lot of cups on just defense and good goaltending alone. The years that they won the cup they didn't really have a lot of top notch goal scoring talent. Team Canada is stacked with a bunch of goal scoring prima donnas with a questionable blue line.

 

[hypatia]

Love my Michigan guys, Rafalski, Miller and Kessler. Great game.

 

[zomgwtf]

Nah I don't think that Team USA played very well defensively, they played better than Canada but it's not like Canada needs a good defense to beat team USA as they don't exactly play much of the game in their end... all they need is the goalie to be playing ... even a mediocre game, which Brodeur was far from tonight. Brodeur is my favorite player in hockey and I have to say that the majority of the blame for tonights loss can be attributed to mostly things he did.

Canadian forechecking was ripping the USA defense apart and I definitely saw team Canada make a lot more key shot blocks than USA... in the end it all came down to Canadian goaltending.

 

[MATLABdude]

The Canadian Defense was supposed to be well-rounded with defense-first mentality (albeit with healthy offensive abilities) hence leaving off guys like Mike Green and Dion Phaneuf (who I personally think is defensively atrocious, sacrificing positioning and common sense for a big hit or to try to jump into the play--he also hasn't been able to put up the types of offensive numbers he did when he first came into the league).

But I think it boils down to a lack of intensity and interest for large swaths of
the game (in this and the Swiss game) and an inability to transition the puck or even make a tape-to-tape pass in the offensive zone. All that coupled with the good but not spectacular goaltending that can make all the difference in a single elimination tournament like the Olympics.

Wait, is this PhysicsForums or HFBoards? Actually, more to the demographics of this board, why no SuperB--, er Big Game thread? Go Canuck Iceholes!

 

[Borek]

What idiotic idea to held the Olympic Games in such a remote place. I am not going to shift my daily routine by 10 hours just to watch the hockey

 

[arildno]

Is there any connection between this sport (?) "hockey", and Michael Mann's "hockey stick graph"?

 

[Borek]

GW discussions are prohibited.

Locked pending moderation.

 

[arildno]

GW discussions are prohibited.

Locked pending moderation.

Okay, so these hockey games can become quite heated?

 

[Borek]

And you think these sticks are just ornamental? If you select dozen young, strong, fast and aggressive males, if you split them into teams, put them on the ice, give them sticks and throw a puck at a random one, don't expect them to start singing psalms.