Canada's Goalie at the Olympics?

[ericdaoust]

The world has caught up my friend... it's a wide open tourney.

The simple fact that it's single-game elimination makes it wide open. Anything can happen.

[SeaDawg]

Canada is still the favorite team on paper, and like Bass said, the team will be made up of a nice balance of 2-way forwards, defensive defenseman, and offensive players. However, the games will be tight and we don't want any goalie in net who is prone to letting in bad goals, especially under pressure, which is the concern I have with Fleury and to a lesser extent Price.

I give Price the benefit of the doubt because he didn't necessarily play any worse in the playoffs than he did in the last few weeks of the regular season. Fleury, on the other hand, has clearly cracked under the pressure the last two years in the playoffs.

[blayze]

The simple fact that it's single-game elimination makes it wide open. Anything can happen.

There's that... and then there's overconfidence from the perceived gap in skill of Canada vs. the World... a long held perception that I don't think is very accurate any more. Most of the major hockey countries are stacked.

[MXHockey]

There's that... and then there's overconfidence from the perceived gap in skill of Canada vs. the World... a long held perception that I don't think is very accurate any more. Most of the major hockey countries are stacked.

Agreed, even the Swiss with their team system could give any power nation a headache.

[HockeyProphet]

I think Hasek has taught us that lesson a while ago

[doulos]

Just based on statistics it's far more likely Canada doesn't win. It's a fun tournament for bragging rights. I enjoy watching it.

[27Blue]

What seperates Canada from the other countries is our depth. Canada could put together their best team for the Olympics and the assemble an entirely new team from the "left-overs" that could also legitimately compete for the gold medal. No other country could say that.

[doulos]

Maybe. But that doesn't mean much when you can only bring one team and games can be decided on coin-flip talent shows called shootouts.

[horrorfan]

Since the NHLers have been playing (1998), Canada has won two gold when it was held in North America and in the other two have been shutout from the medals. That's not to say they can't win in Sochi, but we shouldn't be overconfident to assume they'll make the gold medal game, regardless of how our team looks on paper.

[suvojitde]

What seperates Canada from the other countries is our depth. Canada could put together their best team for the Olympics and the assemble an entirely new team from the "left-overs" that could also legitimately compete for the gold medal. No other country could say that.

I used to think that way too, and while that may still be true, it is a fact that the rest of the world has caught up. This is not a competition played on paper, it's played on ice. Since we cannot field 2 teams, why talk about it?

Based on what I have seen in the recent world championships / tourneys, as impossible as it may seem, we have been outskilled on the matches that count. Rest of the world, it appears, take a lot of pride in beating Canada, and more often than not, in recent years, have succeeded.

One of the things that I have personally noticed, is when playing the US especially, how unquestionably faster, they are on the ice.

The other key thing that I have noted (and I am likely not as hockey educated as you all are, since I was not born and brought up in a Hockey crazy country, like I wished I had) is the importance of understanding one's role within the team. In watching many of their recent games, I got the feeling that the players are playing as individuals more than a team. It's almost as if, most of them took for granted that if they hit the ice, they will win...and it just took 1 hot team on a given day, to surprise them.

Maybe it's just me, but perhaps time for some younger legs on the roster (coupled with experience, of course) and perhaps folks that have success playing together as opposed to throwing 3 big names on 1 line? e.g. Would it be crazy to think about having Crosby, Kunitz and Dupuis on 1 line - and yes that leaves out established names, but if that gets us success, why not? Time and time again, we have taken big name players to these championships, and what has that got us?

I would like to have our national team return to the point, where the other countries fight for silver, because they know the gold is ours. In reality, we are not there today, no matter how much we like to think so, on paper!

[blayze]

The US definitely always seem to outhustle and outwork us... I think those guys really get up for playing Canada... even more so than the rest of the world.

[MXHockey]

I used to think that way too, and while that may still be true, it is a fact that the rest of the world has caught up. This is not a competition played on paper, it's played on ice. Since we cannot field 2 teams, why talk about it?

Based on what I have seen in the recent world championships / tourneys, as impossible as it may seem, we have been outskilled on the matches that count. Rest of the world, it appears, take a lot of pride in beating Canada, and more often than not, in recent years, have succeeded.

One of the things that I have personally noticed, is when playing the US especially, how unquestionably faster, they are on the ice.

The other key thing that I have noted (and I am likely not as hockey educated as you all are, since I was not born and brought up in a Hockey crazy country, like I wished I had) is the importance of understanding one's role within the team. In watching many of their recent games, I got the feeling that the players are playing as individuals more than a team. It's almost as if, most of them took for granted that if they hit the ice, they will win...and it just took 1 hot team on a given day, to surprise them.

Maybe it's just me, but perhaps time for some younger legs on the roster (coupled with experience, of course) and perhaps folks that have success playing together as opposed to throwing 3 big names on 1 line? e.g. Would it be crazy to think about having Crosby, Kunitz and Dupuis on 1 line - and yes that leaves out established names, but if that gets us success, why not? Time and time again, we have taken big name players to these championships, and what has that got us?

I would like to have our national team return to the point, where the other countries fight for silver, because they know the gold is ours. In reality, we are not there today, no matter how much we like to think so, on paper!

I hear what you're saying, but Canada has been the most successful Olympic team since NHLers were allowed to participate, and that's what the country really cares about.

If they threw Kuntiz/Dupuis out there with Sid, and lost (which would probably happen), the nation would be choked.

[suvojitde]

I hear what you're saying, but Canada has been the most successful Olympic team since NHLers were allowed to participate, and that's what the country really cares about.

If they threw Kuntiz/Dupuis out there with Sid, and lost (which would probably happen), the nation would be choked.

Very much possible, but why not try something different? After all, we all know what the definition of doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result is, don't we?

[LawMan]

Very much possible, but why not try something different? After all, we all know what the definition of doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result is, don't we?

You make it sound like Canada hasn't won a medal since 1950. Canada is 2/4 in the gold department since the NHLers inclusion which is double Sweden and the Czech's 1 each. If doing the same thing for Sochi gives Canada a 50% chance of capturing the gold I'd say don't change a thing.

[HockeyProphet]

You make it sound like Canada hasn't won a medal since 1950. Canada is 2/4 in the gold department since the NHLers inclusion which is double Sweden and the Czech's 1 each. If doing the same thing for Sochi gives Canada a 50% chance of capturing the gold I'd say don't change a thing.

Gold in 2010: I think the big Yzerman has earned my trust!