Vancouver 2010

[Haxorsist]

She asked him to state his name, where he's from and what he had just won for "tape identification reasons" or something like that. Great response from Kramer.

[Haxorsist]

What a performance by the Swedes! This was one of the most entertaining pursuits I've seen in a while even though it ended with no medals for Norway. Kudos to Johan Olsson for having the guts to go at it alone, and well done by Hellner and Södergren to keep the pace down. I think Northug could've taken a medal if he hadn't lost one of his poles, but overall a tactically good performance by the Swedes.

[Majsju]

Yeah, I was quite shocked to see that, as the tactical aspect has been missing for quite a few years, at least on that level. But Hellners last km was just brutal.

[Corki]

I am not the greatest winter sports fan (apart from the dangerous events like the luge, skeleton and bobsleigh), but it was great to see Team GB win a medal - and gold at that! So a big congratulations to Amy Williams!  ;D

[Haxorsist]

I heard it's the first individual gold for GB in 30 years. Congrats! People who participate in skeleton must be maniacs.

[Amadine]

AUSSIE! AUSSIE! AUSSIE! OI! OI! OI!

 

A gold for Torah Bright in snowboard - ladies halfpipe and a silver for Dale Begg-Smith in the men's moguls. GO AUSSIE! Only our 4th gold ever at the Winter Olympics :)

[Corki]

I heard it's the first individual gold for GB in 30 years. Congrats! People who participate in skeleton must be maniacs.

 

Yeap, it is - Robin Cousins won the last in figure skating in 1980. And our 9th (or 10th) gold ever. But there is a debate over which, as we won a gold in figure skating many years ago when figure skating was in the Summer Olympics.

 

And ever since the Skeleton was introduced, we have done well, winning Bronze in 2002, silver in 2006 and now gold this year!

[WWWwombat]

I just watched the 15km mass start biathlon (omg we actually got biathlon coverage in America).  A frog took the silver ;D  Bjørndalen had 7 penalties btw Oo

[WWWwombat]

Also USA beat Sweden in 11 ends in round robin Men's curling :D

[Haxorsist]

FINALLY Northug showed what he can do. I only got to catch the last two minutes because I was watching Shutter Island, but what I did see was AWESOME!

[Majsju]

I really hoped Northug would fall and finish way down the list, because he was such a crybaby when Hellner won his gold. If you can not take defeat, you do not deserve to win.

[Haxorsist]

It was a shame that the Swedes weren't up there at the front in the end. I would've loved seeing Northug beat the Swedes in the sprint who have been getting way too many medals in cross country skiing during these olympic games. ;D

[Majsju]

Did you see that Sweden got the silver in womens team sprint yesterday? ;D

 

A small comfort after Jonsson and ACOs massive failure in biathlon...

[Verbal32]

I'm interested to see if Canada can turn it around after their defeat to the Americans in men's hockey.

 

Because let's be honest:  Canada could come in last in EVERY sport in the olympics, but win gold in hockey, and everything is peachy.

[Majsju]

Well, it would not be the first time Canada did not perform in the group stage, only to come out as a completely different team once it gets serious.

 

And looking at that game, Canada outclassed the US, they should have been 3 or 4 goals up after two periods. Except that the US had an amazing keeper. Something that should make Canada somewhat worried, that game showed the importance of having a great keeper, something Canada clearly does not have.

 

I had Canada as favourites before the tournament started, and I still think they have a great chance at winning. But they need to start scoring a lot more goals, to compensate for a medicore keeper, and a generally shaky defence (Look at how many times both the US and Suisse caught Canada on the counterattack).

[Verbal32]

And looking at that game, Canada outclassed the US, they should have been 3 or 4 goals up after two periods. Except that the US had an amazing keeper. Something that should make Canada somewhat worried, that game showed the importance of having a great keeper, something Canada clearly does not have.

 

I had Canada as favourites before the tournament started, and I still think they have a great chance at winning. But they need to start scoring a lot more goals, to compensate for a medicore keeper, and a generally shaky defence (Look at how many times both the US and Suisse caught Canada on the counterattack).

 

Say what?  Martin Brodeur is the winningest goalie in NHL history, and will be a first-ballot Hall of Famer.  He is one of the greatest goalies of all time.

 

He is a great keeper, but is just not playing up to par right now.  But behind him the Canadians have Roberto Luongo, who is also great.  Actually, Canada has more depth in goal than the US has!!

 

Goaltending is not their problem - their defense is, as you suggested.  If Miller (the US goalie) had not stood on his head the entire game, Canada would have easily beat the US, regardless of their shaky defense and Marty's bad game.

 

But the word "mediocre" and reference to Martin Brodeur should never be in the same sentence.  Having a couple of bad games does not a bad keeper make.  ;)

[Majsju]

And looking at that game, Canada outclassed the US, they should have been 3 or 4 goals up after two periods. Except that the US had an amazing keeper. Something that should make Canada somewhat worried, that game showed the importance of having a great keeper, something Canada clearly does not have.

 

I had Canada as favourites before the tournament started, and I still think they have a great chance at winning. But they need to start scoring a lot more goals, to compensate for a medicore keeper, and a generally shaky defence (Look at how many times both the US and Suisse caught Canada on the counterattack).

 

Say what?  Martin Brodeur is the winningest goalie in NHL history, and will be a first-ballot Hall of Famer.  He is one of the greatest goalies of all time.

 

He is a great keeper, but is just not playing up to par right now.  But behind him the Canadians have Roberto Luongo, who is also great.  Actually, Canada has more depth in goal than the US has!!

 

Goaltending is not their problem - their defense is, as you suggested.  If Miller (the US goalie) had not stood on his head the entire game, Canada would have easily beat the US, regardless of their shaky defense and Marty's bad game.

 

But the word "mediocre" and reference to Martin Brodeur should never be in the same sentence.  Having a couple of bad games does not a bad keeper make.  ;)

 

Sorry mate, but what matters in sport is right now. Brodeur used to be great, but that was then. Right now he is mediocre.

Compare with the Swedish tieam. Do you think anyone sees Forsberg as the key player, just because he used to be one of the greatest players in history? Or do you think our hopes lie with Bäckström, Zetterberg, 2xSedin...The players who are good right now?

[Verbal32]

I'd say he's more than mediocre right now.  He's still an all-star, which puts him in the excellent category right now.  Here are some major stat rankings for him in the NHL this season:

 

Wins - tied for 2nd

 

Goals Against - 9th

 

Save Percentage - tied for 15th

 

Shutouts - tied for 1st

 

 

His defense playing in front of him on the New Jersey Devils this year has been pretty inconsistent, which is leading to his lower save percentage.  But he's still coming up with the wins, and shutouts are a stat pretty much only attributable to the goalie.  The other stats can be affected by the team's play, but a shutout is mostly the goalie's doing.

 

Based on those stats, he's very good.  But add in his veteran leadership, his poise, and that he's been there, done that.....he's still excellent.

 

Just my $0.02, but I do agree that Luongo is the better move right now, especially considering Vancouver is home for him on the Canuks.  Easy move, and I think it'll pay off well for them.

[Majsju]

Hellner - Northug 2-0 ;D

[Haxorsist]

I actually thought it was a damned good race by Northug. If (granted it's a big if) Northug had been, say, 5 seconds behind Hellner when he started, Hellner wouldn't stand a chance. However, the Swedish team was definitely the best team today, no doubt about it.

[Krakalakachkn]

US hockey win over Switzerland today!

[Barmacral]

Canada romped Russia last night in Hockey, though I'm disappointed that Sweden lost to Slovakia (I was looking forward to rubbing it in to all you swedes when we beat you).

 

I'm actually rather surprised at how much better we did than Russia. As it was one of the most highly anticipated hockey games here in Canada, I was anticipating a very close game.

 

Today the Canadian women's team plays for gold against the USA, and the women's Swedish team is playing for bronze against Finland.

[Majsju]

Canadas first period against Russia came close to being the perfect hockey game, I can not remember last time I saw something like that.

 

Sweden vs Slovakia lookad quite similar to Canadas loss against the US, Sweden dominated the ice, had more than twice as many shots, but failed to score. Some really poor defending added with way too much boxplay opened for Slovakia to score.

[Seryth]

And the Canadian Women's hockey team wins gold!!!

 

Now, no pressure boys...  :P

[Majsju]

Phew! What a final! Sweden gets another gold after defeating Canada in womens curling.

 

Aww, and here comes two mounties with the Swedish flag, how cute ;D