Yeah I watched that too. Shaun White was AWESOME!!! Loved his look too, snowboarding with jeans and a flannel...so cool. I was totally blown away. P.S. GO PATRICK KANE...I LOVE YOU!
Oh that sounds awesome. I'd love some pizza and some beers! 1-0 Canada right now, man is Heatley on fire! YESS YES PATRICK MARLEAU JUST SCORED AS I WAS TYPING THIS! AHHHHHH GO CANADA!!!!!
1. Bench Brodeur 1a. Bench Pronger 2. Please don't hit our best players with your best shot Weber. So Switzerland is our kryptonite. Who knew? Because the US won both of their games, Canada cannot afford a loss here. Given how inconsistent they've looked, the bye to the quarterfinals is critical. Edit: Well, a shootout win is better than a loss but by dropping a point it's hard to see Canada taking first seed going forward. Terrible effort tonight, I seriously hope they are not satisfied with their performance.
Agreed, Agreen. (no pun intended, haha). I hate Pronger with a passion, ever since he destroyed the Edmonton Oilers franchise. Although I am glad they pulled it off, they should be upset with that. It didn't need to go OT or Shootout. Also, Brodeur is a much better shootout goalie than Luongo, and for that, I'm jacked for the win!
I do think one of the problems is that at this point they're still pretty much an all-star team, not accustomed to playing together. A lot of the problems they got into tonight were just not feeling comfortable with teammates and how to attack the Switzerland defensive system. Kept the puck outside way too much, and no one seemed confident in their shot. They were bad in the group stage in 2002 as well. Hopefully the emotions that come with playing their biggest rival will bring out the team's best against the US and they'll build on it going forward. Goaltending was actually my biggest worry for the team going into the games. Brodeur's career is winding down, and he isn't the player he was in 2002. I would never want to trust Luongo with a gold medal game. I'd actually like to see them try Fleury, at least for one game. He's pretty much the future at the position, so why not get him some experience. That Pronger is on this team while Mike Green and Jay Bouwmeester sit at home is extremely frustrating, and I still hate Patrice Bergeron making it over Stamkos. Especially given tonight's failure on the powerplay.
I missed the game tonight I was so planning on keeping up with hockey this Olympics. You can say it, I'm a terrible Canadian.
I missed it. I lovelovelove Apolo! I'm really bummed I didn't get to see him skate tonight. Boooo. That was amazing! Way to go Evan on winning gold, what a great program! I thought Weir's was pretty mindblowing, too. I could watch him skate all day.
Whoa, Slovakia beat Russia in a shootout. Suddenly Canada's near debacle doesn't look so bad. This tournament is far more wide open than expected-anyone besides Latvia, Norway, and maybe Germany have a shot. Incredible game though, much more even and exciting than Canada and Switzerland (which was a combination of sloppy Canadian play, brilliant goaltending from Hiller and solid Swiss defense) Edit: Most of the men's freeskate was shown between games. Disappointed for Weir. When I saw his score, my reaction was very similar to the crowd's.
guess I am going to have to watch all the Canadian men's hockey games. I left the room twice and Switzerland scored both times. The first Canada Russia series I was in grade 11 and Russia always looked better when I was in the school store working. The grade 12's and 13's noticed so I had permission from the principal to sit in the lounge and watch each game. They said I should always watch serious games for Canada. Just read that Paul Henderson who got the winning goal in the final game way back when has been diagnosed with cancer. Such a sad thing for many Canadians. He is a cousin of mine but I didn't know him well but I wish him well.
I'm very proud of Lysacek. I know I said I dont care about medals --and I dont, but I'm really glad Plushenko didnt win. He's technically fantastic, but like I said, he's a very ugly performer and even though the media played it up a bit, but I've never been able to stand his attitude. Like he's a god just because he can perform the quad during competition means your worthy of gold? Besides, his quads during the long program were terrible. I agree that Weir was horribly underscored. I see why they knocked off a few points... it technically wasnt as difficult as Lysacek's or Plushenko's, and there could have been better transitions, but they seem to miss everything else. It's something I really hate about the current ISU's judging system. It makes it easier to cheat and is very subjective. (Although it's at least better than 2006's system.) I love you, Johnny, even if the judges dont. I just hate to know that your probably retiring after this.
Watch out Canada, the USA is heading straight toward you in hockey, and we are gonna bowl you over! (Just kidding, but we will win. ) I heard about Lysacek winning gold and thought of you, Merc. I was very happy that he won--I saw Plushenko's quads and highlights of his performance this morning on Good Morning America, and he IS a very ugly performer. He seems to have such a god-like attitude and no elegance or flair like the other men skaters. Hell, I didn't even KNOW the guy until this year's Games and even I could pick up on his superior attitude. I heard that Shani Davis, the US speedskater who won gold in the 1,000 meters, was the inspiration for Frozone in The Incredibles. That's awesome to me.
Actually, I'm less worried about the Americans than I was the Swiss, because Hiller has been so on form lately he had the potential to- and almost did- steal the game for Switzerland. Early-season Ryan Miller could have, and however unlikely he still might, but he's winless this month in the NHL- his club team overuses him and he gets worn out as the season goes on. On paper, Canada is a much better team- better elite level talent and much deeper. Whether they decide to compete and play in a manner which makes best use of their talent remains to be seen, but I suspect the Americans will not commit to- and may not even be capable of- playing the stifling, opportunistic style which let the Swiss compete against a superior team. Anything can happen in Olympic hockey, but I quite firmly believe the Canadian team will ease tense nerves across the country and put on their first impressive performance of the tournament, and take a win over the US and the bye into the quarterfinals. Whether we can beat the Czechs, or Slovakia for that matter, remains a mystery.
I saw that race. That guy is CRAZY fast! I love watching speedskating, they make it look so effortless, and yet it's not. I did it for a couple years as a kid and they put mats out so when you wipe out you don't break anything hitting the boards. Awesome. Agreen, I hope you're right! Pretty sure the whole country would forget everything else Olympics if we won a gold in hockey. Why isn't that our national sport?
I think the key to the game will be the forecheck. The Americans don't have the depth up front Canada does, and while a potential top line of Parise-Kane-Kessel is extremely strong, any of the top 3 Canadian lines can be as good or better. Or not. On any given night they are talented enough to take over a game. But the weakness of the American team is their defense, and supposedly this Canadian team was built to not only be incredibly talented, but strong and physical as well. If they pressure the American defense, wear them out with good checks and play responsibly in their own zone I think they can wear the US down and force mistakes. The more they are able to keep up the forecheck, the less time Parise, Kane, and Kessel will have to work their magic. They also cannot get into penalty trouble. Oh, and Gigi you'll be happy to know that one of the stars of the American team, Phil Kessel, is from Wisconsin. I prefer his club team jersey over the one he wears in international competition though I'm really happy with how Canada's done so far in the Olympics. They took home another gold today, and even in events where they aren't medalling, they're competing strong- we must be leading the games in 4th and 5th place finishes. I don't care too much about overall medal standings, I'm just glad to see our athletes compete so well, I think they're doing us proud so far. It's probably bias because they're being held in Canada, but this has already been one of my favourite Olympics. Hockey is already our winter national sport. We should probably just drop lacrosse as the summer national sport. I can count on one hand the number of people I know who play lacrosse seriously.
Apparently we (Great Britain) got our first medal now? Does anyone know what that was in coz I missed it =[ and all the British media is talking about now W Olympics wise is the commentators who are getting in trouble for making puns about one of the skaters. x
I know for sure Great Britain won a gold in women's skeleton last night, not sure if they have any other medals though.
Nor do they have SIDNEY CROSBY. They say he's the next Wayne Gretzky. And I am shamed to admit that I'm on average 25% more likely to watch a hockey game in which he's playing. :redface: Canada almost had that skeleton gold. She had the fastest start but was slowed up bumping the wall a couple of times. Kudos to anybody who does those kind of sports. I'm too big a chicken. I have to talk myself into going down a hill on a crazy carpet.
I would like to try skeleton--looks very fun to me. I've always loved the speed and the danger. USA is doing incredibly well, and I'm very proud of them.
I got home from Vegas in time to see the short track races! YES. Edit: Just watched the quarter finals, and I have to say, I love watching Apolo race. I get so nervous because he skates from the back, but then always, always, you see him start to set up as it gets into the last few laps, and then BAM, he passes people like it's effortless for him. How do you do it, Apolo? How do you do it?? God, he's amazing.
Haha I'm not gonna lie, I used to be obsessed with Apolo. I had a binder devoted to him...his background, facts about him, pictures, etc. I wrote fanfics about him. Obsessed. :redface: Now I'm happily married, and I've gotten rid of my binder...but he's still such an epic person, I can't help but love him.
J.R. made the semifinals, too. I'm hoping for J.R. and Apolo in the semifinals. And no offense to the Korean skaters, but I really hope that they don't get two skaters into the finals. It's against the rules to team skate, but there's no real way to prove that it's happening, and it seems like whenever there are multiple Korean skaters, they get next to each other and make it impossible for anyone to pass. Not that other countries wouldn't/don't do the same...I've just only ever seen it with the Korean team. Plus Korea and Apolo are kind of big rivals, so naturally, I'm on Apolo's side. Edit: AHHHHHH, J.R. got DQed? I heartily disagree with the decision to advance the skater who fell. Whatev, Olympic advancement decision maker guy. Apolo made it to the final. That's all that matters to me in the end. Double edit: Nothing to do with short track, but I just caught the clip of Great Britain's first gold medal, and it was the women's skeleton. Not sure if we confirmed that earlier, but it was pretty cool to watch.
So I am of mixed emotions about the short track semi-finals and finals on the one hand OHNO GOT BRONZE!!! and had a really sweet race on the other CELSKI GOT DQED!! I'll be the first to admit that I love Celski and Ohno and am therefore very much biased in their favors, but I do not agree with Celski's disqualification. He was already in postion when he stumbled and the Canadian guy looked as if he was actually pulling him back a little. So I wholeheartedly disagree with that call, though I'm also slightly biased. However I am thrilled with Ohno's final! He tripped and managed to not only stay on his feet, but pull himself back up from being pushed to last back up to bronze in the last two laps! Talk about skill! *joins heather in fangirl moment* oh and on a kind of unrelated but still slightly related note-had anyone else noticed how insanely cute J.R. Celski is? I mean not only is he amazingly athletic and awesome, but he is soooo cute! ok my double fangirl/teenage girl moment is over
