Ice Hockey World Championships

[AhmedDimwitson]

Starts tomorrow. Bloody good teams in it this year. We have more or less the best team we can field at the moment, few exceptions ofcourse as the NHL playoffs are still going on. And alot of big teams have lost, thus Sweden will get Sundin, Forsberg. Slovaks have the few stars they have present, and Canada has a good team aswell. USA is shite as always, but they aren't very good at hockey anyways. russians a big questionmark as usual.

Will be interesting to see how Germany, Slovenia and these top continental nations do against the top teams

 

[Kristjan]

Sweden - Finland final please

 

[Dans]

Did you say every game was a sell out Ahmed?

 

[DanishDevil]

USA - Denmark 1:4 - last period about to start

 

[Kristjan]

Originally posted by DanishDevil:
<strong>USA - Denmark 1:4 - last period about to start </strong><hr></blockquote>

<img src="graemlins/lol.gif" border="0" alt="[Laugh Out Loud]" /> <img src="graemlins/lol.gif" border="0" alt="[Laugh Out Loud]" />

That's the funniest hockey score I've seen in ages !

 

[DanishDevil]

Originally posted by Kristjan:
<strong>

<img src="graemlins/lol.gif" border="0" alt="[Laugh Out Loud]" /> <img src="graemlins/lol.gif" border="0" alt="[Laugh Out Loud]" />

That's the funniest hockey score I've seen in ages !</strong><hr></blockquote>

ended 5-2

Might've been a b-team, but from what I've heard Denmark should've played some niiiiiice hockey

 

[AhmedDimwitson]

Originally posted by Dans:
<strong>Did you say every game was a sell out Ahmed?</strong><hr></blockquote>

Sorry, it was every Finnish game But they have sold them as packages, so you don't get a ticket for Finlands games unless you pay for these other ones aswell. People can just not be arsed to turn up.

 

[osterdal]

Originally posted by DanishDevil:
<strong>

ended 5-2

Might've been a b-team, but from what I've heard Denmark should've played some niiiiiice hockey </strong><hr></blockquote>

<img src="graemlins/lol.gif" border="0" alt="[Laugh Out Loud]" /> <img src="graemlins/lol.gif" border="0" alt="[Laugh Out Loud]" /> <img src="graemlins/lol.gif" border="0" alt="[Laugh Out Loud]" />

 

[DanishDevil]

Originally posted by osterdal:
<strong>

<img src="graemlins/lol.gif" border="0" alt="[Laugh Out Loud]" /> <img src="graemlins/lol.gif" border="0" alt="[Laugh Out Loud]" /> <img src="graemlins/lol.gif" border="0" alt="[Laugh Out Loud]" /> </strong><hr></blockquote>

 

[Dans]

Finalnd - Austria up now - I think I'll watch this seeing as there'll be some atmosphere.

5-0 to the home team I reckon.

 

[AhmedDimwitson]

Originally posted by Dans:
<strong>Finalnd - Austria up now - I think I'll watch this seeing as there'll be some atmosphere.

5-0 to the home team I reckon.</strong><hr></blockquote>

Dire game, expected more. 10-1,2 would have been an appropriate result. But the referee was shite and our players aren't used to eachother. This is the worst thing with the world championships, takes such a long time before the players get used to eachother. But the postive thing was that Selanne and Koivu started finding eachother in the end. Canada seem bloody good this year though, will be hard to beat them.

On a positive note, been totally crazy at the pubs today, the game ended at 10 pm finnish time and the pubs were playing music like "eye of the tiger" until the end to raise the fighting spirit. Feeling was totally superb. The country is more or less sports crazy, as a footballer it makes you think what it would be like if we would once make it to an important competetion. Would probably be totally insane, as these hockey players we have already have this influence.

 

[DanishDevil]

Strange... I would've expected more contribution from the yanks in this thread... <img src="graemlins/smirk.gif" border="0" alt="[Smirk]" />

 

[Dans]

You know, I couldn't tell you that I'd heard of more than one player on the US team.

Still no should lose to the Danes though.

 

[DanishDevil]

Originally posted by Dans:
<strong>You know, I couldn't tell you that I'd heard of more than one player on the US team.

Still no should lose to the Danes though.</strong><hr></blockquote>

Funny thing is, that I read some article on CNN before the tournament began (when the groups were drawn), that the Americans was absoulutely sure to give the Danes a real lesson <img src="graemlins/lol.gif" border="0" alt="[Laugh Out Loud]" />

 

[Jesper]

Originally posted by DanishDevil:
<strong>

Funny thing is, that I read some article on CNN before the tournament began (when the groups were drawn), that the Americans was absoulutely sure to give the Danes a real lesson <img src="graemlins/lol.gif" border="0" alt="[Laugh Out Loud]" /> </strong><hr></blockquote>

U gotta love it!

U also gotta love the fact that Sweden, for once, has a decent team. I just can't see us not winning this time around.

 

[mathiaslg]

Originally posted by DanishDevil:
<strong>Strange... I would've expected more contribution from the yanks in this thread... <img src="graemlins/smirk.gif" border="0" alt="[Smirk]" /> </strong><hr></blockquote>

Who gives a feck about the Ice Hockey World's. We got to the Finals of the Olympics, and thats all that matters.

 

[26 may 1999]

 

[Kristjan]

<img src="graemlins/lol.gif" border="0" alt="[Laugh Out Loud]" />

The US lost again and were shutout against Switzerland

they really have a shite team this year

 

[mathiaslg]

Originally posted by Kristjan:
<strong> <img src="graemlins/lol.gif" border="0" alt="[Laugh Out Loud]" />

The US lost again and were shutout against Switzerland

they really have a shite team this year</strong><hr></blockquote>

How many NHLers do we have playing? A couple of youngsters maybe. Big deal. We probably didn't even send our best college players. Just some shitty players who play in Europe most likely.

 

[Floyd]

Mathiaslg, are you <img src="graemlins/wenger.gif" border="0" alt="[Wenger]" /> in disguise?

 

[AhmedDimwitson]

Originally posted by mathiaslg:
<strong>

How many NHLers do we have playing? A couple of youngsters maybe. Big deal. We probably didn't even send our best college players. Just some shitty players who play in Europe most likely.</strong><hr></blockquote>

It is a dire team alright. The problem is that you have 5 individuals on the ice at the same thing who try to solve it through their individual performances and not through teamwork. The most interesting part this far is that Canada of all teams is the most disciplined team and in addition to that all of their forwards have scored atleast 50 points . And they have some of their best players like Sakic, Brodoeur etc at home. They have depth, seems like you americans haven't got much depth. And as the best NHL teams were eliminated by some dire defensive shite like Anaheim and Minnesota it has resulted in alot of excellent players being over.

That said, the number of teams really need to be reduced, watched Sweden - Belarus yesterday and it is horrible to play hockey on those premises when a team stands back and defends for 60 minutes and you have superstars who play at 1/3 of their capacity.

But it will kick off for real when Russia, Slovaks, us, Sweden and Canada start playing eachother. And the NHL players are used to eachother and the big ice.

 

[Dans]

I would say that the Americans don't give two shits about the championships whereas the Canadians do it out of national pride as they have a chance of winning something, which is not often the case in world sports unless we're counting curling as a sport.

 

[AhmedDimwitson]

Originally posted by Dans:
<strong>I would say that the Americans don't give two shits about the championships whereas the Canadians do it out of national pride as they have a chance of winning something, which is not often the case in world sports unless we're counting curling as a sport.</strong><hr></blockquote>

The Canadians are better it is as simple as that. The best american players are about 35+ at the moment. Them being in the final of the olympics was more of a fluke. The yanks need the Hull, Modando, Hatcher etc. to be competetive.

 

[Dans]

Bollox! There's plenty of talent out there for the US. They have sent a team of AHLers - they clearly do not give a shit about this tournament.

 

[FresnoBob]

I won't say that the US doesn't give a "shit" about the world championships, but there isn't any coverage over here--with the NBA playoffs, the NFL draft, major league baseball--the Kentucky Derby is coming up, NASCAR is heating up. Hell, women's boxing is getting more coverage than some insignificant skating event involving people unfit to be on in the second round of the playoffs for Lord Stanley's Cup.

 

[mathiaslg]

Originally posted by AhmedDimwitson:
<strong>

The Canadians are better it is as simple as that. The best american players are about 35+ at the moment. Them being in the final of the olympics was more of a fluke. The yanks need the Hull, Modando, Hatcher etc. to be competetive.</strong><hr></blockquote>

I think we have much more of a problem when it comes to defenseman. But yes, the Canadians are much better. Not only talent wise, but they also have a lot more depth.

We do have a lot of very good young players though.

 

[AhmedDimwitson]

Originally posted by mathiaslg:
<strong>

I think we have much more of a problem when it comes to defenseman. But yes, the Canadians are much better. Not only talent wise, but they also have a lot more depth.

We do have a lot of very good young players though.</strong><hr></blockquote>

You have some decent players, hockey isn't that big there is it though? compared to the other three that is.

That said, you had 12 NHL players and lost against Denmark and Swizerland , as Selanne said, that shouldn't happen. But the NHL has without a doubt gone a bit downhill with the number of new teams in it. The third and fourth liners from the NHL usually don't even get playing when they try out here and in Sweden.

The number of teams undoubtedly needs to be reduced, yesterday we won Slovenia 12 - 0, the shots were something like 67 - 7, was almost embarrassing to watch. Slovakia with Palffy, Satan beat Japan with double figures and Chechs beat Austria 8-1. This is not football, you can't spread the game this way by allowing everyone in.

 

[Dans]

The 12 NHL players Ahmed, how many do you know? Of those 12 how many spent the last year in the AHL and if not did any of them with the exception of Housely (the only player I've heard of on that team) see significant ice time last season?

On that team of the "non-NHLers":

4 play in Germany
2 play in Switzerland
5 play in the NHL

They don't take the competition seriously as a nation - those players playing do of course, but that doesn't mean they are a force to be reckoned with at this championships.

 

[AhmedDimwitson]

Originally posted by Dans:
<strong>
They don't take the competition seriously as a nation - those players playing do of course, but that doesn't mean they are a force to be reckoned with at this championships.</strong><hr></blockquote>

This is how it has always been. If they take it seriously or not is not important either, Canada quite often have excellent teams though, and that is what is important. The Stanley Cup comes first, that's how it is, even for the European players.

This year there is only shite left in the SC though, absolutely dire teams Anaheim and Minnesota. New Jersey defensive aswell.

 

[Dans]

So the losses against Switzerland and the Danes didn't actually shock you then?

 

[AhmedDimwitson]

Originally posted by Dans:
<strong>So the losses against Switzerland and the Danes didn't actually shock you then? </strong><hr></blockquote>

Not swizerland, they have a good team and a good league. They have actually some good juniors there. But Denmark . Didn't even know they had hockey players apart for the 2 or 3 in the swedish league.

 

[Dans]

Actually I agree about Denmark!

 

[kennyj]

Originally posted by DanishDevil:
<strong>Strange... I would've expected more contribution from the yanks in this thread... <img src="graemlins/smirk.gif" border="0" alt="[Smirk]" /> </strong><hr></blockquote>


Congratulations DD. Like some others have said, there's a lot going on in the US with the NBA and NHL playoffs as well as the baseball season (and other international events) so it did get lost in the shuffle. First I heard of the championships was when you guys beat us. Now that we know, we'll get you guys back next time!

 

[mathiaslg]

What 12 NHLers do we have on our squad? I really would like to know. I think the only good player we have is Jordan Leopold, and the only reason he is there is because his NHL team is shite.

 

[mathiaslg]

Originally posted by AhmedDimwitson:
<strong>

You have some decent players, hockey isn't that big there is it though? compared to the other three that is.</strong><hr></blockquote>

We do have some very talented young players. However, you are right, hockey is limited to a small number of states, for the best players all come from Massachusetts, New York, Minnesota, Michigan, Wisconsin, Maine (and thats about it really). Still, we do have some quality young talent coming through, and they will be great. Our problem is that there is (depth wise, minus Deadmarsh, Langenbrunner, Gomez, York, Parrish, Poti etc...) a gap between this upcoming generation and the Modano/Roenick/Guerin generation.

 

[AhmedDimwitson]

Originally posted by mathiaslg:
<strong>What 12 NHLers do we have on our squad? I really would like to know. I think the only good player we have is Jordan Leopold, and the only reason he is there is because his NHL team is shite.</strong><hr></blockquote>

1. Matt Cullen - Florida
2. Marty reasoner - Edmonton
3. Phil Housley - Toronto
4. Jim Fahey - San Jose
5. Jordan Leopold - Calgary
6. Niko Dimitrakos - San jose
7. Joe Corvo - LA
8- Craig Johnson - LA
9. Francis Boullon - Montreal
10. Brad DeFauw - Carolina
11. Ryan Miller - Buffalo
12. Mike Mottau - Calgary

So, I've seen better players , but as was said you haven't got much depth. Fully expect you to be in the bottom next world cup. in 2004 or when was it scheduled? They will probably push it forward to build on the popularity from the olympics. The current SC playoffs are a disaster for the TV broadcasters so they will probably try to raise the interest again. Instead of watching Forsberg and co the audience have to endure 60 minutes of a really dire Minnesota

We have 14 NHL players, Sweden 13, Canada has most with 22, Slovakia 14, Chech 12.

 

[Jacqueline_S]

Rank Team W L T GF GA Pts
1 SLOVAKIA 2 0 0 19 4 4
2 GERMANY 1 0 0 5 4 2
3 UKRAINE 0 1 0 3 9 0
4 JAPAN 0 2 0 5 15 0

Group B Standings

Rank Team W L T GF GA Pts
1 RUSSIA 2 0 0 11 3 4
2 DENMARK 1 1 0 6 8 2
3 SWITZERLAND 1 1 0 3 5 2
4 UNITED STATES 0 2 0 2 6 0

Group C Standings

Rank Team W L T GF GA Pts
1 CANADA 2 0 0 9 1 4
2 SWEDEN 2 0 0 5 2 4
3 BELARUS 0 2 0 1 5 0
4 LATVIA 0 2 0 2 9 0

Group D Standings

Rank Team W L T GF GA Pts
1 FINLAND 2 0 0 17 1 4
2 CZECH REPUBLIC 2 0 0 13 3 4
3 AUSTRIA 0 2 0 2 13 0
4 SLOVENIA 0 2 0 2 17 0

 

[Dans]

Sweden Canada is on now. Best match up so far.

 

[DanishDevil]

Originally posted by kennyj:
<strong>


Congratulations DD. Like some others have said, there's a lot going on in the US with the NBA and NHL playoffs as well as the baseball season (and other international events) so it did get lost in the shuffle. First I heard of the championships was when you guys beat us. Now that we know, we'll get you guys back next time!</strong><hr></blockquote>


You probably WILL win next time (note: We've never lost to USA )... and we can't compete with anyone else of the A-teams... we're quite good though, compared to the B-teams!

The thing is... I just love being the odd country living in the shadows of the big nations - and then sometimes we just make some results that makes you laugh your bollocks off <img src="graemlins/lol.gif" border="0" alt="[Laugh Out Loud]" />

 

[mathiaslg]

Jesus Ahmed. Phil Housley is going to the retirement home after this tourney.

So he barely counts.

The rest rarely play (except for Leopold and Reasoner).