Olympics thread mk XXV

[clubgop]

Technically, Canada is having an excellent Jingolympics, second in gold medals, second in medals overall, ahead of the USA, but without NHL players, I honestly don't give a rats ass about the Olympics. Just there to win gold for the Real Team Canada, not Real Team Canada, not interested.

Yeah US in some sports need an overhaul. Speed skating, the oranges dominate that. Short track, use to be so good, now it is all Koreans and Chinese, WTH?

[Smitty-48]

Technically, Canada is having an excellent Jingolympics, second in gold medals, second in medals overall, ahead of the USA, but without NHL players, I honestly don't give a rats ass about the Olympics. Just there to win gold for the Real Team Canada, not Real Team Canada, not interested.

Yeah US in some sports need an overhaul. Speed skating, the oranges dominate that. Short track, use to be so good, now it is all Koreans and Chinese, WTH?

I honestly never gave a fuck about the Olympics, the only reason I ever watched, was to watch Soviet Red Army play hockey. Never watched another event, ever.

I can't pretend that the bunch of scrubs they iced as "Team Canada" was anything even remotely close to the best hockey players in Canada, so it's a farce, and even tho Russia is not Soviet Red Army, they're the closest thing I've got, and my second favourite team after Team Canada, was always Soviet Red Army, so I'm backing he Rooskies for this tournament.

[StCapps]

Fake Bronze, who cares?
/shrugs

[Smitty-48]

Fake Bronze, who cares?
/shrugs

Real Bronze, who cares? It's Real Gold, or nothing.
/shrugs

[StCapps]

Fake Bronze, who cares?
/shrugs

Real Bronze, who cares? It's Real Gold, or nothing.
/shrugs

Bronze is irrelevant, fake or real. Fuck Silver and the horse it rode in on too. Real Gold or nothing, indeed.

[Smitty-48]

The bottom line is, we took the Real Gold from Russia, in Russia, twice, IIHF and Olympics, and Czar Putin was a good sport about it, very magnanimous, called us "The Father's of Hockey".

Since there is only Fake Team Canada at this tournament, buncha scrubs who couldn't even make the AHL, I can't be bothered to get behind that, so I simply return the favour, my compliments in kind; Slava Rossiya, stick it to the IOC, Vlad, it's all yours.

[Smitty-48]

The bottom line with this Leafs team; they just don't have enough veterans.

Not saying they should go out and load up on veterans, but it's a team of kids and they play like a team of kids, they just can't stay consistent, they constantly slack and start goofing off, in game, period to period.

Basically they just have to grow up, but right now, they just can't seem to get with the program, for more than a shift or two.

Boston is not so much the better team, they just have the much more experienced core, and that veteran core drives the bus, consistently.

On Boston, it's a veteran core with kids in a supporting role, the Leafs are the opposite, and it shows.

[Smitty-48]

I mean, it's not like the Leafs are getting rinsed here, they can clearly skate with Boston and Boston is clearly beatable, but the softy kids on the Leafs just keep making dumb mental errors, they cough the puck up and go for a skate, and that ends up in their net, not because Boston is the 1977 Montreal Canadiens, but rather because, mental game wise, the Leafs play like the junior team that is at their core, highly skilled, fast, dynamic, but fundamentally sloppy and inconsistent.

Leafs fans who are not students of the game, keep thinking that if they go out and get a defenceman, it will all fix itself like flicking a lightswitch, but if the hotdog softy kid coughs the puck up at the blue line dipsy doodling, the likes of Ryan McDonagh or Chris Tanev ain't gonna be able to make much of a difference, when that comes back down their throat two on one.

If you just keep coughing the puck up and going for a skate goofing off, you could get Nik Lidstrom and he still wouldn't be able to do much about it.

[Smitty-48]

To wit, may seem counterintuitive, but all defence in hockey starts with the forwards, if you have a group of forwards who can't manage the puck and pick up their man when they lose it, you could have six Norris Trophy winners playing defence, and you'd still get rinsed pretty regularly.

[Smitty-48]

Now see I think that was blatant goaltender interference by Hyman, he shoves the guy into Rask, very deliberately, but after another absurd delay, the ref calls it a goal, they're just making this shit up as they go, nobody knows what is or isn't goaltender interference, least of all the refs.

Goaltender interference review is utter retardation, I don't care if it goes my way, a pox on all reformers, death to all video reviews, and the yardarm for anyone who calls for it.