It's a huge upset if Canada don't win gold again

The way Canada is dominating hockey right now, it's definitely an upset if Canada don't win olympic gold 2006. They have the best team and the confidence to win the big matches. No pieces of the their puzzle is missing.

Agreed. On paper, the team is practically flawless. That said - in one game - any of the other big teams is capable of winning. If it was best of 7 series however, I don't know if any team would be able to take out Canada.

Anything less than gold will be failure and disaster. We fully expect it in the Olympic tourney. That being said, they are playing against some other pretty damn good hockey teams and they will not win it if they don't play physical and go balls-out 100% of the time. If Canada gives 100% effort the Gold should remain here.

Agreed. But if Canada meets the Czechs or the Swedes in the play-off round, it's going to be hard, very hard.

The way Canada is dominating hockey right now, it's definitely an upset if Canada don't win olympic gold 2006. They have the best team and the confidence to win the big matches. No pieces of the their puzzle is missing.

Great thing about Olympic hockey, and these world tournaments, is that any of those teams that are in it can cause an upset. Stats on paper and predictions are often misleading and can cause a huge dissapointment to some. I think the 2006 WJC kinda puts this in perspective eh ;)

Agreed. On paper, the team is practically flawless. That said - in one game - any of the other big teams is capable of winning. If it was best of 7 series however, I don't know if any team would be able to take out Canada.

Completly agree. Canada would own a 7 game series. But in one game eliminations, anything is possible. And while Canada is obviously the deepest team, a couple of the other teams are not that far off talent wise.

In other news, I wonder what the odds makers are putting for the teams?

Personally, Im calling Canada at about 65-70% chance of gold.

i don't think so.Canada can be taken down and while we have and always have a strong team and are the likely favourite i would'nt be shocked at all if we don't win.To me,there are 5 teams with an excellent chance of winning and 2 with a decent chance.If the olympics were a best of seven or best of five affair then i agree it would be a big upset for Canada not to take home gold,they would have too much talent depth to stand a great chance of being upset in a series situiation.But in a one game winner take all? We are in tough just like everyone else.One bad game,one unfortuitous bounce,one hot goaltender..............she's all over.And it can happen to Canada just as easily as it can happen to anyone else.

i'm hoping for the best and trust our team will be sharp and well prepared but SHOCKED if we don't win?......................nope.

The way Canada is dominating hockey right now, it's definitely an upset if Canada don't win olympic gold 2006. They have the best team and the confidence to win the big matches. No pieces of the their puzzle is missing.

I think you are selling the Czech Republic short if you think it would be a huge upset for them to beat Canada. With the best goaltender in the world, the NHL's leading scorer, and their solid results against Canada in big tournaments since 1998 (2-1-1 with a 2-1 record in elimination games), them winning the gold would not be a surprise at all. Some journalists have labelled them as co-favorites.

I think you are selling the Czech Republic short if you think it would be a huge upset for them to beat Canada. With the best goaltender in the world, the NHL's leading scorer, and their solid results against Canada in big tournaments since 1998 (2-1-1 with a 2-1 record in elimination games), them winning the gold would not be a surprise at all. Some journalists have labelled them as co-favorites.

5 more weeks.....going crazy in anticipation.....must lock self up in straight jacket,

5 more weeks.....going crazy in anticipation.....must lock self up in straight jacket,
lOL,yep,me too.Although it takes years off my life i swear.So damn nervous.

I think you are selling the Czech Republic short if you think it would be a huge upset for them to beat Canada. With the best goaltender in the world, the NHL's leading scorer, and their solid results against Canada in big tournaments since 1998 (2-1-1 with a 2-1 record in elimination games), them winning the gold would not be a surprise at all. Some journalists have labelled them as co-favorites.
Agreed. But I'd still be upset - I'll buy extra beer just in case :D

I think you are selling the Czech Republic short if you think it would be a huge upset for them to beat Canada. With the best goaltender in the world, the NHL's leading scorer, and their solid results against Canada in big tournaments since 1998 (2-1-1 with a 2-1 record in elimination games), them winning the gold would not be a surprise at all. Some journalists have labelled them as co-favorites.

The canadian players seems to choke less than we euros in important games. My money is on Canada again.

When was the last time Canada was eliminated in a quarter or semi final in a big tournament? You guys are the best.

The way Canada is dominating hockey right now, it's definitely an upset if Canada don't win olympic gold 2006. They have the best team and the confidence to win the big matches. No pieces of the their puzzle is missing.
No. The Canadians have the best players (or to be correct: the most Top20 or TopSomething players), but they don't have the best team...

But nevertheless, they are the favorits for the tournament, but I hope they don't win Gold. Gotta go with some European Country.

The canadian players seems to choke less than we euros in important games. My money is on Canada again.

When was the last time Canada was eliminated in a quarter or semi final in a big tournament? You guys are the best.
World Championships 2002.

Don't know when Canada was eliminated exactly, but the Final was Slovakia vs. Russia.

The canadian players seems to choke less than we euros in important games. My money is on Canada again.

When was the last time Canada was eliminated in a quarter or semi final in a big tournament? You guys are the best.

Assuming you are only counting best-on-bests (of which there have only been 4, arguably 5 if you count the 2005 Worlds), then the 1998 Olympics by - guess who - the Czech Republic.

World Championships 2002.

Don't know when Canada was eliminated exactly, but the Final was Slovakia vs. Russia.It was the QF. The Slovaks came from 0-2 behind to win 3-2.

Anything less than gold will be failure and disaster. We fully expect it in the Olympic tourney. That being said, they are playing against some other pretty damn good hockey teams and they will not win it if they don't play physical and go balls-out 100% of the time. If Canada gives 100% effort the Gold should remain here.
Failure - perhaps

Disaster - only if they don't pass the QF round would any panic here be justified.

lOL,yep,me too.Although it takes years off my life i swear.So damn nervous.

Yeah, and I don't even get to see any of the games, cause I'll be in New Zealand at the time, working :cry:

Yeah, and I don't even get to see any of the games, cause I'll be in New Zealand at the time, working :cry:


Ouch, that hurts...

I hope you'll get some good money over there. At least enough to go to Vancouver in 2010...

Ouch, that hurts...

I hope you'll get some good money over there. At least enough to go to Vancouver in 2010...

That's certainly the plan! I have already started negotiations with the government (i.e. wife). It's a tough battle but some progress has already been made :)

World Championships 2002.

Don't know when Canada was eliminated exactly, but the Final was Slovakia vs. Russia.
World Campionships aren't considered a mojor tournament in Canada. Olympics and World Cup are the only 2 that the Canadian public considers as "major". That may not mean much in the context of the conversation but I thought I'd throw it in there.

Yeah, and I don't even get to see any of the games, cause I'll be in New Zealand at the time, working :cry:
BAAAAD time to be in NZ my friend.Their networks must show some games don't they?

70% chance of Canada winning? That is saying that the other 6 elite countries have a combined 30% chance of winning, or an average of 5% each. Canada has a better chance of winning than any other country, but I think it is more likely that one of the other 6 elite hockey nations will win. I'd make the odds something more like this (very roughly):

Canada - 35%
Czech - 15%
Sweden - 12.5%
Russia - 12.5%
Finland - 10%
USA - 10%
Slovakia - 5%

The canadian players seems to choke less than we euros in important games.



Sweden maybe. The others don't choke, IMO.
Sweden lost to Finland in 98, Belarus in 2002 and to Czech Republic in the WC (after beating them in the 1st round).

I don't know.

We've gone out and pulled a Nagano, assembling a team of role players and guys whose past experience may be worth more to the selection committee than current form.

The Czechs and Swedes have complete teams from goal to forwards, and are big threats.

The Russians played with some pride at last year's World Championships and have a lot of talent up front to play around with. Slovakia, somewhat similar to Russia is a bit more front-loaded but Chara, Visnovsky and Meszaros anchor an improving defensive corps. Will it be Lasak or Stana or Budaj?

The Finns may lack for talent due to injuries, but can easily upset a big team with their strong work ethic, and in a one-game elimination situation, that's nothing to sneeze at. I figure the US may be an odd-man out in terms of top talent with the generational shift currently ongoing, but perhaps an underdog situation is exactly what they need, like when they earned bronze at the WCs with guys like Park and Halpern.

The way I see it, if Belarus can knock Sweden out, any one of these teams can easily follow suit, particularly against one another, and that includes Canada.

What I do know is that, with Staal, Spezza on the taxi squad and Crosby left off the team, if Canada fails to score consistently, the selection committee will be blamed for the lack of offense on Team Canada. Unfair? Possibly. It'll still happen.

Sweden maybe. The others don't choke, IMO.
Sweden lost to Finland in 98, Belarus in 2002 and to Czech Republic in the WC (after beating them in the 1st round).

don't forget sweden losing to canada i world cup semifinal 1996, a game sweden dominated in the end.

BAAAAD time to be in NZ my friend.Their networks must show some games don't they?

Hopefully yes, but I'm not counting on it.

don't forget sweden losing to canada i world cup semifinal 1996, a game sweden dominated in the end.

Yeah, they tend to choke a lot. On the other hand, they're a terrific comeback team when they're trailing in a game, so that is a sign of mental strength anyways. I'm not talking just about the fairly recent 1-5 comeback against Finland but also several earlier 2-4 comebacks and so on.

don't forget sweden losing to canada i world cup semifinal 1996, a game sweden dominated in the end.

The big deal with Sweden is giving up leads.

2002 vs. Belarus QFs (OGs)
2003 vs. Canada Fs (WCs)
2004 vs. Canada Fs (WCs)
2005 vs. Czech Republic SFs (WCs)

They had the lead in all of these critically important games.

don't forget sweden losing to canada i world cup semifinal 1996, a game sweden dominated in the end.

Oh man that game was a tough, tough loss. Especially the way it ended.. Sweden dominated the OT, Garpenlöv hits the post, Theo ****ing Fleury scores. Completly heartbreaking. :shakehead

Oh man that game was a tough, tough loss. Especially the way it ended.. Sweden dominated the OT, Garpenlöv hits the post, Theo ****ing Fleury scores. Completly heartbreaking. :shakehead

same story with the Czechs in '04

Oh man that game was a tough, tough loss. Especially the way it ended.. Sweden dominated the OT, Garpenlöv hits the post, Theo ****ing Fleury scores. Completly heartbreaking. :shakehead

probably the worst loss ever. Sweden had a kickass team.

when did we actually win an important game in OT?

I don't know.

We've gone out and pulled a Nagano, assembling a team of role players and guys whose past experience may be worth more to the selection committee than current form.



I don't agree that we're sending a Nagano-like team. IMO the only pure role-player on the team is Draper. Virtually everyone else is looked to for offense on their respective NHL teams. Thankfully we don't have any Corsons or Zamuners this time around, not even on the taxi squad.