Olympic Ice Hockey - Winners and Losers

now that the Olympic Ice Hockey is finished, here are some thoughts on which countries did well and who fell on their butt

WINNER. obviously Canada who win both the men's and women's gold metals and looked dominant doing it

WINNER. Sweden. they get to the men's championship game and get the silver.

WINNER . Slovenia. in their 1st Olympics with only one NHL player, they win 2 qualification round games to get to the quarterfinals. goalie Robert Kristan will probably get a look from either NHL or KHL teams

LOSER. Russia. the "big red scoring machine" completely mis-fired and got knocked out in the quarterfinals by Finland. gotta be a huge disappointment for the Olympics home country

LOSER. Slovakia. the team which made it to the semi-finals in Vancouver with plenty of NHL talent didn't even make it to the quarterfinals and looked bad doing it.

LOSER USA men's team. hard to call a team that made it to the semi-finals a "loser" BUT getting shut out by both Canada and Finland was pretty lame

OPINIONS?

btw, thank GOD the NHL is back next week. getting really tired of watching college baskets even though I had some success with it during the break 

absolutely. add goalie Kristers Gudlevskis, who plays for the AHL Syracuse Crunch (Tampa), to individual "unknown" winners like Slovenia's goalie Robert Kristan

and congrats to Finland's Teemu Selanne, who has played in 6 Olympics and is the oldest player ever to medal in ice hockey. scores 2 GF's vs the US in the Bronze medal game and set a record 43 career points in his Olympic hockey career.

id say the biggest loser, hands down, is the NHL...

seasonus interruptus...momentum lost...sacrifice of an emerging star in Tavares...

appreciable gain: zero...

NHL players do not belong in the Olympics...

im for a return to the system of recruitment and assembly of teams of amateurs/collegians by national programs

I was wondering IF anyone would list the "soccer on ice" games, which were like watching paint dry, I am sure that average American sports fans will now lining up in Florida, Dallas, Carolina, Nashville and Phoenix to see "the exciting game of ice hockey"

also the NHL for the reasons mentioned. you can ad "didn't really showcase their sport" because most games were BOR-ing (see paragraph one) 

from purely a degenerate standpoint...I would look to some of those players who did not perform as well as expected to have a  little hangover.

Ovechkin leads league w 40+ goals w season 70% done do we really expect him to end up w 60 goals.....probably not..Hangover!

Jon Quick great goalie but wow...USA garbage the bed.... looks for the kings goaltending to remain sloppy for a bit..Hangover

Malkin...1 beer to many..slight hangover

Crosby//St Louis...they didn't drink the beer....look for their ways to continue..no hangover.

Finland Players...all of them excited..no hangover....

am I crazy here..probably a bunch more

docpj72...

no need to apologize, we can agree to disagree...

if the NHL returns to the olympics in 4 years, the field should be dramatically reduced...6 teams maximum...with pros on the ice realistically the norways and switzerlands and austrias are  cannon-fodder, what's the point?...

on the other hand, if the hockey tournament went back to its roots as a forum for the best amateurs, the impetus IMO would be there for those countries and others to pour serious support into training and development programs to teach and nurture young players and coaches and help the sport grow into something more substantial...

you can showcase hockey all you want, but you're not going to sustain serious lasting interest until you grow the game in those lands, and you grow it from the ground up, not from the top down...

id submit that the growth and popularity of hockey programs at all levels in the US is a direct result of the development and blossoming of amateur teams that won gold medals  at the Olympics in squaw valley in '60 and lake placid in '80, teams that reflected what IMO should be the true spirit of the Olympics...

as for Tavares, I could be wrong but I seriously doubt  islanders' fans who shelled out big dollars for season-tickets to watch him play are a happy species today...

best regards

Latvia: blind squirrel that almost tripped over an acorn