04/25/24
February 27, 2010
Team Canada squeaks into gold medal game: Eight years after Canada upended the U.S.A. in Salt Lake City for its 1st Olympic gold medal in men's hockey in 50 years, the North American rivals will meet again. The Canadians hung on for a nervous 3-2 victory in their semifinal against Slovakia on Friday.
posted by tommytrump to olympics at 12:19 AM - 9 comments
More confident.
1) The goalie switch helps.
2) I don't think Miller can stop a similar 45 shot onslaught a second time.
3) It was really only 6 minutes of inconsistency for Canada in the Slovakia game. Other than that, they were easily the stronger team.
4) Guys who were ice cold in the first meeting (Boyle, Getzlaf, Perry) are on a roll now.
posted by grum@work at 01:38 AM on February 27, 2010
Worried.
What's happened to Canadian goaltending over the past 5 years? Has always been a strength, recently it's a step behind most other hockey powers.
posted by cixelsyd at 01:46 AM on February 27, 2010
brain: After the first meeting, and the performance tonight, I'll be amazed if we win to be honest.
Still, it's another medal for sure, so I'll be happy:)
posted by Drood at 05:35 AM on February 27, 2010
Whoa, whoa. You're all going nuts. The biggest factor will be pressure. Not that the Canadians can't handle it, but the US Boys are in a great place, because they have nothing to lose. They can let it all hang out.
But I'm damn excited. It's gonna be great.
posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 10:13 AM on February 27, 2010
Here's the thing:
What if Canada and the US had reversed their results of the past two games?
What if Canada squeaked by Slovakia and then pounded Russia, while the US pounded Finland and then squeaked by Switzerland?
It's the same results, but I'm guessing people would be thinking Canada would be in great shape going into the gold medal game.
That's why I think Canada is going to be fine.
The biggest factor will be pressure. Not that the Canadians can't handle it
I thought they already went through the pressure cooker with Russia with flying colours.
posted by grum@work at 10:43 AM on February 27, 2010
I think the squeaky-bum end to the third period probably helped concentrate the minds of the Canadian team, and dispel any hint of complacency going into the final. The US will clearly have a gameplan that involves taking the crowd out of the game early, but we'll see how that turns out.
posted by etagloh at 10:48 AM on February 27, 2010
Miller was amazing in the first meeting, but when he's hot, he's capable of doing that sort of thing game after game. Still, the pressure Canada put on in that game was so intense, coming away with a win was tremendous for the U.S. I agree with Weedy, the U.S. never expected to be in the gold medal game. Canada has been expected to take gold throughout. That makes the U.S. (or any other opponent Canada would have been facing) all the more dangerous. If the U.S. was to beat Canada twice in these same Olympics, it would be incredible. I'm hoping for a tight, well-played contest, whoever wins.
posted by dyams at 10:55 AM on February 27, 2010
hoooooooooo boy ... here we go!
posted by Spitztengle at 03:10 PM on February 28, 2010
Given that (1) many were saying what a tough game Finland could be for the U.S., (2) how dominant they were, & (3) Canada's inconsistency, a question for the Canadian fans:
Are you more or less confident about beating the U.S. for the gold than you were before their 1st mtg earlier this week?