04/25/24
December 26, 2004
It's the IIHF World Juniors!: Finally something for hockey fans to be excited about. (more inside)
posted by Samsonov14 to hockey at 02:31 PM - 5 comments
I watched much of the USA vs Russia game and I gotta say the first half of the game was tons of fun. The teams scored 9 goals between them in the first period and a half. And then they got nothing the rest of the way. Between Ovechkin, who had a sniper's goal he set up all by himself, and Chris Bourque who had plenty of nifty moves and a nice goal of his own, the Washington Capitals were the real winners. Rangers draft pick Al Montoya was shaky in the beginning behind virtually no defense (welcome to the Rangers... sorta), but settled in and made a number of quality saves to hold off the Russians in the third. USA vs the Swiss tonight at nine.
posted by 86 at 08:55 AM on December 27, 2004
that was a helluva 3rd period and ESPN2, horrible job during the period breaks providing highlights of the other games. I don't want to see Crosby's goals twice and three times. I want to see all 8 goals. Or at least most of them....the interviews were nice, but come on?!
posted by garfield at 09:56 AM on December 28, 2004
The Bergeron+Crosby line definitely is the line of the tournament, thus far. They'll likely pad their scoring stats even more today as they play Germany, who lost 6-0 to Sweden... who lost 8-1 to Canada. They're looking good so far. Also, how about that Canadian Spengler Cup team? They actually managed to beat NHL-lockout-allstar-laden Davos with their all non-NHLer line-up!
posted by mkn at 03:51 PM on December 28, 2004
Canada smoked Germany 9-0. Crosby with 2 goals, Bergeron with 2 assists. Bergeron leads in points with 3-5-8 totals, while Crosby leads in goalscoring and is in second place in points with 6-1-7 totals. I can't wait to see what Crosby can do in the NHL. Hopefully Bergeron has learned enough to become the Bruins' second line center, whenever hockey starts up again.
posted by Samsonov14 at 06:03 PM on December 29, 2004
No surprises yet, as Canada, Finland, and the Czech Republic won their games against the weaker teams from Slovakia, Germany, and Belarus respectively. The U.S. won a tough one against the kids from the Russia, but I wouldn't count Russia out of the medal chase just yet. Apparently Bruins prospect Patrice Bergeron and next year's likely #1 pick Sidney Crosby are supposed to be unstoppable for Canada, but it will be interesting to see what they can do against better competition. I'm guessing Canada takes home the Gold, Finland gets silver, and the U.S. takes home a bronze. Any other predictions? Oh, and for the record, all of team USA's games are aired on ESPN2 this year.