JohnF

I don't know why there isn't more talk about the population of the different countries. The US has 10 times our population. Germany has 3 times ours. Seems logical to me that with a woder base from which to choose athletes, and arguably a stronger gene pool though that may be a reach, that these countries have an edge over Canada. Norway on the other hand is tiny population-wise, so good for them. And I'm not totally against counting first place finishes only. What other sporting event but horse racing cares who comes in second or third. It's all about being the best for most. Whether it's right or not though, I think that if Canada can come out on top of the gold medal count, more power to us. In a way it says we're the best of the best, doesn't it. As for counting silvers and golds, then let's go deeper and consider the 4th and 5th place finishes. Heaven knows, we've got our share of those. JF

Perhaps the outstanding show of national pride will sink in with the pols. I don't think they get the concept that sports can be a unifying factor for us nationally. I love seeing Canadians show a little attitude for a change instead of worrying about who we're gonna offend. JF

Thanks HF. Great find. JF

No kidding. JF

I agree. I'm hoping that it's last night's team that comes to the rink though. As for the US/Canada competition - that one's bigger than Russia/Canada any day to me. I really look forward to any games between Canada and the US in hockey - men, women, juniors, whatever. Perhaps it goes back to the days when my kids' teams played American teams in tournaments. The best young American teams came in with 10 skaters and 1 goalie and skated like a military marching unit. These kids had been power skated to the Nth degree and ran our kids ragged. We won our share of games but it was sure a different experience from playing Canadian teams. I wish we could find out what it is the American kids are fed that makes them so tough to beat, not just in hockey. JF

Bronze in long track too. JF

We're lucky we've got you to keep us on track. None of the rest of us saw that one coming. JF

Not bad for a bunch of pylons, huh? But it's still early. 3-1 JF

Babcock more or less said that he was playing a long bench last night to keep the wear and tear down on the important players. One can only assume Pronger's place on the bench will be warm in the Russia game unless we are mired in a slow slugfest or jump out to an early 10 goal lead. JF

I wuz tempted to start a thread entitled "Who Do They Play After The Russians?". Figgered that would spark some real creativity. JF

If only yer players were, too. JF

Exactly. If winning was a given there'd be no reason to have these competitions. I can understand Torontonians who cheer for Buffalo or whatever but I don't get it when Canadians cheer against their national teams. It would be one thing to ignore the whole competition but to get emotionally involved and cheer against your national team is weird. JF

Not what I meant at all. Crosby is without question all for his team. What I meant is that saying that he's the best and then expecting the other players to rise to his level is unreasonable. The solution is a compromise between others playing up to their potential and Crosby working with it since he's the anointed leader. It's hard to follow a leader who's so far ahead of the pack he can't be found. I know that's exaggerating things a bit but they really just have to meet somewhere in the middle. He seemed to struggle for a while with that when he came to Pittsburgh too. It takes a whole team to make a team, not just one man. But be that as it may, I still stand by what I said earlier in the tournament - this is going to be a battle of the goalies. JF

Ironically, Garry2rs spends the winters there fishing the Colorado. You might try to raise him somehow. JF

Other than goaltending, defence, speed and persistance we were all over them. We outshot them didn't we? Our guys did some things really well but the US did more things well and they were the things that counted. I wasn't disappointed in Pronger because I expected nothing more from him. The only thing I was surprised at was that he didn't finish some of the many cross checks he started and get hisself some pine time and us a few more PK's. Everyone keeps saying the coachs have to find players who can play with Crosby. Seems to me that after listening to that refrain for a few years from more than this team his coachs should be asking Sid when he's gonna figger out how to put his greatness to work as a team player. He's got skill to burn but if he can't make it work with anyone why is he in a team sport? Mebbe he needs to try to adjust his game a little more. And it's not Canada's fault, or Brodeur's, that the US and Europe are producing better goalies right now. Arguably our own Olympic team has the best available at the moment. I doubt anyone thought Mason or Ward were gonna save us. Unfortunately the rest of the world is producing better goalies at the moment. I was pleased to see Doughty elevate his game last night. He kinda sucked before that. In fact our young defence did okay. Bench Pronger. I haven't written our guys off yet. One can only hope Luongo, or even Fleury, can deliver the kind of goaltending we'll need. Perhaps Seabrook can rise to the occasion with some more ice time and let the coachs cut Pronger's ice time. I think Niedermayer is still a player and will bring some game. I'd like to see Crosby try harder to fit in with whomever is assigned to him. If he's as good as we think he should be able to make anyone look good. I hope our blueliners start to get some quick shots away. Last night they fiddled with the puck as if they were waiting for the other guys to fill the lanes, then they'd make slow passes to try to find a hole. It was like they were afraid to shoot. And lastly I'd like to see the Canadian coachs take charge. Babcock has always looked bewildered behind the bench and I thought it was just his normal look. Mebbe the Wings players have been carrying him all this time. Lastly, as always I'm blown away by the pride and the intensity American athletes bring to their international endeavours. They must have a secret formula that they bottle and inject. They aren't always the most likeable but dayum, they sure do come through in the clutch. I've been thinking that our own Olympic team organizers recognized this and have tried to instill some of that pride or whatever it is in our athletes with all the Own The Podium hype, and to a certain extent they've succeeded, but I guess our men's hockey team skipped out of the injection line. There, got that off my chest. I'm looking forward to seeing how well our guys can suck it up now and deliver some of the intensity they showed in the last few minutes of last night's game, except do it for an entire game, and then another entire game, and then another, etc, until they wear the gold. JF

What, with 26 American girls? JF

His partner appeared to give him a quick look that ended that fast. Or perhaps he just caught himself. JF

Dunno what this says about Canada. JF

Isn't the season open below Chatham only. I have often been wrong in the past and may well be again. Oops. Mea culpa. Checked again. Open till Mar 15. JF

I'm kinda surprised you're offended by the winter lack of enthusiasm. I check in daily and as far as I can see this is the silly season in OFC. If it ain't about the Olympics or ice fishing it's getting little to no action, and icefishing isn't even getting that much of late. You've been spending too much time chasing Yuma bass in the warm sun and have forgotten how the cold and snow stifles our curiosity up here. When we're all wetting lines regularly we hang off your every thread, and for good reason. But this late in the winter doldrums we're all suffering brain freeze and can barely muster the enthusiasm to argue about hockey let alone summer fishing. If it weren't for guys like you how would us newbies learn to do it right in the nice weather? C'mon ya grumpy old fart. Cut us some slack here. Besides, if memory serves you got some response on your Cabela's reel deal, didn't you? JF

Okay. The day anybody I'm fishing with offers to share their used condoms with me, I'm outa the boat. JF

In Canada's defence they more than doubled the shot output of the Swiss and held them to only 3 shots in the third while getting something like a dozen. With 47 shots in the game it speaks to Hiller's outstanding goaltending, and speaks volumes when one understands that Canada wasn't even playing close to their potential. Another thing - save for, I believe, 4 players including their their two star NHLers Streit and Hiller, the Swiss team has been reasonably intact and playing somewhat regularly for about 4 years now, so I'm giving Canada the benefit of the doubt on this one. Hockey's still a team game and throwing a bunch of over achievers together doth not a team make. There needs to be some familiarity, chemistry, to make it a team. What we have right now is a load of talent but not much chemistry. Hopefully they're all good enough to gel into a team quickly. And hopefully the Swiss are the exception in this tournament, an experienced team with the chemistry already in place. YMMV JF

It's starting to look like this tournament will feature goaltending. The young millionaires will be the supporting cast. As someone else said here I think Canada needs to quit with the cutesy pass plays and use the cannons they've got. Knock down a few of the opposition with those shots that seemed to do more damage to our own players last night, beat up on the Streits of the world, and take a page from Kessel's book (Sid figgered it out in the shootout). I still say it's our tournament to lose. I suspect the players would rather win, and will. But another "scare" will be a bad sign. On a positive note there sure is a surplus of incredible talent on our team. Now if only they can turn it into team talent. JF

Wow. Yeah. I sure hope Canada learned more from playing that one than the other teams will watching it. The Swiss brought it for sure, especially Hiller, and Canada didn't really have an answer much of the time. Sure hope Iginla's not hurt. Not surprised to see that Pronger's still a moron when it counts. Doughty's fumbling was a great argument for more experience on the ice. Hopefully just a good wakeup call. JF

Never say die, eh? JF