2014 Winter Olympics Thread- Sochi (spoiler tags for events that haven't aired)

[Suburban Rhythm]

Is it an upset though?

Finnish goaltending > Russian goaltending
Finnish D > Russian D
Finnish forwards <<< Russian forwards

I think most people felt coming in Russia was the most boom or bust team.

[SirFozzie]

yeah, but the Russians are starting to get frustrated. If the Finns can hold out for 5 minutes, get a breakaway... it's going to be interesting to see how the two teams deal with the pressure..

[SirFozzie]

Considering the level of attention provided, and the goals of the team (Gold Medal or Bust), yes, this is a possible upset.

If they don't comeback, Putin won't let them out of the country

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by Suburban Rhythm

Is it an upset though?

Finnish goaltending > Russian goaltending
Finnish D > Russian D
Finnish forwards <<< Russian forwards

I think most people felt coming in Russia was the most boom or bust team.

The top four Russian forwards: Ovechkin, Malkin, Kovalchuck and Datsyuk are fantastic. Other than the Canadian team, I can't think of too many forwards on any other team that you'd take before taking those four. After that, however, things thin out pretty quickly. You have Radulov, who's a mixed bag, and then...

Russia was pretty horrible in 2010. People expected more from them because they were playing at home, the pressure can flip the other way, the bigger ice surface and, probably, improved goaltending from the 2010 team (they have last year's Vezina winner and Varlamov has played very well this season). Still, the defense corps is shaky and they lack depth at forward.

Still not over yet...

[sterlingice]

It's going to be an all out assault on the Finnish end for the 3rd period. Should be fun to watch

SI

[SirFozzie]

Russia REALLY need a goal on this power play.

[Suburban Rhythm]

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

Considering the level of attention provided, and the goals of the team (Gold Medal or Bust), yes, this is a possible upset.

If they don't comeback, Putin won't let them out of the country

All these guys will latch on to Malkin, he has experience sneaking out of the country.

[SirFozzie]

Russia starting to lose their cool here.

[Suburban Rhythm]

Originally Posted by Honolulu_Blue

The top four Russian forwards: Ovechkin, Malkin, Kovalchuck and Datsyuk are fantastic. Other than the Canadian team, I can't think of too many forwards on any other team that you'd take before taking those four. After that, however, things thin out pretty quickly. You have Radulov, who's a mixed bag, and then...

Russia was pretty horrible in 2010. People expected more from them because they were playing at home, the pressure can flip the other way, the bigger ice surface and, probably, improved goaltending from the 2010 team (they have last year's Vezina winner and Varlamov has played very well this season). Still, the defense corps is shaky and they lack depth at forward.

Still not over yet...

I think Rask, in Boston's system, is the best goalie in the world. So I take him over anyone Russia could trot out.

If anything came out of all of this, it reminded us all how awesome Kovalchuk can be.

[SirFozzie]

Uskotko ihmeisiin? kyllä!!!

("do you believe in miracles??? YES!" in Finnish)

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by Suburban Rhythm

I think Rask, in Boston's system, is the best goalie in the world. So I take him over anyone Russia could trot out.

I agree on Rask. I was comparing Russia's current goalies to those available in 2010, which, were who? Nabakov and Bryzgalov? Yikes!

[Suburban Rhythm]

Originally Posted by Honolulu_Blue

I agree on Rask. I was comparing Russia's current goalies to those available in 2010, which, were who? Nabakov and Bryzgalov? Yikes!

Imagining way more bears in Sochi than Vancouver

[Honolulu_Blue]

It's disappointing to see Russia go out. The atmosphere in the arena is much better when they are playing. They also have such dynamic players. I would rather watch them play than Finland. That said, Finland/Sweden is a fantastic grudge match. If US and Canada take care of business this afternoon, Friday's games could be the highlight of the tournament.

[sterlingice]

I was hoping Russia would make it to the finals and face either the "rival" US or the "power" Canada. Like H_B said, the atmosphere is much better and they're pretty exciting

SI

[Suicane75]

Bring on the short programmed ladies!

[bhlloy]

Russia didn't play like a team - you could tell Malkin was getting pissed at times that Ovechkin wouldn't give him the puck. Still a very impressive win for the Finns and I think people here are overrating their defense a little too much, plus their top four centers are out. Think Sweden will roll them but they always have a chance with Rask in goal.

[SirFozzie]

And already the Russians are throwing each other under the bus:

Pierre LeBrun
Coach Bil of Russia says he can't explain top players not scoring - especially Ovechkin, coach singles him out

[Dr. Sak]

IMO, as long as the Russians continue to try and push their KHL talent to prove that it is on par with the NHL, they will not succeed in the Olympics.

[SirFozzie]

Holy Shit... there was a Speedskating Gold Medal awarded that DIDN'T go to someone from the Netherlands?

(women's 5,000 meters)

[Travis]

Originally Posted by Dr. Sak

IMO, as long as the Russians continue to try and push their KHL talent to prove that it is on par with the NHL, they will not succeed in the Olympics.

How do you figure? They had what, 1 more KHL guy on their team than Finland did? I think the bigger problem with Russia is not figuring out how to develop high level D. I mean, Belov is a 6/7 guy in Edmonton and he's playing pretty significant minutes on Team Russia. Maybe they should have taken a few more KHL D men instead.

[Suburban Rhythm]

Originally Posted by Dr. Sak

IMO, as long as the Russians continue to try and push their KHL talent to prove that it is on par with the NHL, they will not succeed in the Olympics.

Originally Posted by Travis

How do you figure? They had what, 1 more KHL guy on their team than Finland did? I think the bigger problem with Russia is not figuring out how to develop high level D. I mean, Belov is a 6/7 guy in Edmonton and he's playing pretty significant minutes on Team Russia. Maybe they should have taken a few more KHL D men instead.

This is coming from a (biased) Pittsburgh beat guy, but he's saying Malkin/Ovechkin upset with line formation, the way they were used (Malkin spent the first 3 games on the 2nd PP unit, behind Radulov) and "KHL bias".

[Logan]

I fucking love Ryan McDonagh.

[Travis]

Any time Crosby and Co. Any freaking time.

[DaddyTorgo]

There you go.

[Travis]

Assuming (hopefully) this holds up, Canada is going to need to step their game up big time against the US. The forward group better be taking the D out for a nice dinner after this one.

[jbergey22]

That day of rest was big for teams. Could certainly see fatigue showing with Slovenia and Russia. Makes the Latvia performance even the more impressive.

Sweden is scary right now. Not really being mentioned much as gold contenders yet playing the best team hockey of any of the teams.

I dont think I broke any spoiler rules. If I did please let me know and Ill change this.

If you didnt see the womens curling semis, you should watch. The games were great.

[bhlloy]

Canada just doesn't look suited to the big ice, at times they have been out skated by far inferior teams. I think the US wins relatively comfortably. Think the US really nailed its roster selection and some of team Canada's selections (Nash being the obvious one) look like dinosaurs out there.

[DaddyTorgo]

That'd be nice - we're not having such a hot Olympics overall (or so it feels like).

[ISiddiqui]

What?! #1 in total medals is not a "hot Olympics"?

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by jbergey22

If you didnt see the womens curling semis, you should watch. The games were great.

Didn't see the women's but the men's between UK and Sweden came downto the last stone. China-Canada was a match until the 9th end.

SI

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by ISiddiqui

What?! #1 in total medals is not a "hot Olympics"?

Really? I haven't been paying much attention - just seems like a lot of the US favorites have failed to medal (snowboard, speed skating).

[Johnny93g]

Originally Posted by bhlloy

Canada just doesn't look suited to the big ice, at times they have been out skated by far inferior teams. I think the US wins relatively comfortably. Think the US really nailed its roster selection and some of team Canada's selections (Nash being the obvious one) look like dinosaurs out there.

Well Canada obviously hasn't been scoring like we(everyone) expects, but they have dominated the play. Latvia looked overmatched badly. Look at the shots and scoring chances. They haven't been out skated yet.

Does that mean anything going forward. Of course not. Team Kessel, i mean team USA has looked great, and should be the favourites for Friday. Canada need to convert some of these chances if they want to win.

You make it sound like Canada has been outplayed, which isn't even close to true...

[sterlingice]

If Quick has to stop 57 scoring chances like Canada got today, I don't like Team USA's chances for a number of reasons (well, duh)

SI

[JPhillips]

Originally Posted by DaddyTorgo

Really? I haven't been paying much attention - just seems like a lot of the US favorites have failed to medal (snowboard, speed skating).

I think the issue is that we haven't done well in the non-XGames events, speed skating in particular. It feels like we haven't had a good Olympics in the "real" events.

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

I think the issue is that we haven't done well in the non-XGames events, speed skating in particular. It feels like we haven't had a good Olympics in the "real" events.

Yah - I don't really count the X-Gamesy events (except Halfpipe) at all. They're foofy events.

[Vince, Pt. II]

Purely out of curiosity, what is it that gives half pipe a pass in your eyes?

[Blackadar]

Originally Posted by DaddyTorgo

Yah - I don't really count the X-Gamesy events (except Halfpipe) at all. They're foofy events.

I don't count anything with subjective scoring metrics.

[Buccaneer]

or contrived made-for-tv events invented by ESPN.

[MIJB#19]

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

Holy Shit... there was a Speedskating Gold Medal awarded that DIDN'T go to someone from the Netherlands?

(women's 5,000 meters)

The top favorite for this distance did win though. Overall there haven't been any real surprises at the podiums. If I had to pick one (or two) it would have to be Danny Morrison, who had been invisible all season and came in with a 'choking reputation', yet he scored a medal at the 1000 and the 1500 meters. Most were in the top5 or 6 favorites, with here or there a bronze medal for somebody in the 7-10 range, with a proven ability to break the podium on a good day. It doesn't take away that some skaters did worse than expected (admittedly the biggest disappointments are probably Shani Davis and Heather Richardson), but they weren't beaten by 'nobodies'.

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by Vince, Pt. II

Purely out of curiosity, what is it that gives half pipe a pass in your eyes?

Shaun White?

I dunno exactly. Slopestyle maybe someday I could get behind (when it's not so new), but like the "ski cross" stuff? That just seems...contrived.

[digamma]

Just out of curiosity I pulled up the 1984 Olympics--I picked 1984 because it is a nice round number of 30 years ago. There, the US won 8 medals, five in Alpine Skiing and 3 in Figure Skating.

For comparison, there were 39 medal events in the 1984 games. There are 98 in the 2014 games.

Through today, the US has won 23 medals in the 2014 games. If you limit it to events from 1984, through today, the US has won...wait for it...9 medals. And with hockey, a couple more skiing and bobsleigh events, we're going to end up a good bit better than that.

So, yeah, I think you're probably just not following that closely.

[DaddyTorgo]

Too many medal events! Medal-dilution.

No doubt I'm not following closely. I haven't watched a minute at all.

Usually I get SUPER into it, but this year...it just hasn't grabbed me at all.

[DaddyTorgo]

First thing I decide to watch this Olympics.

Holy Shitballs Ted Liggity.

[stevew]

Ok. Obviously there's the googleable answer but that's beside the point.

What do YOU think happens to the bobsled course after all events are done.

Does it-
Get turned into the worlds most bitching water slide?
Get repurposed into a lazy river for some fat "business man" named Sergei?
Get torn down and crushed for aggregate?
Stay up and clog up a mountainside?

[SirFozzie]

gets turned into a world cup stop.. (that's what happens to most such courses)

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by stevew

Ok. Obviously there's the googleable answer but that's beside the point.

What do YOU think happens to the bobsled course after all events are done.

Does it-
Get turned into the worlds most bitching water slide?
Get repurposed into a lazy river for some fat "business man" named Sergei?
Get torn down and crushed for aggregate?
Stay up and clog up a mountainside?

Sortof tangentially related, on Indiana NPR, they used to have a series about famous Indiana landmarks, some I'd heard of but many I didn't. Apparently, there is a toboggan run built as a CCC project in the 30s at a state park. It's still operating to this day and for like $10 an hour, you can rent a sled and go down as many times as you want. So it could just become a publicly maintained attraction.

SI

[henry296]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

Sortof tangentially related, on Indiana NPR, they used to have a series about famous Indiana landmarks, some I'd heard of but many I didn't. Apparently, there is a toboggan run built as a CCC project in the 30s at a state park. It's still operating to this day and for like $10 an hour, you can rent a sled and go down as many times as you want. So it could just become a publicly maintained attraction.

SI

In Lake Placid you can take a run down the bobsled track used for the Olympics. These tracks also turn into training centers for the national teams.

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by henry296

In Lake Placid you can take a run down the bobsled track used for the Olympics. These tracks also turn into training centers for the national teams.

Are there beginner tracks or slow bobsleds so newbies don't hurt themselves?

SI

[henry296]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

Are there beginner tracks or slow bobsleds so newbies don't hurt themselves?

SI

I'm not sure, We had a family friend do it. For some reason I think you go with a driver.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

Are there beginner tracks or slow bobsleds so newbies don't hurt themselves?

I think they use old offensive linemen as pushers