Who knows when the Habs will be in the position to win a cup but if you don't with Price, you will always look back and wonder what could have been. I'm sure Buffalo fans always wonder the same about Hasek. Price is as good as they come.
World Cup
- Thread starter JohnnyHolmes
- Start date
zeke
Well-known member
Mark Streit, Jan '15: “I don’t like it at all. Not one thing about it.”
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Mark Streit last night: "“I’ve played for over 20 years and I’ve never experienced a game like that. I thought we played an unbelievable game. … But then heartbreak. It’s a very, very, very tough loss. It’s tough to find the right words right now. Heartbreaking.”
Frans Nielsen: "I’ve never seen anything like it. How 23 guys got together that way in a short time and played so well together. I’m going to remember this tournament the rest of my life."
playing for a competitive artificial border >>> playing for a non-competitive artificial border
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Mark Streit last night: "“I’ve played for over 20 years and I’ve never experienced a game like that. I thought we played an unbelievable game. … But then heartbreak. It’s a very, very, very tough loss. It’s tough to find the right words right now. Heartbreaking.”
Frans Nielsen: "I’ve never seen anything like it. How 23 guys got together that way in a short time and played so well together. I’m going to remember this tournament the rest of my life."
playing for a competitive artificial border >>> playing for a non-competitive artificial border
LeafGm
Well-known member
I have to give you credit.
Even when you've been proved to be hilariously wrong with overwhelming evidence, you keep plugging stubbornly along.
UWHabs
Well-known member
Players may have enjoyed it, but certainly didn't quite draw in the fans expected. I mean, it was so popular that they decided to not invest in the security to set up Maple Leaf Square last night. It probably drew less fans than your average Saturday night hockey game.
zeke
Well-known member
true. but that's because fans and media are stupid and rejected the tourney from the start.
Not sure what this shows. Sure the players liked it. For fans? The idea of a World Cup with gimmicky teams is actually embarrassing. I couldn't with a straight face discuss the tournament with my non hockey fans buddies. They already see the sport as second rated given their love for soccer. World cup with team Europe and North America simply made the sport look even more second rated. Not the way to attract new fans. It didn't even appeal to hockey fans. I mean tickets to see Canada for less than $30?
Still can't believe a bunch of supposedly smart people came up with this idea.
worm
Well-known member
Team North America was always the problem not team Europe.
JaysCyYoung
Legend
I thought that you said that everyone would embrace this and it would be as big as the Olympics?
JaysCyYoung
Legend
No chance whatsoever on either front. Country always comes first. You could be ranked last in the world and you'll support those guys no matter what.
JaysCyYoung
Legend
Yeah, it was pretty embarrassing to have the Maple Leaf Square viewing party and have twenty people awkwardly standing around there not sure if they should go catch the rest of the Jays game at a bar or not.
Great final two minutes of the final though.
WellPlayed
Well-known member
I don't think you can underestimate how huge a strong team USA would have been for this tournament. Toronto was packed with USA hockey fans during the round robin. Alot of people are saying the Tourny lost gas when team NA was eliminated, but I really think handcuffing the US was the biggest problem. You have 4 hockey super powers really - Canada, US, Russia, Sweden - Finland and the Czechs are in the next tier and then 2-4 teams in a tier below that. If you handicap any of those top 4 teams other than Canada by not allowing them to bring some of their best players, the tournament suffers.
Would the U.S. have brought some of those young guys? A few for sure, maybe not enough of them to make a difference but who knows. Still the U.S. being awful wrecked this tournament and team NA contributed to that. There was a notable lack of "classics" or big rivalry games in this tournament. I can't pick any 1 game I will look back on and say I'll always remember that one.
Would the U.S. have brought some of those young guys? A few for sure, maybe not enough of them to make a difference but who knows. Still the U.S. being awful wrecked this tournament and team NA contributed to that. There was a notable lack of "classics" or big rivalry games in this tournament. I can't pick any 1 game I will look back on and say I'll always remember that one.
JaysCyYoung
Legend
Good post, IMO. It was the overall forgetfulness of this tournament that really will detract from any historical legacy it might have in hockey's annals. Unlike say the 1976 Canada Cup (the Czechoslovakian team beat Canada in the round robin and lost in OT in one of the final games) or the 1987 Canada Cup (possibly the greatest roster ever assembled against the Soviets with three 6-5 games and the infamous Gretzky to Lemieux OT goal to win the tournament), there was a distinct lack of memorable moments that handicapped the entire process. The inclusion of the gimmick North American team, which many people ended up supporting, really killed the Americans.
JohnnyHolmes
Banned
Team USA had more problems that not being allowed to bring Johnny Hockey and Jack Eichel. They assembled a bad team.
JaysCyYoung
Legend
No Kessel, no Tyler Johnson, no Stastny, no Okposo, no Ryan, no Faulk, no Kevin Shattenkirk, no Cam Fowler, no Keith Yandle. They literally left off half of their most skilled forwards and probably a majority of the defence that they could have selected instead of plugs like Jack Johnson and Matt Niskanen.
Add in the idiocy of not starting Corey Schneider in goal and the Americans were a disaster in every respect.
WellPlayed
Well-known member
Ya, which is why I said "maybe not enough of them to make a difference but who knows"
The point is they aren't deep enough to be forced to leave 80 point forwards, 50 point d-men and #1 overall picks off the roster.