Daily Joust!
Time for Daily Joust ladies and gentlemen, go check out the best daily fantasy gaming website out there NOW!
Michael Chambers & Co. LLC has a team of lawyers in Cyprus specializing in Cyprus Corporate Law and Civil Litigation and all aspects of Cyprus law.
| 25 February 2010
The joy.......
And the fail.........
Going into last night, you almost expected a great battle between Russia and Canada and Sweden to ultimately outlast Slovakia. How about neither one happened? Canada struck 6 times on Evgeni Nabokov as Russia never really got in the game in a 7-3 decision. Slovakia scored three times in one period on Henrik Lundqvist (who had not given up a goal all tournament) then held on for a 4-3 win to advance to play Canada in the semifinals.
Some are going to ask why we put a Nabokov Sharks Jersey picture up. The reason is simple. He can fly home and practice with the team now. Not all the goals were his fault but some were just outright brutal. You have to question Team Russia's decision not to start Ilya Bryzgalov who played better in his appearance in the tournament. Now we did question Russia's defense all tournament but most figured the offense would compensate. That was the wrong answer. Guys like Kovalchuk, Datsyuk, and Markov forgot the memo. When Dmitri Kalinin and Maxim Afinogenov are two of your three goal scorers, there is definitely some trouble.
To be fair, this cannot all be pinned on Nabokov, some of the goals Canada scored were the prettiest I have seen all tournament. Passes were clicking from everywhere. Canada was fired up beyond belief and the real tragedy for Coach Bykov had to be his big guns did not give the effort he needed from them. We did not see Ovechkin or Malkin dominate like we thought they could. Honestly, Roberto Luongo was below average for Team Canada. His best saves were in the third period when the game was not in doubt anymore and maybe that bodes well for Canada. However, Russia almost just wanted to play low percentage passes and el matador style defense all night.
Turning it back, the Brendan Morrow goal that made it 4-1 was deflating. The puck slowly squirted into Nabokov's pads and then somehow went in the net. Then he gave up two more early goals in the second before mercifully getting yanked. The reality is he should have been yanked after goal number four. Nabokov faced 23 shots and only stopped 17 while Ilya Bryzgalov stopped 18 of 19 shots. I said it from the beginning of this tournament that Bryzgalov should have been the guy. His resume is shorter but truthfully you cannot trust Nabokov on the world's stage and the same can probably be said for Martin Brodeur of Team Canada. It just is what it is.
Maybe Team Russia can grow from this experience. They came in with such high expectations, winning the last two World Championships. Now it is definitely clear that work needs to be for Russia. The laissez-faire playing attitude has to stop and this started all the way from the 2005 and 2006 WJHC where a lot of these players came from (remember how Canada dominated them?). Russia may be able to regroup in time for the World's in May.
Then there was Team Slovakia who at the midnight hour began their game against Team Sweden. Henrik Lundqvist had not given up a goal with two shutouts in the tournament. Technically the game started at 9pm PT I know but the clock seemed to strike 12 for Sweden from the get-go. Though the first period went by scoreless, Slovakia was holding its own and though they did not get a lot of shots on net, the chances were definitely there. Then it happened.
It is often said that a too many men penalty is the kiss of death in international hockey and it indeed proved to be true. Marian Gaborik nailed one of his patented one timers past Lundqvist and into the net and just like that it was 1-0 Slovakia. Just 37 seconds later, Slovakia would score to make it 2-0. The quirky thing was Sweden showed up for about 5 minutes and tied it at two with goals from Patric Hornqvist and Henrik Zetterberg. The Tre Kronor was buzzing and beaming with pride but another killer penalty, this time to Tobias Enstrom for tripping sealed their fate. Pavol Demitra would take advantage and was glad to put one in the net to give the Slovaks a 3-2 lead going into the third. Slovakia had 4 shots on goal in the Second Period and 3 went in.
Tomas Kopecky made it 4-2 and yes Daniel Alfredsson answered for Sweden seconds later but after that it was all Jaroslav Halak who made 26 saves for the victory. He was no Jonas Hiller but he was clutch when he had to be. Just like that, Sweden and Russia were gone. Many had these two countries winning gold or silver and now they will win neither or medal for that matter while Canada and the US are likely to medal. That has to leave a sick feeling in the old stomach. Surely Friday will be action packed and it leaves the possibility of one hell of a Sunday afternoon to close the Olympics. Just saying.
Some are going to ask why we put a Nabokov Sharks Jersey picture up. The reason is simple. He can fly home and practice with the team now. Not all the goals were his fault but some were just outright brutal. You have to question Team Russia's decision not to start Ilya Bryzgalov who played better in his appearance in the tournament. Now we did question Russia's defense all tournament but most figured the offense would compensate. That was the wrong answer. Guys like Kovalchuk, Datsyuk, and Markov forgot the memo. When Dmitri Kalinin and Maxim Afinogenov are two of your three goal scorers, there is definitely some trouble.
To be fair, this cannot all be pinned on Nabokov, some of the goals Canada scored were the prettiest I have seen all tournament. Passes were clicking from everywhere. Canada was fired up beyond belief and the real tragedy for Coach Bykov had to be his big guns did not give the effort he needed from them. We did not see Ovechkin or Malkin dominate like we thought they could. Honestly, Roberto Luongo was below average for Team Canada. His best saves were in the third period when the game was not in doubt anymore and maybe that bodes well for Canada. However, Russia almost just wanted to play low percentage passes and el matador style defense all night.
Turning it back, the Brendan Morrow goal that made it 4-1 was deflating. The puck slowly squirted into Nabokov's pads and then somehow went in the net. Then he gave up two more early goals in the second before mercifully getting yanked. The reality is he should have been yanked after goal number four. Nabokov faced 23 shots and only stopped 17 while Ilya Bryzgalov stopped 18 of 19 shots. I said it from the beginning of this tournament that Bryzgalov should have been the guy. His resume is shorter but truthfully you cannot trust Nabokov on the world's stage and the same can probably be said for Martin Brodeur of Team Canada. It just is what it is.
Maybe Team Russia can grow from this experience. They came in with such high expectations, winning the last two World Championships. Now it is definitely clear that work needs to be for Russia. The laissez-faire playing attitude has to stop and this started all the way from the 2005 and 2006 WJHC where a lot of these players came from (remember how Canada dominated them?). Russia may be able to regroup in time for the World's in May.
Then there was Team Slovakia who at the midnight hour began their game against Team Sweden. Henrik Lundqvist had not given up a goal with two shutouts in the tournament. Technically the game started at 9pm PT I know but the clock seemed to strike 12 for Sweden from the get-go. Though the first period went by scoreless, Slovakia was holding its own and though they did not get a lot of shots on net, the chances were definitely there. Then it happened.
It is often said that a too many men penalty is the kiss of death in international hockey and it indeed proved to be true. Marian Gaborik nailed one of his patented one timers past Lundqvist and into the net and just like that it was 1-0 Slovakia. Just 37 seconds later, Slovakia would score to make it 2-0. The quirky thing was Sweden showed up for about 5 minutes and tied it at two with goals from Patric Hornqvist and Henrik Zetterberg. The Tre Kronor was buzzing and beaming with pride but another killer penalty, this time to Tobias Enstrom for tripping sealed their fate. Pavol Demitra would take advantage and was glad to put one in the net to give the Slovaks a 3-2 lead going into the third. Slovakia had 4 shots on goal in the Second Period and 3 went in.
Tomas Kopecky made it 4-2 and yes Daniel Alfredsson answered for Sweden seconds later but after that it was all Jaroslav Halak who made 26 saves for the victory. He was no Jonas Hiller but he was clutch when he had to be. Just like that, Sweden and Russia were gone. Many had these two countries winning gold or silver and now they will win neither or medal for that matter while Canada and the US are likely to medal. That has to leave a sick feeling in the old stomach. Surely Friday will be action packed and it leaves the possibility of one hell of a Sunday afternoon to close the Olympics. Just saying.
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
