I was listening to the Team 1040 Sportstalk here in Vancouver this afternoon, and I listened to the "estimable" Dave Pratt compare Jaroslav Halak to Dominique Hasek circa 1998. While the Slovakian netminder has played well in this tournament, it is ludicrous to compare him to Hasek. The Dominator was the NHL MVP in 1997 and 1998. He was already the best goalie in the world when he eliminated us at Nagano. Halak is just an above average goaltender who has played well in a couple of games in this tournament. Personally, I watch the Slovaks almost lose to Norway. I'm not concerned. I say Canada 5 Slovakia 2.
I will be watching this game at home instead of at a friend's house, so I will make a number of comments below as the game progresses and you are welcome to do the same. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm hooked on women's curling right now. The Prime Minister is attending along with the King and Queen of Sweden. CTV didn't mention if Ignatieff is there.
That sucks! I am not pleased the women curlers. That is a choke. They had a shot to win twice, and blew them both. But they managed to choke their way into silver so at least they can take that home with them.
ReplyDelete12 minutes into the first period, I don't think Canada will score 5 goals, but thus far they have been the better team.
ReplyDeleteMaybe they will score 5? I only said that they wouldn't to reverse jinx them, leading to two goals in a span of a few minutes. I'll take credit for the 2-0 lead.
ReplyDeleteBad turnover by Crosby leads to big saves by Luongo.
ReplyDeleteOne question. Who in the hell put in this ice? Did they import an expert from Hawaii? I've seen less bounces in a ping-pong game.
ReplyDelete"reverse jinx"-ing: a truly Canadian fan strategy .... :)
ReplyDeletenow I'm nervous
ReplyDelete"Get-err Done!"
ReplyDeleteIs the paint dry yet? That's what it was like watching this farce. I'd say at least 80% of the game was played within three feet of the boards. The Zamboni probably didn't need to clean the middle thirty feet of the ice...I don't think anyone skated in that area all night. I found myself watching commercials on other channels just to get my heart to start beating. Between the bouncing puck and the rugby type scrums, all I can say is bring on more women's hockey!
ReplyDeleteSlovakia has shown the hockey world that, moving forward, they're to be respected.
ReplyDeleteNobody should be surprised that a team featuring Zdeno Chara, Lubomir Visnovsky, Marian Hossa, Marian Gaborik, Pavol Demitra, Miroslav Satan, Jozef Stumpel, Richard Zednik, Ziggy Palfy and Jaroslav Halak could give the tournament a run for its money.
That top six countries automatically qualified for IIHF tournaments will have to expand to include Slovakia and Switzerland within the next ten years.