Comments for May 20, 2012 at http://hockey.dobbersports.com , comment 1 to 12 out of 12 comments http://hockey.dobbersports.com Fri, 24 May 2013 04:19:32 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.3 http://hockey.dobbersports.com/index.php/other-features-mainmenu-89/archived-ramblings/4632-may-20-2012#comment-20896 Definitely Rollie I get your point. I'm just venting... The problem is most Canadians treat the WC as a "doesn't really matter" tournament. The players do, the media does, and we do... I guess what irks me is for a country that lives and breathes hockey as much as we do how can we just stand here and say bah who cares, nobody else does. Then when it comes to Olympic time, we think we should automatically deserve top seeding or being gifted the tournament because we're Canada. I can definitely see the exact same situation of Torino happening in Sochi. In 2006, we got grouped with Finland, Switzerland, Czech, Germany and Italy. We lost to Finland then Swiss and finished 3rd in our group. We then had to face Russia in the opening rounds of qualifying and we lost, thus a 7th place finish... In 2010, we finished 2nd to the States, and had to face a qualifying round vs Germany to move onto the next round, where we were lucky enough to beat Russia and the rest is history. With that said we did have the luxury of home ice advantage. I dunno if we can go over to Russia and expect the same outcome... If you win a group you have a much easier tournament than if you finish 2nd... if we don't do well at these WC we get stuck into tougher groups, which makes it even more difficult to win a group. How can we expect to win WCs when our best decide they don't want to participate? I'm just a bit frustrated because it seems like Hockey Canada is willing to let all these tournaments slip, then when it comes to selection time for the Olympics, they don't care who's sweated blood and tears for them in the past, they only care about icing the "best" players... If I were running Hockey Canada, I'd look at guys like Perry, Getzlaf, Benn, Eberle, Burrows and make a point that they've earned their way on Team Canada for Sochi through their past contributions. I would feel ultimately shafted if the selection committee selects say a Heatley, Nash, Staal, Brendan Morrow over a Benn, Eberle or Burrows. For me winning the Olympics and establishing ourselves as a powerhouse in hockey is a 4-year process. It's not rocking up to the Olympics, play well for 2 weeks, then be rewarded. Prior to Salt Lake we didn't win gold for 50 years with the Russians dominating, if we keep continuing down this trend, we might live and breathe hockey much like the English live and breathe soccer, but we're going to be relegated behind Russia, Finland and Sweden fairly soon. - Ryan Ma Sun, 20 May 2012 22:31:55 +0100 http://hockey.dobbersports.com/index.php/other-features-mainmenu-89/archived-ramblings/4632-may-20-2012#comment-20895 @Ryan, when the Olympics rolls around in 2014 the players you listed will be (or turning within the calendar year): Nash-30, Iginla-37,Marleau and Thornton-35. Nash might be on the team- but the other 3 i highly doubt. Crosby (injury free) will be as well, but its no surprise he didnt go to the WC this year, Im not convinced he didnt suffer another concussion when Malkin ran him over- something was up with him after that. On the flip side- I would expect Perry,Getzlaf,Benn and Eberle to make the team, Burrows possibly- he showed well and would fit well on the 4th line. Kane would have to be considered as well. Im not surprised its easier for the Euro countries to get there players to participate in the WC, but if Canada wins gold again at the Olympics then using the WC as stepping stone to the Olympics is fine by me. - Rollie1967 Sun, 20 May 2012 21:10:06 +0100 http://hockey.dobbersports.com/index.php/other-features-mainmenu-89/archived-ramblings/4632-may-20-2012#comment-20894 Jones is up for UFA, so they don't own his rights after July 1... It's up to the Avs if they want to offer him a renewal of his contract or let him walk. He would have zero trade value... For me I don't think he's played consistent enough to warrant a contract renewal. If you look at the current top-9 they don't need him. I'd much rather spend say $7.5 mil on a Semin/Parise than to spend $3 to keep an inconsistent Jones... - Ryan Ma Sun, 20 May 2012 14:11:11 +0100 http://hockey.dobbersports.com/index.php/other-features-mainmenu-89/archived-ramblings/4632-may-20-2012#comment-20893 I dunno, I'm just trying to think of alternatives to get our best quality players involved, because if we continue down this path, we're going to fall behind as a "world power" of hockey. With Russians, Czech, Finnish, Swedes, Slovaks taking over the dominant roles in ice hockey. We're going to end up like the English in terms of soccer, where we're handed a silver spoon in our mouths, and expect to be given everything but not having to earn it... I see a massive problem in the current system. These players would give up absolutely anything and everything to represent Canada at the Vancouver Olympics and take so much pride in representing Canada at the Olympics. When it comes to WC however, most of them are happy to turn their backs and say they need a "rest" or are "too tired". But you look at the Russians, Malkin played an extra playoff series and still wanted to play for Team Russia, and is leading the tournament in scoring. Rick Nash had a terrible season and the Jackets won nothing, surely could have played some extra hockey to "redeem" himself. If Malkin can play, couldn't Crosby, Thornton, Marleau? What I'm saying is that if we keep "dropping" these tournaments "that don't matter" it's going to come back to bite us in the butt... We're starting to become "spoiled" in terms of what we are entitled to and deserve. Maybe paying them isn't a viable option. Maybe they do a points based system. If you've been invited to represent Canada you get awarded certain points that goes into the Olympic selection process. If you knock it back you get zero. The more points you get the higher the likelihood of team selection, so it rewards the players who do choose to represent the country consistently as a sign of good faith. Players who just want to show up for the "big show" will get the shaft... I mean why should Eberle, Perry, Getzlaf, Burrow, Benn, Kane do all the hard yards, to see the spots taken up by Thornton, Nash, Iggy, Crosby, Marleau when it comes to Olympic selection time... - Ryan Ma Sun, 20 May 2012 14:06:22 +0100 http://hockey.dobbersports.com/index.php/other-features-mainmenu-89/archived-ramblings/4632-may-20-2012#comment-20892 I don't think they're that far off to be honest. They have a couple of decent goalies, what kept them out of the playoffs was a bit of inconsistency in the middle of the season. If Varly plays to his potential he could Craig Anderson his way through a season. They have a decent defensive corp that does all the little things (HITs, BS), much like the Rangers in a way. Plus they have a few young guns, they just need a game-breaking player to push them over the edge. If they land a Parise/Semin that's the game breaker. I wouldn't even mind seeing them take a leap on Radulov to really firm up the depth. They're not too far away from being a true playoff contender, IMO. - Ryan Ma Sun, 20 May 2012 12:38:25 +0100 http://hockey.dobbersports.com/index.php/other-features-mainmenu-89/archived-ramblings/4632-may-20-2012#comment-20891 I dunno... I think many people out there think because Girardi is lacking the "offensive" aspect, he won't get as much as Suter. Plenty of people out there would speculate that Suter is worth $7+ mil a season, but if I tossed Girardi's name in the mix I don't think very many would offer a similar contract... I get that he doesn't have as much offensive upside as Suter, but what I'm arguing is importance to the team. Girardi would be much more important than Suter IMO. - Gotlaid Sun, 20 May 2012 12:34:09 +0100 http://hockey.dobbersports.com/index.php/other-features-mainmenu-89/archived-ramblings/4632-may-20-2012#comment-20890 Always good to get the seal of approval from the big boss. - Ryan Ma Sun, 20 May 2012 12:27:58 +0100 http://hockey.dobbersports.com/index.php/other-features-mainmenu-89/archived-ramblings/4632-may-20-2012#comment-20889 So do you see David Jones being traded from the AVs then? If not he certainly fits in there somewhere.... - mrmojorisin Sun, 20 May 2012 12:22:47 +0100 http://hockey.dobbersports.com/index.php/other-features-mainmenu-89/archived-ramblings/4632-may-20-2012#comment-20888 I totally get where you are coming from in terms of the business aspects, but if it comes to paying (already) rich NHL players to incentivize them to represent their country, then we've already lost. Great ramblings! - His Dudeness Sun, 20 May 2012 08:48:43 +0100 http://hockey.dobbersports.com/index.php/other-features-mainmenu-89/archived-ramblings/4632-may-20-2012#comment-20887 If Girardi were an UFA this summer, he'd would get a whole hell of a lot more than 3.325. Its an indicator that Sather was smart to lock up Girardi when he did. 2 more seasons for everything Girardi does, and is for the Rangers...steal of a deal. On the Avs bit, you'd think they would be selling their fanbase very short by not signing one of Parise/Semin/Suter...or even Schultz if he becomes an UFA. Avs still seem a long way from becoming a true playoff contender, even with one of those players added. - The Hockey Hitman Sun, 20 May 2012 06:29:54 +0100 http://hockey.dobbersports.com/index.php/other-features-mainmenu-89/archived-ramblings/4632-may-20-2012#comment-20886 It appears that overall in the NHL teams winning game 3 to go up 2-1 in the series go on to win the series 69% of the time. More specifically, teams at home for game 1 and winning game 3 to go up 2-1 win the series 76% of the time. In looking at just conference finals historically, for the above situations, it is 79% winning the series overall and 83% for playing game 1 at home. Reference: http://www.whowins.com/tables/up21.html - ziggy33200 Sun, 20 May 2012 06:20:49 +0100 http://hockey.dobbersports.com/index.php/other-features-mainmenu-89/archived-ramblings/4632-may-20-2012#comment-20885 These ramblings are fantastic - Dobber Sun, 20 May 2012 06:16:24 +0100