Canada vs. USA
Posted by Mother Pucker on February 22nd, 2010
Ok yes, I admit it, I was wrong when I said that Canada was going to demolish the Americans on Sunday, even going as far as predicting 44 billion – 0. Oh how wrong I was…
After that less than stellar performance against Switzerland on Thursday I tried to be as optimistic as I could in hopes of passing some good luck on to the boys, but the nation’s greatest fears came to life when we were beaten by Team USA in our own back yard.
Twitter was a blaze with hockey chatter during this game, and there was criticism flying in all directions. Hottest topic? Brodeur over Luongo. Before the game started people were crying out that Luongo should have gotten the start, and then those cries turned into screams when Brodeur started playing like Tim Cheveldae. (sorry Timmy, had to pick someone!) Every time Fatso went out to play the puck I had flashbacks of Arturs Irbe and his less than stellar puck control. Basically if he ventured from the crease and tried to do anything with the puck other than stop it for the D, things went wrong. And that baseball swing that led to the second goal? That was just disgusting.
Yes Canada sustained some great pressure and had some quality scoring opportunities, but they didn’t capitalize on them like the Americans did. Ryan Miller was wicked awesome between the pipes, but I’m not going to jump on the familiar Canadian excuse of “we just came up against a hot goaltender.” That’s not an excuse. The problem is that this high powered offense failed to score. Crosby, Iginla, Nash, Heatley, Thornton, Marleau, on and on and on, that’s what you guys are there to do. Don’t hunt for assists, SHOOT and see what happens!
Ok, that’s enough venting for now. Next up we have the qualifier games on Tuesday, and then the quarter finals on Wednesday. If I left you in a bad mood, here is a picture of a Swedish hockey girl that you may enjoy.
Everyone wants to bash Brodeur but maybe someone should bash Yzerman for some of the decisions made in picking Team Canada. And hey maybe break up that Shark line sooner next time. Thankfully Canada has a tuneup with Germany to get things back to normal.
What I would say to my fellow Canadians is “Don’t Panic”.
Don’t break up the Shark line; they’re the best line in the NHL right now, so breaking them up makes no sense. Don’t blame Yzerman; what other choices could he have seriously made? Don’t blame Babcock for picking the greatest goaltender of all time to start this game. Seriously, in a game as closely contested as this, shit happens.
My only criticism comes from him breaking up the top line to begin with after the Swiss game, effectively putting a big “Fuck You” sticker on Iginla’s back. That was a panic move.
Seriously, Canada. Stop pining for MASSIVE CHANGES. Maybe the intense, blinding pressure to win this by the casual fan – who doesn’t know as much as they think they do – is part of the problem?
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