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Olympic Hockey Day 1 Thread

By Sam Fels 1112 0

Sweden v. Czech Republic and Switzerland v. Latvia (if that does it for you). Let’s get this thing started. Discuss it all the goings on here.

And I’ll step out on a ledge after thinking about it for another day. Sweden takes the gold, Canada silver, Russia beats the US in OT for bronze. What the fuck.

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Sochi Ball Pt. 2: Groups B And C

By Sam Fels 1833 0

Let’s keep rolling along with our Olympic Preview.

Group B

Austria – You’re gonna have a lot of fun saying, “Unterluggaur” while Thomas Vanek is amazed he can play for a team worse than the Islanders.

Canada – As always with them, they’re absolutely loaded. PK Subban might not even play. That’s how richly talented they are. You can try and poke holes in them, but there really just aren’t any. Patrice Bergeron is a fourth-line wing on this squad, and he’s the best two-way player in the game.

Those hoping for a hilarious crash and burn will look in goal. Roberto Luongo has been pretty good even while the Canucks have completely collapsed around him, and his mental deficiencies we all used to laugh at really haven’t popped up in a while. Because they haven’t had a chance. He was pulled mid-series vs. both the Kings and Sharks the past two springs even though he actually played really well. But we know if Canada loses it’ll be his fault. And really, what do you have to do behind this defense? Even if he slips, Carey Price is hardly a drop off a cliff.

If Canada stumbles, it’ll be because they run up against a galactic goaltending performance, which is what happened in ’98 and ’06. It’ll be Rask or Lundqvist or Miller or maybe even Hiller standing on his dick and conjuring up the dark arts. Other than that, this team should sneeze up four to five goals per game.

Prediction: They’re going to wallop this group, which should see them get an easy quarterfinal draw, and then from there it’s just about not getting Rask-ed. Gold Medal Game I’m thinking.

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Sochi Ball

By Sam Fels 2322 0

Just a day out now. Whatever your feelings about Olympic hockey and how it affects the NHL season and its teams, we’re on the precipice. I usually panic and complain about the stoppage and the toll it will take on the Hawks all the way until the tournament arrives, but then the Olympic hockey starts and I’m generally enthralled by it. It really can be the highest level, and the drama and randomness of a knockout tournament can’t be matched. So let’s take a look at what we’re in for during the next two weeks.

The first thing you’ll hear about is the size of the rink. It’s 15 feet wider. While the first conclusion you might draw from that is it makes for a faster and more open game, that generally is not the case. Perhaps with the level of talent on display in Sochi it might come true, but more likely it won’t.

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State Of The Union

By Sam Fels 1778 0

Before we pivot for a couple weeks to the international game, it’s a good time to take a look back and see where the Hawks are at the Olympic break.

While there’s a lot of things we discuss from game to game and day to day, admittedly some of it is just to find anything to talk about when a team is as good as the Hawks are. So first things first, let’s get to some of the things that truly do matter for when the playoffs roll around. These aren’t really things like Bollig’s ice time, which shouldn’t matter in the spring (until another OT turnover) or Seabrook’s play (he was really only just ok in last year’s run despite his two OT winners, but Keith was outstanding to negate it) or even the power play (as the Hawks have proven, you don’t need one to win).

Let’s get to it:

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And Now We're Done And We Can Go Home: Hawks 0 – Yotes 2

By 1165 0

I’m kind of anxious to get onto the break so I’m just going to hammer this out in the aftermath instead of waiting a bit to reflect as usual. I’m sure you all understand. Let’s get right to it.

-I don’t think the Hawks weren’t interested tonight. The effort was there, which I feared it might not be. What they weren’t was interested in the right ways. What you can’t do against the Coyotes when they’re on their game is fancy-pants your way through the neutral zone and you certainly can’t put your dump-ins where Mike Smith can get it. It’s hard to do, and it takes a fuckton of patience, but you have to chip pucks into the corners or go cross-corner with your dump-ins. The Hawks didn’t do much of either. If you don’t, Smith is going to smother your forecheck by himself.

Secondly, the Coyotes while blocking off the middle of the ice were also determined to outnumber the Hawks in every board battle in their zone. Two guys vs. one, or three guys vs. two. And the Hawks were reluctant to even match them in manpower. They Hawks aren’t blessed with guys who can outwork a numerical disadvantage along the wall. They have Hossa and… well, Hossa. They needed to be a more aggressive in matching the numbers on the wall tonight.

Everything Else

And Now We’re Done And We Can Go Home: Hawks 0 – Yotes 2

By Sam Fels 1151 0

I’m kind of anxious to get onto the break so I’m just going to hammer this out in the aftermath instead of waiting a bit to reflect as usual. I’m sure you all understand. Let’s get right to it.

-I don’t think the Hawks weren’t interested tonight. The effort was there, which I feared it might not be. What they weren’t was interested in the right ways. What you can’t do against the Coyotes when they’re on their game is fancy-pants your way through the neutral zone and you certainly can’t put your dump-ins where Mike Smith can get it. It’s hard to do, and it takes a fuckton of patience, but you have to chip pucks into the corners or go cross-corner with your dump-ins. The Hawks didn’t do much of either. If you don’t, Smith is going to smother your forecheck by himself.

Secondly, the Coyotes while blocking off the middle of the ice were also determined to outnumber the Hawks in every board battle in their zone. Two guys vs. one, or three guys vs. two. And the Hawks were reluctant to even match them in manpower. They Hawks aren’t blessed with guys who can outwork a numerical disadvantage along the wall. They have Hossa and… well, Hossa. They needed to be a more aggressive in matching the numbers on the wall tonight.