2022 Olympic Games

[D2D]

Some new information on the USA team's preparation, and a good recap overall.

https://www.startribune.com/u-s-olym...sic/600131957/

[Lindsay]

Canada is live-streaming their Olympic team announcement today at 4 pm est on Hockey Canada website, for those interested

[Lindsay]

Final players released were Mikkelson on D, Bach and O’Neill on Forward.

Mikkelson has been quite inspiring to cheer for. Sad she didn’t make it, incredible of her to even be in the mix.

O’Neill was a bubble player from the outset, she looked great when she got ice, but it would have surprised me if she made final roster just because of how little ice she got.

Bach is an interesting one. I think based on previous Hockey Canada comments and the fact they had her on first line at Worlds they originally thought she would be on the roster. In late rivalry series she was third line. Maybe she’s injured, but I could also just see it as Hockey Canada realizing Bach’s not ready yet.

With Bach not on the first line, they moved Clark up there, and while that may have fixed one problem the third line then lost a bunch of grit and edge. In a third line role I think Maltais makes more sense than Bach. Thrilled for Maltais to be on the roster. Another Buckeye in the Olympics.

Clark has been a huge surprise to me personally. I thought she was invisible at the May PW event, but at Worlds and in Rivalry series, one of the best on the ice. If she can carry that to Beijing.....

If there is any gamble at all here it’s Gabel not being on the roster, imo. Could she have slotted in on first or second line, and left Clark on third line doing damage with Turnbull and Johnson as the worlds best and meanest 3 line? Regardless a very exciting Team Canada to cheer for.

On D, looking forward to seeing Zandee Hart, finally a BC Olympian!!! I think it’s been decades. Go Canada.

[pgb-ohio]

Final players released were Mikkelson on D, Bach and O’Neill on Forward...

...With Bach not on the first line, they moved Clark up there, and while that may have fixed one problem the third line then lost a bunch of grit and edge. In a third line role I think Maltais makes more sense than Bach. Thrilled for Maltais to be on the roster. Another Buckeye in the Olympics.

I'm pleased, a little relieved, and enormously proud to see that Emma made the final cut.

...On D, looking forward to seeing Zandee Hart, finally a BC Olympian!!! I think it’s been decades. Go Canada.

Go USA. But you won't be surprised to hear that part of my "hockey heart" will always belong to Emma & Natalie. (Winking Emoticon Here)

[vicb]

LETS GO TECH (and Team USA)

Ella Shelton, Erin Ambrose, & Renata Fast anchor down the team defense for Canada and Jamie Lee Rattray will look to continue her point production up front for the Canadians.

Savanna Harmon on Team USA.

[Timothy A]

Soupy made the Canadian team, great to see. Awesome to have 3 Badger goaltending legends on the teams.

[Timothy A]

Soupy made the Canadian team, great to see. Awesome to have 3 Badger goaltending legends on the teams.

And when the goalies play head to head, as a red/white/blue - cardinal/white guy, I have a hard time getting excited seeing ARD (our Soupy) getting scored on. It has almost taken the joy of Olympic hockey from me.

[Steamboat]

And when the goalies play head to head, as a red/white/blue - cardinal/white guy, I have a hard time getting excited seeing ARD (our Soupy) getting scored on. It has almost taken the joy of Olympic hockey from me.

Poor Timothy. Maybe you should adopt my attitude, which is that the best team wins, so the result is good regardless.

[robertearle]

And when the goalies play head to head, as a red/white/blue - cardinal/white guy, I have a hard time getting excited seeing ARD (our Soupy) getting scored on. It has almost taken the joy of Olympic hockey from me.

If it is a UW goalie vs a non-UW goalie, I'm rooting for the team playing the UW goalie. Yes, even if that means rooting for Canada to beat the US. If it is UW vs UW, or non- vs non- in goal, then it might come down to who has more Badgers who haven't won gold, or won any medal. Four of the five Canadians have won Olympic medals but only one has won gold (I think?). For the US, three of the five have won gold, but the other two have won no medals at all. So... Canada winning gold with the US silver gets the most Badgers something they've not had before? It gets very difficult to decide.

(And amazingly, I get the feeling from past experience that who I root for actually has no effect on the outcome! Hard to believe, but it seems to be true! No, I don't understand it, either...)

[Russell Jaslow]

(And amazingly, I get the feeling from past experience that who I root for actually has no effect on the outcome! Hard to believe, but it seems to be true! No, I don't understand it, either...)

That's crazy talk! :-)

[Timothy A]

Poor Timothy. Maybe you should adopt my attitude, which is that the best team wins, so the result is good regardless.

Does the best team always win???? That's debatable!

No. I don't want the best team to win, I want my team to win, if they are the best or not. You have to severely dislike your opponent. You have to want your team to crush them. Like a bug. A result of your team losing is a combination of depression, bitterness, anger, lamentations, and depression.

[Timothy A]

If it is a UW goalie vs a non-UW goalie, I'm rooting for the team playing the UW goalie. Yes, even if that means rooting for Canada to beat the US. If it is UW vs UW, or non- vs non- in goal, then it might come down to who has more Badgers who haven't won gold, or won any medal. Four of the five Canadians have won Olympic medals but only one has won gold (I think?). For the US, three of the five have won gold, but the other two have won no medals at all. So... Canada winning gold with the US silver gets the most Badgers something they've not had before? It gets very difficult to decide.

(And amazingly, I get the feeling from past experience that who I root for actually has no effect on the outcome! Hard to believe, but it seems to be true! No, I don't understand it, either...)

Very interesting that you put the player ahead of who they play for, in this case the country. May I ask if you rated your level of patrioticness from 1-10, one being you don't have any feelings for your country and 10 you have a giant USA flag on a pole in the back of your F150 (not being political here, that's just very patriotic IMHO), Watts would you say you are? I'm a 10 on the USA and I'm a 10 on WI (shocker I know), so I should root against ARD and Soupy, but they have given me so much personal joy for years and I know so much about their life journeys and I respect their paths I can't turn my back on them and want them to fail/lose.

[robertearle]

Very interesting that you put the player ahead of who they play for, in this case the country. May I ask if you rated your level of patrioticness from 1-10, one being you don't have any feelings for your country and 10 you have a giant USA flag on a pole in the back of your F150 (not being political here, that's just very patriotic IMHO), Watts would you say you are? I'm a 10 on the USA and I'm a 10 on WI (shocker I know), so I should root against ARD and Soupy, but they have given me so much personal joy for years and I know so much about their life journeys and I respect their paths I can't turn my back on them and want them to fail/lose.

I remember one summer Olympics where the two favorites for one of the women's sprints was a US runner and a runner from Jamaica. And - I was a much bigger track and field fan back then - I was aware from previous meets and championships and the press conferences surrounding them that the US runner was abrasive and struck me as a generally unpleasant person, while the Jamaican was open and engaging and generally much more enjoyable. And I thought to myself "why should I root for the person I really don't like just because she's American against another I do like just because she isn't American?"

I'm sure Gopher hockey players are very nice young women. At some level it is silly to "root against" them just because they picked the wrong school to go to :-) But we do.

When the Olympic final is over, five players I watched play up close (or will be watching) are going to be happy and five will be unhappy. To the extent that it even makes a difference, we try to strike a balance between the possible outcomes.

[D2D]

"If they decide to play hockey, they can walk into a hockey rink anywhere in Canada with a hockey bag and a hockey stick over their shoulder, and nobody's going to look twice," she said. "They don't have to cut their hair short and run into the bathroom and try to look like a boy like I had to do to blend in. The road is just a little bit easier. I want to thank everyone that made that road easier for me and is continuing to pave the way.

"The game is truly for everyone."

https://www.startribune.com/women-s-.../?refresh=true

[Lindsay]

When the Olympic final is over, five players I watched play up close (or will be watching) are going to be happy and five will be unhappy. To the extent that it even makes a difference, we try to strike a balance between the possible outcomes.

It’s kind of wild how life changing it supposedly is in terms of speaking/ endorsement / job opportunities when they win gold vs silver when we know the outcome can be influenced by the smallest detail (2014 Stack goal post...still insane that Canada won that game).

i guess I’m glad the US won gold in 98 because of the hockey boom it created here in the US, but as a fifteen year old Canadian back then, I do wish I’d gotten to experience the Canadian women being the Olympic darlings while I was a kid. Instead Canada got Ross Rebagliotti the snowboarder as the big story and he was fine but I’m still a bit wistful.

I cheer for Canada, but I also cheer for the rivalry and for increased opportunities in the sport. America needed the Olympic wins in 98 and 18. Canada needed that Worlds win last summer. The Americans needed it in 17 .

I don’t know who needs it more now. I don’t think either one tbh, I think the grandest outcome might be a Finland win. Hard to imagine. More likely, Knight or Poulin showing us why they are the greatest. I’ll still be sad for the losers and happy for the winners, so many great storylines no matter how patriotic you are , especially if you follow the game at the college level, how could you feel any other way?