2014 Sochi Olympic Games Women's Ice Hockey Tournament

[FiveHoleFrenzy]

Re: 2014 Sochi Olympic Games Women's Ice Hockey Tournament

I know how I felt as the game ended and to some extent I'm still feeling hours later. Much of those feelings are best not put into print but I'm going to give anyone a pass on what they are posting out of their disappointment and frustration.

 

[wwhyte]

Re: 2014 Sochi Olympic Games Women's Ice Hockey Tournament

All tournament team: Kessel, Agosta, Knight, Bozek, Hiirikoski, Schelling. Discuss.

1. Surprised to see only one Canadian there.
2. I'm happy to see Knight, but if you're picking one other forward it's to choose Kessel over Decker, Coyne, Stack, Carpenter or a Lam. I felt that Kessel was only really on fire during the Switzerland game which ehhh.
3. I didn't see Hiirikoski being that great, but regular readers know I think was worth two of anyone at Four Nations, so I'm fine with this.
4. Unexpectedly, if I had to choose a US defender, I'd pick Schleper.
5. How cross must Noora Raty be?

 

[Blackbeard]

Re: 2014 Sochi Olympic Games Women's Ice Hockey Tournament

That's true, but, unless I didn't see it accurately, I thought that Carpenter's goal was similar in that it hit the shaft of her stick a foot or two above the blade and went in. But like you said...good things happen when you crash the net.

And, to state the obvious...this game could have gone either way. It just came down to Vetter's looking to her left around traffic to try to see the shooter/shot which opened up the net to her right, the shot being a pass and Poulin having a decent sized target.

Both nations should be proud of their players' dedication and sacrifice, as well as of the other's, that allowed them to be able to put on such a phenomenal show.

Allow me to correct myself. Just watched the game again and Carpenter's goal was off the blade of her stick, not off the shaft of her stick as I had previously thought.

However, the second viewing turned up something else. It appeared that her skate might have been in the crease before and/or during the shot. Anyone know what the international rules are on that? Spooner got called twice in the previous game for being in the crease but didn't have the puck at the time and the play was whistled dead.

 

[Veritas]

Re: 2014 Sochi Olympic Games Women's Ice Hockey Tournament

We've been playing WOMEN's hockey in the US for 100 years now??? Really?
100 years???
Sorry, I'm only from the State of Hockey, and the Univ of Minnesota didn't even start up their program until 1997. UMD didn't start until 98.

Women have been playing hockey of one sort or the other for a long time. Recently I was re-reading the memoirs of Lord Frederick Hamilton. From 1883 t0 1888 IIRC Lord Frederick was an aide to his brother in law, the Marquess of Landsdowne while the Marquess was Governor General and Viceroy of Canada. Lord Frederick describes hockey games he saw including women's games.

I am sure that the games have changed since that time. Even when my dad played high school hockey during WW I each team had a goalie and 6 skaters on the ice. By the time he got to playing College hockey in the early 1920's the team size had shrunk to the present size.

I was surprised how late UofM and UMD got into women's hockey, I know the Ivy schools were playing a good ten years before that.

 

[Timothy A]

Re: 2014 Sochi Olympic Games Women's Ice Hockey Tournament

The ref can't allow all the rough stuff to go on then call that ticky tacky lame call on Lami for slashing. Come on. Knight actually did not cause the Canuck to fall, they barely made contact with eachother. They both went down at the same time. All because a play LOOKS like a penalty does not mean it IS a penalty.

There's no way to blame Vetter. The first goal changed direction off a leg. The second was a bad play by the D leaving the canuck so open in the low slot, the 3rd was an in tight pp blast thanks to the ref.

The US was 2" from winning the game on a lucky sog on the empty net. Winning sealing a game with an empty net goal is a bad way to win? No fricken way. You win score anyway you can whenever you can. This isn't figure skating where style counts.

 

[FredsDeadFriend]

Re: 2014 Sochi Olympic Games Women's Ice Hockey Tournament

Oh, I know women played hockey way back in the day, and have read that women played hockey on the U of Mn campus back in the 20s, but I guess I was referring to "organized" hockey, so I guess I consider when the Ivy schools started playing, which still doesn't even make it even close to 100 years.


And I am guessing that Minnesota and UMD didn't get going until they did because they not only needed women's hockey in Minnesota to be developed enough to partially sustain their programs, but they needed it to be developed enough to partially sustain an entire WCHA conference as well.

 

[Blackbeard]

Re: 2014 Sochi Olympic Games Women's Ice Hockey Tournament

2. The referee allowed the Canadians to play a physical brand of hockey. More so than I thought was possible in a game of this magnitude. The Americans started the game answering the physical challenge but as the game wore on, you could see that they wanted less and less of the physical play. Canada simply didn't stop until the winning goal. Dineen obviously decided he would take his chances with whatever calls were made against his team. He guessed correctly.

And she didn't allow the Americans to play the same type of game? Did you miss J-Lam's crosscheck to the back of a Canadian player while the Canadian was lying on the ice, after the play? And although I forget the players involved a US player bulldozed through a Canadian along the boards in the second period I believe that I was sure would get called but wasn't. Just sayin'. Katey Stone mentioned a couple of times that I saw in the interviews that she gave that the US would not be pushed around so she might disagree with you. On the other hand, maybe her comments failed to take into account how getting nailed hard enough or awkwardly enough early in the game can throw the rest of your game off.

And it's funny how our perspective can colour our perceptions of an event no matter how objective we try to be. I kept thinking that while Canada seemed to generally neutralize the Americans' speed for the first two periods (even though they often didn't seem to have the jump that the US did to get to the puck when they could have made a lot of those short races closer or even won them) they lost the handle in the third and were constantly having time and space taken away from them by the Americans and not having had many great opportunities nor having scored in roughly fifty-six and a half minutes, and being down 2-0, things were looking none too rosy for Canada. Smart money at that time was drawing less than even odds for the US to win. But as I mentioned earlier, the problem is that the smart money doesn't always win.

Two great teams...one great game.

And to paraphrase Cassie Campbell late in the game..."and right, these two teams aren't great for the game of women's hockey?"

 

[robertearle]

Re: 2014 Sochi Olympic Games Women's Ice Hockey Tournament

And I am guessing that Minnesota and UMD didn't get going until they did because they not only needed women's hockey in Minnesota to be developed enough to partially sustain their programs, but they needed it to be developed enough to partially sustain an entire WCHA conference as well.

I hesitate to take this in another direction, but if I'm not mistaken, at least part of the reason women's hockey was added at Wisconsin was Title IX compliance issues.

 

[OnMAA]

Re: 2014 Sochi Olympic Games Women's Ice Hockey Tournament

Canada never panicked, took away the boards, and got an otherworldly performance from one of the clutch players of all time in women's hockey.

Two clutch players. Szabados and Poulin. Szabados made some great saves in period one to keep the game scoreless, and some great saves early in the OT to help extent it. IMHO that was just as big as the clutch scoring by Poulin.

As far as I'm concerned both teams can be proud on how they played today. Fantastic game to watch. (Just finished watching it in its entirety for the second time today). What a great way to sell the game to the IOC and the Grass Roots.

 

[Blackbeard]

Re: 2014 Sochi Olympic Games Women's Ice Hockey Tournament

The ref can't allow all the rough stuff to go on then call that ticky tacky lame call on Lami for slashing. The US was 2" from winning the game on a lucky sog on the empty net. Winning sealing a game with an empty net goal is a bad way to win? No fricken way. You win score anyway you can whenever you can. This isn't figure skating where style counts.

Did you miss the two previous explanations in this thread about the ref having given Duggan a warning in the second period for the very same thing when she could have called a penalty instead? If she doesn't call it when it happens again she loses all credibility and shouldn't be reffing the game.

I think you missed my point about why it would have not been a good way to win, regardless of which team it was. It was because the linesman, while having ample time to get out of the way, interfered in the play and with the Canadian defenceman consequently affording the US player the shot on the empty net that she otherwise would not have had.

 

[OnMAA]

Re: 2014 Sochi Olympic Games Women's Ice Hockey Tournament

We've been playing WOMEN's hockey in the US for 100 years now??? Really?

Womens College hockey started 50 years ago, when the first program started, but really started in earnest 40 years ago in the mid-seventies.

Canada had Women's College teams starting way back in the 1920's and 1930's. The CiAU started in earnest in the late 60's early 70's after the game took an hiatus in the 40's and 50's.

 

[Blackbeard]

Re: 2014 Sochi Olympic Games Women's Ice Hockey Tournament

Two clutch players. Szabados and Poulin. Szabados made some great saves in period one to keep the game scoreless, and some great saves early in the OT to help extent it. IMHO that was just as big as the clutch scoring by Poulin.

As far as I'm concerned both teams can be proud on how they played today. Fantastic game to watch. (Just finished watching it in its entirety for the second time today). What a great way to sell the game to the IOC and the Grass Roots.

Not to take anything away from Poulin but I think too much is already being made about the winning goal because it was Poulin. I'd guess that 80 or 90% of D1 players could have buried that opportunity into the half empty net with Vetter preoccupied on the other side. You or I might have been able to bury it.

 

[OnMAA]

Re: 2014 Sochi Olympic Games Women's Ice Hockey Tournament

However, the second viewing turned up something else. It appeared that her skate might have been in the crease before and/or during the shot. Anyone know what the international rules are on that? Spooner got called twice in the previous game for being in the crease but didn't have the puck at the time and the play was whistled dead.

My understanding of that rule is that you cannot enter the crease at all with your skates, (not even 3 seconds) or the play gets called dead. Not sure what happens if you are pushed in.

 

[sillywench]

Re: 2014 Sochi Olympic Games Women's Ice Hockey Tournament

.. At some point, when the same team CONSISTENTLY wins these big games, you have to say they're more skilled.

No. It is a management issue. It is a responsibility of the big picture & long range view folks to format a battle plan that allows for the big win, not just the little ones.

These teams are equal. The drought of Olympic wins for the US is fixable.

 

[Blackbeard]

Re: 2014 Sochi Olympic Games Women's Ice Hockey Tournament

So, I guess there'll be no smoking of cigars nor of imbibing post game on the ice with Uncle Vlad overseeing things...especially with ***** Riot riding shotgun in Sochi in the last day or so.

 

[brookyone]

Re: 2014 Sochi Olympic Games Women's Ice Hockey Tournament

So, I guess there'll be no smoking of cigars nor of imbibing post game on the ice with Uncle Vlad overseeing things...especially with ***** Riot riding shotgun in Sochi in the last day or so.

Hmmm...let's see, five asterisks...ends with Riot...

 

[Blackbeard]

Re: 2014 Sochi Olympic Games Women's Ice Hockey Tournament

Hmmm...let's see, five asterisks...ends with Riot...

That wasn't me. I typed it, the program censured it.

 

[OneTimer]

Re: 2014 Sochi Olympic Games Women's Ice Hockey Tournament

That wasn't me. I typed it, the program censured it.

It was Snowden who censured it.

 

[brookyone]

Re: 2014 Sochi Olympic Games Women's Ice Hockey Tournament

That wasn't me. I typed it, the program censured it.

I know. I know what comes before Riot.

 

[mnpokecheck]

Re: 2014 Sochi Olympic Games Women's Ice Hockey Tournament

At some point, when the same team CONSISTENTLY wins these big games, you have to say they're more skilled.

Not according to the Hockey Fans in the East when talking about the WCHA's championship stranglehold.