[cferneyh]

(1)Targeted, yes. To the degree Canada obliterated Ovechkin, NO.

I guess you were watching different broadcasts than I was. From what I saw, Crosby was target of every team. He was constantly being tripped, elbowed, and even high sticked. Furthermore, physically punishing the best player on the other team is a hockey strategy that goes back to the beginnings of the game. If the other team's best player is the difference between a win or a loss, why wouldn't you do everything you can to get him off his game? That strategy is the whole reason players like Esa Tikkanen, Jerko Ruttu, and Darcy Tucker have had careers in the NHL.

(2)They shouldn't, as I don't care about their personal lives. I was trying to say that most fans feel bad if these kids happen to lose or ecstatic if they win. Why would you feel bad for a complete stranger? I hear people saying how bad they feel for hockey players all the time and it boggles my mind.

Most fans? Did you do a survey? Your personal experiences with some fans hardly constitutes most fans.

(3)Yes, I may agree with you on this point. Ovechkin was a showboat but he didn't kill anyone. The hatred for him is unbelievable. I'm just wondering if Crosby would face the same criticism by the Canadian public if he acted like Ovechkin. Something tells me he would get a free pass from Canadian fans.

I think you need some perspective here. I didn't hear anyone compare Ovechkin to a muderer. He angered people when he taunted the American fans and the American team, and people wanted to see it come right back to him. And it did. It's called karma.

(4)Why do they celebrate a goal when they are already up by five goals like it was a game winning goal? Players shouldn't go apeshit when the game is already decided and they get a meaningless goal.

The goal may seem meaningless to you but I guarantee it has plenty of meaning to the guy who scored it, the guys on the ice, and the guys on the bench. Each goal meant they were one goal closer to gold. And that, my friend, is worth celebrating.

(5)Nowhere did I directly compare Ovechkin to Gretzky. I will however compare the way both players are treated by the opposition. I know it's early in Ovechkin's career and he hasn't done anything yet but he is good enough that the entire team Canada's goal was to shut him down and not even worry about the rest of the Russians. I'd say Team Canada had plenty of respect for the possible future star. Ovechkin had a bad game, big deal. He doesn't "suck" because of one bad game.

No, he doesn't "suck" because of one bad game. But in arguably the biggest game of his career to date, he choked. It's that simple. He could have made a difference, but he didn't. Furthermore, he showed every NHLer watching that when the tough gets going, he disappears. What he got from Team Canada is NOTHING compared to what he'd get in the NHL during a typical playoff game.

(6)Corson was the first Canadian whiner that popped into my head. I was just pointing out that every country has whiners, not just Russia.

True, but again, show me one player on Team Canada who taunted the opposition during this tournament? You can't. Yet there were plenty of Russians - the two highest profile ones in fact, who did. The difference in sportsmanship between this Team Canada and this Team Russia is the issue at hand.

(7)You didn't call Gretzky the messiah but I've only heard Gord Miller and Pierre kiss his ass for the last few years. It started to get to me I guess.

If I worked in broadcasting hockey, I'd kiss Gretzky's ass. Hell, I'd kiss his ass right now if he asked me too. But that hardly makes him my personal Jesus. It just means that I respect all that he's done for Canadian hockey, and I respect how to represents himself as the best hockey player of all time. When you look at the the star players in all other leagues, and even the star players in today's NHL, none of them carry themselves the way Gretzky did and does. And for that I give him the utmost respect.

[tigerthelion]

(1)Targeted, yes. To the degree Canada obliterated Ovechkin, NO.

I guess you were watching different broadcasts than I was. From what I saw, Crosby was target of every team. He was constantly being tripped, elbowed, and even high sticked. Furthermore, physically punishing the best player on the other team is a hockey strategy that goes back to the beginnings of the game. If the other team's best player is the difference between a win or a loss, why wouldn't you do everything you can to get him off his game? That strategy is the whole reason players like Esa Tikkanen, Jerko Ruttu, and Darcy Tucker have had careers in the NHL.

(2)They shouldn't, as I don't care about their personal lives. I was trying to say that most fans feel bad if these kids happen to lose or ecstatic if they win. Why would you feel bad for a complete stranger? I hear people saying how bad they feel for hockey players all the time and it boggles my mind.

Most fans? Did you do a survey? Your personal experiences with some fans hardly constitutes most fans.

(3)Yes, I may agree with you on this point. Ovechkin was a showboat but he didn't kill anyone. The hatred for him is unbelievable. I'm just wondering if Crosby would face the same criticism by the Canadian public if he acted like Ovechkin. Something tells me he would get a free pass from Canadian fans.

I think you need some perspective here. I didn't hear anyone compare Ovechkin to a muderer. He angered people when he taunted the American fans and the American team, and people wanted to see it come right back to him. And it did. It's called karma.

(4)Why do they celebrate a goal when they are already up by five goals like it was a game winning goal? Players shouldn't go apeshit when the game is already decided and they get a meaningless goal.

The goal may seem meaningless to you but I guarantee it has plenty of meaning to the guy who scored it, the guys on the ice, and the guys on the bench. Each goal meant they were one goal closer to gold. And that, my friend, is worth celebrating.

(5)Nowhere did I directly compare Ovechkin to Gretzky. I will however compare the way both players are treated by the opposition. I know it's early in Ovechkin's career and he hasn't done anything yet but he is good enough that the entire team Canada's goal was to shut him down and not even worry about the rest of the Russians. I'd say Team Canada had plenty of respect for the possible future star. Ovechkin had a bad game, big deal. He doesn't "suck" because of one bad game.

No, he doesn't "suck" because of one bad game. But in arguably the biggest game of his career to date, he choked. It's that simple. He could have made a difference, but he didn't. Furthermore, he showed every NHLer watching that when the tough gets going, he disappears. What he got from Team Canada is NOTHING compared to what he'd get in the NHL during a typical playoff game.

(6)Corson was the first Canadian whiner that popped into my head. I was just pointing out that every country has whiners, not just Russia.

True, but again, show me one player on Team Canada who taunted the opposition during this tournament? You can't. Yet there were plenty of Russians - the two highest profile ones in fact, who did. The difference in sportsmanship between this Team Canada and this Team Russia is the issue at hand.

(7)You didn't call Gretzky the messiah but I've only heard Gord Miller and Pierre kiss his ass for the last few years. It started to get to me I guess.

If I worked in broadcasting hockey, I'd kiss Gretzky's ass. Hell, I'd kiss his ass right now if he asked me too. But that hardly makes him my personal Jesus. It just means that I respect all that he's done for Canadian hockey, and I respect how to represents himself as the best hockey player of all time. When you look at the the star players in all other leagues, and even the star players in today's NHL, none of them carry themselves the way Gretzky did and does. And for that I give him the utmost respect.

Ok, I respect your opinions. As far as targeting a player, I stated in a previous post that I have no problem with that. It was a great strategy by Canada as Ovechkin wasn't even close to getting a good scoring chance. I thought Canada had a great gameplan and played a hell of a game. All props to them for destroying Russia for the gold.

[cferneyh]

tiger...is there ANYTHING in life that brings you joy? And if you ever have occasion to celebrate an occurrence of said event, do you quietly and introspectively applaud while maintaining a perfectly calm demeanour for fear of showing enthusiasm and excitement, which are indicative of actually CARING about something??

Well, a Hip concert will always cheer me up! I might show a little too much enthusiasm during a concert. There are other things but that's not important.

Listen, it's great that team Canada won. They deserved it and they dominated. Yeah, they were under pressure but people's lives weren't at stake. If Canada failed to win Gold, they would still be loved by Canadians. It's not like they are soldiers over in Iraq risking their lives. I guess I just don't get as much pleasure from watching Team Canada play as some others. I think they played great and represented the country very well but all in all it doesn't get me too excited.

I love the hypocrisy. So, when the Hip play a concert are lives at stake? Why is it OK to get happy and excited about a Hip concert, but not about the country's junior team winning gold? Just because it doesn't get you fired up doesn't mean the rest of us should wallow in your negativity.

Life must be super-fun when the amount of acceptable emotion that should go into something is directly proportionate to how many lives are at stake. You are more depressing than a Smiths CD.

[tigerthelion]

tiger...is there ANYTHING in life that brings you joy? And if you ever have occasion to celebrate an occurrence of said event, do you quietly and introspectively applaud while maintaining a perfectly calm demeanour for fear of showing enthusiasm and excitement, which are indicative of actually CARING about something??

Well, a Hip concert will always cheer me up! I might show a little too much enthusiasm during a concert. There are other things but that's not important.

Listen, it's great that team Canada won. They deserved it and they dominated. Yeah, they were under pressure but people's lives weren't at stake. If Canada failed to win Gold, they would still be loved by Canadians. It's not like they are soldiers over in Iraq risking their lives. I guess I just don't get as much pleasure from watching Team Canada play as some others. I think they played great and represented the country very well but all in all it doesn't get me too excited.

I love the hypocrisy. So, when the Hip play a concert are lives at stake? Why is it OK to get happy and excited about a Hip concert, but not about the country's junior team winning gold? Just because it doesn't get you fired up doesn't mean the rest of us should wallow in your negativity.

Life must be super-fun when the amount of acceptable emotion that should go into something is directly proportionate to how many lives are at stake. You are more depressing than a Smiths CD.

I'll give you that one! You are correct and it's fine for people to be excited. I'm just not as excited but I don't think my excitement level is too important to most people. A Hip concert isn't that important in the scheme of things. It's temporary entertainment for two hours, just like a hockey game. Come to think of it, I'm sure the Hip were probably quite excited with the outcome. I'm not against people getting excited!!!!!! I just don't want to hear about Canada winning gold every ten seconds.

GOD BLESS CANADA AND THEIR HOCKEY TEAM!!! :thumb:

[skippy the wonder dog]

Listen, it's great that team Canada won. They deserved it and they dominated. Yeah, they were under pressure but people's lives weren't at stake. If Canada failed to win Gold, they would still be loved by Canadians. It's not like they are soldiers over in Iraq risking their lives.

Boy, I missed that the first time around.

Your options:

1) every year, we'll hold a nice big international hockey tournament and all get fired up and yell, and some of us will even drink and be obnoxious.

2) every year, we'll hold a nice big international war and all get fired at and yell, and some of us will even get our bodies mangled into so much chopped meat.

You choose which scenario is for cheering and waving flags and celebrating.

[Lizard King]

....

[Chris Tanz]

[I just don't want to hear about Canada winning gold every ten seconds.]

dude, I wasn't going to get involved in the stupidity erupting in some of what's being written, but for a guy who doesn't want to hear about Canada winning gold every ten seconds, you do seem to do a lot of posting in this thread. Does it automatically pop up on your screen every ten seconds or so, or do you have to click on the link titled World Junior Hockey Championships like the rest of us. Cuz if it's the latter, then there's a pretty good chance people are going to be talking about Canada winning gold every ten seconds, since ... they won gold.

And saying that "Gretzky's not the messiah" seems a bit off. Yes, Gretzky is not the Son of God, the Annointed One, but a lot of people think he was a pretty swell hockey player and this is a hockey thread.

till you say "Canada lost", go home,
ct

[tigerthelion]

[I just don't want to hear about Canada winning gold every ten seconds.]

dude, I wasn't going to get involved in the stupidity erupting in some of what's being written, but for a guy who doesn't want to hear about Canada winning gold every ten seconds, you do seem to do a lot of posting in this thread. Does it automatically pop up on your screen every ten seconds or so, or do you have to click on the link titled World Junior Hockey Championships like the rest of us. Cuz if it's the latter, then there's a pretty good chance people are going to be talking about Canada winning gold every ten seconds, since ... they won gold.

Actually, I was just responding to the swarm of reactions to my posts. Lizard Boy is hysterical. He talks about differing opinions, yet he doesn't accept any of my opinions. I don't know why people can't disagree and leave it at that. Everything is personal it seems.

[tigerthelion]

Listen, it's great that team Canada won. They deserved it and they dominated. Yeah, they were under pressure but people's lives weren't at stake. If Canada failed to win Gold, they would still be loved by Canadians. It's not like they are soldiers over in Iraq risking their lives.

Boy, I missed that the first time around.

Your options:

1) every year, we'll hold a nice big international hockey tournament and all get fired up and yell, and some of us will even drink and be obnoxious.

2) every year, we'll hold a nice big international war and all get fired at and yell, and some of us will even get our bodies mangled into so much chopped meat.

You choose which scenario is for cheering and waving flags and celebrating.

I was just putting the pressures of the two events in perspective. The pressure to win a hockey tournament isn't that big of a deal compared to some other things in life. Like I said, Canadians would love the team even if they didn't win gold.

[CanuckCourage]

Don't really have time before work to properly respond to your post, but a few quick points. Yes Crosby was targeted by other teams, if you watched the games you would have seen that. Gretzky was crosschecked, you remember when Gary Suter crosschecked him from behind and took him out of the 91 Canada Cup. Of course Corson was a quitter, but in his defense he had some mental health issues. Who's saying Gretzky's the Messiah? Keep this perspective, this is hockey, and last I looked it was being discussed in that context. The team represented our country in a manner that makes me proud, with their class and skill.

How do you know I didn't watch the games you pompous moron? .

How do I know ? Well I suppose you could have watched the games and still made illogical comments like the one below. If you watched, you would have seen how Crosby was targeted, kind of a logical conclusion to assume you didn't watch the games.

"You didn't see Crosby being the target of such physical play. ."

Crosby was the target throughout the tournament, often dirty stickwork and bodychecking, Ovechkin had to deal with clean hits from Canada. This still doesn't make you happy, Canada played clean and Classy, not dirty, no gloating. You are happy with nothing, you seem like one who whines when Canadians succeed or fail, you make issues out of things that aren't there. This thread is about the WJC, not WJC Versus Tsunami Stricken Areas and Athletes Who Don't Care About Me. You want to philosophise on what dictates classiness ? Try using your head. As far as calling me a pompous moron, that speaks to your own lack of class, and funny how that happens after you accuse Canadian fans of that. Smells like hypocrisy.

[j-monster]

Well... looks like everyone has had their shots at tiger, so I'll only say this. I kind of feel a little sorry for him, that he apparently can't share in the joy that most of us and most Canadians feel in the excellent victory the World Junior team gave us.

Poor guy...









Ha ha... sorry, couldn't resist! :lol:

[direwolf74]

Life must be super-fun when the amount of acceptable emotion that should go into something is directly proportionate to how many lives are at stake. You are more depressing than a Smiths CD.

:lol: :thumb:

[tragicallymike]

Im sure most of you know but i feel that Wayne Gretzky is a pompous bitch and he was one of the softest players to ever play in the NHL. Thats my opinion and it will never change.

Its a hockey thread so i can say this!

[beanmedic]

tigerthelion: 7 tool points.

[Chris Tanz]

Im sure most of you know but i feel that Wayne Gretzky is a pompous bitch and he was one of the softest players to ever play in the NHL. Thats my opinion and it will never change.

Its a hockey thread so i can say this!

probably one of the worst players too.

Who cares if he was soft? There were a lot of other soft players who didn't score a zillion goals and a bazillion points and win stanley cups and trophies out the ying yang. There are a lot of other hockey greats out there who haven't dedicated themselves to restoring Canada's international hockey prominence.

I'm not quite sure how he's a pompous bitch, but whatever. He's not one of my favourite players by any stretch and you're free to love him, loathe him, or leave him (apparently on the internet, everyone is allowed to have their own opinions; it's this new thing) ... but it's a bit far fetched to argue that he's not the greatest of all time and/or that he hasn't played a key role in re-energizing Canadian international hockey in the last five years or so, or whatever it means to say that he's "not the messiah", as stated earlier, or a "pompous bitch".

also, he makes a fine pitchman for Ford,
ct