NHL GOING TO OLYMPICS 2022 F-YEAH!!!

[thegx.ca]

Best part of winter Olympics is NHL Olympic hockey, they going to China to play

[Brewin Flames]

Meh, no issues at, love olympic hockey, but imho.....NHL season is more important.

[Samifan]

To echo @Brewin Flamesthe NHL season is more important and I hate that they shut down the league for 2 weeks right before the trade deadline and final stretch towards the playoffs. 
 

 

 

[ruxpin]

I absolutely HATE the NHL in the Olympics. I don't think I have strong enough words to indicate how much I abhor it on every level.  Horrible decision.

[JR Ewing]

This is probably the great Canadian/American hockey fan divide. I've hardly ever met anybody here who was against sending NHL players to the Olympics.

[thegx.ca]

McJesus, Crosby, McKinnon, Bergeron, Marchand, Price, Weber, etc - all on same team... Olympics is the best of the best!

 

Tkachuk brothers, Matthews, Boeser, Johnny hockey, Eichel, etc all one team...

 

No salary caps, this is how hockey should be!

 

Wonder if Giordano can make team, hopefully he can...

[ruxpin]

11 hours ago, JR Ewing said:

This is probably the great Canadian/American hockey fan divide. I've hardly ever met anybody here who was against sending NHL players to the Olympics.

 

I'm fairly sure this will come across as offensive, but I swear I don't actually mean it that way.  Actually just a sterile, clinical attempt at explaining that dichotomy:

 

Canadians suffer from little brother syndrome so have to try to prove themselves at the Olympics.

 

It's important to some Americans who feel the need to beat their chest (Murica!) but many of us simply don't give a damn.

 

Additionally, for me, I enjoy the NHL and think it's the highest league in the world. It's shutting down and allowing its under-contact players to scatter to the four corners risking injury, etc., necessarily defies that opinion and subordinates the NHL--and, therefore, the Cup tournament--to this other tournament.

 

I know this is over three-decades passe, but I much prefer the amateur ideal of the Olympics.  Maybe get rid of team sports like hockey, basketball, and baseball in the Olympics altogether and go back to individual sports where individuals work very hard to get there and for which the Olympics are the pinnacle and which few would ever actually watch in other forums.

 

I actually thought about the Canadian/US difference when I initially posted... largely due to previous threads on "do we/don't we Olympic threads.  The thing about little brother syndrome is honestly my best guess at it. A lot of Americans really don't care. We figure we don't have to bother with the Olympics. Our stupid as##s will just bomb the crap out of someone if we need to feel superior. And then eat a trough of deep fried whatever.

[flyer4ever]

someone must have slipped the little bett turd a twenty. He does nothing for the game of hockey or the fans, he only knows one way. Money.

[flyer4ever]

1 hour ago, ruxpin said:

 

I'm fairly sure this will come across as offensive, but I swear I don't actually mean it that way.  Actually just a sterile, clinical attempt at explaining that dichotomy:

 

Canadians suffer from little brother syndrome so have to try to prove themselves at the Olympics.

 

It's important to some Americans who feel the need to beat their chest (Murica!) but many of us simply don't give a damn.

 

Additionally, for me, I enjoy the NHL and think it's the highest league in the world. It's shutting down and allowing its under-contact players to scatter to the four corners risking injury, etc., necessarily defies that opinion and subordinates the NHL--and, therefore, the Cup tournament--to this other tournament.

 

I know this is over three-decades passe, but I much prefer the amateur ideal of the Olympics.  Maybe get rid of team sports like hockey, basketball, and baseball in the Olympics altogether and go back to individual sports where individuals work very hard to get there and for which the Olympics are the pinnacle and which few would ever actually watch in other forums.

 

I actually thought about the Canadian/US difference when I initially posted... largely due to previous threads on "do we/don't we Olympic threads.  The thing about little brother syndrome is honestly my best guess at it. A lot of Americans really don't care. We figure we don't have to bother with the Olympics. Our stupid as##s will just bomb the crap out of someone if we need to feel superior. And then eat a trough of deep fried whatever.

Yea, we sit up here in the snow wishing we had 35,000 gun deaths a year, engineered poverty and hatred, republicans, the worst covid response in the world, etc, etc. I do like Myrtle Beach in November, and Siesta Key is nice too. 

[JR Ewing]

2 hours ago, ruxpin said:

 

I'm fairly sure this will come across as offensive, but I swear I don't actually mean it that way.  Actually just a sterile, clinical attempt at explaining that dichotomy:

 

I've known you long enough to know you're not being a dick.

 

2 hours ago, ruxpin said:

Canadians suffer from little brother syndrome so have to try to prove themselves at the Olympics.

 

There really is that aspect to Canada; an inferiority complex does exist, to the extent that even most tangential Canadian angle must be played up at all times. The common thing with news media here, is "... and there IS a Canadian connection" with any sort of international story. Last year, there was an author who had won some sort of prize for a book, and the Canadian connection was that she was born here to an English couple and was soon moved back home, raised and educated in the UK. Not a single institution in Canada had a thing to do with producing her talents, but the connection simply had to be pointed at.

 

I think it's actually a different thing with hockey and, if anything, many (and perhaps most) Canadians have a SUPERIORITY complex when it comes to the sport. Team not playing up to par? Too many wimpy Europeans. Defense too soft? Not enough Canadians with stubble on the blueline. There has been a consistent gnashing of teeth every year that the NHL has more and more international players and fewer Canadians. It's deeply ingrained into the culture, that when Canada was shut out of the medals in 1998 (due to some completely inept roster selections) we held our equivalent of Congressional committees about it, with witnesses being grilled by Members of Parliament for this epic failure. Think of it as (with respect to hockey) a sense of Canadian exceptionalism, and not understanding that our country is where hockey is the most popular, and thus gets the lion's share of the nation's best athletes and development programs.

 

So, when the Olympics rolled around, and Canada never sent their best team, there was one of two things that happened:

a) Canada wins gold. "Of course. We're the best hockey country in the world."

b) Canada doesn't win gold. "Of course. Our best players aren't in the tournament."

 

Every Canadian hockey fan 50 and younger has been raised from the cradle on the concept of the top hockey being that in the best-on-best tournaments: the '72 Series, Summit Series, Canada Cup, World Cup and then the Olympics; that this is the peak that hockey can be.

[flyer4ever]

21 hours ago, JR Ewing said:

 

I've known you long enough to know you're not being a dick.

 

 

There really is that aspect to Canada; an inferiority complex does exist, to the extent that even most tangential Canadian angle must be played up at all times. The common thing with news media here, is "... and there IS a Canadian connection" with any sort of international story. Last year, there was an author who had won some sort of prize for a book, and the Canadian connection was that she was born here to an English couple and was soon moved back home, raised and educated in the UK. Not a single institution in Canada had a thing to do with producing her talents, but the connection simply had to be pointed at.

 

I think it's actually a different thing with hockey and, if anything, many (and perhaps most) Canadians have a SUPERIORITY complex when it comes to the sport. Team not playing up to par? Too many wimpy Europeans. Defense too soft? Not enough Canadians with stubble on the blueline. There has been a consistent gnashing of teeth every year that the NHL has more and more international players and fewer Canadians. It's deeply ingrained into the culture, that when Canada was shut out of the medals in 1998 (due to some completely inept roster selections) we held our equivalent of Congressional committees about it, with witnesses being grilled by Members of Parliament for this epic failure. Think of it as (with respect to hockey) a sense of Canadian exceptionalism, and not understanding that our country is where hockey is the most popular, and thus gets the lion's share of the nation's best athletes and development programs.

 

So, when the Olympics rolled around, and Canada never sent their best team, there was one of two things that happened:

a) Canada wins gold. "Of course. We're the best hockey country in the world."

b) Canada doesn't win gold. "Of course. Our best players aren't in the tournament."

 

Every Canadian hockey fan 50 and younger has been raised from the cradle on the concept of the top hockey being that in the best-on-best tournaments: the '72 Series, Summit Series, Canada Cup, World Cup and then the Olympics; that this is the peak that hockey can be.

JR, with all due respect, I don't agree with any of your essay. Perhaps in the group of friends and family you associate with, you have been led to believe this. I worked 30 years in a busy big city fire department, in maybe the most multicultural community in the world, populated by hard working people. Most of them don't relate to hockey, simply because they can't afford it. Hockey in Canada is an elitist sport, has been for some time. When the little bett turd allows us to put our best on the ice, we pay attention. Problem is , this only happens every 4 or 8 years. The WJC doesn't even allow for our best. The truth is, most Canadians are very content with the state of things, regardless of hockey, regardless of what happens south of us. That is not to say that things cannot be better, but we don't waste as much time as you think worrying about it.

[Fixxer]

On 9/4/2021 at 1:04 PM, ruxpin said:

 

I'm fairly sure this will come across as offensive, but I swear I don't actually mean it that way.  Actually just a sterile, clinical attempt at explaining that dichotomy:

 

Canadians suffer from little brother syndrome so have to try to prove themselves at the Olympics.

 

It's important to some Americans who feel the need to beat their chest (Murica!) but many of us simply don't give a damn.

 

Additionally, for me, I enjoy the NHL and think it's the highest league in the world. It's shutting down and allowing its under-contact players to scatter to the four corners risking injury, etc., necessarily defies that opinion and subordinates the NHL--and, therefore, the Cup tournament--to this other tournament.

 

I know this is over three-decades passe, but I much prefer the amateur ideal of the Olympics.  Maybe get rid of team sports like hockey, basketball, and baseball in the Olympics altogether and go back to individual sports where individuals work very hard to get there and for which the Olympics are the pinnacle and which few would ever actually watch in other forums.

 

I actually thought about the Canadian/US difference when I initially posted... largely due to previous threads on "do we/don't we Olympic threads.  The thing about little brother syndrome is honestly my best guess at it. A lot of Americans really don't care. We figure we don't have to bother with the Olympics. Our stupid as##s will just bomb the crap out of someone if we need to feel superior. And then eat a trough of deep fried whatever.

To me, the NHL players to the Olympics. is kinda of a gimmick. A short tournament for whoever wins to pump their chest. Only a handful of team that have a shot at the title. Messes around the NHL schedule, extra strain on the players, all the protocols and all things to settle. All this for that short tournament that I might have a look here and there if I happen to fall on it. Well, as the NHL will be shut down in the meantime, I guess I'll end up watching it.. or some affiliate teams, AHL/ECHL, or the CHL.

To summarize, I put as much importance into these Olympics games as I do with the All-Star Game week-end. I liked the one with Chris Kelly, Christian Thomas, Maxim Noreau, Derek Roy. No stars but a team effort in an european setting. Anyway, the WCOH a few years back was gimmicky too, but I guess the publicity is a great money return.

And I agree that the Olympics should be about individuals and not team sports.
That's my opinion, I said it, but please people, show some respect or we'll agree to disagree.

[JR Ewing]

2 hours ago, flyer4ever said:

JR, with all due respect, I don't agree with any of your essay. Perhaps in the group of friends and family you associate with, you have been led to believe this. I worked 30 years in a busy big city fire department, in maybe the most multicultural community in the world, populated by hard working people. Most of them don't relate to hockey, simply because they can't afford it. Hockey in Canada is an elitist sport, has been for some time. When the little bett turd allows us to put our best on the ice, we pay attention. Problem is , this only happens every 4 or 8 years. The WJC doesn't even allow for our best. The truth is, most Canadians are very content with the state of things, regardless of hockey, regardless of what happens south of us. That is not to say that things cannot be better, but we don't waste as much time as you think worrying about it.

 

That's all good. Everybody can agree to disagree. At the end of the day, the most-watched TV broadcasts in Canadian history are all Olympic finals, and you get posts from utility companies showing how nobody was using water until the intermissions, when all of a sudden, usage skyrocketed.

 

 

 

[Math]

European standpoint: "Yes! We're gonna see the best players in the world in the best tournament ever!"

North-American standpoint: "Suck it! Unuseful 2-week break for this sh*ishow"

 

Ok, maybe too much of a cliché. I admit, I truly enjoyed the Czech getting the gold in Nagano while Canada was playing with Yzerman, Roy, Lindros, Gretzky, Lemieux and so on. And I still think that I can die in peace after the 2:0 swiss win against Canada in Torino. But the Olympic ideal is kinda dead to me, Coubertin's motto "the most important is to participate" doesn't make sense anymore. Now I much prefer watching the NHL instead and not be part of the giant marketing show of China's people democratic republic. I don't have any interest and respect for the Olympics anymore and I really wish this thing will die anytime soon.

[thegx.ca]

Whoa, I didn't think the Olympics was this unpopular haha, still can't deny that it'll be the most prestigious hockey event - where else can you get all the best players/coaches on the same team for free?

 

As much as I love the Stanley Cup, the Olympics really are the highest standard for hockey performance, the world Cup of hockey or whatever that tournament was free years ago can't even compare.

 

For me Olympic hockey where NHL players can compete is the highest standard, then Stanley Cup, then everything else.

[ruxpin]

3 minutes ago, Villella McMeans said:

Whoa, I didn't think the Olympics was this unpopular haha, still can't deny that it'll be the most prestigious hockey event - where else can you get all the best players/coaches on the same team for free?

 

As much as I love the Stanley Cup, the Olympics really are the highest standard for hockey performance, the world Cup of hockey or whatever that tournament was free years ago can't even compare.

 

For me Olympic hockey where NHL players can compete is the highest standard, then Stanley Cup, then everything else.

Completely disagree.

[Icechipper]

Great thing about Sports in America is that USA will always dominate the Olympics in medal counts. If we feel pressure from other nations, we simply invent or repackage games so we can dominate. Takes a few years for other nations to catch up.

 

Hence, rythmatic gymnastics, skateboarding, dancing horses, people skiing with rifles, double diving, group interpretive water theatrics and many other dubious Olympic sports." USA, USA, USA!

Edited September 6, 2021 by Icechipper
Sp.

[ruxpin]

50 minutes ago, Icechipper said:

Great thing about Sports in America is that USA will always dominate the Olympics in medal counts. If we feel pressure from other nations, we simply invent or repackage games so we can dominate. Takes a few years for other nations to catch up.

 

Hence, rythmatic gymnastics, skateboarding, dancing horses, people skiing with rifles, double diving, group interpretive water theatrics and many other dubious Olympic sports." USA, USA, USA!

 

Reason 264 to 270 why I cannot stand the Olympics.

 

Next up on CNBC:  Bobby Dipshit and his life long dream of winning an Olympic Gold Medal in Synchronized Dining Room Table Country Line Dancing.  (Cut away to a "teaser" of an interview with his bearded Aunt Pep [NTTAWWT],  "He was unstoppable. Always in his s##tkickers up on the dining room table at dawn every day prackstissing to Dolly or Tammy Wynette or Hank Jr.  No quit in dat boy.  When his sister got old enough he done made her join right in and dey been a couple ever since."  N...B...C

 

[Narrator]:   "Brought to you by Ezlax.  Proud sponsor of the 2021 Olympic Games. When this crap builds over two weeks, you're gonna want some."

[pilldoc]

1 hour ago, Icechipper said:

people skiing with rifles

Though I get the gist of your post.  I disagree with the above referenced portion of your post.

 

I believe you want to call this the Biathalon. This was NEVER introduced by the US.

 

The first Biathlon World Championship was held in 1958 in Austria, and in 1960 the sport was finally included in the Olympic Games. At Albertville in 1992, women were first allowed in the Olympic biathlon. The pursuit format was added for the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics.

 

In modern times, the activity that developed into this sport was an exercise for Norwegian people that was an alternative training for the military. Norwegian skiing regiments organized military skiing contests in the 18th century, divided into four classes: shooting at mark while skiing at top speed, downhill race among trees, downhill race on big hills without falling, and a long race on flat ground while carrying a rifle and military pack. In modern terminology, these military contests included downhill, slalom, biathlon, and cross-country skiing.

 

Called military patrol, the combination of skiing and shooting was contested at the Winter Olympic Games in 1924, and then demonstrated in 1928, 1936, and 1948, during which time Norway and Finland were strong competitors. In 1948, the sport was reorganized under the Union Internationale de Pentathlon Moderne et Biathlon and became re-accepted as in Olympic sport in 1955, with widespread popularity within the Soviet and Swedish winter sport circuits.

 

And just as a point of reference the US has NEVER won a a Gold, Silver, or Bronze medal in the Olympics in this sport.

 

 

Oh and FYI .. here is the best finish EVER by the US in the Biathalon.

https://www.teamusa.org/News/2018/February/23/US-Men-Tie-Best-Ever-Olympic-Finish-In-Biathlon-Relay

 

The U.S. tied its best-ever Olympic finish in the men’s biathlon 4x7.5-kilometer on Friday at the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018, taking sixth place in 1:19:06.7 with a team led by four-time Olympians Lowell Bailey and Tim Burke. The U.S. also took sixth in the relay at the 1972 Games in Sapporo, Japan.

 

While Team USA will be leaving these Games still in search of its first-ever Olympic biathlon medal, the men’s sixth-place relay finish is the country’s highest finish in any Olympic biathlon event. It was also one spot better than the team’s seventh-place relay finish at the 2017 world championship

 

 

[ruxpin]

1 hour ago, pilldoc said:

Though I get the gist of your post.  I disagree with the above referenced portion of your post.

 

I believe you want to call this the Biathalon. This was NEVER introduced by the US.

 

The first Biathlon World Championship was held in 1958 in Austria, and in 1960 the sport was finally included in the Olympic Games. At Albertville in 1992, women were first allowed in the Olympic biathlon. The pursuit format was added for the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics.

 

In modern times, the activity that developed into this sport was an exercise for Norwegian people that was an alternative training for the military. Norwegian skiing regiments organized military skiing contests in the 18th century, divided into four classes: shooting at mark while skiing at top speed, downhill race among trees, downhill race on big hills without falling, and a long race on flat ground while carrying a rifle and military pack. In modern terminology, these military contests included downhill, slalom, biathlon, and cross-country skiing.

 

Called military patrol, the combination of skiing and shooting was contested at the Winter Olympic Games in 1924, and then demonstrated in 1928, 1936, and 1948, during which time Norway and Finland were strong competitors. In 1948, the sport was reorganized under the Union Internationale de Pentathlon Moderne et Biathlon and became re-accepted as in Olympic sport in 1955, with widespread popularity within the Soviet and Swedish winter sport circuits.

 

And just as a point of reference the US has NEVER won a a Gold, Silver, or Bronze medal in the Olympics in this sport.

 

 

Oh and FYI .. here is the best finish EVER by the US in the Biathalon.

https://www.teamusa.org/News/2018/February/23/US-Men-Tie-Best-Ever-Olympic-Finish-In-Biathlon-Relay

 

The U.S. tied its best-ever Olympic finish in the men’s biathlon 4x7.5-kilometer on Friday at the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018, taking sixth place in 1:19:06.7 with a team led by four-time Olympians Lowell Bailey and Tim Burke. The U.S. also took sixth in the relay at the 1972 Games in Sapporo, Japan.

 

While Team USA will be leaving these Games still in search of its first-ever Olympic biathlon medal, the men’s sixth-place relay finish is the country’s highest finish in any Olympic biathlon event. It was also one spot better than the team’s seventh-place relay finish at the 2017 world championship

 

 

 

Why did you know this?  Lol

 

I think you should be tested.

 

[pilldoc]

36 minutes ago, ruxpin said:

 

Why did you know this?  Lol

 

I think you should be tested.

 

 

Well if you must know ..LOL ....When I was in college I was a member of our school's Rifle Team.  We shot 3 position International Rifle at 50 meters.  My best friend on the team and I used to joke that since we love both competitive rifle shooting and skiing we should try out for the Biathlon Team.  A pipe dream but none the less a dream. 

 

Yeah I'm not right ... LOL.

 

Edited September 6, 2021 by pilldoc

[Brewin Flames]

Meh...great comments/opinions in this thread.

 

Like i said before, It's an absolute honor to represent your country in the olympics esp hockey, however for me interest has not been high in years, at least not since "The Miracle"....I'll take the WJC's any day. 

 

NHL, WJC, Olympics

 

 

[SaucyJack]

I find it difficult to swallow arguments that a league that has traditionally advanced more than 50% of its teams (exactly 50% this coming season) to post-season playoffs, cannot abide a break for an international competition like the Olympics.  Same argument for NBA as for NHL, one could argue.

 

If these long regular (pre)seasons are so important and sacrosanct from disruption, their “meaning” would, in the purest sense, award the highest prestige to winning the league, just like all the major soccer leagues in Europe do.  Of course that’s so opposed to what us North Americans are used to (except for baseball before the 1970’s) a better compromise is an 8 (not 16) team playoff in NHL and NBA.

 

Barring that, it is hard to treat the NHL regular season with overly-magnified importance.  Give the Olympics a few weeks to shine.

 

P.S.  Love watching biathlon!  Endurance and skill, athletics at its best.

[ruxpin]

1 hour ago, SaucyJack said:

Same argument for NBA as for NHL, one could argue.

 

One would argue wrong.

The NBA does NOT interrupt their season for the Olympics. The NBA season is played almost the same time as the NHL, but basketball is played in the  summer  Olympics.

 

So no one is asking a league that wants to market itself (and charge ticket prices to support that) as the premier league in its sport to stop its season to play in some contrived nonsense for gullible flag-wavers.

 

Sorry about the last part, but the point remains that comparing the NBA and NHL in regard to the Olympics is apples and ducks.

 

Lastly, it's not about "regular season games."

 

The Stanley Cup is supposed to be the penultimate trophy in sports.  So let's interrupt playing for it to risk injury or exhaustion in the middle to play for a lesser, by extension, trophy (medal). 

 

Sorry, it's simply dumb.

Our definition of "glory" is different.

Edited September 18, 2021 by ruxpin

[SaucyJack]

2 hours ago, ruxpin said:

The NBA does NOT interrupt their season for the Olympics.

I phrased this poorly.  My point was that any league that plays such a long “regular” season without eliminating a high % of its teams, allowing so many middle-of-the-road teams to advance to its REAL and ultimate challenge, is not a very serious or important campaign.  Add college hoops major conference regular seasons to that list.  (Interruptions would be tolerable even though the hoopsters currently don’t have them in practice.)

 

2 hours ago, ruxpin said:

premier league in its sport to stop its season to play in some contrived nonsense

Yes the NHL is premier in ice hockey. But the Olympics do not interrupt its critical moments.  Now if the Olympics asked to be timed so as to interrupt during the NHL playoffs, of course that would be out of the question.

 

In World Soccer, the top 5 leagues (England, Italy, Spain, Germany, France) plus the UEFA Champions League are probably more important as club competitions than the World Cup, surpassing it at least for many.   But they still take “international breaks” on various weekends of the year to do the nation vs nation qualifying, “interrupting” the club competition schedules.  (Whether World Cup qualies or Euro Championship qualies or off-season ‘friendlier’ aka ‘Nations League’.). Sure it’s not as long as an Olympic break but they do this every soccer season for some nation v nation event.  Hockey has a longer interruption once every 4 years.

 

2 hours ago, ruxpin said:

The Stanley Cup is supposed to be the penultimate trophy in sports.  So let's interrupt playing for it

The Olympics does not interrupt the Stanley Cup pursuit in any meaningful way.  This argument might be valid if a lesser number of teams qualified for the playoffs.  Then, a team might complain that it’s hot streak got ruined by an Olympic break, preventing them significantly in snaring that 8th and final playoff spot.   Right now, any teams qualifying, say, 13th thru 20th, half making playoffs, half not, it’s partly crapshoot luck.  (That’s OK, be top 25% in the regular season and you don’t need a bit of luck to eke into the playoffs.)

Edited September 18, 2021 by SaucyJack