2026 Olympic Hockey

[Cornuck]

Part of the problem as well, is that top players are used to playing a lot of minutes - so do you take that away and disrupt their mindset? It's a tough call, and with a loss like that, there are no right answers.

[UWSaint]

I can’t find a good site for ice time to compare easily against Donny’s but it appears (https://www.sportingnews.com/ca/nhl/new ... ef3d67146f) US ice time was far less top heavy. Only Eichel inched above 20 minutes among the forwards, and Hughes and McAvoy were the only D over 20 minutes (with Quinn on the ice 25+ minutes, his partner McAvoy at about 22). They didn’t really use their extras, Keller had a shift or two; Hanafin about 6.5 minutes.

Strange to me Guentzel (17-18 minutes) didn’t see his ice time reduced given his obvious struggles in the game; also surprised to see Werenski at only 12 minutes, but I guess it makes sense because Slavin had a differential role to Hughes and Werenski didn’t.

But what I felt in that game was that each US line had a different character to be deployed situationally (as well as to roll) and that role of Canadas non-McDavid lines was to play until McDavid’s line came back out. Well, except Wilson. His lines roles was to forecheck hard.

It is hard to say that was a bad approach; Canada outchanced the US and the McDavid line played better than the other lines by a decent margin. And I don’t think they ran out of gas; McDavid’s speed burst in ot was his fastest in the game, and Makar being out of position was taking a calculated risk and coming up short.

I do think, however, that there was a bit too much heroism there at the end by Canada’s stars. Both of the US chances in OT (Quinn then Jack) resulted from playing the game with “patient urgency” as if it were any other OT; half ice scramble players and work the one timer getting the goalie in motion; on the rush, pick up the trailer with speed. While I agree 3 on 3 isn’t hockey, it’s a type of skills competition, I think we’ve seen enough of it to know that it is a type of a game that depends on hockey skills and execution, and that US team executed better in OT.

[donlever]

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[UWSaint]

A friend of mine won tickets to the last few games there. He said Makar was largely terrible defensively. He was on the ice for every goal against Canada since the game against France.

Makar’s defensive game isn’t as good as Quinn’s generally, imho, but both are liable to take more calculated risks to keep the puck in the zone. Those will fail sometimes, but it is why they elite point producers. Difference is that Makar stabbed/lunged, and QH is pretty good about getting the skates turned and the momentum changeable where a high risk pinch might be unsuccessful so that he’s not out of the play if he fails. That minimizes the chance if it’s successful, but on that play in OT, Makar has McDavid below….

[UWSaint]

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Thanks!

[Meds]

Part of the problem as well, is that top players are used to playing a lot of minutes - so do you take that away and disrupt their mindset? It's a tough call, and with a loss like that, there are no right answers.

I remember in 2014 when Crosby played with Marchand and Bergeron. One of the takeaways was short shifts and to hell with total minutes. Apparently it was Sid who drove that mentality. His line rolled the shortest shifts, but the hardest played and most effective. I can’t remember who it was, but one of the players said something to the effect of that being a key thing that set Sid apart, no ego, it was all about the task at hand in any situation, and being able to give 110% to it.

Not that I think any of our guys were coasting or “phoning it in”, just that the short shifts were designed to leave something in the tank for late game.

[Cornuck]

I don't normally feel sorry for millionaire NHL players - but I felt really bad that Crosby wasn't out there for the gold medal game. It must have been serious, and would put him at risk for the NHL season - especially when we were able to dress an extra forward.

[donlever]

Crosby himself declined to play as he felt that he was hampered enough that Jarvis or Reinhart were better options in terms of wjat they could provide....

[Per]

Still. Even if the results didn’t go as I would have wished, I’m overjoyed to have been able to watch best on best Olympic hockey for the first time in eight years. There’s nothing quite like it!

[Aaronp18]

Still. Even if the results didn’t go as I would have wished, I’m overjoyed to have been able to watch best on best Olympic hockey for the first time in eight years. There’s nothing quite like it!

12 years.

[rats19]

Still. Even if the results didn’t go as I would have wished, I’m overjoyed to have been able to watch best on best Olympic hockey for the first time in eight years. There’s nothing quite like it!

12 years.

Albeit no ruskies….