World Cup of Hockey

[ComradeT]

Kind of excited about this although can't go, which is a bummer but who knows, maybe they'll have it in US in a few years.

Is anyone going? Watching on TV? Aware that this starts soon?

[theohall]

Definitely watching.

Really interested seeing how that kid North American team does vs the veteran Team Canada.

[Kreegz2]

I remember reading somewhere that there are going to be advertisements on the jerseys. Is that still happening? If so I am not watching out of principle.

[theohall]

Outside of the advertising already present on NHL jerseys (brand name logo), there is an SAP shoulder patch. That's it.

SAP logo

Not as obnoxious as what Team Sweden did to their World Junior team this summer where an ad was placed over player's name plates.

[Toasted Oates]

I'll tune in to be entertained and find myself fretting over potential injuries. At the same time, the competition could be useful for guys like Lehtera and Bouwmeester. It's a double edged sword.

The age of ads on jerseys is coming on strong. I'm sure people felt the same way when they started putting the Nike swoosh, the Reebok vector, Adidas stripes, etc on jerseys many years ago. Hard to say if I could get used to anything more than that, but probably.

[theohall]

The ads on jerseys thing...

96 World Cup: There are gigantic Nike swooshes on both shoulders of the Team USA jersey in addition to another Nike swoosh on the front.

The SAP ad for this upcoming World Cup is tame by comparison - smaller, only on one shoulder and blends into the color of the jersey so as not to stand out.

Boycotting because of a small jersey patch on the shoulder, which is hard to notice if not looking for it, seems silly given the past advertising on World Cup jerseys.

[cardsfan04]

Sobotka may have broken his collarbone.

[theohall]

pre-tournament games are on ESPN3. Watching replay of Sweden/Finland played earlier today now.

Kid teams are on ESPN2 tonight.

[glen a richter]

Sobotka may have broken his collarbone.

It's not like he was really coming back anyway.

[theohall]

The kid Team North America made the old, veteran Team Europe look like a bunch of old veterans.

Team NA - structure, speed, talent.
Team Europe - no structure, a couple of guys with some speed, and a couple of guys with talent.

Result - blowout with the kids crushing the vets. Europe wound up with more shots on goal (23-21), but the majority of high quality scoring chances were from North America. News stories about Europe "tightening up their game" in the 3rd period.... well, duh. They were already down 3-0 after being outplayed for all of about 2 minutes in the first two periods.

[cardsfan04]

Sobotka may have broken his collarbone.

It's not like he was really coming back anyway.

Ugh, I hope he's not yanking our chain.

In good news though, he isn't hurt seriously. Seems it was all precaution. He's not playing today, but could play Wednesday.

[theohall]

Prediction (not that hard really)

USA, Canada, Russia, North America advance to quarters

Canada over North America in Final.

Yes, no Finland or Sweden.

If there is an upset in Group A, it's Europe over US. The exhibition games between NA and Europe got Europe playing faster and Sweden wasn't ready for the pace in their last exhibition game. I can see USA having the same problem if Europe can maintain that pace.

[theohall]

Europe beat US the same way NA beat Europe twice and Europe beat Sweden.

Over-committed defense combined with blueline turnovers leading to converted odd-man breaks.

Hearing Panger, Levy and Melrose try to make excuses for USA about the ice at the end was ridiculous. Europe had no problem generating speed after those turnovers on the same ice. What was USA's excuse?? Poorly built team, IMO with too much emphasis on size and grit, not enough on talent, speed and scoring ability.

[theohall]

And North America demonstrates the effectiveness of going to the net repeatedly...

I don't see Russia handling NA's speed, either, with the crappy way they played vs Sweden and barely even attempting to shoot the puck.

[ComradeT]

And North America demonstrates the effectiveness of going to the net repeatedly...

I don't see Russia handling NA's speed, either, with the crappy way they played vs Sweden and barely even attempting to shoot the puck.

Ahem... ahem...

[theohall]

It's amazing when Russia actually shoots on goal.

That was a great game!!

[ComradeT]

It's amazing when Russia actually shoots on goal.

That was a great game!!

Tell me about it. TNA made it damn close at the end though.

[Frusciante]

Prediction (not that hard really)

USA, Canada, Russia, North America advance to quarters

.

I'm glad the prediction wasn't hard to make.

[theohall]

Best prediction in the thread

And Europe did upset USA.

[Robb_K]

NOW we're getting somewhere!!! 4-2 GOOD GUYS!!! 2 goals in the last couple minutes, after Canada got the scare of going into The 3rd tied.