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George Zoran
Top Prospect
Canada
55 Posts |
 Posted - 02/28/2006 : 10:28:38
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Being Canadian, I was very disappointed with the effort of the Canadian Men’s Hockey Team and its early exit from the tournament. After a few days of mourning I realized that I could either continue to sulk or enjoy the remainder of the tournament. I decided that good hockey is to be appreciated and I chose the latter of the two.
It is probably best that we forget the pathetic performances of both North American teams, but we should also remember the great performances of the Olympians that made their countries proud:
•Niklas Lidstrom has scored a number of important goals in his career – none more special than the gold medal winning goal.
•Teemu Selanne and Saku Koivu tied for the tournament lead in points – both with 11. They stepped up as leaders and took Finland to the Gold medal game.
•Daniel Alfredsson and Mats Sundin were great for Sweden and led them to Gold.
•Niklas Kronwall stepped in for Mattias Ohlund and scored in the Gold medal game. He then selflessly stated that he would give up his medal for Mattias if they Swedish Hockey Federation could not get him one.
•Alexander Ovechkin didn’t win a medal, but looked dangerous every time he touched the puck. Not bad for a 20 year-old playing amongst the best in the world.
•Other than the fact that he needs to keep his skates on the ice and away from Vincent Lecavalier’s shins, Evgeni Malkin is a wonderful talent and is going to look great next to Crosby next year in Pittsburgh.
•While we are on the topic of young Russian stars, let’s not forget Ilya Kovalchuk’s 4 goal performance against the Latvians.
•Goaltending across the board was excellent. From Niitymaki to Nabokov to Lundqvist to Brodeur. All were at the top of their game and gave there teams the opportunity to win.
•Hossa and the Slovaks looked deadly in the preliminary round – but couldn’t get past their arch rival: The Czechs.
•Martin Gerber and David Aebischer led the Swiss to huge wins against the Czechs and Canadians.
•What a great performance by Arturs Irbe. With all the goaltending woes in the NHL, I am sure there is a team that could use a guy like him.
•Even without Hasek, the Czechs solidified their presence as a top hockey nation and beat the Russians to claim the bronze medal.
Did I miss anything?
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