IIHF World ChampionshipDiscuss International Tournaments like the WJC, Olympics, and World Cup, as they take place, or discuss past tournaments. performances.
Let's be reality, was US the underdog going into the final?
View Poll Results: which best describes your thinking
Team USA was an undefeated juggernaut that already whipped Canada once -- Huge Favorites
I can't really answer that poll. Although they beat Canada in the round robin and deserved to beat them in that game I still considered them underdogs going in. Before the tournament started looking at the teams on paper(just player wise not how they played) I would of thought for sure Canada Russia final.
The states played well but Canada was the favourite in my mind hands down for that game.
Of course, I'm sure that great efforts will be taken to try to convince ourselves that the US had a comparable talent level to help us sleep better at night that the games were as close as they were.
Reading these forums for months beforehand, the general consensus was that the US was definitely behind Canada, Russia, and Sweden, and were tossed up between Czech and Finland in the 4-6 spot.
I wouldn't say we were THE underdogs, but we weren't generally favored to make it to the gold game, that's for certain.
Team USA were HUGE underdogs. Sure, they beat Canada but everyone felt like the win over Canada was a fluke and that without the element of surprise that Canada was going to blow them right out of the building. Not to mention that Canada had the advantage of playing on home ice in front of a mostly Canadian crowd. The only way you could have stacked the deck any more against the Americans would be if you made them play without sticks and without a goalie.
If you had told anyone that the USA was going to go down 0-2 early and then come back to tie up the game, they would have laughed at you.
No one gave team USA any chance to win, much less did they think USA would give Canada all they could handle.
The Amercians were major overachievers, which is due in large part to the play of Miller.
Nearly any idiot who could read the names on the back of the sweaters knows who the underdogs were.
I'm glad to know that the US hasn't cornered the market on idiots.
But this much is true: this US has proven that they're no longer even with the Czechs, the Finns, and the Slovaks... They're up there with the Swedes, and the Canadians.
The stories going into the next Olympics, if NHL players are involved, will be (i) whether the Russians can reconstitute their team to be competitive, and (ii) how, not whether, the veteran US team led by Captain Zach Parise challenges for gold.
Cheers,
Dan-o
Thank you.
Is it not enough that you won? Now some of you want to portray yourselves as the underdog here? Thats the height of absurdity. The most talented team in the world PLAYING AT HOME can not be an underdog.
USA played at a level above that of their individual players, that is what underdogs do. They overachieved beyond anyone's expectations. Congratulations on your win Canada, but I'm sorry, your team of Hall of Famers and All Stars at every position playing in their own country was in no way an underdog. To suggest otherwise is insulting (which is probably the reason to suggest it in the first place).
I'd say neither team was the underdog. US wasn't because they beat Canada earlier in the tourney, and Canada wasn't because they were better than an All-Star team. That's what made the game so damn exciting, they were virtually even heading in.
Anyone calling that team an underdog is buying into Brian burkes ********.
They ha the clear cut best goaltender in the tournament and plenty of offense and grit. The only difference between USA and Canada is canada's hype machine for it's hockey talent is a lot more effective.
(1) US beats Canada in the prelims. Canadians tell us not to celebrate too hard, it was a fluke.
(2) Canadians tell us the US has no chance once the gold medal game is set. Canada is too good, etc. etc.
(3)US gives them everything they can handle, takes them to overtime, and loses. Now Canada wants to be an underdog story too?
You want your losses to be flukes, and your victories to be triumphs against all odds. You want to be the favorites before hand, and the underdogs after you win, effectively refusing to give the US any credit beforehand for being any good, or afterward for giving you a good game despite apparently not being any good.
A simple respectful tip of the hat for a final well played would suffice, thanks. Then you could go on about the business of celebrating your gold medal.
On paper there is no doubt that team Canada had more talent. Canada, Russia and Sweden were the 3 teams that the majority of people felt would win medals before the tournament. Most people didn't give us a shot at the bronze medal game.
Canada is never the underdog against the USA. The day that happens, hockey will have changed greatly. We don't want our guys to be the underdogs. It's gold or bust.
If the Stanley Cup final featured the 2nd seed in the West vs. the 7th seed in the East, it wouldn't matter if the Eastern team won the meeting during the regular season. They would still be the underdogs.
The Americans had a great tournament and certainly had a fair chance at winning. But that didn't make them the favourites.
Anyone who thought Canada at home in a Gold Medal game were underdogs to a rebuilding and overachieving American squad with a hot goaltender has no clue. The USA had a terrific tournament. Fantastic. But with the lead up to the final and Canada hitting stride, dominating Russia and having two significant wake up calls at the perfect times against USA and Slovakia it was shocking to see the USA hang with them in the final. USA should be extremely happy with the way their team played....But favorites???? Let's get real.
Were you not on the forums after the win? Noone gave the USA any credit for the win. They were underdogs from the start - before the rosters were picked up until the start of the game. Every accomplishment this tourney was discredited for various reasons.
If anything changed it was both teams were viewed as having an equal chance of winning the gold game. But if anyone had the edge, it was still Canada. But make no mistake - with a ridiculous roster like Canada (especially after they finally started to click), there is no way they weren't favored to win.
I was in several forums before the final... and I can tell you, the majority of Americans didn't seem to think they were the underdogs... and there was a lot of nervousness here in Canada that we'd be beat.
I was in several forums before the final... and I can tell you, the majority of Americans didn't seem to think they were the underdogs... and there was a lot of nervousness here in Canada that we'd be beat.
There were a lot of Americans like me too, that gave us a fighting chance but thought we were going to need to play a perfect game to win. And there were a lot of Canadians telling me that I was crazy for even giving the US a shot at victory.
Most people on this board seemed to think USA wouldn't even medal, they were underdogs the whole tourney. The gap might not of been massive but it was there.
Is it not enough that you won? Now some of you want to portray yourselves as the underdog here? Thats the height of absurdity. The most talented team in the world PLAYING AT HOME can not be an underdog.
USA played at a level above that of their individual players, that is what underdogs do. They overachieved beyond anyone's expectations. Congratulations on your win Canada, but I'm sorry, your team of Hall of Famers and All Stars at every position playing in their own country was in no way an underdog. To suggest otherwise is insulting (which is probably the reason to suggest it in the first place).
You should go back to the threads before the game and see how many American fans were saying that the US was the favourite. Were they trying to insult you?
You should go back to the threads before the game and see how many American fans were saying that the US was the favourite. Were they trying to insult you?
No, they were delusional.
When the thread is asking who was the underdog, I am assuming it wants our individual opinions of who was more likely to win, as opposed to what we thought the general consensus was before the game.
It's amazing how all of this Canadian underdog talk is surfacing after the win. Where were you guys Saturday? Hell, Crosby even alluded to the fact that he didn't think we could hang with them in his post game interview ("didn't think it would be that close").
I'm beginning to think that hindsight is no longer 20/20 around here.
It was just psychological/momentum. I remember back in the first best out of 3 world championship, I felt the same way.
