International TournamentsDiscuss International Tournaments like the WJC, Olympics, and World Cup, as they take place, or discuss past tournaments. performances.
Their failure in the olympics is very overblown, we had one bad game in the tournament and unfortunately it was the most important one. They could probably have done better but so could most of the players on that team. Daniel had 3 points in 4 games and Henrik 2, perhaps not great stats but their play in the last olympics is not a reason for not inviting them to the next one. Their replacements would be a massive downgrade.
They were the go to guys in the most important game and it was their one bad game? Kinda the sedins lifestory wouldn't you agree? That alone is definitely a reason to not bring them, you can be as much of an allstar as you want but if you dont use that skill when it matters then what good are you? Players who gets better when it matters are better then "regular-season-stars" even if they are less skilled.... downgrade?
The Sedin's played with Weinhandl every minute of every game. That's the absolute worst fit I could think of them playing with.
A) The worst forward on the team.
B) A soft dangler-passer-scorer. Meaning exactly the same type of player like the Sedins but 10000 times worse.
If they'd played with... Eriksson, Hörnqvist, Franzén, whoever, I think Sweden's tourney would have gone way different. Bengt-Åke was a useless coach that waaay overstayed his welcome.
And them being bad in the playoffs is so untrue it borders on a myth. They weren't that good the last few games against Boston and that's all most people ever saw of them in the playoffs. They have been the best players on every Vancouver team in the playoffs since 2008. Them not coming through has not been the reason that Vancouver hasn't won, they just haven't had good enough secondary scoring and goaltending.
Edit: They have been absolutely dominating LA tonight. Absolutely dominating. And that's with Daniel coming back from a loooong injury break.
First line with Eriksson, Backstrom, Alfredsson was getting more ice time and that was the only line really working. Forsberg, Zetterberg and Franzen had a combined 4 points.. Sedins and Weinhandl had 7 points and a healthy +/- getting less ice time.
I have a question for all you Swedes out there. Do you guys hate or disrespect the Sedins as much as people from other countries do? All I see around these parts is people trashing on them non-stop. What's their status in their native country?
I have a question for all you Swedes out there. Do you guys hate or disrespect the Sedins as much as people from other countries do? All I see around these parts is people trashing on them non-stop. What's their status in their native country?
They are not very popular in this country, mainly because they never play for the national team, sometimes vancouver goes far in the playoffs but many years it's a "no thanks" due to "family reasons" or one of them wants to go but the other doesn't and they're ****ed up and have to do things together all the time so the other one declines.
And then stuff like marchand punches sedin 4-5 times and he doesn't do anything, that angers people, they are like little girls in many swedes' eyes.
Sweden probably has the best D core, and the best goalie in net. Good luck trying to score.
This is a good line-up. I'd do some minor changes though:
Zetterberg-Backstrom-Eriksson
Sedin-Sedin-Hagelin
Johansson-Berglund-Landeskog
Steen-Pahlsson-Franzen
The wingers can be changed depending on chemistry but this is what I'd start with. 1st line I think is perfect. 2nd, we'll see but the speed and forechecking abilities of Hagelin are second to none (just look at him with Gaborik and Richards) and I think that may be perfect for the Sedins as his job is to give them space and time. 3rd line can provide secondary scoring and all of them are good defensively. 4th line is what it is becasue I think these players would have no problem taking on a 4th line role (and they are very good at it); they are veterans and knows exactly what it takes to play 4th line.
I'm still not entirely happy with this team, it feels like we have a lot of players with the same kind of playstyle, but not many roleplayers/complement players. The D looks alright, and hopefully especially in 2 years, but a lot of our young defensemen are defensive liabilities at the moment. I pushed up Kronwall from a 7th D-spot because I think he'll still be very useful by 2014 (even though he had a bad WC) and his experience and leadership will be worth it. I'm also in for trading out Enström for a big pylon defenseman like Ericsson, someone big who can clean up in front of our net.
I definitely liked what I saw from Franzén-Zetterberg-Eriksson, so if possible I'd like to keep that line. Berglund can also be moved to a centre position when needed. Preferably the Sedins won't play on the first line as they seem to shrink with increased responsibility.
Yeah, why hasn't anyone mentioned Ericsson? he's pretty decent isn't he? I haven't really studied the guy so i'm not sure, but definitively thought he was a decent player.
Yeah, why hasn't anyone mentioned Ericsson? he's pretty decent isn't he? I haven't really studied the guy so i'm not sure, but definitively thought he was a decent player.
Or is his job to punch the crap out of people?
The good thing about Ericsson is that he's big, good at cleaning around the net, and a good penaltykiller. The downside is that he's a turnover machine light, and that he's quite slow.
Silver medal to Canada IMO, beating Slovakia in the Semi.
Possible. I've been saying for more than a year now, that it could very easily be a US-Sweden final. Or it could be a Canada-USA/Sweden final. or it could be a Canada v Russia gold medal game. Clash of the Titans. I wouldn't be surprised if the fix was in for a Canada-Russia final on Russian soil... the hype machine would go into overdrive. Or it could be a Canada v Finland bronze medal game... really guys, the competition is so close, one lucky or unlucky bounce and it's play on or go home. Either way it will come down to Canada Sweden USA or Russia. One of these teams will win gold or finish without a medal.
No way in hell Zibanejad will be in Sochi. Forget about him, he will be a player in AHL for a long time, until he returns home to Sweden - probably playing for aik or some other ****** team. Forget Filip Forsberg for Sochi as well.
Silver medal to Canada IMO, beating Slovakia in the Semi.
yeah, we'll see. given the team i think canada will put together we're going to go feast or famine...i.e. we're going to dominate and win gold or we're going to get owned big time and miss the medal rounds altogether.
why do you have zibanejad in there? is he that good - or is this being optimistic?
any chance that niklas hjalmarsson makes the team? haha...i'm assuming viktor stalberg and marcus kruger don't (i'm just asking about hjalmarsson b/c i'm a hawks fan).
yeah, we'll see. given the team i think canada will put together we're going to go feast or famine...i.e. we're going to dominate and win gold or we're going to get owned big time and miss the medal rounds altogether.
why do you have zibanejad in there? is he that good - or is this being optimistic?
any chance that niklas hjalmarsson makes the team? haha...i'm assuming viktor stalberg and marcus kruger don't (i'm just asking about hjalmarsson b/c i'm a hawks fan).
Yes, I'd say that Hjalmarsson has a strong chance. There's not that much time left, the likes of Larsson and Hedman can't make the team based on potential. Same goes for Zibanejad, Forsberg et al.
what do you think about these players? tedenby, josefson, petersson, lander, erixon, rundblad, markström, nilsson, gustafsson, viktor fasth?
I know they have alot to prove in NHL to get a chance but maybe in two years
As of today Fasth and Markström got good chances to make the team, the other are long shots.
Personally I think Josefson will have the best chances if he can finally stay healthy. He's versatile and can play just about anywhere. Tedenby, Erixon, Lander and Petersson have to become NHL regulars and then some just to be in the mix. I can't really see any of them bring something to the table other more establish guys already are. Rundblad is too one-dimensional right now to be on an Olympic defense. Seeing as Nilsson and Gustafsson won't be in the NHL this season, they won't make it. We got too many goalies behind Lundqvist that are ahead of them.
Kronwall probably shouldn't be on the team at all and if he is he is a third pairing guy. Karlsson, OEL, Hedman, Edler, Enström are all better and Larsson and Brodin will probably surpass him by then. Kronwall can throw ugly hits and that's it; he is a role player in the D and should be a 7th defender if anything.
