Get The Puck Outta Here

This year's WJC really grabbed my attention for a couple of reasons:

1. as back in the good old days, this year's teams were quite a bit
more polarized in terms of their approach to the game - the Russians were
more "Russian" than they've been for a while, and the Canadians were more
"lunch bucket/truly Canadian" than in the past. As a result, this was kind
of a "let's see which kind of hockey is better" tournament - sort of "who'd
win a fight between Batman and Spiderman?";

2. we came in as underdogs, and that's just fine with me. If we send a
team out like last year, anything less than total domination would have been
an underachievement. That team should have done exactly what it did - full
credit to them, but really that's just how good they were;

3. this team, in the course of only a couple of weeks, became
exponentially better than the sum of its parts, proving how valuable and
important that is in sport. I love the idea that a group of guys pulling in
the same direction can go faster than bigger, stronger, more talented
opponents not functioning effectively as a team. I also love the idea that
you can't just throw together an all-star team and expect them to beat a
less talented bunch of guys;

Miscellaneous rants:

1. very embarrassed at the shabby treatment that the American team got
from our fans. Since when do Canadians boo another team's national anthem?
Sure, we'd rather see them lose than just about anybody, but that's not how
you behave as a fan and a host, regardless of who's playing. Pretty tough
to claim the moral high ground when you're behaving like that;

2. have to say that the refereeing improved dramatically after I sent
my e-mail to the IIHF. Don't want to claim all the credit, but boy did they
do an about face. Since everyone was so quick to criticize the officiating
at the outset, I think they should also give credit where its due;

3. how about those Finns? Those bastards don't know when to quit, and
boy do they play some gritty hockey. Too bad for the Americans, because
that'll mean they make some wholesale changes to their program, but good on
the Finns. Marathon with the Swedes, complete war with the Canadians, and
then on 36 hours rest right back at it with the Americans;

4. I agree with about 60% of what Don Cherry says, but I always enjoy
listening to him. I agree with almost all of what Pierre Maguire says (at
least the hockey analysis part), but I can't stand listening to that
annoying little shit.

Mr Chin

Malkin & the Russian Mafia
Word is leaking out about a possible Mafia Coaching Job on Malkin... While rather odd he was not on the ice for a number of PP opps, even the Russian Mafia are crazed hockey fans. Canada was just that good and the Vancouver fans were like an adrenaline IV drip...