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AvsNo26Rocks
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Monday Morning Quarterback - Olympic Edition
« Thread Started on Mar 3, 2010, 9:14am »

Okay, so most of us watched the Olympics, or at least the medal rounds. There were many heroes, there were many zeroes, and there were surprises galore. How about we explore some of these.

Who, in your opinion, was the most valuable player throughout the tournament for USA? For Canada?

Who was the least valuable player for USA? Meaning, who was the biggest disappointment from the hype coming into the tournament? For Canada?

Who was the biggest surprise for USA? For Canada? Meaning, which player did you have low expectations for, but they shattered those expectations and more?

Which team was the worst as compared to how good they should have been?

Which team played at a higher level than they most likely should have?

Who was the overall best offensive forward of the tourney? Best defensive forward?

Who was the overall best offensive defenseman? Best defensive defenseman?

Did this tourney live up to its billing as the best of all time? How did it compare to Torino for you?

Please, come up with your own TQs for everyone to answer. Go!

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sabreschic76
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Re: Monday Morning Quarterback - Olympic Edition
« Reply #1 on Mar 3, 2010, 6:57pm »

Who, in your opinion, was the most valuable player throughout the tournament for USA? For Canada?

For the USA, definately Miller, and I'd have to say Rafalski as well. For Canada, I'd have to say probably Luongo or Iginla or even Heatley.

Who was the least valuable player for USA? Meaning, who was the biggest disappointment from the hype coming into the tournament? For Canada?

Biggest disappointment? I hate to say it, but Pat Kane had a pretty disappointing performance. For Canada, I'd have to go with Brodeur.

Who was the biggest surprise for USA? For Canada? Meaning, which player did you have low expectations for, but they shattered those expectations and more?

Brian Rafalski was actually quite a big surprise for me. For Canada, I'd have to say that Ryan Getzlaf was a bit of a surpise, actually.

Which team was the worst as compared to how good they should have been?

Straying away from the USA-Canada thing, I'd have to say that Sweden was a disappointment.

Which team played at a higher level than they most likely should have?

Considering even their GM called them underdogs, the US team proved they were better than everyone thought. Other than that, the Slovakians were actually better than I expected.

Who was the overall best offensive forward of the tourney? Best defensive forward?

Offensive forward? Um... Probably either Heatley or Iginla. Defensive forward? I'm not sure on that. I'll get back to you on that one.

Who was the overall best offensive defenseman? Best defensive defenseman?

Offensive defenceman? I'd definately have to go with Rafalski. Defensive defenceman? I don't know, probably Chara or Kalinin or someone.

« Last Edit: Mar 4, 2010, 5:31pm by sabreschic76 »

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November 19, 2010.

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Re: Monday Morning Quarterback - Olympic Edition
« Reply #2 on Mar 4, 2010, 3:27pm »

Miller was definitely mvp for USA. For Canada, I know Crosby got "The Goal", but he didn't do a whole lot before that. I would have to go with Toews or Pronger.

I'll have to agree with sabrechic on patrick Kane except for one game. Thornton for canada. Again disappearing in big games.

Rafalski was a surprise for me. He was awesome. For Canada, honestly I didn't expect Morrow to have as big of an impact as he did. Even though I've seen him do it for the Stars, Canada had all of those superstars and he stood out.

Russia definitely laid an egg in this tourney.

Slovakia and the Swiss were much better than I expected. USA was tons better than I expected.

The best offensive forward for me was Toews, or Maybe Langenbrunner. Kesler was the best defensive forward.

The best offensive defenseman was Rafalski. Defensive Pronger.

And yes, this tourney was waaaaay better than Torino. Probably better than Salt Lake too. The games were so intense. It was like The Stanley Cup Finals with a ton more talent on each team. It was awesome.

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sabreschic76
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Re: Monday Morning Quarterback - Olympic Edition
« Reply #3 on Mar 4, 2010, 5:30pm »

I left that one out because I don't really remember watching the Olympics when they were in Torino, lol

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November 19, 2010.

AvsNo26Rocks
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Re: Monday Morning Quarterback - Olympic Edition
« Reply #4 on Mar 4, 2010, 5:52pm »

Mar 4, 2010, 5:30pm, sabreschic76 wrote:

I left that one out because I don't really remember watching the Olympics when they were in Torino, lol

Thaaaaaaaaaaaat's because they were boring. You didn't miss much.

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Re: Monday Morning Quarterback - Olympic Edition
« Reply #5 on Mar 5, 2010, 7:32pm »

I remember my Italian teacher talking about it tons (He still talks about it to this day), buuuuut yeah. That was also when I first really started watching hockey.

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November 19, 2010.

AvsNo26Rocks
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Re: Monday Morning Quarterback - Olympic Edition
« Reply #6 on Mar 6, 2010, 2:38am »

Mar 3, 2010, 9:14am, AvsNo26Rocks wrote:

Who was the biggest surprise for USA? For Canada? Meaning, which player did you have low expectations for, but they shattered those expectations and more?

For the USA, definitely the PK duo of Callahan and Drury. For a couple of guys that barely made the team, they made themselves indispensable in a hurry. For Canada, I'd say the whole line of Toews, Richards, and Nash; they were spectacular when Baby Sidney came up short.

Mar 3, 2010, 9:14am, AvsNo26Rocks wrote:

Who was the least valuable player for USA? Meaning, who was the biggest disappointment from the hype coming into the tournament? For Canada?

LVP for USA was probably a tie between Stastny and Kane; neither played half as good as they were capable, and that extra effort could have gone a ways toward, oh, I don't know, a gold medal! For Canada, despite the GWG, I'd have to say Crosby. For as much as they hyped him all over the place, his face was pretty much on a milk carton throughout the whole tournament.

Mar 3, 2010, 9:14am, AvsNo26Rocks wrote:

Which team was the worst as compared to how good they should have been?

Russia freaking failed, dude. Seriously, could they have been any worse without missing the medal rounds entirely? Probably not. A dishonorable mention goes to Sweden, as well.

Mar 3, 2010, 9:14am, AvsNo26Rocks wrote:

Which team played at a higher level than they most likely should have?

I'd say Slovakia, but I knew from the start, with their lineup, that they were being grossly underestimated by most of the hockey pundits. On the other hand, no one was giving USA a fair shot, and they made it almost all the way.

Mar 3, 2010, 9:14am, AvsNo26Rocks wrote:

Who was the overall best offensive forward of the tourney? Best defensive forward?

Overall...I really have no specific one in mind, though I really was impressed with Parise's ability to raise his game during crunch time. Had it not been for him, the USA would have never made it to the Gold Medal game. The collective unit of Richards/Toews/Nash was also pretty impressive. Defensive forward of the tourney has to go to both Drury and Callahan. They were just too freaking good for the US to ignore. They blocked so many shots and killed so many crucial penalties, there is just no way that anyone on the team could be any more valuable as non-goal scorers and not be named Ryan Miller.

Mar 3, 2010, 9:14am, AvsNo26Rocks wrote:

Who was the overall best offensive defenseman? Best defensive defenseman?

Rafalski took the tournament by storm. Nobody thought that he'd be awful, but I'm sure no one thought he'd be that good, either. Definitely a pleasant surprise for the USA. I didn't really get a good look at teams outside of USA and Canada, but on each of those, I'd pick Jack Johnson and Drew Doughty. For youngsters, they could really bring it to the table defensively. Johnson was an invaluable PKer, and Doughty was everything for Canada. Very worthy defensemen, and if the NHL does return to Olympic play, these two will be back.

Mar 3, 2010, 9:14am, AvsNo26Rocks wrote:

Did this tourney live up to its billing as the best of all time? How did it compare to Torino for you?

Torino was - for the lack of a better phrase - fucking boring. Seriously, if I wanted a gold medal game to substitute for Nyquil, I'd definitely choose another Sweden/Finland final. But for entertainment and overall high level of play, this tourney was, by far, the best I've ever seen, and I seriously think it will always rank up there in terms of being epic.

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