Tenders Lounge is taking an early look at the potential goalie lineups for the 2010 Winter Olympic hockey tournament in Vancouver. The first segment of the series reviewed Team Canada, a team that many assumed had their two goalies lined up but after some playoff surprises could be making some changes. This segment looks at Team USA who, for a refreshing change, will be looking anywhere but the crease for potential weaknesses to correct.
Tim Thomas is a lock for one of the two spots on Team USA and gives them the type of goaltending that can steal a game from Canada or Russia. Playing on NHL-sized ice will help Thomas, who's style is rarely as quiet as this reflective moment.
Steve Yzerman recently attended the World Championships in Switzerland to scout for the 2010 Olympics. With that in mind, and after some surprise performances in the first two rounds of the playoffs, the time has come to begin the goalie watch for the Games. The Canadian home ice advantage, the use of an NHL-sized ice surface and the league’s unwillingness to commit to the 2014 games in Sochi, Russia are laying the groundwork for what could be the best hockey tournament of all time. So it’s only fitting to expect the best display of goaltending. Most countries will hold summer camps and then evaluate the first half of next season before will making their final decisions but we say let the armchair quarterbacking begin! The top contenders for the gold medal will each need to make some potentially difficult decisions so Tenders Lounge will dedicate separate posts to the medal contenders. First up, the home team Canadians.
Not only are does Team Canada face the pressure of being the host country but they also need to remove the bitter taste from a 7th place finish at the 2006 Torino games.
Luongo and Brodeur were expected to reprise their roles from Torino. Will anyone push them out of the picture?
It’s one thing for Sean Avery to swing his stick or fists at an opposing goalie’s head. But even Avery wouldn’t swing at his own goalie! (he wouldn’t, would he?)
Tomas Surovoy (except for an obituary this should be the last you read of him) swung his stick at Jaroslav Halak’s head after the goalie gave up a goal in Slovakia’s game against the Czech Republic in the IIHF World Championship going on in Switzerland. Czech-Slovak games are tough enough without players turning on each other.
Watch Halak’s response after the swing. Either he is an incredibly easy going guy or he is just so stunned that he has no idea how to react. He probably thought it was a Czech player and was looking to his teammate for help! It may be tough playing in Montreal but at least there you only have to deal with the viciousness of your own fans.
And how about those announcers? Can someone who speaks Slovakian please translate for me? The tone in their voice sounds like they’re watching paint dry! Their goalie just took an axe chop to the head and they have the reaction of Eyore on a rainy day!
UPDATE: Apparently the broadcast is Finnish and not Slovakian. Would they have shown more emotion if it had been a Swedish goalie facing the axe?
Imagine how good the late-70's Canadiens would have been if someone actually had bred Ken Dryden with an East German border guard? Scary. In many ways! "Get Fuzzy" comic by hockey fan Darby Conley.
Tim Thomas offers some words of encouragement to Carey Price after Price suffered the wrath of Canadiens' fans in game four.
Montrealers like to think of themselves as sophisticated sports fans, especially when it comes to hockey. In truth they are ignorant, arrogant and obnoxious hockey snobs who view the Stanley Cup as their birthright. Nevermind the fact they chased the Expos out of town by ignoring them, or the fact their CFL franchise died twice before moving to a minor league stadium, leaving the city with just one major league team to obsess over. They were at their moronic best in mocking Carey Price as the Canadiens were swept by the Bruins.
Watch for the split screen toward the end of the video comparing Price’s actions with those of Patrick Roy in 1995.
The comparisons to Roy’s antics when he was left in net to face an onslaught by the Detroit Red Wings were easy and immediate. Will Montreal fans boo Price out of town the same way they did with Roy? Or will both the fans and the goalie shake it off and forget about it? Price will likely shake it off but I can’t imagine the Montreal media will let him forget about it as they will be seeking scapegoats for why the 100th Anniversary season went awry. Coach and GM Bob Gainey defended his goalie immediately after the game but Habs fans have long memories.
No hockey player ever wants a long summer simply because it means he had a short season, but this summer might not be long enough for Price to escape the wrath of Montreal’s fans and media. Price has one year left on his contract before becoming a Restricted Free Agent. Assuming Gainey is taking the long view and that Price can shake this off there should be no need for either side to be considering a change of scenery. But if the Canadiens’ greatest goalie in team history can be run out of town then anything is possible.
With apologies to Patrick for rubbing salt into a wound long since closed, this video shows the low-lights of his last game in Montreal, concluding with his verbal attack on then-president Ronald Corey.
