And so it ends…
In 30 short minutes the puck will drop in Vancouver, and what is surely to be a finals for the ages will begin. I’m simply too excited to write any sort of an introduction, let’s get this started!!!
And so it ends…
In 30 short minutes the puck will drop in Vancouver, and what is surely to be a finals for the ages will begin. I’m simply too excited to write any sort of an introduction, let’s get this started!!!
One of the more interesting things to circulate both TSN and The Globe and Mail last week was the six-part, multi-platform story where they investigated the possibility of Canada adding a seventh NHL team, title Why Not Canada?. They looked at four potential locations for franchises including Winnipeg, Hamilton, Quebec City, and a second team in the Greater Toronto Area.
If you did not get a chance to either watch it on Sports Centre, or read it, I highly suggest that you do it now. It was a very interesting and intelligent look at the different locations and went beyond the “We Want a Team Here” and looked at the building, corporate support, legal issues, and regional demographics.
After it was all said and done, they seemed to be high on the possibility of a team in either Winnipeg or Quebec, and not so much on adding a third team to Ontario. As much as I would love a team in Southwestern Ontario, or in Toronto, I think that I understand the situation now.
Now it’s been a few weeks since the G20 Summit and Protests in Toronto, but I’m still at a loss for explanations. Normally I can understand things that I don’t agree with, but this certainly is not one of those times.
When the G20 was announced in Toronto, I didn’t understand. They started moving the G8 Summits to small towns, like Huntsville, to stop disrupting local economies, and ensure easier security. So why did they put this giant summit in the biggest city in the country?
Alright, so I thought about doing this for the whole tournament, but my computer broke and I was in Malaysia, and yadd-yadda-yadda. Anyway, I know few of you will believe me, but I thought that Slovakia would make some noise. I certainly didn’t see them outlasting Russia in a shootout, but I thought that they would do better than projected.
Tonight for all of you in North America, or tomorrow for me, is the real start of the tournament. The three marquee matches are underway, followed by the qualifying round, and then it gets really interesting. Everyone is trying to make some predictions, so here are mine…
After 46 rounds of sheer awesomeness it is time for things to get real. With the help of my favourite website in the history of the universe (for this week), WhatIfSports.com it is time for a showdown.
For those of you unfamiliar with this site let me fill you in on a few things. First off, it is AWESOME. Secondly, it is a fantasy sports simulator where you can choose any two sports teams of all time and have them have a showdown. Naturally, I spent a lot of time simulating various hockey games (note: the ‘76 Habs win the most). Thirdly, you can draft your own dream team, which naturally we did to simulate our NOlympic teams. Fourthly, this site is AWESOME.
…and so it ends.
Today we will compelte the final 8 rounds of the NOlympic draft, as well as state our line combinations to compete for NOlympic Glory.
Just to recap from last time, our picks were:
Trontario: F – Stamkos, LeCavalier, St. Louis, Penner, Doan, Smyth, Cammalleri, J. Staal, Lucic, Tanguay, D – Campbell, Regher, Beauchemin, G – Price, Turco
Glenitoba: F – Carter, B. Richards, Savard, Fisher, Weiss, Sharp, Horton, Neal, Roy, D – Bouwmeester, Phaneuf, Green, Robidas, Hamhuis, G – Ward
Again, Troy definitely has the advantage in offense, and made some gains in goaltending. But he is still lagging in defense, both from his back end but also from his forwards.
Which brings us to…
Welcome back one and all to Glen and Troy’s NOlympic Team. Today we are going to have more drafts and analysis to round out our squad’s.
In case you forgot from last time, here are our teams after the first five rounds
Trontario: F – Stamkos, LeCavalier, St. Louis, Penner, Doan
Glenitoba: F – Carter, D – Bouwmeester, Phaneuf, Green G – Ward
So Troy still has to take 8 forward, 7 defensemen, and 3 goalies while Glen needs to nab 12 forward, 4 D, and 2 goalies.
That brings us to the start of round 6 with…