thecoffeecake Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 On defense it's slim pickings for them. That's called a weakness. Every team has one. I'm not arguing Russia is a world elite, because I also think they don't have the right build or the necessary chemistry to finish above the Americans, Canadians, Swedes, or Finns, and by the time 2018 comes around, I think Switzerland will be better, at least as a unit, by some distance (at this point, I think the Swiss are at least on par with them). But the fact that they lost to the Finns and don't have an all-star defense isn't the reason they're not one of the best anymore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muevelos Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 Define one of the best? Top 3,no, top 5? Yeah, sounds about right, they've falling bback over the years no doubt.quote name="thecoffeecake" post="1246566" timestamp="1392871148"] That's called a weakness. Every team has one. I'm not arguing Russia is a world elite, because I also think they don't have the right build or the necessary chemistry to finish above the Americans, Canadians, Swedes, or Finns, and by the time 2018 comes around, I think Switzerland will be better, at least as a unit, by some distance (at this point, I think the Swiss are at least on par with them). But the fact that they lost to the Finns and don't have an all-star defense isn't the reason they're not one of the best anymore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Brown Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 How come Semin doesn't use the Syomin spelling on his jersey in the NHL? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ilzz89 Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 Outside of like ovy, Malkin and datsyuk and few forwards Russia isn't anything special at all. Its been awhile since Russia is been really good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ilzz89 Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 Actually ovy was the worst player for Russians. Malkin was indecisive and seemed to be off. Datsyuk was fantastic. But i guess bob, voynov, belov, tarasenko and big nichush nothing special? Where is bar for special players? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ilzz89 Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 (edited) That's called a weakness. Every team has one. I'm not arguing Russia is a world elite, because I also think they don't have the right build or the necessary chemistry to finish above the Americans, Canadians, Swedes, or Finns, and by the time 2018 comes around, I think Switzerland will be better, at least as a unit, by some distance (at this point, I think the Swiss are at least on par with them). But the fact that they lost to the Finns and don't have an all-star defense isn't the reason they're not one of the best anymore. Come on dude swiss are solid, but are on par with team russia? Lets get real here, losing to latvia isnt helping their world ranking either. Edited February 20, 2014 by ilzz89 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muevelos Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 Where is bar for special players? Its called some depth, who you named wasn't no one special. They have forward depth no one is denying that. None on defense. And point is, while other countries are moving forward, Russia hasn't moved with them. Over the past few Olympics they haven't bene anything special. Actually ovy was the worst player for Russians. Malkin was indecisive and seemed to be off. Datsyuk was fantastic. But i guess bob, voynov, belov, tarasenko and big nichush nothing special? Where is bar for special players? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marshall Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 So what are Russia's sports fans going to do now? My guess would be that they do not pick a side in the remaining men's/women's hockey games but instead focus on other sports, but what's left for them? I guess they have that girl in the figure skating. I'm sure that entire country needs some sort of mood elevator and fast. Would "Nordic" have been the proper term? Yes. Maybe according to the way you see the region. How a non-political area like that is defined is determined by cultural and individual perception. Finland is often included in "Scandinavia", as are Iceland and the Faroe Islands. If you exclude Finland from a definition of Scandinavia, then it would either be on a basis of physical geography (i.e, not being on the Scandinavian Peninsula, in which case you must exclude Denmark, as well as Iceland and the Faroe Islands), or on a cultural basis, as Finnish is a non-"Scandinavian" (Northern Germanic) language (it's Uralic). In that case, you must also exclude Sami people that live in large parts of Sweden and Norway. Edit: I could never remember if "Sami" or "Lapp" was the derogatory term. Turns out it's the former. I'd also be interested in hearing what people in that region have to say. People in that region would include me. I think we can disregard the 80 000 Sami from the definition of a 15+ million region. I've always seen Scandanavia as separate from Finland. As you pointed out both ethincally and geographically they are different. Aren't Finnish people ethnically closer to Hungarians than Norwegians and the Swedes? I have heard many times Hungarian is the only language that is remotely close to Finnish and I believe both originated in Asia (hence Uralic) and were chased out years ago by the Huns and Mongolian hordes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ilzz89 Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 Where is bar for special players? Its called some depth, who you named wasn't no one special. They have forward depth no one is denying that. None on defense. And point is, while other countries are moving forward, Russia hasn't moved with them. Over the past few Olympics they haven't bene anything special. Vezina trophy winner, and 2 young rising stars arent special? Okay, going backwards? You sure are a hockey expert. Go check iihf rankings for last 10 years Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marshall Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 Go check iihf rankings for last 10 years Tough to give that much value since IIHF weighs World Championship quite heavily. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muevelos Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 (edited) And what has Russia won over the last three or four?Nada. So much for expert right? A vezina in a shortened season, who hasnt kept that short play up at all this year really either. Russia's defense is slim pickings for sure. And your the expert yourself, " two young rising stars". Maybe in the next 2-3 years, Nich hasn't really lite anything up at all. A young Tarasenko, future looks bright, if he can be trusted and consistent. But being a 20-30 goal scorer isn't a star. Your term of "star" seems mediocre at best. Vezina trophy winner, and 2 young rising stars arent special? Okay, going backwards? You sure are a hockey expert. Go check iihf rankings for last 10 years Edited February 20, 2014 by CarterforPresident Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
njdevsftw Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 (edited) As a norwegian, I can categorically put this misconception to rest. Scandinavia is Norway, Denmark and Sweden. Period. Feel free to check out the wikipedia pages for "scandinavia" for any of the three countries, or any old-school written encyclopedia for that matter. On the norwegian wikipedia page for "skandinavia" there's even a chapter about this common misconception. The culture in the three scandinavian countries is very similar, as are the languages. (We can normally all understand eachother.) Iceland, while being full of emigrated scandinavians, no longer fits into this group as their language has changed significantly (in addition to their physical location ofcourse). Finland does have a scandinavian origin minority on the west coast, and still officially uses two languages, but 95% of the population uses Finnish primarily. Bringing up the Sami people seems pretty irrelevant, as they have always been a tiny nomadic (which is why I'll let you get away with writing "large parts of scandinavia") people with completely different language and culture from the rest the peninsula. Traditionally they have lived all the way up north, where hardly anyone else lived when the concept of "scandinavia" was born, more or less seperate from the general population. It is true that parts of Finland and Estonia have been under Scandinavian "rule" during certain periods of history however. And while I am no expert on the matter, I believe you can say that about areas in England and even France as well.. The Vikings were pretty crazy. Edited February 20, 2014 by njdevsftw Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chimaira_Devil_#9 Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 (edited) I have been watching a programme on Channel 4 here in the UK called Scandimania, and the dude presenting it did not at any point visit Finland. Case Closed. Edited February 20, 2014 by Chimaira_Devil_#9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SterioDesign Posted February 20, 2014 Author Share Posted February 20, 2014 Tavares out for the rest of the season with a torn MCL, islanders are done Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devilsfan118 Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 Tavares out for the rest of the season with a torn MCL, islanders are done Wowww. That's rough. Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
devilsfan26 Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 (edited) Yeah there's no way the NHL sends its athletes to South Korea. No way in hell. And honestly? I'm okay with it. Can you imagine being an Isles fan right now? I mean, they weren't going anywhere this season, but still..losing your best player in a game that essentially doesn't matter (to NHL fans) sucks. Yeah that's a bummer for Islanders fans but it would suck even more for all the players that won't be able to represent their country on the biggest stage anymore because their owners' worries about a few injuries and gameday revenue are more important. If the NHL doesn't let their players go to the Olympics next time around, I can understand their reasons but I will be legitimately pissed off. The World Cup isn't going to cut it. Any tournament that occurs whenever its organizers feel like instead of having a set schedule has no legitimacy to me. Edited February 20, 2014 by devilsfan26 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Brown Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 (edited) Just imagine if that happened to Crosby instead. Even though the Isles will most likely miss the playoffs, this still sucks bad for them and their fans. Edited February 20, 2014 by Mike Brown Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck the Duck Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 Sucks for Tavares and the Isles. However, I didn't see anything wrong with the hit. Injuries happen, whether playing in the NHL or the Olympics. Unfortunately, Count Chocula will use this as Exhibit #1 in his case to keep NHL player out of the next winter olympics, even though we all know its about $$$$$. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadDog2020 Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 There is no way in hell the NHL participates in 2018 now. No way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Brown Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 There is no way in hell the NHL participates in 2018 now. No way. It's also not as if he's the only one. Zetterberg (although he really shouldn't have tried playing anyways) Kopecky Barkov Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 I know Tri has said I'm crazy, but the Isles will be making a very interesting decision as to what draft pick to give up in the Vanek deal, this year's or next's. (Although I'm not sure when they have to make the decision). It'll be at least a top five pick this year, but it very well might be at the expense of losing a generational talent next year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devilsfan118 Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 Yeah that's a bummer for Islanders fans but it would suck even more for all the players that won't be able to represent their country on the biggest stage anymore because their owners' worries about a few injuries and gameday revenue is more important. If the NHL doesn't let their players go to the Olympics next time around, I can understand their reasons but I will be legitimately pissed off. The World Cup isn't going to cut it. Any tournament that occurs whenever its organizers feel like instead of having a set schedule has no legitimacy to me. I totally get where you're coming from, and I feel the same way for the most part, but the NHL is first and foremost a business. There's no way NHL owners are going to lend their most valuable 'assets' to a tournament that won't even garner much attention or further their product (games in South Korea). I wonder what the Isles are going to lose now financially with Tavares out. I know Tri has said I'm crazy, but the Isles will be making a very interesting decision as to what draft pick to give up in the Vanek deal, this year's or next's. (Although I'm not sure when they have to make the decision). It'll be at least a top five pick this year, but it very well might be at the expense of losing a generational talent next year. Slightly OT but related nonetheless: I'm not one for legitimate and obvious tanking..but McDavid would be the shot in the arm this team so desperately needs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 Slightly OT but related nonetheless: I'm not one for legitimate and obvious tanking..but McDavid would be the shot in the arm this team so desperately needs. The Isles have to be considered a bad team until they prove otherwise. So it's not an unreasonable assumption to make that they'll be in contention for that number 1 pick next year without having to intentionally tank. Since it's related, but probably off topic, I'll leave it at that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LucifersDog Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha. You make this too easy. so what's going on here, is this necessary? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LucifersDog Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 There is no way in hell the NHL participates in 2018 now. No way. Why? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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