Monday, February 24, 2014

Criticism, Canada!, and the return of NHL hockey.

It was like a horrible repeat of the Boston/Penguins series. Rask in net. Unstoppable. Bylsma's team defeated. But this time it was the United States and not Pittsburgh, and this time a country's and not a city blaming Dan. I'm certainly disappointed that the USA didn't earn the gold, but I'm reluctant to toss blame toward the coaching staff alone. Should Kane have been the penalty shot pick? Probably not. Were there changes that could/should have been made during the last two games? Sure. But could it be that the teams who medaled were just better? I thought so when I saw the rosters, at least for Canada. It's obvious that I have a soft spot in my heart for my coach. He's a likable guy and easy on the eyes. But I can be unbiased enough to assess that one man is not the reason that the Unites States finished fourth. I'm seeing a boat load of articles criticizing Byslma. I've also seen Twitter and Facebook comments saying that "Martin and Orpik are disgraces to their country." Hello! Martin was scratched for the two final games with a hand injury.

Oddly, I'm not seeing criticism for Zach Parise, Captain America. He was supposed to lead the team, no? (disclaimer: I'm not bashing Parise. I will miss watching/rooting for him. I will most of all miss his har.) ANYWAY, while the USA was defeated, I was a little happy That my Pens Jussi and Olli scored. I wonder how Bylsma felt- there has to be a little bit of "Hey, they're my guys!" (hidden behind a few curses of course).

And then there was yesterday's game. After the Unites States lost, I could unapologetically turn my attention to our neighbors to the north in the gold medal game. I promise you I didn't want it to turn out this way- I would have been just as content watching Canada duke it out for bronze. But man did I enjoy watching that game and rooting for my guys. And after all the criticism about Crosby and Kunitz ("Crosby hasn't scored yet; Kunitz shouldn't even be there), I pretty much screamed and did a little dance when each of them had their goals yesterday. I felt proud to be Canadian have once gone to Canada. I was overjoyed for Sid. This picture makes me so happy that I can (almost) ignore that PK Subban is in it.

 
So now tha the Olympics are over, we can go back to our regularly scheduled hatred of NHL players who are not on our respective teams. Give me back my Russians, Fins, and Canadas. It's time to win a cup.

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