An idea to save womens hockey at the Olympics: how about until some other countries attain the level of play that Canada and the USA play at, we ditch the tiresome round-robin routine of watching Canada & USA beat up on helpless opponents and instead just have the Canadian and American girls play a best-of-seven for the gold? That would guarantee you at least four games (and almost certainly more since I doubt either country is capable of sweeping the other) of really good womens hockey instead of just one - the gold medal game - that we get now.
To mens hockey....lost to most amidst the national agony that is Canada's loss to the USA is the simple fact that had Canada just beaten Switzerland in regulation, they'd still have finished in the top four and gotten a bye to the quarterfinals even with the loss to the USA. They'd be in Finland's current position and awaiting the winner of a Finland-Latvia game, with a rematch against the USA in the semifinals if they beat Finland/Latvia. Instead they're on the other half of the bracket and will now have to beat Russia and Sweden just to get to the gold medal game.
It's not the loss to the USA that was costly....it was failing to get 3 points from the Swiss game that really has them in the position they're in.
(And as an aside, that Canada-USA game goes down as the most-watched TV program in Canadian history....10.6 million viewers saw the whole thing and 21.5 million watched at least part of it. That is about two-thirds of the entire population of Canada that caught at least part of the game. Crazy numbers.)
Back to the WHL now....
The Chilliwack Bruins have an interesting promotion going on to try to attract season ticket holders for next year. If you put down a $50 deposit (I assume nonrefundable) on a 2010-11 season ticket right now, you get a free ticket to each of the Bruins' last three regular season games this season, plus one for every home playoff game this season as well. Since they are guaranteed two home dates in the playoffs, you get minimum five games for your $50 - and if they manage to win a few playoff games, the deal gets better and better. And if you don't really want 2010-11 season tickets, you could even walk away from your deposit during the summer and not feel ripped off....
It might be a tall order, but Jordan Weal of the Pats has a chance to do something that has not been done in the WHL in 11 years - score 100+ points in his 17 year old season. Weal has 86 points in 62 games and the Pats have 10 games left, so Weal needs to get 14 points in those 10 games. He's on pace to accomplish that and end up with exactly 100 points. The last 17 year old to hit the century mark in the WHL was Pavel Brendl of the Hitmen back in 98-99, when he scored 134 points in 68 games.
Still with the Pats, a couple folks have e-mailed me for my take on "Teubertgate"....for those of you who don't know what that is, the Pats' Colten Teubert chased Brandon's Mark Stone around the ice with a minute left in Brandon's 10-2 win over the Pats on Friday, until Stone dropped the gloves. Teubert KO'd Stone in the fight and Stone ended up in the hospital overnight with a concussion. Needless to say, some members of the Wheat Kings were not happy with Teubert and let him know on his way off the ice, as well as (allegedly) outside the Pats dressing room.
Personally, I'm not a fan of a 19 year old goading a 17 year old into a fight, especially not when the 19 year old has dozens of WHL fights under his belt and the 17 year old has ONE. If you want to fight and "send a message", go after somebody in your own age or experience class at least. There's 3 or 4 players on the Wheat Kings who fit the bill and would have probably answered the bell.
All that being said, Stone DID drop the gloves and so what happened to him, while unfortunate, was the result of a consensual fight. So you can't get on Teubert for the outcome of the fight....only for the fact that he picked the fight against a non-fighter in the first place. The Pats and Wheat Kings play twice more this season, a home-and-home in the last two games of the season for both teams. Regina will be long out of the playoff picture by then and the Wheat Kings might have settled on a playoff seed by then too, so Teubert should probably be prepared to fight Brandon's tougher customers a few times in those two games....
And lastly, I'm in agreement with a reader who pointed out yesterday that my assumption that Tri-City was safely in possession of first place in the U.S. division is looking like a faulty one. I will update the playoff stretch drive post later and incorporate some numbers related to Everett, Portland, and Spokane's efforts to catch the Americans for first place....
3 comments:
the bad thing about the tuebert incident is that he did nothing the entire game physically speaking then he gets solid with a minute left with a complete non-fighter.......but I have never heard anyone compliment Tuebert on intelligence before and don't think we will anytime soon. He and Brent Parker make a good pair in Regina - completely classless....I'm from Regina - I get to witness this first hand.
With the score being what it was in the Regina-Brandon game, there was absolutely no reason why the other 3 players on the ice not involved in an altercation couldn't have stepped in, rather than just standing there looking at their skates, hoping it would go away. It was ridiculously obvious that Teubert wanted to fight. Nice to see the Brandon players suddenly become brave after both linesmen were between them and Teubert while they were escorting him off the ice. I dislike Teubert as much as the next guy, but it was sickening to watch the sheer cowardice of those players, while they hung their young teammate out to dry like that.
Alan,
I completely disagree with your comments on the fight being consensual. Stone had no choice but to fight unless he wanted the reputation as a coward. There is alot of pressure on these young men to "stand-up" for themselves,even in the face of overwhelming odds. It is part of the "code" to do so. How would Stone be received by his team mates if he did not fight? How would the his coaches react?
If I was his father I would be absolutely pissed at his teams lack of support. I agree that Teubert is classless.
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