Unknown C/S said:
a. Quinn, current coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs, somehow took team Canada and had them playing like the Leafs (sub 500 hockey) in 5 short days. (days numbered as Leafs bench boss.....you heard it here first, will be replaced by Paul Maurice
No Quinn? Nice, though I will miss his rants.
Unknown C/S said:
b. Martin, fired last year as Ottawa's coach, and Hitchcock, fired as Dallas Coach, for some reason were the "backbone" of the team tactics????
Martin is one of the best builders however, he got the Sens from nothing, to conference finalist, just couldn't go any further. Hitchcock is the coach of the Flyers, so not sure what you're talkinga about there.
Unknown C/S said:
c. Wayne Gretzky gets himself tied up in a betting scandal that his wife took part in (to the tune of +$500,000). In conjunction with focusing his mind on, the death of his mother, the death of his grandmother and his Mrs spending money like an Arab shiek in the two months prior to the games....................he should have been replaced
Why? He did his job well despite all the above. If he felt he was alright to do it, who are we to say he shouldn't have?
Unknown C/S said:
d. Todd Bertuzzi, on arrival in Turin, is handed a lawsuit for 19 million dollars for his attack on Steve Moore (2003-2004 season)................ taking his mind out of the game, he should never have been on the team
So abandon one of the better centre's that was willing to come back? I don't think so. What he did was a mistake, but that does not mean he should be kept off the team.
Unknown C/S said:
e. More than one NHL all-star turned down the invitation to attend - Yzerman, Niedermeyer, Lemieux.... did they know more than they're saying??? (see: a.)
Yzerman, injured a while back. Hasn't played as well. If he choses not to come, so be it, his choice. HE pulled from the 2004 Tournie becasue he wasn't healthy, he chose to do it again. Niedemeyer, good, but older, time to move on. Lemiuex, heart problems, enough said.
Unknown C/S said:
f. Players not taken or played: Stall, Crosby, Spezza......... all young, and have the wheels.
All young, inexperienced, their time will come. Spezza was on the taxi squad after all.
Unknown C/S said:
And finally a group of over paid "stars" that either could not or refused to play as a team. A complete embarrassment and a black eye for Canadian hockey. They should be made to pay for their flight home and reimburse hotel and meal expenses. Anyone else notice all the wives and kids made the trip???? what's that all about? ("Yes dear and after the castle tour we'll have dinner at that quaint restaurant, I just have a little hockey game to get out of the way. Some more chablis?")
So even though all were NHL players whose break started after the games began, who had 1 day in Canada to practice. They didn't click, oh well, I'm not that surprised, you need to play more toegether to get a feel for how each other plays.
It was a good team. They just didn't play well. We don't know why. So I suggest we stop reading more into it, when we don't know what was going on, indeed, we have no idea what was going on. So why are so many people back seat coaching and second guessing decisions that were made by people with far more game experience than they have?