Salt Lake City - Predictions
Feb 11, 2002 19:07:17 GMT -5
Post by GNick on Feb 11, 2002 19:07:17 GMT -5
I think Team Canada will win the gold medal in Salt Lake City. The team is loaded up front and have the best defense in the tournament. The only worries I have is CuJo has never won anything before(he may or may not have the composure to go all the way). He is not the best goalie in the tournament and in a short series like this he needs to stand on his head at the right time. The other worry I have is Fleury. I hope his mental problems does not come to light and he embarrasses the country. Fleury needs to control his temper. I predict Mario Lemeiux will put on a great farewell performance as this is his last major tournament.
Russia has the next best chance to win in my opinion. Their lineup is loaded and Russia has been dominate in olympic competition. The players all seem to like new coach Fetisov and the lineup is an all-star lineup featuring Bure, Federov, Khalibulin, Samasanov, etc... Losing Yushevich may hurt on defense but this team has tons of offense and in a high scoring tournament they can do a lot of damage. and I predict the Bulin Wall will be the best goalie in the Olympics. One note - they have the young (Kovachuk - 18) and old (Larinov - 42).
U.S.A. will come in third. They have home ice on their side and history. Remember 1960 and 1980? The last two times the winter Olympics was held in the United States. They are 17-1-2 in the ‘60 and ‘80 games combined. The problems I see with them is age! For the first time I noticed they are getting old. The Yanks are not replacing the old players with young stars. Goalies are Richter 36, Barrasso 37 on defense are Chelios 40, Suter 38 and Housley 38. They may not be young enough and mobile enough on the blueline. Up front they can score (Hull), and talented but their defense will be the downfall.
Czechoslovakia with Hasek leading them will finish just out of the medal round. The Czecks have won three straight World Championships and back-to-back World Junior Championship. But this is 2002 not 1998, Hasek virtually won the gold for them in ‘98 and he is not the same goalie he was four years ago. No Ivan Hlinka also, he did a good job Internationally. They don't have the talent up front and their defense is a little thin in my opinion.
Sweden was once one of my medal favorites but no Peter Forsberg and Calle Johansson has got to hurt big time. They do have the leading scorer in the NHL(Sundin), top defenseman(Lidstrom) and solid goaltending in Salo. But I think they are a little soft on defense and missing Forsberg will be too much to overcome.
Finland is the weakest of the big six clubs. Leading scorer from ‘98, Saku Koivu, is out. Temmu Selanne has had off years the last two seasons and the goaltending could be weak in my opinion. However, if New England can win the Super Bowl any team with Kapanen, Selanne cannot be written off.
My Prediction for the tournament's first team: in net Khahbulin, on defense Niedemayer and Lidstrom. Up front I predict Lemeiux, Bure and Natslund to be the best.
Russia has the next best chance to win in my opinion. Their lineup is loaded and Russia has been dominate in olympic competition. The players all seem to like new coach Fetisov and the lineup is an all-star lineup featuring Bure, Federov, Khalibulin, Samasanov, etc... Losing Yushevich may hurt on defense but this team has tons of offense and in a high scoring tournament they can do a lot of damage. and I predict the Bulin Wall will be the best goalie in the Olympics. One note - they have the young (Kovachuk - 18) and old (Larinov - 42).
U.S.A. will come in third. They have home ice on their side and history. Remember 1960 and 1980? The last two times the winter Olympics was held in the United States. They are 17-1-2 in the ‘60 and ‘80 games combined. The problems I see with them is age! For the first time I noticed they are getting old. The Yanks are not replacing the old players with young stars. Goalies are Richter 36, Barrasso 37 on defense are Chelios 40, Suter 38 and Housley 38. They may not be young enough and mobile enough on the blueline. Up front they can score (Hull), and talented but their defense will be the downfall.
Czechoslovakia with Hasek leading them will finish just out of the medal round. The Czecks have won three straight World Championships and back-to-back World Junior Championship. But this is 2002 not 1998, Hasek virtually won the gold for them in ‘98 and he is not the same goalie he was four years ago. No Ivan Hlinka also, he did a good job Internationally. They don't have the talent up front and their defense is a little thin in my opinion.
Sweden was once one of my medal favorites but no Peter Forsberg and Calle Johansson has got to hurt big time. They do have the leading scorer in the NHL(Sundin), top defenseman(Lidstrom) and solid goaltending in Salo. But I think they are a little soft on defense and missing Forsberg will be too much to overcome.
Finland is the weakest of the big six clubs. Leading scorer from ‘98, Saku Koivu, is out. Temmu Selanne has had off years the last two seasons and the goaltending could be weak in my opinion. However, if New England can win the Super Bowl any team with Kapanen, Selanne cannot be written off.
My Prediction for the tournament's first team: in net Khahbulin, on defense Niedemayer and Lidstrom. Up front I predict Lemeiux, Bure and Natslund to be the best.
but does that really make a difference?