Hey, Hockey Fans!!

[The Lithium]

Which is the greatest hockey nation on earth?

DAMN RIGHT!!! SWEDEN!! The ladies won a silver medal for Sweden in hockey, earlier this olympics! And today, the men won their share too! GOOOOOOLLLDDD!!!! This is the biggest thing to have happened to swedish sports since... ever!! (Sweden did won a bronze medal in the Wold Championship of soccer '94). So that and this is the biggest thing ever!

Hockey is extremely big in Sweden, and we have the best hockey leauge in the world, after NHL, of course.

Last time I was this happy was when I met Alter Bridge in Paris! I've watched almost every game of this olympics. And not almost every swedish game, almost every hockey match! This is...This is huge! And to be up against Suomi in the final... Let me just say we can say for sure who's the bigger brother!

Sweden has faced Suomi 70 times
41 wins
14 draw
15 lost

Sweden has always been and always will be the bigger brother of Soumi!

[Steve]

I was routing for the Chezk's to win because they had a couple of Nashville Predators on their team but they blew their chance for the gold game. Ended up with bronze.

[The Lithium]

I wouldn't say they blew their chance. I would say they got pretty bad beaten by a much better team in the semifinals... Sweden!

[Dogstar]

Congratulations, Lith! I was rooting for the Finns (after the U.S., of course) because I like Antero Niittymaki. He's been doing really well for the Flyers, and his play in the Olympics will surely raise his confidence a notch or two. He wasn't even supposed to the be starter and he helped get them to the gold-medal game.

[The Lithium]

Why not rooting for Sweden to win? We have Peter Forsberg! You can't possibly be as stupid as Bobby Clarke and claming the swedish head-coach Bengt-Åke Gustafsson made Forsberg play? Peter himself have explained a million times it's not that way! The day before the final Peter said to swedish media: "I don't care. I'm here to win and I will do all it takes to get there".

And besides... Before this tournament Peter hadn't played in a long time. Now he has played some really great games and he will be better in Philly as well!

And Niittymäki? Please... Hendrik Lundqvist, the king of New York! He's the fella you wanna have in your team! Did you see this last save? Amaaaazing!

[Dogstar]

Quote: (Originally Posted by The Lithium)

Why not rooting for Sweden to win? We have Peter Forsberg! You can't possibly be as stupid as Bobby Clarke and claming the swedish head-coach Bengt-Åke Gustafsson made Forsberg play? Peter himself have explained a million times it's not that way! The day before the final Peter said to swedish media: "I don't care. I'm here to win and I will do all it takes to get there".

And besides... Before this tournament Peter hadn't played in a long time. Now he has played some really great games and he will be better in Philly as well!

And Niittymäki? Please... Hendrik Lundqvist, the king of New York! He's the fella you wanna have in your team! Did you see this last save? Amaaaazing!

Forsberg had already won the gold with Sweden before, so I was rooting for Niittymaki. I go for the underdogs a lot . Forsberg is a great player, but he is always injured. Has he ever even played a full season? Seriously, though, I've watched Niittymaki for a couple of years now and he's been a pretty clutch performer. The Finns weren't expected to get as far as they did without Kiprusoff, but having watched Nitty, I had faith. He's young and to be honest, the Flyers had lost six of nine games before the Olympics, so for Nitty, this was a big boost, as he has been the Flyers' backup for a while. He had to fill in when Esche was injured and he won like 17 games. He's a very good goalie.

And people aren't too happy with Forsberg right now, at least Flyers fans aren't. They are commenting that they think he didn't play for the Flyers, claiming he was still injured, because he wanted to rest up for the Olympics. I know the Olympics are a lot bigger deal for you guys than they are for the U.S., so I can understand that. But, the Flyers to pay him to play and they really miss him when he doesn't . Hopefully, he will stay healthy for the playoff run.

[HuMaN~ClAy]

congratulations to sweden! they beat a number of very strong teams... :'( poor performance from my Team Canada this time around, mens that is. our Canadian womens team kicked some ass and picked up the slack for the men. Gold!! woot woot. And the most exciting thing in the past few years for my home province of Newfoundland was the mens curling... schools were shut down and everything so everyone could watch Brad Gushue and the rest of the team completely dominate! hahaha... i'm pumped! bring on Vancouver 2010!!!!!!! Go Canada!!!

[The Lithium]

And so it's official: due to the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) Sweden is now the number one team in the world!

Quote: (Originally Posted by From iihf.com[/QUOTE)

For the first time since this system was introduced after the 2003 World Championship, the IIHF's World Rankings have a new name at the top of the standings. By advancing to the gold-medal game, Sweden has overtaken Canada as the number-one men's hockey nation. The World Rankings take into account countries' performance over a continuous four-year cycle. The current year (in this case, the Olympics) counts for 100% of total points available, the previous year 75%, two years ago 50%, and three years ago 25%. The maximum points available is 1,200 which is awarded to the champion. Here are the top ten nations on the men's side after the Olympics.

1 Sweden--4,030
2 Canada--3,940
3 Czech Republic--3,930
4 Slovakia--3,805
5 Finland--3,765
6 Russia--3,725
7 USA--3,575
8 Switzerland--3,525
9 Latvia--3,335
10 Germany--3,270

Quote: (Originally Posted by Dogstar)

Forsberg had already won the gold with Sweden before, so I was rooting for Niittymaki. I go for the underdogs a lot .

Although Sweden had the best players, we were bit of undersdogs, 'cause the Finns had been the best team in the tournament. But Sweden fairly won the final, we were a much better team that game.

Quote: (Originally Posted by Dogstar)

Forsberg is a great player, but he is always injured. Has he ever even played a full season?

Problably... But why is he always injured? Because of jerks like Ruutu...

Quote: (Originally Posted by Dogstar)

Seriously, though, I've watched Niittymaki for a couple of years now and he's been a pretty clutch performer. The Finns weren't expected to get as far as they did without Kiprusoff, but having watched Nitty, I had faith. He's young and to be honest, the Flyers had lost six of nine games before the Olympics, so for Nitty, this was a big boost, as he has been the Flyers' backup for a while. He had to fill in when Esche was injured and he won like 17 games. He's a very good goalie.

Sure, Nittymäki i good and young, but Lundqvist is both better and younger. In the olympics Nitty was better though, he played really good, and Lundqvist was just okay. But I think Lundqvist really gave his best in the final. That game Lundqvist was way better than Nitty! Watch out for King Henrik, he will just get better and better!

Quote: (Originally Posted by Dogstar)

And people aren't too happy with Forsberg right now, at least Flyers fans aren't. They are commenting that they think he didn't play for the Flyers, claiming he was still injured, because he wanted to rest up for the Olympics. I know the Olympics are a lot bigger deal for you guys than they are for the U.S., so I can understand that. But, the Flyers to pay him to play and they really miss him when he doesn't . Hopefully, he will stay healthy for the playoff run.

First off... Depends what you mean by "people". In my perspective people are VERY happy with "Foppa"! Although people are VERY upset with Bobby Clarke.

And why would Peter rest himself before the Olympics? Please... He actually said no at first, but swedish head couch Gustafsson told him he had to come and try out. He did, and he played. And he's very thankful to Gustafsson for that! But honestly... Wouldn't be better for Peter and Sweden if he had played many games in Flyers before the tournament? It wasn't until the end of the tournament Forsberg was really the quick genious we all know him as.

I've read that the next Olympics will be the last with professional hockey players playing. That upsets me a lot! OS is the biggest thing you can win with a national team. I wouldn't rate World Cup as high, 'cause that's almost during the summer. The players aren't in their best chape. But the Olympics is in the middle of the season and the players are really good then!

Here in Sweden, most of us think that if Canada of US would've won this tournament for men's hockey there would be no professionals playing in 2010. But you want revenge for this fiasco, so you will play one more tournament with the best of the best. Here in Sweden, we are happy to have a pause during the Olympics. I would personally call it a crime to the hockey! And I'm sure almost every European agrees with me.

Anyway... The swedish team was celebrated yesterday in front of 30 - 40 000. Amazing! Here's the best pic I have found this far: picture. Me and my friends were almost front row in the middle. We were there for like 3 hours or something. I shed a few tears when they finally entered the stage to a swedish song called: "We Are All The Winners".

[Dogstar]

Quote: (Originally Posted by The Lithium)

Although Sweden had the best players, we were bit of undersdogs, 'cause the Finns had been the best team in the tournament. But Sweden fairly won the final, we were a much better team that game.

Sweden was not considered an underdog. No one expected the Finns to get to the gold-medal game.

Quote:

Problably... But why is he always injured? Because of jerks like Ruutu...

Meh, every season it's been something. Don't get me wrong, the guy is great, but he is very injury-prone and that is frustrating. Still, he turned out way better than Lindros .

Quote:

Sure, Nittymäki i good and young, but Lundqvist is both better and younger. In the olympics Nitty was better though, he played really good, and Lundqvist was just okay. But I think Lundqvist really gave his best in the final. That game Lundqvist was way better than Nitty! Watch out for King Henrik, he will just get better and better!

Didn't the Swedes get two power-play goals? I don't know, from what I hear, both played quite well, but obviously, Lundqvist did a goal better .

Quote:

First off... Depends what you mean by "people". In my perspective people are VERY happy with "Foppa"! Although people are VERY upset with Bobby Clarke.

Nobody around these parts is upset with Clarke. A lot of Flyers fans totally agree with his contention. If you are an NHL player first, that is your primary responsibility. I've never liked the fact that pros were in the Olympics, for any sport, despite the fact that many Olympic hockey teams get a lot more practice than the U.S and Canadian teams do.

Quote:

And why would Peter rest himself before the Olympics? Please... He actually said no at first, but swedish head couch Gustafsson told him he had to come and try out. He did, and he played. And he's very thankful to Gustafsson for that! But honestly... Wouldn't be better for Peter and Sweden if he had played many games in Flyers before the tournament? It wasn't until the end of the tournament Forsberg was really the quick genious we all know him as.

As I said, he is beholden the NHL first and foremost. The Flyers don't do well without him. They lost six of the last nine games before the break, while Forsberg was out.

Quote:

I've read that the next Olympics will be the last with professional hockey players playing. That upsets me a lot! OS is the biggest thing you can win with a national team. I wouldn't rate World Cup as high, 'cause that's almost during the summer. The players aren't in their best chape. But the Olympics is in the middle of the season and the players are really good then!

Yes, the NHL is committed for the Vancouver Games in 2010, but after that they are not sure. I hope they end the pro participation. I love hockey and I hated three weeks of no NHL. It may help some battered players heal and all, but it sure takes away the momentum of teams that were on a roll. I don't like the disruption at all. I have little interest in the winter Olympics save for hockey and speedskating. The rest just bores me.

[RMadd]

congrats to you Lith. you certainly helped them along! (i'm only kidding, of course).
I was quite impressed with the women's achievement, since they were saying they almost didn't field a team in Salt Lake b/c the Sweden OC didn't think they were good enough.
As disappointing as the US was (1-4-1), I would say Canada's an even bigger flop. They were supposed to take this thing pretty handily, but failed to even make it to the semis.

[JulieCitySlicker]

Sorry but I'm not a hockey fan,although I wouldn't mind having a hockey stick to carry around with me cuz then I wouldn't need a guard dog

[RMadd]

btw, is Suomi just the spelling/pronunciation of "Finland" in Finnish? I noticed that on their sweaters the other day, but it's just interesting to me how that would translate to English as "Finland".

[Dogstar]

Quote: (Originally Posted by JulieCitySlicker)

Sorry but I'm not a hockey fan,although I wouldn't mind having a hockey stick to carry around with me cuz then I wouldn't need a guard dog

ROFLMAO! You crack me up, Julie!

[JulieCitySlicker]

Hehehe