Morons!

1) That is all we can say with regard to the 'wizards of smart' who assembled the 2014 United States Olympic Hockey Team. The results of not even bringing home a medal  is inexcusable, enough, but knowing that it was a result of not bringing enough offense to the tournament, coupled with the fact that they U.S. left some of their better scorers at home, and you get what we got...patheticness.

2) The sentiment among the USA managers were that since the games were going to be played on the bigger ice surface that it made sense to bring swift skaters, and not the bigger, 'slower' plodder types to Sochi.  The problem is that the eventual winner, and the pre-tournement favourites, Canada didn't play into that thought process. They intuitively knew their big mobile defense could negate most teams fast skaters. They were proven correct.  While players like Phil Kessel scored at will against lesser competition, he and his teammates were NO match for Canadian defense

3) Would players like Bobby Ryan and Kyle Okposo have made a difference?  We believe absolutely. Both are not only great with their hands, but are bulls in a china shop types who wouldn't wilt at the site of the big mobile Canadian defense. Would it have been enough is hard to say, but to leave 2 of your best forwards home, and to have that be the single biggest difference between bringing home at least a Bronze and nothing leaves us to the conclusion that the morons who assembled the team failed!

Olympic Hockey Predictions/Preview

1)  With the Sochi games already underway and the hockey tournament set to commence this Wednesday when Czech Republic plays Sweden to start the road to gold. There are 12 teams broken into 3 4 team groupings.  Group A has Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, USA.  Group B has Austria, Canada, Finland, Norway.  Group C has Czech Republic, Latvia, Sweden, Switzerland.  Each group has the heavy favourites A- Russia, B- Canada, C-Sweden. Of the 3 C appears the weakest, and A the strongest, but overall since ALL 12 teams will advance beyond the ' preliminary round the biggest thing to p;lay for will be seeding and a bye. They will be seeded 1 through 12 based on their preliminary round performance. The top four teams earn a bye to the quarterfinal round. The fifth seed will take on the 12th seed in the qualification round, the sixth seed  the 11th seed, etc. The next round is Single elimination. So you lose, you're out!

2)  We will go through each group, discussing each teams' chances/strengths/weaknesses. Listing our predicted order of finish

Group A-

• USA: Put together by general manager David Poile who it appears had the roster determined before the season even started. Leaving off the roster Kyle Okposo, Bobby Ryan and Keith Yandle.One of the biggest assets the United States has is between the pipes. Both Ryan Miller and Jonathan Quick are top 5 in the NHL and can carry the team for 2 weeks. The American leadership core will build on that experience with a talented group of teammates in Sochi. Team USA boasts an impressive mix of speed, size, grit and scoring punch despite the Ryan and Okposo snubs.They should win 2 of their 3 prelim games
• Russia:Normally home ice is an advantage, but NOT here! That said, the Russians have one of the most dangerous offenses out of any team in the Olympic games. With Datsyuk, Ovechkin  Malkin  Kovalchuk, Anisimov and Alex Semin. but the team's bottom-six forwards could leave some defensive holes.Aside from Markov, Tyutin and Slava Voynov, no names jump out at you on the Russian back line.  The difference from past teams could be in  net where Vezina winner Sergei Brobrovsky and Semyon Varlamo could make up for defensive deficiencies, possibly allowing them to sweep the prelim round
• Slovakia: Not nearly as strong as in past years when they were a dark horse to medal. With the aging/retirements of some big name Slovak talents the team is now undermanned compared with the powers like the USA/Russia.  That said with Chara on D, Halak in net and with Marian and Marcel Hossa along with the stellar play of youngster Tomas Tatar gives Slovakia good scorers on their top lines.  They will probably beat Slovenia, then they're done
• Slovenia: Only Kopitar has extensive NHL experience. That will definitely hurt in a group that is loaded with it otherwise.In a group that is packed teams that are chock full of NHL players, the Slovenians are at a severe disadvantage in that department. Any points they achieve will be a surprise

Group B-

• Canada: As is always the case, Canada enters Sochi as the prohibitive favorite to win the gold medal.The defending champion Canadians head to Sochi without the benefit of home ice advantage that they had in Vancouver 2010, but still with one of the most formidable rosters in the competition. There are definite goaltending question marks though with Canada bringing Carey Price, Roberto Luongo and Mike Smith to Sochi.  Canada could probably field 2 rosters of forwards to no problem there. Can they outscore everyone?  They should easily win 2 games in the prelim round, but we could see an upset against the pesky Finns
• Finland: They are the defending bronze medallists in the tournament.Finland comes into the Olympics with a blend of fresh faces and old legends. Finland has included a familiar face, 43-year old Teemu Selanne. With  Lehtonen,  Niemi, and Rask in  net the Finns can probably make up for their less than stellar defensive corps. Pittsburgh rookie Olli Maatta could be a difference maker here.  As we alluded to earlier the Finns will likely beat the 2 weaker group members and could pull off an upset over power house Canada to gain a first round bye
  
• Austria:The Austrians make their first Olympic appearance in Sochi. Only Islander fans will be rooting for/care about Team Austria with Grabner/Vanek being their only legit players.  Defense appears a problem but goalie Bernard Starkbaum, who, plays in the Swedish Elite League, will be no pushover in net. He has been one of the better goaltenders in the SEL this season.  That said, at best they beat Norway in the Prelims
• Norway:The Norwegians enter their second consecutive Olympic tournament and are looking for the first win.  Sorry Square-heads,don't expect it to happen this time. Norway will bring in one player that currently makes his living in the NHL, Rangers winger Mats (I'm NOT a WOP) Zuccarello. Goalie Lars Haugen is a KHL regular and starts for Minsk and could keep the team in games but an utter lack of depth at any other position  will doom them to another last place finish in their Group
  

 Group C-

• Sweden: The Swedish team boasts a deep lineup at all three levels: forward, defense, and goaltender. But I guess that’s what happens when a country (Like Canada and the USA) fields a roster nearly entirely comprised entirely of NHL players. This is the first Olympics of the NHL era that will not feature legend Nicklas Lidstromand we feel this could be huge later in the tournament.  Of course Ekman-Larsson and Erik Karlsson and Kronwall aren't chopped liver either.  In  net Lundqvist is still among the very best goaltenders in the game, and as such, gives Sweden a legitimate shot at winning, but overall we don't like the chemistry of the team, especially up front. They should though win their 3 prelim games to get a bye in to the Quarters
• Switzerland:  Switzerland is fast emerging onto the world stage as a legitimate hockey power.There are no superstars on the roster,  but Isles fans will lament seeing Niederreiter and
  Streit playing for the Swiss as top players. Some said that Jonas Hiller was the best player in the entire 2010 Vancouver Olympics, and as we know goal tending is always huge, especially i  a short tournament. They also  have a formidable defense so an upset over Sweden wouldn't be a shock, though more likely they will win 2 of their 3 prelim games
• Latvia:  The Latvians make a fourth consecutive Olympic appearance and they always provide a respectable level of competition for the contenders, but never good enough to achieve an upset, but can you take a team seriously that has 45 year old Sandis Ozolinsh as one of its top blue liners?  Will he be sober? They might be able to beat the elderly/undermined Czechs, but we expect little else
  
• Czech Republic: Lets just say any team adding a 48 year old Peter Nedved is in deep trouble.  Additionally they have Jaromir Jagr who despite having a good season in Jersey, is also 48. Where is Dominic Hasek? We don't like any aspect of this roster. Sure we're happy JJ is having a Renaissance in NJ but he's not going to propel an undermanned team into a medal run.  In fact we wouldn't be shocked to see them finish dead last in their Group and easily dispatched in the medal round. Not this time Czechs!

3) On to the medal round. Here we expect to see the Russians, Canadians, Americans and Finns to win byes.  As for the other 8 we see the Swiss, Slovaks, Czechs and Austrians advancing to the Quarters. From there we don't like the Americans or Russians to go past here, while we wouldn't be shocked to see the Finns and Swiss upset a top qualifier leading to our final prediction. Yes, Canada will move to the semis and we can see a Canada-Finland Final where a rematch of the opening round will be seen.  Could we see the Finns beating the much heralded Canadians twice in 2 weeks?  We say absolutely.  So we are on record saying that we predict the Gold medal will be won by Finland. Silver for Canada and Bronze for   Switzerland.

Week 19-Results

The final Saturday before the Olympic hiatus is underway.  Players are either on their way to Socchi or on a weeks vacation.  For the night we rebounded from last week and went a solid 7-3 to bring our season totals to 136-73 for a .650 winning %.  Additionally we added to our impressive 'locks' as we squeaked one out to go an amazing 18-1 on  the season.  Believe it or not we won't be back at this until March 1 when 10 games will be played.  In the mean time look for our much anticipated Olympic Prediction post set to drop Tuesday. We will also continue to monitor trade rumors and pass along any credible news
As always keep it here for the latest!

Week 19 Predictions

1) Wow, we're are finally almost here. The Olympic break starts after tonight when players will be released to join their various countries and other players get a week off from practice, etc.  First we want to thank our sources who were essentially spot on  in  predicting that yesterday would be a thud!  Anyway, we now have today's picks of games our last for 3 weeks. Thus far on the season through 18 weeks we are 129-70, or a .648 winning %. 



Calgary at Philadelphia: Flyers

 Winnipeg at St. Louis: Blues (Lock of the Week)

 Ottawa at Boston: Bruins

 Vancouver at Toronto: Canucks

 Montreal at Carolina: Habitants

 Detroit at Tampa Bay: Red Wings

 Colorado at NY Islanders: Avalanche

 New Jersey at Washington: Devils

 Anaheim at Nashville: Ducks

 Phoenix at Dallas: Stars

Thud!

1) The NHL trade deadline is March 5, but the prevailing sentiment is that with a looming roster freeze during the Olympic break (Feb. 7-23) there actually will be only 24 days for GM's  to swing any deals so we should expect a flurry of trades. To be fair  by the time the Olympics are over teams will have a mere 10 days before rosters are set for the upcoming playoff push.  As always, the questions teams have to answer is are they 'buyers' or 'sellers'?  With the loser point and inter divisional play keeping almost every team mathematically in the playoff race its difficult for even teams near the bottom to sell their fan bases that they are giving up, especially this early from season's end.  Its one thing to sell off assets in March, but early February when there are still 30 or so games left? 

2) A look at the current standings in the East show only Florida and Buffalo, and probably the NY Islanders clearly out of the playoff race.  The Sabres are even as much as 20 points from the last 'wild card' spot. While in the West, Calgary and Edmonton (Alberta, we feel for ya!) are in a similar position as Fla and Buf.  in the East. Both clearly out of contention.  Probably 2-3 other teams are long shots. So at best that makes 7 sellers and 23 buyers?  Not a good situation if you're a contending team looking to add a needed asset before the deadline to complete the roster prior to the playoffs. In addition to the usual  teams looking to trade players for prospects/picks there are also some impending UFA's for which even playoff bound teams will have to decide to try to deal, resign or risk losing them for nothing.  Players like Callahan/Girardi, Vanek/MacDonald in NY for instance are long rumored to be on the move if an extension can't be worked out. However, from talking with many folks 'on the ground' throughout the league we're told that its more likely than not that teams will stand put on February 7th.  Why?

3) So why will it be quiet?  Economics of course.  Most of the 'buyers' are close to the cap max so swinging a deal now would be much more difficult than if its consummated in 3 weeks when an additional amount of salary has been eaten up.  Yes, its not a huge amount, but when a team has a million or less of cap wiggle room that could mean the difference between adding a Vanek or having to pass. A Western conference asst GM told Fauxrumors to expect that "there will probably be a few small level deals, but it won't involve the 'big ticket items".  Additionally teams are wary about some players (like Vanek) who are going to Sochi next week and don't want to pay for someone now, AND risk losing them to an injury even before they play a game for their new team. So expect the big day to be in  March and from we've been told it will be "significantly more active" than previous years. In the mean time this artificial deadline will go by with a Thud!

Week 18 Results

Our worst week in quite some time.  For the day/night we went a miserable 5-6 (our first losing week this season!) to bring the season totals to 129-70, or a .648 winning %. We did manage to easily win our 'Lock' to elevate that stat to an incredible 17-1.  Look for week 19 next Saturday(the last before the Olympic break) when 10 games are scheduled.
Look for our post this week on trade rumours. We feel the run up to the Olympic break trade freeze could turn out to be nearly as busy as the actual March trade deadline.
As always, keep it here for all the latest!

Week 18 Picks

 A new month and a new week. The 18th of the NHL season.  The second to last until next Sunday's Olympic 2 week hiatus. Thus far we are 124-64 for a .660 winning %


Edmonton at Boston: Bruins
 
Tampa Bay at Montreal: Habitants

 Buffalo at Colorado: Avalanche (Lock of the Week)

 Philadelphia at Los Angeles: Kings

 Ottawa at Toronto: Senators

 Florida at Columbus: Blue Jackets

 Nashville at St. Louis: Blues

 Pittsburgh at Phoenix: Coyotes

 Minnesota at Calgary: Wild

 Dallas at Anaheim: Ducks

 Chicago at San Jose: Black Hawks