hifigator
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Post by hifigator on Feb 26, 2010 0:48:42 GMT -5
Stig, I have no earthly idea if that story is true. If it isn't, and is in fact an urban legend, then I still enjoyed it and even woke up my wife laughing about it. Most likely, given what I have heard and the limited highlights I have seen, it was true. In that case, then you make a great point.
thornski wrote:
4) As another quote similar to Brooks was reported, as Mark Johnson said - if the US played the USSR 100 times, they'd win 99. The US just won the 1 out of 100 that counted.
I have heard that before, but it never gets old. That's a great quote!
Don't get me wrong - it's possible that some of the members from all of these teams (Ovechkin/Crosby/Brodeur) may go down as some of the better players of all time - but really those are the only three players I can think of on the current Olympic rosters as being put into that category (in the Tretiak/Gretzky/Kharlamov category). And none are American. And just think that even more of those high-quality players are playing for the other team, and that other team being very unfamiliar to most hockey experts, and you have an idea.
Maybe I am being overly simplistic, but I think that is a great point. Personally, I love Brodeur. My roommate in college for all of one semester was a N.J. Devils fan. So I have been a surrogate fan of them ever-since. And for the past decade or so, he IS Devils hockey. I don't know how many games they have won 1-0 or 2-1. From my admittedly limited knowledge, he has been as important, if not more, to his team than anyone over that extended period. Although Hasik did have a really nice stretch. That Dominator pi$$ed me off many times. But I digress ....
Seriously though, I kind of hate the thought of playing Brodeur for all the marbles in his home Country ... therefore, I hope they lose the night game tomorrow.
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CTHoya08
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Post by CTHoya08 on Feb 26, 2010 0:56:33 GMT -5
I also always thought the Red Army Team and the Soviet National team were same until I did a little research after reading some of this thread last night. I think it bears repeating that that team, whose players largely comprised the national team, had every advantage. I don't think the Yankee comparison comes close to doing it justice, although it's probably the best comparison we have. The Red Army Team, because it was a part of the army, could literally draft all of the best players. It was basically an all star team that played year-round. This is especially important because hockey is a sport where having "chemistry" with your teammates (in the vein of knowing where they will be on the ice, not necessarily in liking them) is a huge asset.
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thornski
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Post by thornski on Feb 26, 2010 9:03:11 GMT -5
Hifi - I doubt we'll worry about having to play Brodeur if the US reaches the final - Canada switched to Roberto Luongo for the Switzerland & Russia game - unless something crazy happens in the Slovakia game, I think he'll be who we have to face (which will be tough, he's really really good).
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sleepy
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Post by sleepy on Feb 26, 2010 9:39:02 GMT -5
Ct Hoya back in 1980 the overwhelming majority if not all that team came up playing High school and prep hockey and went on to play in college. Prior to the 1970s and the expansion of the NHL only a handfull of American born players ever made it to the NH for more than a partial season or two. The early seventies began a very slow trickle of players across the border after high school to play in Juniors leagues. However most kids went the route of high school/ prep school again depending upon location and competition. many upstate Ny kids started to go the junior route in increasing numbers. For a period of about 15 years new england prep hockey turned out some great college and NHL level players. This started to slowly change about ten years ago to the point that very few high level college programs even bother to recruit at the prep level at all. Its gotten to the point that the average age of an incoming freshman is over 20.
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CTHoya08
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Post by CTHoya08 on Feb 26, 2010 11:14:58 GMT -5
Oh I'm well aware of the situation now. There are a few guys who are/were in the NHL who played at the high school level in CT in the 90s, including the Drury brothers at my school. Recently it seems like even the kids who play for us for a year or two before bailing for Old Farms or the like end up playing in the NESCAC. I just had no idea what it was like before my time. I doubt Mt. St. Charles is going to continue to produce NHL players the way it used to.
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sleepy
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Post by sleepy on Feb 26, 2010 11:59:06 GMT -5
yeah its been over 20 years i believe since the Mount mattered in New England hockey.
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CTHoya08
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Post by CTHoya08 on Feb 26, 2010 13:45:09 GMT -5
Well their championship streak was still going through 2003. They lost in 2004 to Toll Gate (a public school!). However, being state champion in RI is kind of a joke--there are only 4-5 teams in the division. They certainly aren't anywhere close to being on the level of any of the prep powers, which as you've said aren't pumping kids into college these days either.
[hifi] Even the Mass high schools can't hang with with the Minnesota schools. Some of my brother's teammates went up to Boston a few years ago to watch CM play Holy Angels. Holy Angels won 5-0, and they said that the Minny kids didn't even have to make any dekes or tough passes to get the puck up the ice--they would just skate right past the Mass kids like they were cones. And even Minnesota hockey has a hard time putting players directly into the college ranks. [/hifi]
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TBird41
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Post by TBird41 on Feb 26, 2010 16:21:49 GMT -5
[hifi] Even the Mass high schools can't hang with with the Minnesota schools. Some of my brother's teammates went up to Boston a few years ago to watch CM play Holy Angels. Holy Angels won 5-0, and they said that the Minny kids didn't even have to make any dekes or tough passes to get the puck up the ice--they would just skate right past the Mass kids like they were cones. And even Minnesota hockey has a hard time putting players directly into the college ranks. [/hifi] The Gophers were a national power for 15 years in the 80s and 90s using only players from Minnesota. I think they won 4 WCHA titles and went the Title game in that period.
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CTHoya08
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Post by CTHoya08 on Feb 26, 2010 17:10:23 GMT -5
I'm sure they were all from Minnesota, but did they go straight through from the high schools? If they did, that's even more impressive.
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