USA men eliminated by Slovakia
This is a thread for anger
Beniers was everywhere in OT, most effective player on the ice, yet did not go in the shootout
USA 2-3 Slovakia (SO)
What a waste of a golden medal opportunity on a platter
FUCK!
Tomorrow is a day to get up for the women going for gold against Canada.
But right now, this sucks.
February 16th, 2022 at 2:00 AM ^
David Quinn is a MUTT. So glad the NYR fired him.
PP was a joke. 5 on 3 and you're just taking blasts that aren't even great shots 5 on 4?
They looked like they had no plan whatsoever on the PP. Idiotic loss.
February 16th, 2022 at 2:10 AM ^
5 on 3 failure is the turning point of the game. Big regret there for sure.
February 16th, 2022 at 7:44 AM ^
I can not join you all in anger this morning. I am not the least bit interested in these Olympics. Save for glancing at a TV while eating in a restaurant, I have not watched a minute of it. The sooner the Michigan players get back to Ann Arbor the better.
Is that wrong? Should I not feel this way?
February 16th, 2022 at 8:14 AM ^
I'd rather have a Big Ten Championship in hockey than a US gold medal in hockey.
Imagine Big Ten Champs in basketball, football and hockey - in a single year (season).
Go Blue.
February 16th, 2022 at 9:16 AM ^
Couldn't disagree more. And at this point I'm starting to think I'll be lucky to see a USA mens gold in my lifetime. Michigan should be winning the Big Ten regularly every few years.
February 16th, 2022 at 11:27 AM ^
I would like a B1G hockey championship, but not that much.
I will say that a medal when the NHL players are playing is substantially more significant to me... but winning medals is still a big deal and I feel bad for the four Michigan players that got eliminated.
A B1G hockey title is not really even the goal for the college team this year. A national title is.
February 16th, 2022 at 8:57 AM ^
You cared so little that you posted about not caring.
February 16th, 2022 at 9:08 AM ^
But I care greatly about caring little.
In some strange way that actually makes sense.
February 16th, 2022 at 9:22 AM ^
fair enough
February 16th, 2022 at 10:24 AM ^
Great line. Good for you.
February 16th, 2022 at 9:02 AM ^
Mixed emotions for me. Would love to have seen them win the gold with two UM players getting to take part in that. But also not going to lie first thing that crossed my mind is will we get two players back for this weekend series against OSU?
February 16th, 2022 at 9:59 AM ^
You can be apathetic. However, if you don’t recognize the importance of the Olympics to the athletes that are competing in them, then I can’t help you. These players left their teams to compete for a gold, so obviously it matters to them. So I definitely care what the outcome is.
February 16th, 2022 at 10:22 AM ^
AGREE completely! Haven’t watched the olympics since the miracle on ice in 1980. Summer or winter. Sorry, not into figure skating, skiing, and luge is a sport? Get our guys back to AA.
February 16th, 2022 at 10:26 AM ^
Only question I have is can we get them back to A2 in time for the OSU series. Anyone hear anything on that?
February 16th, 2022 at 10:46 AM ^
I was going to ask the same question lol. With Canada and the U.S. both out, we could have our whole team back. Depending on when the teams depart, I think it would be a tall task to have the guys play vs OSU
February 16th, 2022 at 11:55 AM ^
They are young, and likely eager to play. So I think there is a chance.
February 16th, 2022 at 1:12 PM ^
I feel the same way, zero interest in these Olympic games get our players back and win a National Championship!
February 16th, 2022 at 11:57 AM ^
Reminded me of Colonel Kurtz calling Dennis Hopper's character, a MUTT.
February 16th, 2022 at 2:01 AM ^
Yeah, Beniers was clearly the best athlete on the ice in OT. Just couldn’t buy a goal.
I really hate how the Olympics can come down to a shootout. NHL playoff OT hockey might be the best thing in sports whereas shootouts are just awful.
February 16th, 2022 at 3:01 AM ^
Olympic overtime sucks, but the tournament is a condensed format. You can't play 120+ minute games if your team needs to be ready to go as little as 24 hours later.
February 16th, 2022 at 7:10 AM ^
Then don't make it a condensed format. Keep an off day in between games (which is what they did during pool play) and it is no different than the NHL.
February 16th, 2022 at 7:45 AM ^
Can’t because they’re literally trying to cram pool play and a tournament in about 9 days. The Olympics are only 14-17 days, can’t compare them to the playoffs which go on for a couple months.
February 16th, 2022 at 7:57 AM ^
Theres no way for it to not be a condensed format. It’s a short tournament played in under 2 weeks. You have to fit 12 team group play and then your single elimination games. it is COMPLETELY different than a 16 team tournament with a best of 7 format that goes on for a month and a half+
February 16th, 2022 at 8:46 AM ^
But it doesn't have to be THIS TYPE of condensed format. What's the point of pool play if everyone makes it to the knockout rounds in the first place?
The format they used in 1980 eliminated any need to play overtime. If you feel they need to have a knockout round, take the top 2 teams in each pool and create one. Drop the total amount of teams to 10 if you want to eliminate a game in the first place--would eliminate a pool game (and with the pros, they really should do that).
February 16th, 2022 at 11:28 AM ^
Using a round robin group to determine medals is a terrible, terrible idea and only the US winning its games and winning gold made it irrelevant.
February 16th, 2022 at 1:59 PM ^
Why?
In a round robin format, the Americans first three wins would still matter. Today, it means jackshit because of one game in which they were tied at the end of regulation and SOMEONE had to advance. The Americans essentially finished 3-0-1 in the 4 games they played and will never even play for a medal.
I get the attraction of a knock-out tournament, but is that really the best way to determine a champion in a sport where luck plays a pretty key ingredient in the outcome of one game?
February 16th, 2022 at 1:01 PM ^
Pool play determines seeding. Seeding determines matchups, and which four teams get a bye. That’s a pretty critical part of the tournament
February 16th, 2022 at 2:02 PM ^
You can seed teams anyway you want. Just take IIHF rankings or use the FA Cup model and make it random. You don't need games to seed teams.
February 16th, 2022 at 3:54 PM ^
IIHF rankings as seeds would be incredibly stupid, based on how those rankings are determined in the first place with different weights.
The FA mode doesn’t make a damn bit of sense for a tournament on the scale of the OLYMPICS, weird how no international tournament uses that kind of model.
Theres absolutely nothing wrong with the current format. It has unfortunate consequences, but nobody wants a damn single elimination tournament with random matchups or seeding based on rankings from years ago.
February 16th, 2022 at 9:12 AM ^
I should have phrased things better. Forget about the term "condensed". The bottom line is if you have an off day between elimination games, then doing OT until someone scores would be no different than what happens in the NHL. There is actually an off day after the quarters and semis, so all they needed to do was start the qualification round 1 day earlier and things would be no different than the NHL.
February 16th, 2022 at 12:16 PM ^
It's not just a question of off days, though single-elimination tournaments make the impact of long OTs significantly less fair; it's a question of scheduling. It's not like the arena is empty for the rest of the day. A long overtime game could mess up scheduling for days if it happened at the wrong place or time.
February 16th, 2022 at 10:39 AM ^
Perhaps an intermediate solution might work: if teams are tied at the end of regulation, first play a 5-minute OT. If the game isn't decided by that, then go to a shootout.
February 16th, 2022 at 11:36 AM ^
Are you advocating reducing the existing 10 min 3-on-3 OT down to 5 min? That would lead to more shootouts...
February 16th, 2022 at 2:05 AM ^
Staying up extra late for a OT loss is tough but even later for a SO loss really blows.
February 16th, 2022 at 9:37 AM ^
How many times did we do this for the Red Wings though when they played in the Western Conference? It was nostalgic for me in a way.
February 16th, 2022 at 2:12 AM ^
What a garbage coaching job by Quinn. USA was on their fucking heels all third period DESPITE the power play opportunities. It was just a wait for Slovakia to tie it up, surprised it took so long.
No Beniers in the shootout? Are you kidding me? Matty was dominant in the game… only US player who looked like he belongs in the NHL. He was so due for a goal, you MUST put him in the shoot out.
On the plus side, Mann had an outstanding game and shootout… and Kampfer was the best D for the US.
February 16th, 2022 at 2:18 AM ^
Agreed on all counts. And Strauss Mann does deserve a big shoutout for his performance. Too angry to focus on that sadly
February 16th, 2022 at 3:04 AM ^
That Strauss Mann pad save in OT was huge. He stood on his head throughout, and he did more than can be expected of any goalie in the shootout. But his teammates let him down, failing to put a single puck in the net at the other end.
February 16th, 2022 at 2:19 AM ^
Quinn should quit coaching.
February 16th, 2022 at 8:22 AM ^
He's no Herb Brooks, that's for sure.
February 16th, 2022 at 2:50 AM ^
Bummer. Team USA eliminated in the quarterfinals in a shootout in both the 2018 and 2022 Olympics. The 2018 team had only four collegiate players; the 2022 team had 15 collegiate players. Considering that the results were the same for each Olympics, it's hard to know whether it's better to go with more pros when putting together a Team USA roster without NHL players.
Guess we'll have to wait for the 2026 Olympics in Italy to learn whether Team USA will be using NHL players again and if they can medal for just the third time since winning the gold in 1980.
As for David Quinn's coaching, this result made me think of the 2015 NCAA championship game when his Boston University team had a 3-2 lead in the third and gave up two late goals to lose to Providence.
The second-period injury to first-line winger Brian O'Neill, the only player on Team USA who'd previously played in the Olympics, and the lingering injury to North Dakota's Jake Sanderson that kept him out of the game might've made a significant difference.
Wonder if (a) Quinn will say why Beniers and Brisson weren't skating together either during the 5-on-3 power play or during the 3-on-3, ten-minute overtime, and (b) Beniers and Brisson could be back in Ann Arbor in time for the weekend series against Ohio State.
February 16th, 2022 at 3:11 AM ^
Silver lining: we get two of our best guys back soon.
Also, I hope everyone gives a big "thank you" to the NHL for pulling out at almost the last minute, which not only put Team USA and Team Canada in a bind (while giving a major advantage to Russia) but also screwed over several college teams by pulling their best players late in the season.
February 16th, 2022 at 8:26 AM ^
The NHLPA made the decision to drop out based on quarantine rules - concerns they may miss an additional 2+ weeks of the NHL season while being stuck halfway around the world from their families/teammates.
February 16th, 2022 at 3:22 AM ^
What a huge bummer! To give up a tying goal with less than a minute left, and then lose in the shootout…just a gut punch. Reminds me of the Red Wings vs Penguins in 2008 - I was at Game 5 when the Wings were up by 1 and about to clinch the Cup, only to give up a late goal to tie and then lose in double OT. (At least the Wings put the Penguins to bed in Game 6 that year.)
That’s the downside of the single elimination games - a hot goaltender can steal a game and send you home early. Slovakia’s goalie was amazing. Mann was great too. Definitely felt like the US had a gold-medal contender this year.
As others have said - at least Michigan’s hockey team could have a few key players back as soon as this weekend! Ugh.
February 16th, 2022 at 5:39 AM ^
Probably too quick of a turnaround for Beniers and Brisson to be back and ready to play this weekend. Even if they leave the day after their game against Slovakia, jet lag is going to be a factor here. We play OSU the day after tomorrow. Id say it’s doubtful they’d be ready and in playing shape. Probably better to let them rest and readjust to US time.
February 16th, 2022 at 9:04 AM ^
They were potentially going to play 2 more games over the next 3 days. The travel is no joke but these guys are used to it. I bet they do everything they can to play one more at Yost on Saturday.
February 16th, 2022 at 9:35 AM ^
The travel is no joke but these guys are used to it.
I'm not sure they are? China to the US is a little different than going to Wisconsin.
February 16th, 2022 at 10:56 AM ^
Yeah. Crossing the international date line is big. I've flown to South Korea and the time change is huge. It"s like a 17 hour flight and you essentially land in the US on the same day and time your flight left South Korea.