Ace of Spades HQ

February 27, 2010

Bronze Medal Hockey Game- Finland v. Slovakia
— DrewM

Right now on MSNBC. Consider it an appetizer for tomorrow's Gold Medal show down (3:15 eastern).

tmi3rd's take...

Before we get to the real brawl for tomorrow, just a quick moment to thank the Morons for reading... it's nice to have an audience for this stuff, and it's been fun chatting with all of you through this run through the hockey landscape.
Tonight's game may be the end of an era in Slovakia. Some of their key players (Zdeno Chara, Pavol Demitra, Zigmund Palffy) have lamented that the organization responsible for developing hockey players in Slovakia is rife with corruption, and that young hockey players are not coming up through the ranks. Guys like Palffy are at the ends of their careers, and if their laments are in fact the case, it will be a damn shame for the nation's hockey to fade into the ranks of also-rans. During the Iron Curtain era, the Czechoslovakians had some truly ferocious teams, and that didn't change when they split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
In Finland, this will be the last Olympics for longtime NHL great Teemu Selanne, who kicked off his career in Winnipeg by scoring 74 goals for the Jets. He waited almost 20 years to finally hoist the Stanley Cup (with Anaheim), and he has acknowledged that this is likely his last year in the NHL.
So what of this game? It depends- as you saw in the semis- on goaltending. Slovakia has plenty of offensive firepower, and against a goaltender who is anything less than stellar, the Slovaks can ring up a lot of goals. They have the defense to shut anyone down- bear in mind that they put the clamps on Canada after their third goal, and Jaroslav Halak is a very capable goaltender. I haven't seen any word on the condition of Marian Gaborik- he'd been nursing a thigh laceration from practice with the Rangers- but he was nowhere to be seen in the last few minutes of the semis.
Conversely, the Finns play a hard-checking, aggressive game as well. They also have a lot of punch in Jarko and Tuomo Ruutu, all-time Olympic scoring king Selanne, the Koivu brothers (Mikko and Saku), and Rangers winger Olli Jokinen. They have strong defensemen in Kimmo Timonen and Sami Salo, and (absent his meltdown against the US) Mikka Kiprusoff is an elite goaltender.
My sense of this is that it will not be a high-scoring affair... I kind of see this playing out like Slovakia-Russia, and being a 2-2 type game headed to overtime.

As for me, so long as Marian Gabarik comes out of it healthy for the Rangers stretch drive, it's all good.

Posted by: DrewM at 06:03 PM | Comments (109)
Post contains 462 words, total size 3 kb.

1 As a Ranger fan I expect something horrible to happen to Gaborik.Pessimism is how we roll.

Posted by: steevy at February 27, 2010 06:07 PM (AIgNM)

2 Gabby looks okay out there...

Posted by: tmi3rd at February 27, 2010 06:09 PM (u+G1L)

3 Man, I'm all fired up for that game tomorrow. Go U.S.A. Beat the Canucks!

Posted by: Soap MacTavish at February 27, 2010 06:20 PM (554T5)

4 Light night tonight...

Posted by: tmi3rd at February 27, 2010 06:30 PM (u+G1L)

5 Sami Salo on the power play... high glove over Halak. Bad penalty killing by Slovakia.

Posted by: tmi3rd at February 27, 2010 06:33 PM (u+G1L)

6 The look on the Slovak player in the penalty box when Finland scored. The worst feeling in the world captured on camera.

Posted by: qwerty1 at February 27, 2010 06:36 PM (udVuV)

7 I did not know Lurch played hockey.

Posted by: Rickshaw Jack at February 27, 2010 06:36 PM (Kptrc)

8 Lots of people call Chara Lurch... but yeah, that's not a pleasant feeling when you're sitting in the box and the puck goes in.

Posted by: tmi3rd at February 27, 2010 06:39 PM (u+G1L)

Right now on MSNBC

Ick...my TV always needs a shot of penecillin after having MSNBCon

Posted by: beedubya at February 27, 2010 06:40 PM (AnTyA)

10 Was that one billion ads?

Posted by: Y-not at February 27, 2010 06:50 PM (Kn9r7)

11 I don't know who to root for. On the one hand Finland is more socialist and on the other Slovakia is more corrupt.

Posted by: Barockey Obami at February 27, 2010 06:58 PM (/keTE)

12 Delay of game Gabarik. Power play for Finland.

Posted by: qwerty1 at February 27, 2010 06:58 PM (udVuV)

13 It's times like this when I wonder why Hockey has lost ground in our country. It has speed violence and athleticism. Egos are in check and the stars actually bleed for their team. Steve Yzerman is a case in point of that type.

Posted by: Locus Ceruleus at February 27, 2010 06:58 PM (tzcjs)

14 Slavs vs. Scandis? Gotta go with the Slavs, just because.

Posted by: qwerty1 at February 27, 2010 07:00 PM (udVuV)

15 Locus, I think a lot of it involves USA Hockey's recent entry into outreach. It does work in non-traditional markets (look at Dallas as an example), and it even worked in New Orleans while the ECHL was there.

When hockey was at its apex (1994-95), the Rangers had just won their first Stanley Cup, and they'd be followed by the Devils... and then there was the lockout.

And there's Gaborik! Tie game!

Posted by: tmi3rd at February 27, 2010 07:05 PM (u+G1L)

16 Who is Canada playing tomorrow?

Posted by: Bar None at February 27, 2010 07:05 PM (kJ9VQ)

17 Slovak goal!!!

Posted by: qwerty1 at February 27, 2010 07:05 PM (udVuV)

tied up....go slovakia wooottt!!

Posted by: hobbes at February 27, 2010 07:07 PM (WiOnI)

19 Nice goal.

Posted by: Rickshaw Jack at February 27, 2010 07:07 PM (Kptrc)

20 Anyway, Locus, I think the lockout really pissed off a lot of new fans... same way baseball suffered after their work stoppage. The thing I have a hard time understanding is that the NFL ownership is willing to risk the same thing after the 2011 season.

Posted by: tmi3rd at February 27, 2010 07:08 PM (u+G1L)

21 Bar None, Canada's playing Team Saudi Arabia tomorrow.

Posted by: tmi3rd at February 27, 2010 07:09 PM (u+G1L)

22 Gabo is fabo!!! (and one of the main reasons I'm in the lead in a hockey pool)

Posted by: qwerty1 at February 27, 2010 07:09 PM (udVuV)

23 Great game

Posted by: Mortis at February 27, 2010 07:13 PM (QjuDE)

24 That was not a penalty.

Posted by: qwerty1 at February 27, 2010 07:14 PM (udVuV)

25 Yep, that's a cross check

Posted by: Mortis at February 27, 2010 07:15 PM (QjuDE)

26 Well, now we'll see if Slovakia can truly get it going.

Posted by: tmi3rd at February 27, 2010 07:16 PM (u+G1L)

27 Surprising to me that Sellane has not scored yet in this Olympics.

Posted by: Rickshaw Jack at February 27, 2010 07:16 PM (Kptrc)

28 Ok, that was cross-checking.

Posted by: qwerty1 at February 27, 2010 07:16 PM (udVuV)

29 2-1 Slovaks!!!

Posted by: Mortis at February 27, 2010 07:16 PM (QjuDE)

30 Marian Hossa, 2-1 Slovakia!

Posted by: tmi3rd at February 27, 2010 07:16 PM (u+G1L)

awwwwweeessomeee!!!!!

ahem.....um...go slovaks

Posted by: hobbes at February 27, 2010 07:17 PM (WiOnI)

32 Slovakia Goal!

Posted by: qwerty1 at February 27, 2010 07:17 PM (udVuV)

33 Just to be upfront, I am totally pulling for the Slovaks.

Chara, Satan and Gaborik......

Nuff said

Posted by: Mortis at February 27, 2010 07:18 PM (QjuDE)

34 Finland has too many bronze medals in hockey anyway.

Posted by: Rickshaw Jack at February 27, 2010 07:19 PM (Kptrc)

35 yeah, got to pull for the underdogs that have never even medaled.

Posted by: hobbes at February 27, 2010 07:19 PM (WiOnI)

36 That was a bad penalty miss

Posted by: Mortis at February 27, 2010 07:20 PM (QjuDE)

37 They did call the high sticking. 4minutes. Now we will see the depth of the Slovak defense.

Posted by: qwerty1 at February 27, 2010 07:22 PM (udVuV)

38 hahahahahahahaha

Posted by: hobbes at February 27, 2010 07:22 PM (WiOnI)

39 Wait, I missed something- what was the 4:00 for?

Shorty for Demitra! 3-1 Slovaks!

Posted by: tmi3rd at February 27, 2010 07:22 PM (u+G1L)

40 GOAL!!!

Short handed!!!

Posted by: Mortis at February 27, 2010 07:22 PM (QjuDE)

41 Short handed goal!

Posted by: qwerty1 at February 27, 2010 07:22 PM (udVuV)

nice short handed goal i mean

Posted by: hobbes at February 27, 2010 07:23 PM (WiOnI)

nice save by halak

Posted by: hobbes at February 27, 2010 07:24 PM (WiOnI)

44 Finland seems to not want to really work too hard. Kind of like normal euroweenies.

Posted by: Rickshaw Jack at February 27, 2010 07:24 PM (Kptrc)

45 be nice, aren't they entitled to it?

Posted by: hobbes at February 27, 2010 07:26 PM (WiOnI)

46 Watching Finland is reminding me much of Canada in 1998... after they lost to the Czechs in the semis, they phoned it in against Finland in the bronze game. Finland seems to be doing the same here.

Posted by: tmi3rd at February 27, 2010 07:27 PM (u+G1L)

47 Agreed tmi3rd. Also NHL played hard ball with ESPN when they were already losing market share. Dumb. My take on tomorrow. Canadians are going to crash the net and get very physical. I look for a lot of after the play action and running the crease. If the refs don't crack down in the beginning it will get ugly. That is what I would do if I were Canada. Got to get Miller out of his zone. Piss him off and get his mind on retribution.

Posted by: Locus Ceruleus at February 27, 2010 07:38 PM (tzcjs)

48 test

Posted by: GrumpyUnk at February 27, 2010 07:39 PM (gnqgR)

49 Finland seems to not want to really work too hard. Kind of like normal euroweenies.

Posted by: Rickshaw Jack at February 27, 2010 11:24 PM (Kptrc)

Shoulda called them eurotrash.

Posted by: Mike Milbury at February 27, 2010 07:43 PM (xZq4Q)

50 I hear that Miller wife is a .....refrains from gratuitous Slapshot reference.

Posted by: qwerty1 at February 27, 2010 07:43 PM (udVuV)

51 Un oh, Slovakia in penalty trouble.

Posted by: qwerty1 at February 27, 2010 07:45 PM (udVuV)

52 Logprof, the other shorty was scored against the US by Norway in the prelims.

Posted by: tmi3rd at February 27, 2010 07:46 PM (u+G1L)

53 The Finns are trying way too hard to be perfect here.

Posted by: tmi3rd at February 27, 2010 07:47 PM (u+G1L)

54 Well, now it's a game again.

Posted by: tmi3rd at February 27, 2010 07:48 PM (u+G1L)

55 Please God, give Slovakia the win here, and I'll forget the whole Christina Hendricks wish.

Posted by: Wyatt Earp at February 27, 2010 07:48 PM (oJZe6)

56 The Finns needed to do more with that 5 on 3... obviously, they're still in this, but it's a momentum thing.

Posted by: tmi3rd at February 27, 2010 07:50 PM (u+G1L)

57 Oh no, tie game.

Posted by: qwerty1 at February 27, 2010 07:51 PM (udVuV)

58 God dammit.

Posted by: Wyatt Earp at February 27, 2010 07:51 PM (oJZe6)

59 Well, Rangers fans, there's Olli Jokinen for you. Gonna be a hell of a finish (not Finnish; the pun would be too obvious).

Posted by: tmi3rd at February 27, 2010 07:52 PM (u+G1L)

well crap

Posted by: hobbes at February 27, 2010 07:52 PM (WiOnI)

61 " Oh no, tie game."

For who?

Posted by: Bar None at February 27, 2010 07:52 PM (kJ9VQ)

62 Bad time to take a penalty by Hossa.

Posted by: tmi3rd at February 27, 2010 07:53 PM (u+G1L)

63 Man, Jokinen is a goofy looking dude.

Yeah, I got nothing other than to make fun of them...

Posted by: Rickshaw Jack at February 27, 2010 07:54 PM (Kptrc)

64 crrrrraaappppppp

Posted by: hobbes at February 27, 2010 07:55 PM (WiOnI)

65 The wheels have come off of Slovakia.

Posted by: tmi3rd at February 27, 2010 07:55 PM (u+G1L)

66 GOD DAMMIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted by: Wyatt Earp at February 27, 2010 07:55 PM (oJZe6)

67 The "Juice" is loose!

Posted by: MrCaniac at February 27, 2010 07:55 PM (Vol3D)

68 Jokinen finally shaved that dumbass Fu Manchu mustache...

Posted by: tmi3rd at February 27, 2010 07:56 PM (u+G1L)

69 Game over, man. Game over.

Posted by: Wyatt Earp at February 27, 2010 07:56 PM (oJZe6)

70 Lots of time left.

Posted by: tmi3rd at February 27, 2010 07:56 PM (u+G1L)

71 tmi3rd - No, God hates me. He won't let me have this.

Posted by: Wyatt Earp at February 27, 2010 07:57 PM (oJZe6)

72 Wow, 3 goals in 3 1/2 minutes. Slovakia has got to call a time out or something to slow down the Fins.

Posted by: qwerty1 at February 27, 2010 07:57 PM (udVuV)

dammit....nice save

Posted by: hobbes at February 27, 2010 07:58 PM (WiOnI)

74 Ooops, thought it was Jussi Jokinen that scored, my bad.

Posted by: MrCaniac at February 27, 2010 07:58 PM (Vol3D)

75 Slovakia's got good shooters if they can get it set up... but that's a big if. Their synchronicity has gone out the window.

Posted by: tmi3rd at February 27, 2010 08:01 PM (u+G1L)

76 Hossa chokes. I'm used to that.

Posted by: qwerty1 at February 27, 2010 08:04 PM (udVuV)

77 Hakkaa pÃ¤Ã¤le, motherfuckers!!!!!

Posted by: SGT Dan at February 27, 2010 08:09 PM (KLFGv)

78 Does Wyatt's blog lock anyone else up? Wyatt, I like the blog and the babes but something is up because it is the only site that does it.

Posted by: Dave in Singapore at February 27, 2010 08:09 PM (pcJe3)

79 And here we go. Pitkanen trips Hossa and Slovakia to the PP.

Posted by: tmi3rd at February 27, 2010 08:10 PM (u+G1L)

Good evening, morons. I need an assist. Writing a short, non-academic paper for a class, topic: astroturfing. I am using this as my working definition:

a coordinated advocacy movement of individuals or a pre-existing group, orchestrated by someone, usually using some form of remuneration to the actors, in order to simulate a grassroots movement which seeks to change the actions or attitude of some other organization, group or government entity.

If you have the inclination, can you tell me where this definition can be changed/improved, and some examples of astroturfing that you're aware of outside of the government?

Posted by: Truman North at February 27, 2010 08:12 PM (FjC5u)

81 Wow. Zednik juuuuuust missed that.

Posted by: tmi3rd at February 27, 2010 08:13 PM (u+G1L)

82 Magnificent save by Kiprusoff.

Posted by: tmi3rd at February 27, 2010 08:14 PM (u+G1L)

83 Hit the post.

Posted by: qwerty1 at February 27, 2010 08:15 PM (udVuV)

84 And Valterri Filppula finishes it.

Posted by: tmi3rd at February 27, 2010 08:17 PM (u+G1L)

85 Slovak fail.

Posted by: qwerty1 at February 27, 2010 08:17 PM (udVuV)

Truman

a covert, coordinated ..........

Posted by: Dave in Singapore at February 27, 2010 08:17 PM (pcJe3)

87 Ooh, Dave, good. thanks.

Posted by: Truman North at February 27, 2010 08:19 PM (FjC5u)

88 Thanks for coming out tonight, folks... the big day is tomorrow. 3 PM ET on NBC.

Wear your red, white, and blue. Let's get 'em.

Posted by: tmi3rd at February 27, 2010 08:19 PM (u+G1L)

89 See you all tomorrow for the gold medal game.

Posted by: qwerty1 at February 27, 2010 08:20 PM (udVuV)

90 Logprof, one of the things I love about Canadian uniforms is their lack of fear in putting black in them... the Canadian teams as a whole look like a bunch of badasses out there. Much easier to play a good game when you know you look the part.

Posted by: tmi3rd at February 27, 2010 08:23 PM (u+G1L)

91 Oh noez... same finish as in women's hockey? Canada, USA, Finland???

Posted by: BlendXD at February 27, 2010 08:23 PM (awtW3)

92 Really disappointed, but my guys should be proud. As logprof said: "beat the Russians, eliminated the reigning champs the Swedes, gave Canada a hellaceous run, then came so close to bronze."

Posted by: Wyatt Earp at February 27, 2010 08:30 PM (oJZe6)

93 Yo Wyatt-

Team Slovakia rocked in these Olympics... hold heads high over there.

Posted by: tmi3rd at February 27, 2010 08:35 PM (u+G1L)

94 logprof - Yep, maternal grandparents came over from Bratislava.

Posted by: Wyatt Earp at February 27, 2010 08:35 PM (oJZe6)

95 tmi3rd - With the exception of that three and a half minutes, Halak was outstanding. They played above their heads, and made a lot of people proud, I think.

Hopefully, I can enjoy watching us whoop the Canadians tomorrow.

Posted by: Wyatt Earp at February 27, 2010 08:37 PM (oJZe6)

96 From your lips to God's ears, my friend.

Posted by: tmi3rd at February 27, 2010 08:38 PM (u+G1L)

97 logprof - Never had the pleasure, but I really want to go. Heard it's pretty cool, and Slovak chicks? Bam!

And yeah, after I get over the misery, I'll realize that they played their asses off. The grandparents would be proud of them. My 9-year old will be devastated, though. He wanted to stay up and watch.

Posted by: Wyatt Earp at February 27, 2010 08:52 PM (oJZe6)

98 The reign of Bettman has turned me off to the NHL. Too many franchise moves, over-expansion, silly rules changes, capped off by the lockout (it pissed off many older fans, too). There are simply not enough good hockey players to sustain a 32 team NHL, what with the new European leagues stealing back some of the better players. This Olympic tournament has been excellent, but come on, there are 6 all-star teams out there. Ottawa-Tampa Bay just ain't gonna cut it come Monday.

Posted by: Luca Brasi at February 27, 2010 09:39 PM (tr/vd)

99 85 Posted by: Truman North at February 28, 2010 12:12 AM (FjC5u) This is probably not what you are looking for at all, but the only non-political examples I can think of were the MySpace/YouTube actors or musicians who set themselves up as regular people with a webcam when their whole spiel was part of a coordinated effort, often by their labels or managers, to get them fans and internet buzz so they could break out. It technically fits your definition except for the advocacy part. Good luck on your paper!

Posted by: LizLem at February 27, 2010 11:15 PM (DSeA5)

100 Good job in predicting a bronze for Finland when the tournament was starting, tmi3rd.
Althought I appreciated the confidence, I thought at the time that it was way too optimistic for our boys. But here we are now!

Posted by: AG Marcus at February 28, 2010 12:23 AM (A+6Id)

101

Sorry to see the Finns won the bronze...<:~)

I woulda rooted for them but for the cheap stuff by Jokinen and Ruutu versus Team USA...

Posted by: BronxBomber9 at February 28, 2010 02:11 AM (0NKHr)

102 "The market will drive where space vehicles are launched from," Nappi said. "And if we believe in Florida that we have the birthright to spaceflight operations, we're going to be the Pittsburgh of the steel industry and the Detroit of the car industry.

Posted by: typical government-funded hack at February 28, 2010 02:35 AM (qO6T2)

103 "By the way, for any hockey fans out there, I highly recommend the Canadian cult click Bon Cop, Bad Cop. It takes the usual buddy/cop flick, and adds two twists: First, a lot of Canadian in-jokes, poking fun at the Franco-Anglo divide. Second --and even if you know nothing of the Canadiana-- if you're a hockey fan you'll love the satire of the NHL and hockey obsession: there is a fictional league led by a midget commissioner named Buttman, and the villain is pissed at the league. It is hilarious on many levels. Posted by: logprof at February 28, 2010 01:57 AM (omtdM)" For any of you hockey parents out there... "the Tournament" a Canadian "mockumentary" about a Ontario squirt team...scary what us parents can turn into...

Posted by: LtE113 at February 28, 2010 02:51 AM (3NFq/)

104 85 Posted by: Truman North at February 28, 2010 12:12 AM (FjC5u) Does the hoopla surrounding the Blair Witch Project fit?

Posted by: conanthelibertarian at February 28, 2010 03:24 AM (Rxmu6)

105

skechers shape ups shoes under sales promotion, all the shape up shoes are sold nearly at its cost and free shipping. It is really high quality and cheap.

reebok classic reebok classic skechers develops skechers develops MLB trade rumors MLB trade rumors

Posted by: skechers shape ups shoes at February 28, 2010 04:15 AM (BrgO0)

106

JPost;

Iran recently moved almost its entire stockpile of low-enriched uranium to an above-ground facility, The New York Times reported on Saturday.

According to a recent report by International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors, roughly 4,300 pounds (1,950kg) of low-enriched nuclear fuel was moved all at once from storage deep underground to a facility where they can be enriched to 20 percent. 80 to 90 percent enrichment is required for nuclear weapons.

IranÂ’s inexplicable action, which has confused Western officials, exposes the material to an airstrike or even ground-based sabotage. The Times quoted one official as saying the move was tantamount to painting a bullÂ’s-eye on the stockpile

http://preview.tinyurl.com/ycec5v2

Posted by: willow at February 28, 2010 04:24 AM (PtdKQ)

107

Hey, Drew!!! I've been banned from Ace's on my main computer. How about getting my other p.c.'s ISP reinstated before this afternoon's game? [Or at least answer one of my four frigging emails sent to Ace's generic email address?]

Posted by: andycanuck at February 28, 2010 05:22 AM (KdA1d)

108 <a href ="http://astore.amazon.com/skechers.shape.up.shoes-20">skechers shape up shoes</a>
<a href ="http://astore.amazon.com/skechers.shape.ups-20">skechers shape ups</a>
<a href ="http://astore.amazon.com/yellow.box.sandals-20">yellow box sandals</a>
<a href ="http://astore.amazon.com/carhartt-boots-20">carhartt boots</a>
<a href ="http://astore.amazon.com/asics.2140-20">asics 2140</a>

Posted by: Gop at May 10, 2010 05:03 AM (J2INu)