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anyone else got it on?
yanks just forced extra time with a late equalizer

I'm watching, getting quite interested in Ice Hockey at the mo.  Very much enjoyed the dramatic ending.

Makes for an exciting finish. Extra time, 'Golden Goal' stylee isn't it? Although penalties would be interesting to watch. I'm semi-supporting Canada, just because, but I won't lose any sleep over it if they lose!

is it next goal wins then?

goooooooooooooooooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaalllllllllllllllllll

Jolly good show.

Quality game, glad the Canadians won as I love the country and love the sport. Their passion for it is insane over there, it means more to them than football does to us!

Crosby will grab the headlines for the winner but he was shit the whole game and was pretty dire the whole tournament. He is Canada's poster boy to be fair but he is nothing compared to what Gretzky was.

You're only saying that because you were slagging him off right before he scored :D

Glad the US took it to overtime, it would've been a fullscale fairytale for them to win (absoultely nobody thought they'd be anywhere near Canada at this Olympics, they US team is quite weak compared to the Canadian team, but they work as a team, whereas Canada seems to just be a team of stars that sometimes works together.

Tails, i agree about Crosby, he's been invisible this tournament. I am looking forward to the NHL resuming though, i miss the fights! :D

What a stupid thing to say. Just plain wrong, we've had a passion for football since before Canada even existed. And if they like it so much why can't they invent a third chant. Wank.

I saw the Boston Bruins (just before Joe Thornton left) beat the Florida Panthers. It was good fun plus Dropkick Murphys performed at Half-Time and Full-Time too.

I went to see Tampa Bay Lightning v Hartford Whalers (I don't think they exist anymore). Hartford won 5-2 in a very hard match, some guy got about 40 minutes of accumulated sin bin action for about 10 offences. Ice Hockey is a brilliant spectator sport if you can ignore the fact the Americans seem more interested in their food and drink than actually watching the bloody game.

you're right bob, unfortunately the Whalers don't exist any more, they were moved to Carolina and became the Hurricanes. a proper shame, the whalers jerseys were AWESOME, and Carolina, apart from starting every game with a hurricane siren (air raid siren to you and me) there's nothing much worth to mention about them. :P

Great game, great result. Seen a few nhl games at leafs, san jose and dallas. Definitely passionate people, but they show it at the game in their own way. Nearly no away fans doesn't help i suppose. Best jipping of the opposition was at san jose. Their ex netminder returned after slaging them off in the press. Imagine 20,000  yanks doing the slow "taylor" chant.

He was shit though. He did nothing all game then fucked up that breakaway towards the end of the 3rd which would have sealed it. For someone who is supposed to be one of the best players in the world it was a poor show. I rate Ovechkin a lot more than Crosby.

Good game overall. I didn't think the Yanks really went for Canada like they did in the group game. They didn't seem to be as up for it. Maybe Canada had more confidence after hammering Russia in the quarters?

I went to watch the Maple Leafs against Pittsburgh Penguins, there was a good few hundred Pittsburgh fans there (nearly every single one donning a Crosby jersey). They were bloody loud to be fair but totally drowned out by the Maple Leafs fans despite the fact that they were starting to get battered. The support is ridiculously loyal, and really fucking loud too. It really made me realise how crap Swindons support truly is.

Also the total pride with which the Canadians sang the national anthem, and the respect they gave the American one was pretty awesome in itself. Walking up to the Air Canada Centre there's the Maple Leaf symbol on the pavements and everything!

Re: away fan  numbers - I guess we got unlucky with the hockey games we've been to. That said last time we were in Toronto was basketball palyoffs (Leafs had stuffed the Hockey by then). There were one or two Orlando magic fans about and they got some serious goading :)

The Air Canada is nice, but I preferred the Maple Leaf Gardens for some reason. I guess its like preferring the County Ground to a Madjetski clone.

Onto crowds, the 'deeefence,  deeefence" type stuff is boring but we've had a few odd ones
- "Pizza"-San Jose Sharks - Apparently 4 in the net Pizza we get.
- Shouting the "STAR"  spangled banner in Dallas made me jump about 4 foot.
-  "Who wants a green card (who who, who who)" (to unsuprisingly who let the dogs out) - Canada v Mexico in proper football.
- "Belfour..Belfour" - as already mentioned the eerie slow chant. He ended up at the Leafs

I travelled from Vancouver to Calgary in 2004 when the Calgary Flames were in the Stanley Cup v Tampa Bay Lightning; met loads of Flames fans occupying many bars  :) "Go Flames Go"

gonna go against the grain here, and put it out there...

the usa vs canada ice hockey final was by far the least exciting event i have watched in the whole winter olympics.

so there.

What grabbed you then OF, Curling?

Silly scummer! Did the halfpipe feel more like home when you watched it? (Two big tall side structures, only enough fans that they fill the very end and at the opposite end, a gate, open fields and blue sky?)

You voluntarily watch Oxford so your opinion is null and void!

Only joking, I know it isn't for everyone but I fucking love it!

curling seems to be in a bit of a trough as far as sports go, it needs something to liven it up i think, get it back to being popular like it was however many years ago. they should do it in the dark with neon stones, neon markings, neon lycra suits, strobes, lasers, and a bit of drum and bass when the stone is released. or maybe introduce a bonus stone, which has a small explosive charge.

come on though, that ice hockey was shit. it went on for fucking hours (2 maybe?), i don't get how americans can be such stupid inattentive imbeciles yet are able to watch baseball, american football, and ice hockey which take a whole evening to play. they probably go more for the opportunity to eat for the whole time, with the small bonus of some live sport on the side.

its a gay sport. you can barely see the fucking puck. they've got people going on and off the ice all the time, i'm not sure why they do it, and i don't like it. are they tired? it can't be tactics. their fights are pussy, they've got all that padding and a helmet on so its not as though they do any real damage, plus as soon as it happens all the refs skate over and pull them off each other. but the actual game itself seems to involve lots of end to end stuff, people messing up all the time or just wacking it round the bit at the end which curves, little passing or tackling or.... i dunno.

basically its shite.

The olympic refs broke the fights up but in the NHL they let them get on with it. Games are usually no more than 3 hours in total time and that's including breaks. So it's only an extra hour and a 15 more than a game of football. Well actually these days football is 1 hour and 55. It's a fast paced sport which makes it's entertaining. I think you have to understand the rules a bit more to get into it.

hey man, i was a don at NHL 95 for the Megadrive so think about that before you give me your 'you have to understand the rule a bit more to get into it' claptrap

I wasn't aiming it directly at you just making a general point.

apology accepted

I shouldn't bite really but honestly I've nothing better to do!
The puck is difficult to see I give you that, but it's easier the more you watch it.
The people going on and off the ice are part of a tactical change.
Is punching someone repeatedly in the head pussy? The helmets usually come off during a fight, and the refs will break only break it off once the players are on the floor or if blood is drawn.
It does go end to end when both teams are full strength but there is normally one side with momentum, maybe you can't tell, but it is an extremely fast moving sport so the fact that both teams have chances is inevitable, the same happens in football.
Messing up all the time? Um...OK. "whacking it round the bit at the end which curves", does happen a fair amount and again is usually a tactic.

Shite? Your opinion, but it's massive in North America, Scandanavia and Eastern Europe. You can easily point out similar flaws in football's play to be honest, and as I've said it's not for everyone but (even though it's probably to wind us hockey fans up!) you're being really fucking ignorant, and that irritates me.

+1 mr tails.

watch the players when they've just finished a shift and skated to the bench, they're huffing and puffing and red faced. playing the game at that pace, even for 30secs to 2 or 3mins, takes alot of effort. its not like football where you cant stand around doing jack shit while the football is at the other end of the pitch, you're on the go for pretty much the whole shift.

OF, go here... http://www.hockeyfights.com/ (http://www.hockeyfights.com/) and then call them gay or pussy.  ::)

I can see your problem with following the puck, it gets easier once you've watched a few more games, you get a rough idea of where the puck *should* be. its also alot easier to follow in person, if you lose the puck you can follow the players faces as they watch the puck. there is talk of the broadcasters adopting a similar system to the NFL broadcasts, overlaying a brightly-coloured circle over the puck so it's easier to follow. however, its bloody difficult to do when the puck is fired at 90+ miles an hour from a slapshot.

Yeah I often fond there isn't enough contrast between back and white :)

I was gonna mention that, but it is mainly tactical ie checking line out against a scoring line. If they want a player to do two shifts in a row then he will!

I remember seeing a video a while back of some guy who had his throat near enough slit open by an ice skate whilst playing hockey. Can't say you see that kind of gore watching football.

I saw that, not sure if it was posted on here or not. I'm not expert, but I don't think it happens too often.

Someone holds the record for being the only one to take off his skate and use it to stab someone.

It doesn't, but it has happened a few times in the last 20 years. Richard Zednik the most recent, about 18 months ago I believe, had his cut by his own team mate (accidentally). He's still playing, but he was out for a good few months.

You get some really bad injuries though, there's a big discussion going on regarding hits to the head as some professionals are suffering recurrent concussions which are forcing them to retire. I believe they're banning it now.

For those of you that just have to see a throat cut though...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plvKlnguJVE

when that happened, he thought he was gonna die (as you would), he knew his mother was watching and didnt want her to see him die on live tv, so he skated off the ice through the door behind his goal, expecting to die. the doctors managed to save his life, purely because the door on the ice was behind his goal. if he'd been at the other end of the ice, he'd have died. pretty fucking scary.

Fucking hell that is quite extreme.

Understatement of the day? :-P

Yeah that was the worst one, there have been a few bad ones!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Znx1lQY4ztw&feature=player_embedded

this happened last night. ouchies. the guy was ok, he was attended to off the ice, didnt have to go to hospital. scary though!

That could have seriously fucked him up.