Overrated Olympics could cost the Pens another shot

Are you looking forward to seeing Konstantin Koltsov and how well he does?  Me either.  Can you really

and truly name two players on TEAM Latvia?  I didn’t think you could. You see IMHO this is a mostly overblown event and many of the hockey lemmings jump on the Olympic bandwagon without ……

 

 

 

………. thinking about it too much. 

 

Will there be a chances to see good games, sure there will… but Gawd forbid anyone to even suggest it’s an over-hyped event.

I expect to get some flak over this…. but seriously, are you looking forward to seeing how the players from Düsseldorf are going to do? I didn’t think so.  Maybe Martin Gerber will get seen and some NHL will sign him. LOL. Maybe there will be another Miracle On Ice ? I don’t think so.

There are 12 countries represented and most of you reading this would be hard pressed to name all of the countries participating let alone the abundance of players that would have a tough time making the WB/S Baby Penguins roster. Think you can name all 12 countries without looking them up? Go ahead try it… bet you a case of Donnie Iris’ King Kool Light you can’t.

Circle this date right now so you won’t forget… Team Canada faces Team Norwayin Vancouver on Feb. 16. See, I’m giving you a freebee with Norway or did I just make that up!

Here’s another one: Who won the 2006 Games? They were held in Turin, Italy BTW.  Here, I’ll help you with that answer too… it was Sweden. Do you recall who they beat? Who won the Silver medal and the Bronze medal? You probably can’t without looking it up. In fact, right now you can’t be sure if Krzysztof Oliwa or Lasse Pirjeta are on team rosters are you.

The combined NHL salary of Team Canada comes in at $120 million based on this NHL season… and the Canadian’s are offering extra prize money depending how well they do!

So much for amateur aspect of the Olympics, eh.

Could Chris Drury make the Penguin squad let alone wear an A?

The only thing left for Crosby is winning an Olympic Gold. Scott Niedermayer, a HHOF player is the Canadian captain… A HHOF player for sure – but not this year he isn’t. I’m hoping Canada wins it all because I got a Crosby sweater with an “A” on it for a Christmas present. Funny, the sweater manufacturer’s knew who was going to have the A’s and the C way before it was announced.

The NHL is shutting down operations for 14 days and it is costly. The season started earlier and teams are regularly playing 4 games a week. Somebody is making a lot of money around the Olympics and they promote it well. But it’s not the NHL and it’s not the players so who are making the money. No one talks much about it because the games are played out in the media to be the best of the best. I can’t wait to see who wins those starting goalie positions for Switzerland and Belarus… can you?

It nets out like this… the Olympics get all the rewards and the NHL bears all the financial risk. Let’s say that Ovechkin or Crosby or Fluery or Gonchar break a leg in Vancouver, it might cost Russia or Canada the Gold Medal but it could kill the Penguins or Capitals chances of making a deep run in the playoffs.

Which one would you rather see, given the choice? Russia or Canada win the Gold at the Penguins chance to repeat?

I think from a fan’s standpoint, if it’s one of four teams playing it’s exciting to watch… other than that however… go watch the Hershey Bears play. It’s not that I won’t watch them – it’s just not fair to the NHL season ticket holders and is more for the TV fans who most times aren’t sure why figure skating isn’t the event being shown.

I already can’t wait for hockey to get back to hockey… and hopefully Gonchar, Fluery, Orpikand Malkin return without any wear and tear… and we get a clean shot at a repeat.

This is DR HOOK… (I apoligize for the rambling) carry on.