James Tanner: Swedes Win, Ekman-Larsson Sits..Gormely Recalled OEL fails to play a shift in semis vs. Finland

fwiw, I gave one possible explanation for the OEL situation in Yost's thread.

James Tanner: Swedes Win, Ekman-Larsson Sits..Gormely Recalled
OEL fails to play a shift in semis vs. Finland
- James_Tanner

They didn't play him because they were trying to lose. It's much better to win bronze than to lose gold and they knew they'd lose to the winner of CAN/US.

The figure skating scandal has crept into ice hockey...

They didn't play him because they were trying to lose. It's much better to win bronze than to lose gold and they knew they'd lose to the winner of CAN/US.

The figure skating scandal has crept into ice hockey...
- therealagent

Did we get destroyed yet?

OMG we are getting destroyed out there. Stick to writing about Phoenix, so no one will care.

Dude, Ekman Larsson might be a star in Phoenix, but HE'S NOT AS GOOD AS YOU THINK HE IS

He wasn't hurt, and he wasn't sick. He's simply not good enough. Deal with it

Canada won 1-0 in one of the most exciting, tense, fun games I have seen this year.

You must have been watching a different game than me. Snooze fest. A dumb international icing Rule directly leads to the only goal of an extremely boring game.

Dude, Ekman Larsson might be a star in Phoenix, but HE'S NOT AS GOOD AS YOU THINK HE IS

He wasn't hurt, and he wasn't sick. He's simply not good enough. Deal with it
- AxlRose91

Hey Arose put out down the crack pipe, check around others who know alot more than you do think he is a darn good player. Rock on brother

Dude, Ekman Larsson might be a star in Phoenix, but HE'S NOT AS GOOD AS YOU THINK HE IS

He wasn't hurt, and he wasn't sick. He's simply not good enough. Deal with it
- AxlRose91

3 Assists in 1st game and never went to the ice again...

Hey Arose put out down the crack pipe, check around others who know alot more than you do think he is a darn good player. Rock on brother
- Bones

Hahaha.....beauty post, man. I love it. It looks like you were hitting the crack pipe when you should have been hitting the spell-check...

He's clearly a good, young player. I just think you guys are falling in love with your own guy a bit too much. There are a whole lot of talented players outside of Phoenix, as much as you might not want to admit it

And these coaches know way more than any of us. They chose not to utilize OEL, and they're in the gold medal game. What does that tell you?

He's good, but he's not the second-coming. Tonnes of better defensemen out there

Hahaha.....beauty post, man. I love it. It looks like you were hitting the crack pipe when you should have been hitting the spell-check...

He's clearly a good, young player. I just think you guys are falling in love with your own guy a bit too much. There are a whole lot of talented players outside of Phoenix, as much as you might not want to admit it

And these coaches know way more than any of us. They chose not to utilize OEL, and they're in the gold medal game. What does that tell you?

He's good, but he's not the second-coming. Tonnes of better defensemen out there
- AxlRose91

So incredibly wrong it isn't worth explaining.

Hahaha.....beauty post, man. I love it. It looks like you were hitting the crack pipe when you should have been hitting the spell-check...

He's clearly a good, young player. I just think you guys are falling in love with your own guy a bit too much. There are a whole lot of talented players outside of Phoenix, as much as you might not want to admit it

And these coaches know way more than any of us. They chose not to utilize OEL, and they're in the gold medal game. What does that tell you?

He's good, but he's not the second-coming. Tonnes of better defensemen out there
- AxlRose91

1993 called he wants his name back..but you can spell..can you spell this ..Norris

Hahaha.....beauty post, man. I love it. It looks like you were hitting the crack pipe when you should have been hitting the spell-check...

He's clearly a good, young player. I just think you guys are falling in love with your own guy a bit too much. There are a whole lot of talented players outside of Phoenix, as much as you might not want to admit it

And these coaches know way more than any of us. They chose not to utilize OEL, and they're in the gold medal game. What does that tell you?

He's good, but he's not the second-coming. Tonnes of better defensemen out there
- AxlRose91

Look, you obviously came here to try to just get a reaction out of us Coyotes fans. You can't just come by, post your opinions as facts and expect anybody to actually respect your opinion.

But that being said, I am pretty bored, so I'll bite.

Oliver Ekman-Larsson is not being overrated by me or any other Coyotes fan. If anything, he is underrated league wide. Drew Doughty gets named in every single list of top ten defenseman, just for instance, and as someone who follows the Coyotes, I see him play a lot. Not, just when Phx plays LA, but also because if I'm watching a Coyotes game at 10:30 on the east coast, I usually end up flipping over the Kings game or just end up taping it, as I am a fan of their team and roster.

Now, Doughty is an awesome player. But if he is better in any way than OEL it is by a margin so imperceptible as to not even be worth mentioning. Who is better? Who will have the better career? Who even cares; they are both great and I only bring Doughty up as a comparison to make the point that OEL is easily a top ten defenseman in the NHL. I mean, this isn't even really a debatable point, you might as well debate if Stamkos is a top ten centre.

I know people whose knowledge about hockey I respect that would even say that OEL is top five with the potential to be the absolute best. They are both awesome players and Doughty is definitely more known and respected league wide, but OEL is neither a cup winner nor a Canadian, nor playing for a high profile team. I would say this more than accounts for the reason you don't think he's so good.

I know it's not because you watched him and made an informed observation, because anyone who watches him over time will love the guy. He isn't just kind of good. He is also one of those players who doesn't appear to ever be trying, as he has a kind of effortless grace about him that reminds people of a young Niklas Lidstrom. That's high praise!

OEL is a generational talent who will one day - barring injury - go into the hockey hall of fame. Mark my words.

As for the Swedish coach, well, you can appeal to experts all you want, but clearly something is going on there because it just doesn't make sense to bench a guy who is one of your best players. I don't buy that OEL was perfectly healthy and ready to play and then made to sit on the bench for sixty minutes.

It's not like I have been following the Swedish team all that closely since the games are on at terrible times, and I can't even find a box score that reliably tracks ice-time, (plus the highlights are still pictures) but I had heard from those who have been watching (before today's game) that it was OEL's solid play without the puck that was allowing Karlsson the freedom to basically do whatever he wanted.

Either way, my advice is to get some better info before making up opinions out of thin air, or at least give up the ridiculous practice of attempting to post controversial views on the internet just to incite angry responses. Though I admit, I guess it worked here (though I am not angry!)

Thanks

Dude, Ekman Larsson might be a star in Phoenix, but HE'S NOT AS GOOD AS YOU THINK HE IS

He wasn't hurt, and he wasn't sick. He's simply not good enough. Deal with it
- AxlRose91

holy fuk


clueless

oel isn't overrated. he's underrated.

he's a top ten dman in the game without a doubt. phenomenal at both ends of the ice.

ill take ignorance as the only plausible reason you could think this

Look, you obviously came here to try to just get a reaction out of us Coyotes fans. You can't just come by, post your opinions as facts and expect anybody to actually respect your opinion.

But that being said, I am pretty bored, so I'll bite.

Oliver Ekman-Larsson is not being overrated by me or any other Coyotes fan. If anything, he is underrated league wide. Drew Doughty gets named in every single list of top ten defenseman, just for instance, and as someone who follows the Coyotes, I see him play a lot. Not, just when Phx plays LA, but also because if I'm watching a Coyotes game at 10:30 on the east coast, I usually end up flipping over the Kings game or just end up taping it, as I am a fan of their team and roster.

Now, Doughty is an awesome player. But if he is better in any way than OEL it is by a margin so imperceptible as to not even be worth mentioning. Who is better? Who will have the better career? Who even cares; they are both great and I only bring Doughty up as a comparison to make the point that OEL is easily a top ten defenseman in the NHL. I mean, this isn't even really a debatable point, you might as well debate if Stamkos is a top ten centre.

I know people whose knowledge about hockey I respect that would even say that OEL is top five with the potential to be the absolute best. They are both awesome players and Doughty is definitely more known and respected league wide, but OEL is neither a cup winner nor a Canadian, nor playing for a high profile team. I would say this more than accounts for the reason you don't think he's so good.

I know it's not because you watched him and made an informed observation, because anyone who watches him over time will love the guy. He isn't just kind of good. He is also one of those players who doesn't appear to ever be trying, as he has a kind of effortless grace about him that reminds people of a young Niklas Lidstrom. That's high praise!

OEL is a generational talent who will one day - barring injury - go into the hockey hall of fame. Mark my words.

As for the Swedish coach, well, you can appeal to experts all you want, but clearly something is going on there because it just doesn't make sense to bench a guy who is one of your best players. I don't buy that OEL was perfectly healthy and ready to play and then made to sit on the bench for sixty minutes.

It's not like I have been following the Swedish team all that closely since the games are on at terrible times, and I can't even find a box score that reliably tracks ice-time, (plus the highlights are still pictures) but I had heard from those who have been watching (before today's game) that it was OEL's solid play without the puck that was allowing Karlsson the freedom to basically do whatever he wanted.

Either way, my advice is to get some better info before making up opinions out of thin air, or at least give up the ridiculous practice of attempting to post controversial views on the internet just to incite angry responses. Though I admit, I guess it worked here (though I am not angry!)


Thanks
- James_Tanner

Trying to get a reaction, says the blogger who had a title: why the Canadians will destroy the USA.

Trying to get a reaction, says the blogger who had a title: why the Canadians will destroy the USA.
- Mentalorgasm5

I fail to see your point, or the connection. All titles, in all forms of communication and media are meant to draw in readers. I didn't just write to anger people or to get them upset, but rather to draw attention to the fact - and maybe you have to live in Canada to get this - that the media was atrocious in their analysis leading up to the game.

The media was quite unanimous in their criticism and their idea that Canada would lose. Even Las Vegas failed to properly handicap the game. And what happened? Well, I guess you can't call it a crushing as it was 1-0 but it was a pretty dominant performance by the Canadians.

Either way, the article was thoughtful and well reasoned compared to 99% of what surrounded it in the mainstream media. For you to compare me to a guy obviously trolling for responses is both unfair and flat out ridiculous.

Of course you would have had to read more than the title to know that. I do however now know how Johnathan Swift felt when he realized people thought he was actually advocating the eating of Irish babies!

Look, you obviously came here to try to just get a reaction out of us Coyotes fans. You can't just come by, post your opinions as facts and expect anybody to actually respect your opinion.

But that being said, I am pretty bored, so I'll bite.

Oliver Ekman-Larsson is not being overrated by me or any other Coyotes fan. If anything, he is underrated league wide. Drew Doughty gets named in every single list of top ten defenseman, just for instance, and as someone who follows the Coyotes, I see him play a lot. Not, just when Phx plays LA, but also because if I'm watching a Coyotes game at 10:30 on the east coast, I usually end up flipping over the Kings game or just end up taping it, as I am a fan of their team and roster.

Now, Doughty is an awesome player. But if he is better in any way than OEL it is by a margin so imperceptible as to not even be worth mentioning. Who is better? Who will have the better career? Who even cares; they are both great and I only bring Doughty up as a comparison to make the point that OEL is easily a top ten defenseman in the NHL. I mean, this isn't even really a debatable point, you might as well debate if Stamkos is a top ten centre.

I know people whose knowledge about hockey I respect that would even say that OEL is top five with the potential to be the absolute best. They are both awesome players and Doughty is definitely more known and respected league wide, but OEL is neither a cup winner nor a Canadian, nor playing for a high profile team. I would say this more than accounts for the reason you don't think he's so good.

I know it's not because you watched him and made an informed observation, because anyone who watches him over time will love the guy. He isn't just kind of good. He is also one of those players who doesn't appear to ever be trying, as he has a kind of effortless grace about him that reminds people of a young Niklas Lidstrom. That's high praise!

OEL is a generational talent who will one day - barring injury - go into the hockey hall of fame. Mark my words.

As for the Swedish coach, well, you can appeal to experts all you want, but clearly something is going on there because it just doesn't make sense to bench a guy who is one of your best players. I don't buy that OEL was perfectly healthy and ready to play and then made to sit on the bench for sixty minutes.

It's not like I have been following the Swedish team all that closely since the games are on at terrible times, and I can't even find a box score that reliably tracks ice-time, (plus the highlights are still pictures) but I had heard from those who have been watching (before today's game) that it was OEL's solid play without the puck that was allowing Karlsson the freedom to basically do whatever he wanted.

Either way, my advice is to get some better info before making up opinions out of thin air, or at least give up the ridiculous practice of attempting to post controversial views on the internet just to incite angry responses. Though I admit, I guess it worked here (though I am not angry!)

Thanks
- James_Tanner

Now James, I always like to give credit where it is due, and that was a beauty of a reply. OEL is outstanding and I suspect he is injured.

“@dshoalts: RT @NHLAdamK: Ekman-Larsson on being left off SWE 2009 WJC team: "Coach didn't like me, that's why." The coach? '14 Olympic coach Par Marts”

I fail to see your point, or the connection. All titles, in all forms of communication and media are meant to draw in readers. I didn't just write to anger people or to get them upset, but rather to draw attention to the fact - and maybe you have to live in Canada to get this - that the media was atrocious in their analysis leading up to the game.

The media was quite unanimous in their criticism and their idea that Canada would lose. Even Las Vegas failed to properly handicap the game. And what happened? Well, I guess you can't call it a crushing as it was 1-0 but it was a pretty dominant performance by the Canadians.

Either way, the article was thoughtful and well reasoned compared to 99% of what surrounded it in the mainstream media. For you to compare me to a guy obviously trolling for responses is both unfair and flat out ridiculous.

Of course you would have had to read more than the title to know that. I do however now know how Johnathan Swift felt when he realized people thought he was actually advocating the eating of Irish babies!
- James_Tanner

Thing is, though, that you are writing a blog for Phoenix fans. Since Phoenix is actually deep within the US, I'm guessing that most of their fans were rooting for the US to win. So maybe not a smart move to gloat from afar...

“@dshoalts: RT @NHLAdamK: Ekman-Larsson on being left off SWE 2009 WJC team: "Coach didn't like me, that's why." The coach? '14 Olympic coach Par Marts”
- Conflict076

So, to recapitulate:
1. Mårts picks OEL for the Olympic team, ahead of guys like Hedman and Brodin.
2. Mårts gives OEL 18 mins against the Czechs and 16 mins against the Swiss.
3. Mårts then suddenly remembers that he doesn't like OEL and demotes him to 7th D.

Impeccable logic.

So, to recapitulate:
1. Mårts picks OEL for the Olympic team, ahead of guys like Hedman and Brodin.
2. Mårts gives OEL 18 mins against the Czechs and 16 mins against the Swiss.
3. Mårts then suddenly remembers that he doesn't like OEL and demotes him to 7th D.

Impeccable logic.
- Fjodor

He did pick Oduya and Tallinder over Hedman and Brodin, so no Logic needed here.

He did pick Oduya and Tallinder over Hedman and Brodin, so no Logic needed here.
- Conflict076

Yes and no. Picking Oduya was really a no-brainer. For a 2-week sprint like this, it's a huge advantage to know your D partner as well as Hjalmarsson/Oduya and Kronwall/Ericsson (especially in games where you cannot expect to dominate puck possession over 60 mins). For good evidence of this, look no further than the 3-on-5 PK against the Finns.

The Tallinder pick is a bit of a mistery though, aside from his alleged "leadership qualities".

Yes and no. Picking Oduya was really a no-brainer. For a 2-week sprint like this, it's a huge advantage to know your D partner as well as Hjalmarsson/Oduya and Kronwall/Ericsson (especially in games where you cannot expect to dominate puck possession over 60 mins). For good evidence of this, look no further than the 3-on-5 PK against the Finns.

The Tallinder pick is a bit of a mistery though, aside from his alleged "leadership qualities".
- Fjodor

Fair enough on the Oduya explanation.