2010 Winter Olympics

[Adria]

Yeah, only $440. Next cheapest lower bowl seats on the VANOC fan-to-fan site were $460 (+ 10% site fee). Other pairs in the $380-$450 range were upper bowl tickets having a face value of $50-80. Face value on my tickets was $280 for the pair, and they were listed for $400. $40 went to the website (I'll gladly pay the $40 for guaranteed Olympic hockey tickets), and the seller will also pay $40 to the site.

That was for the qualification-round game (determines who goes to the quarter finals) the US might be in. I had a quick look at the qualification round game Canada might be in - those are far more expensive. Ticket prices for either game will skyrocket once it's confirmed one team or the other wil be in the qualification round.

I checked out speed skating too, figuring those tickets would be cheaper. Boy was I wrong! Tickets started out at $400/seat for the men's 10,000m final (face value of $95 or $185).

Curling tickets are starting at $300/pair on the VANOC site - more than twice face value.

Olympics are expensive (and apparently rather lucrative).

 

[REDY]

Great perfomances by Swiss and Slovaks in hockey. I thought that Russians and Canadians are unbeatable, I was wrong. Canadians won only in shoot-outs while Russians lost in it. Its fantastic.
Maybe we should start counting with USA and others...

 

[classical_hero]

We have our first Gold Medal from Torah Bright. She won it on the half pipe.

 

[REDY]

Wow, she looks as teenager. Congratulations.

 

[holy king]

she probably is one`?

 

[Formaldehyde]

That was a great run. Torah qualified P1 and went last in the first run as a result. But she completely screwed up her first run, so she had to go first in the second round since her first run score was the lowest. But by doing so, she put huge pressure on the rest of the competitors to beat an incredibly high score. This caused a number of her best competitors to screw up their second runs. And for 2 of the top-seeded Americans, it eliminated their chances of even medalling because they too had already gotten low scores on the first run.

 

[Orange Seeds]

Wow congrats Adria. The cheapest tickets I've seen were for curling, the scalpers are selling them for 70% of the original price.

Also I'm going to complain about a poor decision on the part of Yzerman et al. Once we went up two nothing in the second period, Canada played the 5 man trap. That's right potentially the most talented team in the world was playing like the 04 Minnesota Wild against a team with a cumulative 8 NHL goals. Lo and behold we end up losing momentum, taking penalties and having to contend with en embarrassing 2-2 tie to Switzerland. Who is that behind the bench? Jaques Lemaire. Keep an eye out for that, might be one of the worst decisions Hockey Canada has ever made.

 

[mitsho]

Embarrasing? Yes, you're the home country of hockey and all, but we're and we've been now for quite some time number 7 of the world. It's not quite the same as womens hockey ;-) And let's not forget our win against you at the last olympics in Torino. Unexpected draw and a special game, yes, but embarrasing for Canada?

 

[Grisu]

The thing that keeps cracking me up about Canadians is their belief that anybody who doesn't play in the NHL is automatically talent-free (or what else was the 'cumulative 8 NHL goals supposed to refer to)

Sure, they're by far the more talented team, but the gap isn't what it used to be 10 or 20 years ago...
@mitsho...I don't think we've been No. 7 for long...we were No. 8 for quite some time, though.

 

[Formaldehyde]

It is a shame the Olympics Committee decided to remove the pro ban. But I guess it's far too late to try to stuff that Genie back into the bottle.

 

[warpus]

A 2-2 tie with anyone but the Czechs, Swedes, Americans, or Russians on home ice will be considered embarassing over here.. especially if we were leading 2-0

 

[Orange Seeds]

Embarrasing? Yes, you're the home country of hockey and all, but we're and we've been now for quite some time number 7 of the world. It's not quite the same as womens hockey ;-) And let's not forget our win against you at the last olympics in Torino. Unexpected draw and a special game, yes, but embarrasing for Canada?

Yes. Un-undoubtedly embarrassing. Switzerland is still quite far from where the elite countries in the hockey world are. The primary reason they do so well at tournaments like the Olympics is because the Swiss team plays together frequently before the tournament begins and don't have to struggle to find chemistry and strategy through the first few games.

The Swiss national team would likely not make the play-offs if it were in the NHL I would bet the house on that.

The thing that keeps cracking me up about Canadians is their belief that anybody who doesn't play in the NHL is automatically talent-free (or what else was the 'cumulative 8 NHL goals supposed to refer to)

Sure, they're by far the more talented team, but the gap isn't what it used to be 10 or 20 years ago...
@mitsho...I don't think we've been No. 7 for long...we were No. 8 for quite some time, though.

The NHL is the most prestigious hockey league in the world. The majority of players not in the NHL are where they are because they could not make it past the competition. The top scorers in most European leagues were marginal players in the NHL with only a few exceptions, and many of those exceptions are for the older Jagr/Forsberg types.

I see these types of players every year during the Canucks training camp. I see them struggle to make the line-up, get released and then light it up in Europe. Likewise, it goes the other way with players like Brunnstrom who take over a league, make it to the NHL and can't make it onto the 2nd line.

 

[Esckey]

Well you see that sort of thing on teams in the NHL. I highly doubt that the Oilers Top line would ever make the cut for say Detroit or Pittsburg. Our top line is on par with everyone's 3rd or 4th.

I want Canada to lose(hate this nonsense about we're the best when we obviously are not) but I don't want to lose to the Swiss! Stupid Pronger and his dumb penaltiy almost got us killed.


I predict in 10 years, it'll be one of the lesser known teams for hockey gold. Say Latvia or Germany. Those 2 teams were kicking butt(relativly)

 

[vogtmurr]

In fairness, the Slovak team beat another european national team by more than 80 to nothing.

lol. Maybe they had some comeuppance from the Canadian woman's team then.

 

[REDY]

Yes. Un-undoubtedly embarrassing. Switzerland is still quite far from where the elite countries in the hockey world are. The primary reason they do so well at tournaments like the Olympics is because the Swiss team plays together frequently before the tournament begins and don't have to struggle to find chemistry and strategy through the first few games.

The Swiss national team would likely not make the play-offs if it were in the NHL I would bet the house on that.

Players from Europe have advantage that they should play together on World championship or Euro hockey tour (Latvia has even 16 players from one club, Dinamo Riga), but all others is againist them - from more strict rules to ice stadium.
IMHO Swiss are simply best team after big 7 (I am counting Finland and Slovakia), they already have results againist other Europeans and thanks undervaluation and great GK was match interesting.

The NHL is the most prestigious hockey league in the world. The majority of players not in the NHL are where they are because they could not make it past the competition. The top scorers in most European leagues were marginal players in the NHL with only a few exceptions, and many of those exceptions are for the older Jagr/Forsberg types.

I see these types of players every year during the Canucks training camp. I see them struggle to make the line-up, get released and then light it up in Europe. Likewise, it goes the other way with players like Brunnstrom who take over a league, make it to the NHL and can't make it onto the 2nd line.

Sure, but its also about style of hockey in Europe and NHL. I will never forget when one of our best players that times Dopita (named best Czech hockey-player around 2000) didnt make succes in NHL. He was too old to adopt NHL style. In contrast, some players in NHL, especcialy "bad guys" who are there to provoking fights would be pretty useless in Europe.

 

[mitsho]

Yes. Un-undoubtedly embarrassing. Switzerland is still quite far from where the elite countries in the hockey world are. The primary reason they do so well at tournaments like the Olympics is because the Swiss team plays together frequently before the tournament begins and don't have to struggle to find chemistry and strategy through the first few games.

The Swiss national team would likely not make the play-offs if it were in the NHL I would bet the house on that.

Again, I was just saying that Embarrasing is a really strong word which makes you look condescending. And you didn't answer: IF a 3-2 overtime victory for Canada is embarrasing, what the hell do you call the 2-0 Loss at the Torino Olympics?

 

[willemvanoranje]

Oh come on guys.. I don't know hockey, but I can imagine the Canadians feeling embaressed. Wouldn't the Swiss national football team feel embaressed if they hadn't won of a country like Latvia on the Euro? Doesn't the Brazilian national football team have good reason to feel embaressed for the loss against Uruguay in the 1950s World Cup final round? Not to say that the anology of countries is correct, but with the Olympics being in Canada and Canada being maybe the strongest among superpowers in hockey, expectations are tremendously high. Therefor not winning against a team that is not a superpower, may legitimately be considered an embaressment.. even if the Swiss team isn't that bad.

 

[Grisu]

The Swiss national team would likely not make the play-offs if it were in the NHL I would bet the house on that.

we'll never know...you might remember though, that last fall a swiss team (ZSC Lions) beat the Blackhawks for the Victoria Cup...

I see these types of players every year during the Canucks training camp. I see them struggle to make the line-up, get released and then light it up in Europe. Likewise, it goes the other way with players like Brunnstrom who take over a league, make it to the NHL and can't make it onto the 2nd line.

And that's where you're wrong...many of those players don't make it in the NHL because of the style of play required different kinds of players. I saw big-name NHL players during the lock out playing in Switzerland (St. Louis, Thornton, etc.) and while they did light up, they didn't do so considerably more than NHL-outcasts like Nummelin, Peltonen, Randy Robitaille or Domenichelli.

yes, nobody denies that the NHL still is the best league in the world, but you're severley overestimating the gap to the better european leagues.

but keep that mindset, it's probably why so many want to see the candians lose (not me, though, I usually root for Canada once the eternal dark horse Finland gets itself eliminated)

I predict in 10 years, it'll be one of the lesser known teams for hockey gold. Say Latvia or Germany. Those 2 teams were kicking butt(relativly)

If any 2nd tier team makes it to the top then it's most likely gonna be Switzerland, or maybe Latvia (though gold is a really high aim and 10 years a short time)...can't see germany making the jump...nobody in germany gives a damn about hockey.

Oh come on guys.. I don't know hockey, but I can imagine the Canadians feeling embaressed. Wouldn't the Swiss national football team feel embaressed if they hadn't won of a country like Latvia on the Euro?

eh, no? and Switzerland did draw against Latvia they're not that far from Switzerland in skill. Embarassing was the loss to Luxembourg, a team full of amateurs, but there the difference there was much bigger. Both teams here at the olympics were full of pros. It would be like the Netherlands losing to switzerland in football. If thats' an embarassment to you you get embarassed quite easily

. In contrast, some players in NHL, especcialy "bad guys" who are there to provoking fights would be pretty useless in Europe.

yeah, I remember Ken Baumgartner, who was told in switzerland that he's not good enough for the second swiss league...and then he went to the NHL and had >700 games

 

[classical_hero]

she probably is one`?

She is in her mid twenties.

 

[Desmond Hawkins]

The thing that keeps cracking me up about Canadians is their belief that anybody who doesn't play in the NHL is automatically talent-free (or what else was the 'cumulative 8 NHL goals supposed to refer to)

The NHL superiority is actually greater now than it was pre-1990. For instance, Canada would have won almost all gold medals before 1998 had NHLers been allowed to play. The Eastern Bloc kept all of their talent at home, away from the NHL. They often played on the national teams. Even if Sweden + Finland could have sent people before 1990 to the NHL, they rarely did.

Many of the best players in the world were outside of the NHL, but now it is bringing those people over. I would say the domestic situations are now worse outside the NHL. Ovechkin, Semin, etc. would have played in and for the Soviet Union.

The real issue for Canada is that hockey is ultimately a team sport. Inferior talent that is well coached and practice together more frequently can often do well against superior talent that is unused to playing together. Not to mention the effects of a hot goalie. The Swiss guy did phenomenally.