So I watched an Olympic gold medal contest on Saturday...

I was in Denver for the weekend and my wife wanted to go see the Avalanche play - she doesn't think it's funny when I cheer for the Nordiques. Anyhow...at that game we discovered that the US women's team was taking on Team Canada at the University of Denver the next night. So we had to go. Hey, in two months these two will be meeting up to duke it out for the gold medal. How could we not be there? I'm not really a hockey fan (no more than is required of any Canadian male) but c'mon.

Holy cow. What a difference from the NHL game. The girls had better puck handling skills, they certainly had more teamwork and played as if the game mattered. It was a far more exciting and well-played match than the pros, and the crowd was more into it as well. Of course, I was cheering for Team Canada and they did me proud by taking the win - but the US was getting stronger and stronger as the coach figured out the right combination of players. The $15 we paid for our seats was well spent for sure. I expect seats in Vancouver will be a bit more expensive.

The US team is on a tour right now, and will meet Canada another 2 times before the Olympics. If they're going to be near you, go!

Schedule

At both games, they used two Zambonis to prep the ice. And in both cases, a race failed to break out. Now that was disappointing.

My daughter played for her high school and a travel(club level) team. While not as fast as the guys, they could be (at times) absolutely vicious. And you're right-technically the women seem to be much more disciplined overall. We're lucky here. The local state university has both men's and women's hockey teams and the arena is a first class facility. Mrs. Mini enjoys the games as much as I do and being in a small town, not only is it a cheap night of good entertainment, it's a social event as well. The national team isn't playing near us, I guess we'll have to wait for the Olympics.

I don’t believe they are going to be playing around here but I would love to watch a game if the were. I personally would rather watch a game of college hockey before going to an NHL game. Don’t get me wrong I love seeing NHL games and try to make a few every year, but college hockey is so much more exciting.

Last game I saw the two teams were tied 1-1 with 20 seconds to go and the one team was down a man. The short handed team got a breakaway and scored a great goal giving them the win. Whenever I see NHL games they seem to be a lot higher scoring and being a goalie I would rather watch a 1-1 game then a 7-7 game. I also hate all the equipment regulations that are supposed to make the games higher scoring.

The girls played more cleanly than the pros. Why? Because checking isn't allowed and you get penalties for it. Lots more penalties in that game too, probably due to a very fine line as to what constitutes a check. Although I did have to keep myself from laughing when one girl got two minutes for hooking.

There's a forward on the US Olympic team named Erika Lawler who's 5'0" and is super fast on the ice. She makes up for her size with speed and tenacity. Great to watch.

The score was higher in the girl's game, 4-2 instead of 2-1. Mostly due to a much more effective offense on the part of the women's teams and the Canadian goalie in particular did a great job. The US one just had too much to deal with. In contrast, one of the NHL goals was accidental and another was in a shootout, leaving only one real goal in the whole game.

Ratghia, I posted a link to their schedule. Not a lot of games left, but I'm telling my friends in Ottawa to make the trip to the stadium on January 1st. Last match between these two before the Olympics, you know it's going to be high-energy.

Keith wrote: Ratghia, I posted a link to their schedule. Not a lot of games left, but I'm telling my friends in Ottawa to make the trip to the stadium on January 1st. Last match between these two before the Olympics, you know it's going to be high-energy.

I saw that after I posted. None are near me, but I will be watching on tv.

Trust me... $15 for the World Junior Hockey Championships in Ottawa last year was so much better than most NHL games... except in Montreal. Nordiques suck! ;)

Best hockey game I ever saw was back in '96 myself and some friends went to Minnesota for spring break, staying at a friend's parents' place save so much on hotel costs. While we were there we got to see a semi-final game for the state tourney. Clean game something having to do with any penalties and the player would get a 2 game suspension and since there would only be one more game for the season... The game went to 8 sudden death over times. Each goalie made something like 60 or 70 saves just in overtime alone.

Keith wrote: . Although I did have to keep myself from laughing when one girl got two minutes for hooking.

it took me a moment... then I nearly choked

griffin729 wrote: Best hockey game I ever saw was back in '96 myself and some friends went to Minnesota for spring break, staying at a friend's parents' place save so much on hotel costs. While we were there we got to see a semi-final game for the state tourney. Clean game something having to do with any penalties and the player would get a 2 game suspension and since there would only be one more game for the season... The game went to 8 sudden death over times. Each goalie made something like 60 or 70 saves just in overtime alone.

Minnesota state high school hockey tournaments (boys and girls) are the greatest. Those kids can play.