Tag Archives: 2010 Winter Olympics

As Noted – A Hollywood Ending

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As noted, it was a Hollywood ending. A true drama with a “public fall” with 30 seconds left to tie the game and then a “comeback” led by the starring hero. Congratulations to Team Canada and Sidney Crosby. That was impressive. Team Canada deserved the Gold Medal and the USA has zero to be apologetic for and should hold its head up high, as that was a great game. Compelling hockey with great drama and hopefully great ratings. That game had to be good for hockey as a whole and for NBC to begin to respect us as major sports programming.

I really enjoyed watching all of the games and seeing NHL players dedicate themselves to their sport and to their countries.

The 16 days of Olympic programming is now over. The hockey players all now return to their teams.We get back to playing in Buffalo against a great goaltender Ryan Miller I presume this coming Wednesday. All of our players will be back at it at practice tomorrow. We can now all get back to work.

Congratulations again to Team Canada for winning the tournament at home under all of that pressure. It was remarkable.

Another Full Day of Hockey

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I am so tired.

I watched a lot of hockey yesterday interspersed between work and family time.

First, I saw a bunch of the USA game and watched it with Capitalss employees at the office. It was a tense 2 to 0 game and the USA moves on to the next step in its medal quest. The game was played in a very tense environment with neither team wanting to make a mistake. USA!! USA!! USA!!

Then, I got to watch the second part of the Canada vs. Russia game. That was a blow out. Congratulations to Team Canada. They played ferocious hockey and had great goaltending. LOU!!!!!!!!!!

Goaltending and special teams play usually dictates success or failure in big games and Team Russia got neither. It was shocking to see how ineffective Russia’s power play was with players such as Ovechkin, Semin, Kovalchuk, Malkin, Gonchar, and Markov out on the ice during the series. It goes to show that team work, adherence to systems play, and chemistry is as important as pure talent.

Canada was focused, with cheers from a loud and proud home crowd. They deserved to win. They had clearly the better team last night.

We all had a moment of despair when it appeared that Alex Ovechkin was injured during the game. He seemed to be ok after a few shifts and we will learn more today on how he is feeling.

I then tried to watch some of the Sweden vs. Slovakia game but eventually fell asleep. Slovakia moves on and dispatches Sweden. Peter Bondra has built a really terrific team which has beaten now both Russia and Sweden.

Canada, USA, and Slovakia seem to be the teams to beat now and the best teams left in the field. This will be an exciting last few days of Olympic hockey. I can’t wait to watch this weekend.

Riveting Television – Great Hockey

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Oscar Wilde said the two great tragedies in life were “not getting what you want AND getting what you want.”

Both Canada and Russia got what they want, the chance to play one another.

This will be a great game. A great rivalry continues. The place will be rocking. Both teams look great in Red and the tension will be palpable.

Here’s to hoping for a great game with no injuries.

Here’s to hoping for great TV programming and for the game to help us grow the interest level in our game around the world.

Three Act Dramas

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Brandon Tartikoff was once head of NBC. He was a great man and a great friend.

He told me all dramas have 3 acts.

1. Young kid comes out of nowhere and captures everyone’s attention and heart and is a big winner.

2. Young winner loses and has a gigantic public fall from grace.

3. The comeback- big sweet victory. We all love fallen heroes that pick themselves up and get back at it and win.

NBC is positioned in this 3 act drama now with the Canada men’s hockey team at the Olympics.

Read this article.

This tournament has a long way to go. It will have multiple story lines with lots of twists and turns and lots of drama.

New heroes will be born and some heroes will fall only to reinvent themselves in a different venue.

Olympic hockey is fantastic. I am hopeful that NBC can embrace these moments and do great work in communicating the power of sports on a nation’s psyche. And capture how individuals and teams cope with adversity and how great the state of play of this game is. These games are like All Star games with so much on the line.

We all so look forward to the next week of hockey and never count out the Canadian men’s team nor Russia, Sweden or USA. What a great tournament. What a great ongoing drama. NBC make us proud.

What a Day of Hockey…

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Wow!!!! NOW that was a great day of hockey.

Russia played quite well. Alex Ovechkin was a difference maker, laying one of the great hits ever on Jaromir Jagr to cause a turn over that led to a big goal. Russia moves on and gets a day off and continues to be positioned well to medal at the Olympics. They want a Gold medal so they are focused. They are still in it! The pressure on these teams is immense. You can see it on each player’s face and in their eyes. This tournament means so much to these players. Well done Team Russia!

Then, Team USA played inspired clutch hockey. Chris Drury is a hero in big games. The goal tending was outstanding and the pressure on Team Canada is over whelming. “USA Go Away” won’t happen. Congratulations to Brian Burke and Ron Wilson. We are very proud of the team you constructed and are coaching.

Vancouver is stunned. Canada as a nation is in mourning. Stay classy Canadian crowds. But, Canada isn’t out of it. They can still get medal. They can still win a gold medal too. The road just got a little tougher, that is all. They have so much talent as a team. They can and will rebound. This isn’t over for them as a team. But the collective pressure on them is over the top. Pressure does unbelievable things to players. Makes them sometimes NOT perform to expectations or talent levels. The USA moves on, gets to rest up and I bet will see Russia or Canada later on in the tournament for a medal.

And then Team Sweden won again late at night 3 to 0 with Backstrom scoring a goal. They move on as well. They rest up too.

Russia, USA, and Sweden all move on and get a day off. Canada moves on too but has to play one additional game. These teams are all in it and will fight for a medal. Super Sunday was fantastic. Although why the USA vs. Canada game was on MSNBC and NOT broadcast in HD is beyond me. NBC blew it and when I next see NBC brass I will remind them of that fact you paid billions for the rights. Why NOT HD for hockey? Makes zero sense to me.