[rickc]

Its almost like Gary Bettman had a crystal ball. He has transformed what was a humdrum skills competition into games that REALLY matter. It has never mattered more for Canada than it will tomorrow night in Montreal. This could be the most watched sporting event in Canada for the month of February. Bigger than the Superbowl, and bigger than the Daytona 500. I just priced tickets at Ticketmaster and the cheapest ticket was $776.82 after taxes and fees, and that was the nose bleed seats. Your back would literally be against the wall. Not to mention that you had to buy two tickets so you would be looking at $1553.64. Prices went up from there. I seen some for $10361 per seat.

There hasn't been too many games with this much emotional involvement since the miracle on ice. This is THAT kind of game. It should be a good one. I know it will be worth it just to see those smug Habs fans having to root for their mortal enemy Brad Marchand. Lol!!! They have to root for the most hated man in hockey. The irony is delicious. Puck drops at 8:00 PM Eastern standard time on Sportsnet or Sportsnet+. Don't miss it.

[DrCaleb]

Looks like a hockey game broke out at a fight.

[rickc]

I have to say that the NHL knocked it out of the park with the 4 Nations Face Off format, but they dropped the ball with the scheduling. Canada's life is on the line today, and the game starts in less than one hour. Canada watches more hockey than any other country on the planet. The U.S. is already in the finals, they cannot improve their position. The U.S. game is basically meaningless unless the Canada/Finland game goes into overtime. Canada should be playing the late game today. That would be the far superior ratings play. Same thing with the championship game on Thursday. The NHL couldn't have pulled a few strings and had the game scheduled one day later on a Friday? Come on man, its a championship game. People want to have a few (or more) beers and watch the game. They don't want to drag their hung over asses to work the next day.

Like I said, great format. Lets tweak the schedules a little bit next time. Make the schedule more flexible according to who is advancing.

[rickc]

Well Canada did what Canada does.........win games when it matters. Congratulations to Team Canada on a spectacular OT victory tonight in Boston. I think that the nations format was a smashing success, awesome hockey every night. I would like to see the format expand to include more European players on a combined team perhaps. A lot of great players were not in the tournament. Once again congratulations on a spectacular tournament and a spectacular victory.

[DrCaleb]

Yea, it's not really a world contest unless there are more countries involved. All it can do is improve the sport overall.

[xerxes]

rickc rickc:

Well Canada did what Canada does.........win games when it matters. Congratulations to Team Canada on a spectacular OT victory tonight in Boston. I think that the nations format was a smashing success, awesome hockey every night. I would like to see the format expand to include more European players on a combined team perhaps. A lot of great players were not in the tournament. Once again congratulations on a spectacular tournament and a spectacular victory.

Agreed. A much better format than the All-Star game. Just a look at the NBA and what a joke their All-Star game this year was.

[herbie]

The Great Once

[DrCaleb]

No, he's cool. Some people are dissing him for giving a thumbs up to the US team, but that's who Gretzky is. That's why he is the best of us. No politics, just play the game.