Olympic Ice Hockey is finally over.
Sweden beat Finland in the gold medal game 3-2.
Flyer’s Peter Forsberg had 2 shots on goal, picked up an assist and was plus one for Sweden. Antero Niittymaki made 25 of 28 saves for Finland.
So Sweden won the gold, Finland the silver and Czech Republic the bronze.

Let’s recap how each Flyer did.
Peter Forsberg playing for Sweden overall had 5 shots, no goals and 6 assists and was plus 1. The groin has held up. If Forsberg stays healthy for at least a week then all the discussion and worrying about him playing or not playing in the Olympics will be forgotten.

Antero Niittymaki playing for Finland overall was 5-1 with 3 shutouts. He stopped 156 of 164 shots. His goal against average was 1.34 with a save percentage of .951. Frank was also named the tournament MVP.

Three Flyers played for USA, Robert Esche, Derian Hatcher and Mike Knuble.
Robert Esche played in one game and was 0-1. He stopped 16 of 21 shots. His goal against average was 5.08 with a save percentage of .762.
Derian Hatcher played in all six games with 2 shots on goal, 6 minor penalties and was minus 1.
Mike Knuble also played in all six games with 10 shots on goal, 1 goal, 1 assist, 2 minor penalties and was plus 1.
They really didn’t contribute much, did they?
Looking at the Team USA roster I am not surprised at the outcome losing in the Quarterfinals. Would it be any different if Ryan Miller would have gone? Eh, maybe. Team USA wasn’t built for the big ice, just old and slow. Modano is right about one thing, Team USA does need ‘new blood’. Team USA doesn’t need prima donnas. Team USA didn’t lose because some had to make travel arrangements. Modano had no shots on goal going into the third period, no wonder he was benched for the rest of the game. What Team USA needs is appreciative, respectful players that understand the Olympics is about representing your country rather than personal feelings. Modano later said his rant was ill-timed, that might be. However, with Modano deciding to fly out of Italy early and skip the final meeting with his teammates speaks volumes.

Simon Gagne played for Canada, overall had 1 goal on 9 shots, 2 assists, 3 minor penalties and was a plus 1. Gagne was injured by a hip check by Darius Kasparaitis in Canada’s last game. They are saying it is a bruised knee. He could be out for two weeks. Canada didn’t medal which surprised a lot of people. Team Canada was expecting Gagne to step up and be more productive. Other excuses were also made, no Crosby or Stahl, Pat Quinn, Bertuzzi, Gretzky, loss of Yzerman and Lemieux, no Looney in the ice, etc. Eh, I think all of those excuses hold some weight in one way or another. But Canadians have 2010 to look forward to in Vancouver. They can put all the Looney’s they want in the ice.

There were Flyers selected to play in the Olympics but did not play because of injury or personal reasons. They were…
Kim Johnsson for Sweden. Johnsson’s wife was expecting so he chose not to go. He was injured back in January, a concussion and would not have been able to play anyway.
Sami Kapanen for Finland. Kapanen has been playing thru a shoulder injury and had some problems with his knee. He took the time off to heal.
Joni Pitkanen also for Finland. Pitkanen had a sports hernia and had surgery in December. He didn’t feel he was fully healed
Michal Handzus for Slovakia. Handzus has a shoulder injury, torn labrum. It will require surgery after the season.

With the injuries to Gagne, Hasek, Jagr and others there has been discussion about whether NHL players should play in the Olympics. Before the Olympics and still now I say no, well kind of.
The NHL should not have to stop for two weeks just for the Olympics, especially since last year there was NO season. The NHL should not have to squeeze games together just to make room for the two week layoff. Players should not be coming back to the NHL, the place where they get paid, injured.
A big problem with hockey in the Olympics is that you have 20 individuals that for the most part have never played with each other. They need to gel quickly into a team. There is little to no practice, no exhibitions, and no way to really become a good team.
So this is what I propose, have a national team, something similar to the women’s team sports. Want to play for Canada (or any other country) in the 2010 Olympics? Fine you have to play on the 2009/2010 Canadian national team for the entire year. Players have a choice either play for the national team or don’t play in the Olympics. Players can’t play for the NHL or any other league.
Of course this would never fly since the players wouldn’t like it. The NHL also wouldn’t since they would be losing some all-stars every 4 years to the Olympics.
Why it makes sense…
You only have players that want to be there and play in the Olympics. Players have to sacrifice much of their salary for a year to play. If I made 3mill a year I think I could skip a year now and then and play for my country.
The NHL schedule is not affected, no shutting down, no squeezing games together and teams do not have to deal with players coming back injured.
Better teams. Teams won’t spend half the Olympics just trying to play well as a team.
IIFH World Championship is coming up in May is the NHL going to shutdown for that too? They wont, the playoffs will be going on. Guess they will just throw together another bunch of guys from teams out of the playoff picture.
Can you really call 20 guys that play together for a couple weeks World Champions?