Yes, somebody needed to say that to calm dryden down, he seems not to see any arguments if they are against, so I just told him what he wanted to hear, childish of him though, I guess he did not even get it

So far Nash's line did not play Russia

Following the same logic - no goaltender is able to guarantee shut outs, I just said Nabby's quality is higher than Ward's (or Leclair though he would not play tomorrow), which gives Russia + 1 in the goaltending zone.

I am not convincing Russia is better, and surely you have all reasons to believe Canada wil succeed tomorrow, on the other hand, I have all the reasons to believer Russia will

Ward's won a SC..and a gold in Russia last year.....Nabby consistently chokes in the SC tourney...why would u rate Nabby higher?

You may say just "C-format team". but to play with just one succesive 5-players shift - it is not for the Final game. Thought, these three boys will put some goalz to the gates of Habbi. But, the Russian forwards will put at least 4-5 to the hole of the canadian keeper...

iGor, some goalz? Easier to say, than to do:)

sure - ovvy will do at least one. kovi - the second. he hate all of the world
and the next - just Barses - Zaripov the third. ciao< canada!

why have the final?

iihf, lets give them two sets of goal medals... haha... on the wonderful occasion of your 100th anniversary, that is...

Of course any reasonable person would rate Nabby higher! Just look at his last two games, that should explain a lot. What happened in the NHL playoffs is irrelevant, just as what happened last year or over the past 15 years. What matters in each championship is the PRESENT. And in the present, I am sorry to say but Nabby is kicking butt. And he will later today - at Canada's expense!

I agree that both teams are phenominal and have by FAR outclassed their competition in this tourney. Any other pair in the finals just would not have been fair. However, while Canada has been consistently winning, and even slowing down with each new game, Russia has been picking up speed.

It started with Switzerland. Talk all you want about own goals, but Russia scored the first one and the second one would have probably been in anyways. Thus, regardless of the own goal, the game was decided from the first minutes. Switzerland just did not have a chance. Canada, on the other hand, struggled immeasurably with Norway in the first part of the game.

Then it continued with Finland. That poor team did not know what hit them. They must have seen the Soviet ghost come back to life when the first goal was scored. That was simply a beauty to watch. And the second goal by the Ak Bars troika - simply delicious. Canada, on the other hand, had trouble beating the Swedes - who, might I remind you, lost to Finland just now. Hmmm, anyone need me to draw the obvious conclusion?

And now Canada. I hear people saying that we are scared of them. Trust me, we are not. In fact, it's team Canada that are probably having nightmares tonight. They know deep within their souls how this match is going to come out. They know it, they feel it, and yet they are powerless to stop it.

RUSSIA IS BACK, baby! And it is better than ever.

My prediction: Russia 5:3 Canada!

Chernogolovez, if you think TC has nightmares about the Russians, so be it.
Team Canada never underestimates their opposition, but nightmares....that would take it to far, don't you think?

You guys have had some close games (Czechs in OT, Belarus in shoot out, if I recall correctly), too. As for picking up speed, I'd say a 8-2 compared to a 2-1 is picking up speed.

We'll see who's the better team tonight and we'll see how 'powerless' TC really is....

GO CANADA GO

Watch the film again. Finland was not as bad as the 4-0 score indicated. The first Russian goal, while very pretty, occurred as a result of a very bad Finnish turnover at the blue line. The second was because all three Finnish defenders went to the wrong man and forgot about Zaripov. It's not as if the Russians tapdanced all over the Finns and the Finns just stood there bewildered.

Final shots were 27-24. The difference in the game was finishing and Nabokov.

Well deserved win for the Russians, but it wasn't a total blowout as the score would indicate.

Us and the Swedes, yes, Canada's defense was very sloppy, but on all our goals, there was NOTHING the Swedes could do. I just wish we'd play like that all 60 minutes.

The obvious conclusion is that you have never paid attention to an entire tournament before?
In the round robin, Canada squeaked by Norway 2-1, While the US hammered the Norwegians.
Yet Canada won when Canada and USA played.
In these one game knockout things, there is much more to consider than just the previous game.
These teams are good, the game should be too. I can't wait!