More goalie notes and anecdotes from Olympics quarterfinals
Nabokov disappointed, but classy
As hard as it was to see Evgeni Nabokov on the bench, his eyes welling up as he looked distantly at nothing after getting pulled after giving up six goals on 23 shots, the like-able Russian stopper showed his class after the game.
While teammates stormed by the media with their heads down, ignoring their names being called out, Nabokov stopped for a familiar voice and, after a brief pause. came over and spent more than 10 minutes – first a few in English and then a lot more in Russian – explaining a bitterly disappointing loss.
“We expected they would come out very hard and they scored three minutes into the game and they keep coming, keep coming,” Nabokov said. “We weren’t able to stop the bleeding. They played a hell of a game.”
That game included an intense physical style, especially against Russia’s top offensive players, and a relentless attack off both the rush and cycle, with plenty of those big Canadian forwards driving the net and parking there.
“That’s Canadian hockey right there. They stay in front, shoot and they’re there for a rebound,” Nabokov said. “I don’t think they surprised us with the physicality but how hungry they were, that was the reason why they won.”
Nabokov said it was tough to stay on the bench, but tipped his hat to Canada.
“It’s never easy being pulled. It’s not easy to watch from the bench, but they deserved to win,” he said. “I don’t like predictions, but it looks like they are getting going. They are not going to be easy to beat, I’ll tell you that.”
Bryzgalov surprised to be left on the Olympic bench
Bryzgalov only gave up one to the Canadians - may think he was left on the bench far too long.
Most expected Russian coach Vyacheslav Bykov to start backup goalie Ilya Bryzgalov in the second period after Nabokov struggled, giving up four goals including a soft Brenden Morrow wraparound, in the first period. Count Bryzgalov himself among the surprised that Nabokov was back in net before giving up goals on the first two second-period shots and finally giving way to Bryzgalov.
Bykov said simply it wasn’t Nabokov’s fault, and Bryzagalov just deferred to his coach, but the quirky stopper had plenty of thoughts on the rest of the game.
“Really simple,” he explained. “We lost all battles. We turned the puck over too much. We lost every aspect of the game. Turnovers, turnovers, turnovers. We lost the battles around the walls. It’s a simple game, hockey, you know.”
As for what it meant back home in Russia to be out so soon, Bryzgalov said, “Same thing like if it was Canadians. It’s a disaster. End of the World.”
The Russian goalie was also surprised how easily his team was pushed around.
“We had to push back but didn’t. I expected much more from these Olympics,” he said. “They were much faster than us. They came out like gorillas in a cage.”
Canadian goalie Luongo soaking up electric Olympic atmosphere
For more on Luongo see this inGoal Magazine interview.
The noise was near deafening as Canada took to the ice against Russia Wednesday afternoon, and stayed at ear-piercing levels as the home team pounded their old rivals on both boards – the end and score – early on.
For hometown goaltender Roberto Luongo, it was sweet music.
“It was electric atmosphere, it was really fun to play in and obviously with the lead it was a bit more comfortable,” said Luongo, who has heard it loud, but not that loud, in the rink where he captains the Vancouver Canucks. “It’s tough to control the nerves but I think it’s a good thing. It gets you energized and with the atmosphere like that in the building it’s just a fun game to play. It was a huge game not only for me but for my teammates and the whole country. So we’re really glad we won this one, but we still have some work to do.”
As for his own performance, Luongo’s 17 saves on 20 shots weren’t dominating, and despite coming through a number of screens, he was deep in his net on the third goal by Sergei Gonchar. But the game was never really in doubt, and when the Russians made one final push on a later power play, he snuffed it out by throwing out the right pad on Evgeni Malkin’s breakaway shot in tight.
“I felt really good pretty much the whole game. A couple goals went through a sea of bodies and I don’t know how they found the net but I stayed with it and made a few big saves in the third and that was about it,” he said. “My game stayed the same. You want to make sure you don’t let them back in the game. Obviously they have some fire power, they can score some goals and a couple times tried to get back, but we answered right back every time.”
Swedish goalie Lundqvist not happy with Olympic-ending calls
King Henrik's Quarter-Final letdown was a surprise after entering the game with no goals against in the Olympic tournament
Star Swedish stopper Henrik Lundqvist lost his stick on a crucial power play for Slovakia and just when he went to pick it up, an opponent kicked it away.
Sure enough his New York Rangers teammate Marian Gaborik scored shortly after, as Lundqvist got caught looking to his right around a screen and couldn’t get back to his left fast enough to stop a one-timer on a cross-ice feed.
“I think it should be a penalty, he pushed my stick away as I was just about to grab it and of course they score right away,” said Lundqvist. “It was a tough play. I was just about to grab it and he kicked I down so it should have been a call but I’m not going to whine about it now. It’s frustrating.”
So too was the way the Olympics ended for the defending champions.
Lundqvist hadn’t given up a goal coming into the quarterfinals, but was beaten on three straight shots in the second period – two 37 seconds apart midway through and the next with just 48 seconds left – as the Slovaks sat back and waited to pounce on Swedish turnovers and mistakes in the neutral zone.
“I felt pretty good in the first but then I hardly saw the puck,” said Lundqvist, who only saw four second-period shots in total. “I just saw it in the net. It was kind of a tough game for me. We know they are a good transition team and a good power play team and that’s where they beat us today.”
photos thanks to s.yume
Related posts:
Leave a Comment