Welcome to the NHL weekend rankings, in which we don\u2019t have an NHL to talk about.<\/p>\n
You may have noticed that the league is on hold while some tournament is played over in Italy. It feels like it\u2019s kind of a big deal. People seem to be enjoying it.<\/p>\n
OK, so let\u2019s go with the flow. It\u2019s like the old clich\u00e9 goes: When in Rome, or at least in the same country as Rome, do as every other hockey writer in the world is doing and serve up some Olympic hockey takes.<\/p>\n
This week, we\u2019ll take the rough format of the Weekend Rankings you know and love and\/or tolerate, and use them for some men\u2019s Olympic hockey observations. We\u2019ll get to the good and bad, but let\u2019s start with a few stragglers I\u2019m still working on.<\/p>\n
Bonus five: Olympic topics I haven\u2019t made my mind up on yet<\/p>\n
5. The round-robin format \u2013 Mirtle called it \u201cterrible\u201d<\/a> and laid out what he thinks is a better way to do it, and he makes a solid case. Some readers pushed back in the comments, and I get where they\u2019re coming from too. Ultimately, I don\u2019t think I\u2019ll be able to authoritatively say whether this was the right format or not until I find out whether my team won.<\/p>\n 4. Goal differential being so important \u2013 On the one hand, having differential play such a key role in the round-robin seeding means that every minute of every game mattered, even when the end result was already determined. In theory, that\u2019s good. And sometimes it is; the third period of Sunday\u2019s Canada\/France mismatch<\/a> still felt important, because every goal could have made a difference.<\/p>\n On the other hand, sometimes that means an underdog team like Italy gets smoked 11-0, which doesn\u2019t feel right. So put me down as undecided, even as I\u2019m not sure there\u2019s any other way to do things.<\/p>\n 3. James Duthie and Elliotte Friedman on the same panel \u2013 They\u2019re both great, and both are doing great work as always, but this is a weird watch for us Canadians. My hockey fan brain gets confused every time I see it. Seeing Duthie on an otherwise Sportsnet panel is like when you were a little kid and you\u2019d see your teacher at the grocery store. You\u2019re not supposed to be here, you live at the other place.<\/p>\n 2. Jordan Binnington \u2013 A shutout in the opener, followed by a performance against France that was just shaky enough to make a Canadian fan worry and\/or give everyone else some hope. He wasn\u2019t so bad that Jon Cooper is going to bail on him, but also not quite good enough to make the whole \u201cWhat if he\u2019s bad now?<\/a>\u201d concerns go away. As somebody who makes their living in the narrative mines, I thank you for your dedicated service, Jordan. Dude is out here handing red meat to the take merchants like it\u2019s a big juicy rebound in the slot.<\/p>\n 1. This all being over this time next week \u2013 It\u2019s weird, right? We waited forever for this tournament, spent years filling out projected rosters, debated all the snubs and late replacements, and enjoyed a fun round robin. And now we get a few more days, and it\u2019s done. The gold medal game is Sunday morning. This is going to be a wild week, with what will basically be 11 different Game 7 showdowns. Strap in.<\/p>\n Road to the Cup\u00a0Gold Medal<\/p>\n Five teams, players or storylines that have looked good so far in Milan.<\/p>\n If you missed it, the Friday and Monday rankings combined for a special rank-fest last week, as we each took our shot at all 12 Team Canadas and Team USAs from the NHL\u2019s Olympics era<\/a>.<\/p>\n 5. The rink \u2013 Hey, remember when this was going to be a big story, and maybe even the reason that we wouldn\u2019t be able to play the tournament at all? One week in, and the ice has been fine, and those missing four feet of surface have barely been noticeable. (Until your team loses, in which case it was the rink\u2019s fault.)<\/p>\n 4. The crowds \u2013 With apologies to Team Italy, this is essentially a neutral site tournament. That\u2019s not ideal from a purely NHL marketing perspective, because you get the time zone factor. It also means you won\u2019t ever get a truly rabid crowd like we had on that memorable Saturday night in Montreal during the 4 Nations Face-Off. But the flip side is that you\u2019ve got all these unique fan bases mixing and matching, and every game brings a different combo. It\u2019s been great fun. Also, I want this flag<\/a>.<\/p>\n 3. Quinn Hughes ghost memes \u2013 If you know, you know. And apparently, a whole lot of people who may have never even heard of Hughes now know<\/a>. Between this and confused fans trying to figure out what the deal is with the Tkachuk brothers, Team USA is building a brand new audience for the sport, and we\u2019re here for it.<\/p>\n 2. The round robin using a 3-2-1-0 format \u2013 Unlike the other format stuff up above, this feels like a pretty clear upgrade over what we\u2019re used to. We\u2019ll get into this more later this week, but for now I have a request. If you don\u2019t like the 3-2-1-0 points system, and you don\u2019t want to see it in the NHL\u2026 why? What\u2019s your argument against the format? Please let me know in the comments.<\/p>\n 1. Juraj Slafkovsk\u00fd \u2013 Guys, I\u2019m starting to think the Habs picked the right guy<\/a>.<\/p>\n Slafkovsk\u00fd is one of the few NHLers who isn\u2019t making his Olympic debut, since he was part of Team Slovakia in 2022. He looked great then, which was a big part of his move up to the top of the draft boards. And he\u2019s doing it again now. As Arpon has pointed out, this isn\u2019t new \u2014 he\u2019s been doing this in Montreal for a while<\/a>. But even so, it\u2019s cool to see somebody introduce themselves as a legit star on the biggest stage<\/a>.<\/p>\n Not ranked: That short-lived(?) McDavid\/MacKinnon\/Celebrini line \u2013 Some are calling it the Mc\/Mac\/Mack line, and yeah, we might need to convene a special session of Nickname Court<\/a> to rule on that one.<\/p>\n It didn\u2019t last long, because Jon Cooper is still a coach at heart, and coaches love to spread their offense around and also hate fun. But hoo boy, was this ever a fun unit, featuring the two best forwards in the world plus Macklin Celebrini, who\u2019s moving towards joining that conversation with every shift. Shades of Mike Keenan in 1987, finally giving in and putting prime Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux together in what turned out to be pretty much the most unstoppable line in hockey history. And it\u2019s proof-of-concept for a \u201cbreak glass in case of emergency\u201d tactic that Jon Cooper could turn to over the next few days<\/a>.<\/p>\n The bottom five<\/p>\n Five teams, players or storylines that might wish the league had skipped the Olympics yet again.<\/p>\n Look, I want to make fun of Team USA as much as anyone, and I\u2019m extra happy to do it if it\u2019s a goalie. But after two days of making fun of Jeremy Swayman for that long-distance goal against Denmark, can we all admit that it clearly deflects off of Matt Boldy? It\u2019s subtle, but that\u2019s enough when a goalie has already started his reaction. I\u2019m not even saying Swayman shouldn\u2019t have stopped it anyway, but the Tommy Salo comparisons can probably stop.<\/p>\n Oh man, I\u2019m out here defending goalies like I\u2019m store-brand Jesse Granger, this is the worst. Let\u2019s move on.<\/p>\n 5. Team Sweden \u2013 Losing to Finland stings, especially since it was the really the only classic rivalry game<\/a> we got from the round robin. Worse, it cost them top spot in Group B and a shot at a first-round bye, meaning they\u2019ll have to play an elimination game tomorrow while other contenders are resting, and should also have a tougher path through the rest of playoff round that would include facing the United States in the quarters.<\/p>\n Does that add up to disaster? Maybe, but we don\u2019t know yet, which is why I\u2019m only putting them here. They wouldn\u2019t be the first team to start slow-ish at this sort of tournament and then take care of business once the games are one-and-done. But at the very least, they\u2019ve made the mission tougher.<\/p>\n 4. Any NHL forward who doesn\u2019t have a point yet \u2013 You\u2019re a bum, Tomas Hertl. You too, Nino Niederreiter, Seth Jarvis and Alex Wennberg. And you, J.T. Miller and Kyle Connor. And sure why not, even you, Alexandre Texier. Why did you even bother going? Waste of time if you ask me. Could have stayed home and got a few errands run.<\/p>\n (Also, congratulations in advance to each of these players for the career game they\u2019re about to have in the elimination round.)<\/p>\n 3. Leon Draisaitl getting called a \u201cbridesmaid\u201d \u2013 That one came yesterday, caught on a hot mic courtesy of Matthew Tkachuk<\/a>, and was an obvious dig at Draisaitl\u2019s Oilers losing to Tkachuk\u2019s Panthers in back-to-back Stanley Cup finals. And honestly, it\u2019s got to be a pretty effective putdown, especially given the source. Draisaitl already goes through life looking like one of the most miserable people on the planet on a good day, so I can only imagine how much he appreciated that one.<\/p>\n (Polite Canadian in me: Don\u2019t say it, don\u2019t say it, don\u2019t say it\u2026)<\/p>\n Also, can you imagine getting accused of never winning the big one by an American hockey player? That\u2019s like Mats Zuccarello calling you \u201cshorty.\u201d Just devastating for everyone involved.<\/p>\n (Polite Canadian in me: Sorry.)<\/p>\n 2. There are shootouts in the elimination round \u2013 Every game except for the gold medal finale can end in a shootout. Just wanted to remind you of that and ruin your whole day.<\/p>\n 1. Kevin Fiala \u2013 Injuries are unavoidable in hockey, at least when the intensity ramps up, so it was almost guaranteed that we\u2019d seem at least one star get hurt. That\u2019s just part of the deal when the NHL sends its players over this sort of tournament. Still, it\u2019s one thing to know it\u2019s probably coming, and another to see it all play out<\/a>.<\/p>\n Aside from the obvious impact on Fiala himself, the injury is a brutal one for the Kings. They just pulled off a blockbuster trade<\/a> to bolster their forward ranks for the stretch run, and now they lose a key piece of their attack for the season, and maybe beyond. Just awful stuff all around.<\/p>\n Not ranked: Tom Wilson fighting \u2013 I\u2019ll be honest, I didn\u2019t think it would happen, if only because Wilson would have so many people warning him to be on his best behavior. But sure enough, when yesterday\u2019s matchup between Canada and France threatened to get ugly after a high hit on MacKinnon by defenseman Pierre Crinon, Wilson switched into old-school enforcer mode<\/a>.<\/p>\n At first, that just meant some vaguely threatening interactions with a few French players, including captain Pierre-\u00c9douard Bellemare. That almost felt more like an attempt to settle things down than anything else. But then Wilson got a shift on the ice with Crinon, and an attempt at message-sending turning into a very brief scrap.<\/p>\n Both players got majors, so we can technically call this a fight, although it certainly won\u2019t go on Wilson\u2019s highlight reel<\/a> in that regard. We all know about the 4 Nations\u2019 infamous three fights in nine seconds, but you could have fit about nine Wilson\/Crinon tilts in that time. Still, as the first official fight at the Olympics since 1998, the pairing at least made a bit of history.<\/p>\n And sure, some fans will roll their eyes at the whole thing. Some may view it even worse, feeling like the act of dropping the gloves is beneath this sort of international event. Other fans will say it\u2019s still hockey, and this sort of thing happens, especially when the elbows come up. The fact that it\u2019s Wilson, a guy most NHL fans already have strong opinions on one way or another, plays a role too.<\/p>\n At the end of the day, nobody got hurt and there are no further automatic penalties, so barring a surprise suspension everyone moves on. And now we wait and see whether this was the appetizer for something more, especially with the potential of a Canada\/US gold medal game looming, or just a trivia question you\u2019ll get wrong in ten years.<\/p>\n Either way, at least the men\u2019s hockey tournament got to have a little bit of bad blood. Can\u2019t let those curling hotheads have all the fun<\/a>.<\/p>\n