Five Players Who Would Like To Forget The Olympics Ever Happened
On the heels of looking at 5 players who had breakthrough performances, there are also a number of players who would like to forget the Olympics ever happened. These players are ones who were expected to excel for their countries but when it came to crunch time, couldn’t get the job done.
PHOTO CREDIT: USA Today Sports
Here are my top 5 players who would like the Olympic tournament to start over:
5. Zach Parise
PHOTO CREDIT: USA Today Sports
The US captain was very ineffective in his role, counting just a single goal and a -1 rating. Teams follow their leader, and Parise didn’t get the job done for the underachieving Americans.
PHOTO CREDIT: USA Today Sports
The Slovaks were undermanned and outgunned from the start, with the only thing going to make them competitive being a standout performance from their starting goalie. Halak faltered in the first game, allowing 5 goals to the US before being pulled, and followed that performance up with a 3 goal in 6 minute slump against Slovenia to take them out of contention in the tournament.
PHOTO CREDIT: USA Today Sports
Like Halak, Pavelec was required to have a standout performance if the Czech’s were going to advance. After being scratched for the first game, Pavelec never really found his groove and finished with a sub .900 SP and a GAA north of 2.85.
2. Thomas Vanek
PHOTO CREDIT: USA Today Sports
The Austrians were overmatched from the start, and needed a heroic effort from Vanek to go anywhere. Fellow NHLers Michael Grabner and Michael Raffl did their part, but with just 1 assist Vanek didn’t do his, and the resulting 10th place ranking was inevitable.
Ovie stumbled in the Olympics PHOTO CREDIT: USA Today Sports
Although not the captain, the Russians were going to go as Ovechkin went. Ovechkin slumped badly and finished with just a goal and an assist. In front of his home country’s fans, that simply wasn’t good enough from a player who is one of the best on the planet. This was very close between him and Evgeni Malkin for most disappointing player, and you could lump the two linemates together.