Hockey World Cup: Team Europe Have Proven Doubters Wrong
I’ll be eating my words for a long time to come. Despite losing to Canada 4-1, Team Europe has shocked many people in the Hockey World Cup.
Their wins in the Hockey World Cup against the Czech Republic, and yes, the United States were wins I thought were easy victories for their opponents. But like my hockey coach always told me:
“Any team can win on any given day. Take nothing for granted.”
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I’ve failed you, coach. Or to make myself feel better, I didn’t fail, but rather the Czechs and the Americans did. Teams that were among the favorites to move forward in the tournament, I believe took Europe for granted.
It’s a mistake that athletes make all the time. But the US couldn’t follow up their defeat to Europe with a win over Canada in what was a highly contested match.
In our roundtable, I said I wanted to say Team Europe was the one to watch but didn’t feel that they would go far enough in the tournament. I went with Team North America, who has been doing very well. Is it too late to change my answer?
Team Europe has certainly stepped up in ways that I didn’t think were possible. Anze Kopitar, being a leader for the ragtag band of misfits that is Team Europe has created an anomaly in the world of hockey. I think we’re going to be remembering this for a long time.
I can imagine it now, people who read my article and thought, “yeah, he has a point” now saying, “idiot”. It’s okay, I’ve been called worse, just read my Newcastle blog.
Team Europe couldn’t have proved me more wrong. But I couldn’t be more happy about it. If Team Europe even touches the semi-finals, it will be a success. For Europe, there was no such thing as failure in this tournament. And if we remember anything from this year, it’s that Team USA was defeated by a team that didn’t exist until just this year.
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