Official WJHC Thread

[moontoscott]

Re: Official WJHC Thread

I didn't get a warm and fuzzy from our tournament play simply because I knew there would be at least one major let-down (perhaps just a period) during the tournament that the guys would have to bounce back from and unfortunately today was the day.

I never thought that we had too much firepower up front and RNH couldn't do it by himself (he wasn't playing against boys, many were his age +- 6 months). I don't know where the idea came from that this was a powerhouse team because it simply wasn't.

What the tournament really shows is just how far the Americans have come in the last decade at both the junior and pro levels. They are now arguably the best players in the World. Canada and Russia are no longer the superpowers of the Hockey world. Those days are gone.

[Diesel]

Re: Official WJHC Thread

You just knew Subban had it in him

[Nanookster]

Re: Official WJHC Thread

You just knew Subban had it in him

Many picks on the Canadian team were questionable, Subban was just one of them. We never go with the best players available, we go with too many role model players. The team also didn't have enough western players, it was like it was the Ontario Hockey League. Binnington looked better in pre-tournament play, once Subban let in three versus Germany we should have done the switch.

But another problem with this tournament is the format. Why is a 2-2 team in the Gold Medal game while a 4-0 and 3-1 team is playing for bronze? I miss part of the old format, I think we should have a longer round robin, eliminate any bye games, in the end the top four teams play for the medals (1-2 Gold, 3-4 Bronze).

Last year another 4-0 team played for bronze. In a short tournament like this one bad game should not cost a team a shot at Gold.

[Nanookster]

Re: Official WJHC Thread

What the tournament really shows is just how far the Americans have come in the last decade at both the junior and pro levels. They are now arguably the best players in the World. Canada and Russia are no longer the superpowers of the Hockey world. Those days are gone.

Americans have the strongest goaltending. They will win the Gold.

Team Russia doesn't look good at all, I think we will take the bronze. I just hope we sit Subban.

[stamphater]

Re: Official WJHC Thread

That was as poorly coached game as I've seen in a while. I'm pretty sure RNH saw the ice for no more than 4-5 shifts in the first. You have two games left...what the hell is he doing on the bench for long periods of time. And there were no penalties at all in the first that should have kept him off the bench. Running 4 lines in a single elimination semi-final equals a fail in my eyes.

Subban had scared me and unfortunately was everything I feared in that game.

Finally, I have NEVER seen a ref call a goal after blowing his whistle. That was a new one. Must have felt damn sorry for us...

[Esks1949]

Re: Official WJHC Thread

It's troubling that CDN couldn't do better considering this is a lockout year.

Something else to consider. The USA has won the last 4 U-18 World Hockey tournaments. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IIHF_Wo...8_Championship
And look which team keeps winning the silver, too... Sweden. Kind of appropriate then that the USA and Sweden are playing for Gold tomorrow.

I think the reason the US did so badly last year in the U-21 tournament was because of the intense hostility and hatred they encountered playing in Edmonton. I think it rattled their whole team for the duration of the tournament.

[stamphater]

Re: Official WJHC Thread

US had a handful of players who could potentially have been in the NHL too.

Frankly, it was a one-game elimination where we didn't show up and they did. Eric Duhatschek wrote a great article about how one game does not mean our junior program is in shambles. I agree with him...

[Looner]

Re: Official WJHC Thread

I believe the blame for this loss starts right at the top, those who selected the team, right down to the players that played the game. While Subban shares some of the blame, it wouldn't have mattered who we had in there the way the team played. There is not a goalie on the planet that would have stopped the first 2 goals, take a look at goal #1, there is no way that a player should be that wide open in front of your goal, it even caught the player by surprise, on top of that they had a 3 on 0 down low that Subban stopped. I played goal for a lot of years and find it unfortunate that people automatically look towards the goaltender, IMO the only shot he should have had was the 4th one.

[Looner]

Re: Official WJHC Thread

Canada has fallen behind in our player development recently and we are starting to see some of the affects of that. Hockey USA has what they call the ADM (American Development Model) where they train kids to be athletes not necessarily hockey players. In Canada kids are still pushed to play summer hockey instead of baseball, soccer or any number of other summer sports. The whole idea behind the ADM is that, even when a child is playing baseball he is learing skills that are going to help him in hockey. This doesn't happen in Canada, those kids who are good are pushed into traveling summer teams that basically roll into next hockey season. Numerous problems can come out of this approach, not the least of which will be injury, as kids are over developing target muscle groups that are associated with playing hockey.

We'll always have a strong hockey program but we are no longer the Super power we used to be.

[Esks4ever]

Re: Official WJHC Thread

Is the Canadain model for a hockey team still to have more of the the big bodies who can crash and bang as well as have scoring abilitly rather than just pure offensive players? Are we still in that mentality? When we face equal or greater skilled teams we tend to play poorly.


perhaps stop going for that type of team make up and have more pure offensive players.

[Looner]

Re: Official WJHC Thread

Is the Canadain model for a hockey team still to have more of the the big bodies who can crash and bang as well as have scoring abilitly rather than just pure offensive players? Are we still in that mentality? When we face equal or greater skilled teams we tend to play poorly.


perhaps stop going for that type of team make up and have more pure offensive players.

There is still an emphasis on size throughout the higher levels, with a lot of the smaller players quitting because they are getting creamed by the beasts that are the youth of today.

[Deathsdoorstep]

Re: Official WJHC Thread

Meh. Losing some years makes it matter in those many years that we win.

[Esks4ever]

Re: Official WJHC Thread

There is still an emphasis on size throughout the higher levels, with a lot of the smaller players quitting because they are getting creamed by the beasts that are the youth of today.

emphasis for whom? Do the States, Sweden, Russia share that emphasis? IMO we worry about the size more than skill persay, and its no wonder we faulter on International ice.

[Looner]

Re: Official WJHC Thread

emphasis for whom? Do the States, Sweden, Russia share that emphasis? IMO we worry about the size more than skill persay, and its no wonder we faulter on International ice.

Can't speak for the states only know what our hockey program is doing.

[Esks4ever]

Re: Official WJHC Thread

well. what they are doing ain't working