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The WJC Thread. USA! USA! USA!

  • Thread starter Thread starter Gurtholfin
  • Start date Start date
Re: The WJC Thread. USA! USA! USA!

Last year's team was just that - a TEAM. This year, for whatever reason, the collection of individuals never quite melded properly.
 
Re: The WJC Thread. USA! USA! USA!

Red Cloud said:
Last year's team was just that - a TEAM. This year, for whatever reason, the collection of individuals never quite melded properly.
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Probably because the primary purpose of putting people together was experience from the previous year, when, if I had to venture a guess, each line from last year had at least one player ineligible this year.
 
Re: The WJC Thread. USA! USA! USA!

I think this year's loss was more about Canada's play than the USA's lack of it. As someone said, there is a huge difference between wanting to win, and having to win. Canada won the game by starting out with a serious freight train of brute force and initmidation, which creates a lot of space for their skilled players. The USA simply did not have the right kind of team to respond to that style of play, and I doubt that any other US player choices would have made a difference. Chris Krieder said it best after the game: "Canada played like men."
Pretty much says it all.
 
Re: The WJC Thread. USA! USA! USA!

Shirtless Guy said:
I do believe the US was not helped by its schedule, the styles of the the teams in the US group just didn't help when you compare them to the likes of Canada, Sweden and Russia.
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Earlier in the tournament like after the Finland game, weren't people talking about how this team was built to play better against the Canadians/Russians/Swedes?

Maybe we were all delusional that this year's team just never came together and it didn't have the leadership or toughness needed to beat the top teams.
 
Re: The WJC Thread. USA! USA! USA!

Hockeypuck said:
Slovakia finished 4th in the 2010 Olympics that was ahead of the Czechs, Swedes, and Russians and they beat the Swedes and Russians. I'm really not sure how you could say they are getting worse and worse when a year ago they had probably their best performance by a national team?
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But those were older players who came up during a time when Slovakia was one of the best, or at least close to it. Slovakia will continue to be good in Olympics and World Championships until that generation moves on. The last 2 WJCs (2 8th-place finishes for Slovakia) indicate that the next generation isn't nearly as good. And it's not like they've been losing close, tough games either. They've been getting blown out by the top teams, they've lost to the Swiss each of the last 2 years, and this year, they barely squeaked by lowly Germany for their only win.
 
Re: The WJC Thread. USA! USA! USA!

Looks like Canada is worried about having 30,000 less people playing hockey in five years. The article also mentions that the USA is seeing growth in the sunbelt, but fails to mention that any growth in youth hockey is because more girls are playing than ever before.

http://www.montrealgazette.com/sports/familiar+place+battling+bronze/4061443/story.html

Funny quote

Not long after Ryan Johansen buried a rebound to give Canada a 3-0 lead did fans understand the game was no longer in doubt. They began chanting "This is our house!" because, well, it was. They didn't simply take over HSBC Arena. They parked themselves on the sofa, threw their feet on the coffee table, grabbed the remote control and emptied the beer fridge.
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Re: The WJC Thread. USA! USA! USA!

dggoddard said:
Funny quote
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So that's where they got these...

<!-- LIFE IMAGE 97064209 --><iframe scrolling="no" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" frameborder="0" src="http://www.life.com/embed/index/image?id=97064209" width="280" height="360"></iframe>
 
Re: The WJC Thread. USA! USA! USA!

bothman said:
I think the biggest difference was the US defense. No puck movers (Cam Fowler) and generally a slow and ill-positioned unit that couldn't knock Canda off the puck, break out of its zone with any purpose, and no one that could run the powerplay and get shots from the point to the net. Not sure who also was under consideration, but there were some guys (faulk in particular) that had no business being on this team.
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Oh, you didn't think Faulk should have been on the team? Which little boy that gets your pants tight was left off for him?
 
Re: The WJC Thread. USA! USA! USA!

Federal League said:
But those were older players who came up during a time when Slovakia was one of the best, or at least close to it. Slovakia will continue to be good in Olympics and World Championships until that generation moves on. The last 2 WJCs (2 8th-place finishes for Slovakia) indicate that the next generation isn't nearly as good. And it's not like they've been losing close, tough games either. They've been getting blown out by the top teams, they've lost to the Swiss each of the last 2 years, and this year, they barely squeaked by lowly Germany for their only win.
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Yeah. Slovakia has won a medal (bronze) a grand total of one time in the WJC about ten years ago I think. This 4th place finish (on the back of a hot goalie as I recall) might have been a product of a relatively "golden generation" to borrow a soccer term. I just don't think with the player participation numbers now so far behind the other major hockey playing nations (and the Swiss) that they'll be able to continue to compete. I don't know if they're going to become a Denmark or a Norway, but they seem to be tailing off.
 
Re: The WJC Thread. USA! USA! USA!

Well, Denmark and Latvia are back next year. Germany and Norway sent right back where they came from.

I have a feeling that these four are going to be trading 9 and 10 back and forth for a while.
 
Re: The WJC Thread. USA! USA! USA!

Surprised that there are no score updates in here or on the scoreupdate thread. FOr those of us at work, can anyone post a score? I'd still like to see these guys bring home a medal.
 
Re: The WJC Thread. USA! USA! USA!

defkit said:
Surprised that there are no score updates in here or on the scoreupdate thread. FOr those of us at work, can anyone post a score? I'd still like to see these guys bring home a medal.
Click to expand...
0-0 through 1
 
Re: The WJC Thread. USA! USA! USA!

defkit said:
Surprised that there are no score updates in here or on the scoreupdate thread. FOr those of us at work, can anyone post a score? I'd still like to see these guys bring home a medal.
Click to expand...

US dominated most of the 1st and had 3 or 4 golden chances, but nothing to show for it. Sweden's goalie has been great, and a couple good chances missed the net.
 
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