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Post by Elite Sim News (ESN) on Dec 23, 2009 18:38:07 GMT -5
TEAM USA G Jack Campbell G Mike Lee D John Carlson D John MooreD Cam Fowler D Jake Gardiner D David Warsofsky D Chris WidemanF Jordan Schroeder F Phil McRae F Mitch WahlF Danny Kristo F Derek Stepan F A.J. Jenks F Jeremy Morin F Kyle Palmieri F Kenny RyanF Ryan Bourque F Jerry D'Amigo F Vinny SaponariMaking the team: D Matt Donovan, D Brian Lashoff, D John Ramage, F Tyler Johnson, F Chris Kreider, F Luke Walker, F Jason Zucker. Always interesting trying to peg what the higher ups with USA hockey will do. Glad to see Kreider and Zucker make the team. Surprised to see Wahl and Ryan not make it, but can't get upset about that. At least Carlson made it this year . Very fast team and Carlson and Fowler will play A LOT. Medal contender, as usual, but not the same expectations this year.
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Post by Elite Sim News (ESN) on Dec 23, 2009 18:46:16 GMT -5
TEAM CANADA
G Jake Allen
G Matt Hackett
D Ryan Ellis D Colten Teubert D Jared Cowan D Calvin de Haan D Travis Hamonic
D Patrick Wiercioch
F Patrice Cormier F Jordan Eberle
F Cody Hodgson
F Joe Colborne
F Philippe Cornet
F Scott Glennie F Taylor Hall F Adam Henrique F Nazem Kadri F Brandon Kozun
F Cody Eakin F Brayden Schenn
Making the team: G Martin Jones, D Alex Pietrangelo, D Marco Scandella, F Luke Adam, F Gabriel Bourque, F Jordan Caron, F Stefan Della Rovere, F Brandon McMillan, F Greg Nemisz
Wow...suck at predicting rosters much? Cherni, can you grab Patrice Cormier and have a little chat with him real quick? Wow...what exactly is he doing? I won't get into Della Rovere at all. Most years I don't do this but...this is easily a gold medal team. Yeah Sweden is good, but Canada is going to win this tournament running away. Their D is just too d**n good. They better put an end to the parade to the penalty box though. Very excited to see Hall playing with Henrique. We'll see how long that lasts (if at all).
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Post by Detroit Cherni on Dec 23, 2009 19:16:41 GMT -5
It's the way we play Gorbs, and it's unfortunate that international referees can't figure out how the game is supposed to be called.
We're rugged. We're tough. And we WILL WIN our 6th straight Gold Medal.
Everyone else will just have to get used to settling for silver, if they haven't already!
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Post by Elite Sim News (ESN) on Dec 24, 2009 14:38:38 GMT -5
Are you seriously going to defend elbowing players in the face who are on their way to the bench? Twice? You're better than that Davey. There's a pretty significant difference between being rugged and tough and being blatantly moronic. I'm a big fan of Cormier, but that is just not something that should be happening. If he's going to be that undisciplined, and playing with Della Rovere, there are going to be lots of penalties. Not that its a big deal for Canada since they are going to win this tournament anyway...but come on now.
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Post by Detroit Cherni on Dec 24, 2009 20:56:55 GMT -5
Gorbs, the Canadian way is the following:
I would elbow my Grandmother in the face if it meant winning a Gold Medal for Canada or for my team winning the Stanley Cup. Win at all costs Roger. That's why we dominate!
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Post by Elite Sim News (ESN) on Dec 25, 2009 23:04:17 GMT -5
You gotta love the NHL Network carrying 16 games this year! Anyway, here are my dumb predictions for where these teams will finish.
GROUP A
1. Canada 2. United States 3. Slovakia 4. Switzerland 5. Latvia
GROUP B
1. Sweden 2. Russia 3. Czech Republic 4. Finland 5. Austria
Relegated - Latvia, Austria Avoiding Relegation - Switzerland, Finland
Quarterfinals - United States over Czech Republic, Russia over Slovakia
Semifinals - Canada over Russia, Sweden over United States
Bronze - Russia Silver - Sweden Gold - Canada
Lots of prospects to keep an eye on. Believe it or not, the prospect I'm most anxious to see play is Switzerland's Nino Niederreiter. Haven't had a chance to see him yet this year. Disappointing that Switzerland's Alain Berger was injured in pre-tournament action, along with Joonas Donskoi and Teemu Pulkkinen of Finland.
I don't see how Canada doesn't win this tournament. I just want to see some good hockey, which this tournament always provides. I can't believe I picked the Americans to finish second in their group and play for a medal. I can see them getting beat by Slovakia in group play and getting bounced in the QFs. I usually don't cheer against Canada, but with my new found dislike for Patrice Cormier and my ongoing dislike for Stefan Della Rovere, I wish them nothing but the worst (results wise...not wishing on harm on them or anything crazy like that).
Also, Nikita Filatov is the best player in this tournament. No other team is more effected by players not available this year than Russia. Injuries to Loktionov and Kabanov to go along with Kulikov, Voinov and Grachev not being released to play are really going to hurt the Russians. Yes I realize Canada is missing the most talent, but they are also easily the deepest nation for this tournament. Russia doesn't have that luxury, and missing those five players will be very noticeable.
Looking forward to another great WJC!!! Eh Oh Suck It Cormier!
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Post by Elite Sim News (ESN) on Dec 27, 2009 13:45:09 GMT -5
DAY 1 NOTES
* Canada 16 Latvia 0 - Ummm, yeah. Latvia will try hard, but they just aren't good enough for the tournament this year. Congrats to Canada on executing. Gabriel Bourque had a decent effort with his 7 points.
* Sweden 10 Czech Republic 1 - Sweden was lucky the Czechs didn't bury some chances early in the first period, but that wouldn't have saved the Czechs. Speaking of saves, goaltending was BRUTAL for the Czech Republic. Sweden did have the better of the play, but at some point you need your goalie(s) to make a save. Magnus Paajarvi-Svensson and Andre Petersson were dangerous every time they were on the ice. Their defensemen were pretty pedestrian. Jacob Markstrom is as advertised.
* Russia 6 Austria 2 - Wow can the Austrians skate. They certainly held their own against the Russians, who didn't look overly impressive. For those of you looking at 2010 draft eligibles, this Russian team has a few to watch. It isn't too hard to notice the skill of Vladimir Tarasenko and Evgeni Kuznetsov. Kirill Petrov had his moments also.
* USA 7 Slovakia 3 - Expected a much better game than what we were given with Slovakia v USA. First of all, the refs in this game were pretty terrible. Tyler Johnson was given a five minute major for a penalty he didn't commit (Jason Zucker high sticked Martin Stajnoch, who hit his head on the ice as well). The Slovaks controlled the game early, but it had little to do with Tomas Tatar and Richard Panik. Radoslav Illo was the best player on the ice for Slovakia. The most noticeable players for the Americans were John Carlson, Danny Kristo and Derek Stepan. Kristo was everywhere and Stepan played his usual steady game. Carlson looked like Jack Johnson circa 2005, just not quite as skilled with the puck. He did notch a goal though.
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Post by Elite Sim News (ESN) on Dec 27, 2009 22:11:44 GMT -5
DAY 2 NOTES * Sweden 7 Austria 3 - Didn't see any of this game. Rather difficult to talk about something I didn't witness. * USA 3 Switzerland 0 - Missed the first period, which was apparently a good one for Jack Campbell. Caught the last two periods where the USA carried much of the play. Benjamin Conz played very well in net for the Swiss, but the Americans need to start converting on some of their chances. Chris Kreider and Benjamin Conz were named players of the game, and I can't really argue that. Kreider played quite well. Cam Fowler and Matt Donovan can sure shoot the puck. I would expect the Americans to beat Latvia rather handily leading to what should be a battle of the unbeatens on New Years Eve against Canada. * Finland 4 Czech Republic 3 - Missed a good portion of this game, but all you really need to know is Sami freaking Vatanen. * Slovakia v Latvia - Game is 7-2 in favor of the Slovaks after two periods, none of which I have seen. The Tatar-Viedensky-Panik line appears to be doing their thing though. They can put on a show when they want to. Looking forward to seeing if they, along with Radoslav Illo, can generate anything against Canada.
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Post by Elite Sim News (ESN) on Dec 28, 2009 20:35:36 GMT -5
DAY 3 NOTES
* Canada 6 Switzerland 0 - Didn't see much of this game. Very impressed with Brandon McMillan and Jordan Eberle, to name a few. Only saw about a period of the game though...and honestly I wasn't really paying much attention.
* Russia 2 Finland 0 - Wow. I thought this would be a good game, but it was much more than that. Igor Bobkov won this game for Russia. I've seen a lot of quality games from netminders in this tournament throughout the years, but this was a great show. Yes the Finns hit the post three times, but Bobkov made 46 (unofficially) stops and many of them were better than good. Nikita Filatov was the offensive star with a goal and assist. His goal was a great shot on the power play. Filatov was named Russia's star of the game, which is a freakin joke. The Finns completely controlled the flow of this game, and Sami Vatanen was once again all over the place. Teemu Hartikainen was Finland's star of the game. Joni Ortio was tested as well, although he didn't face nearly as many shots (don't have the official numbers yet). Extremely entertaining game with lots of skill and big hits on display. Igor Bobkov was a treat to watch tonight.
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