JackSlater
Registered User
- Apr 27, 2010
- 18,089
- 12,740
Obviously this was a disappointing tournament and changes need to be made to avoid results like this. There isn't something you can clearly point to though and say that's what caused issues. There are no egregious roster picks - even Allard, the most contentious pick, was fine in the role that he was used in. Losing two defencemen shortly before the tournament, Luneau in particular, was an issue but even subbing them in I don't know that a team that never showed a full 60 minute effort suddenly becomes dominant. Letang used Minten stupidly, but misusing one player didn't make the scoring forwards in general fail to perform. Rousseau was fine at best but he didn't cost the team any games, not that he was going to steal one either. His selection as the unquestioned starter points to the much bigger issue of goaltender development in Canada.
There are a few things that were done this year that Hockey Canada should drop. The trend has increasingly been that the camp is almost a formality and lots of players don't play in the games - make a competitive camp, not to the point where it is the sole deciding factor for the team but one where it is an actual camp where players might face adversity and something like chemistry might start to form. Canadian teams tend to lack cohesion in these tournaments early on and a competitive camp would help. Letang made a point of boasting about how they let the players use social media this year, and while I don't think that the team's issues stem from that I do think that keeping them away from the masses ripping them online is a wise approach. The team gave Rousseau the Price treatment as the anointed starter who got every game and essentially all the pre-tournament reps - that was a mistake even if Rousseau was not the reason that the team lost. See what you have unless you have an absolute superstar in net. The team should also stop with not bringing a full group of 25 when the tournament is in Europe. It doesn't matter that it leaves a CHL team without a player for a few weeks - the goal is to win this tournament, and it doesn't help to have players flying in late across several time zones. I don't believe that Hockey Canada lacks the funds to fly players out for a summer camp in Calgary either, so that practice should resume. With no summer camp, no super series, and these small camps with loads of locks from the start the team seems to just exist in Hockey Canada's mind and they hope that what happens on the ice later on works out and justifies their assumptions. I don't think that any of these issues alone caused the failure of this tournament at all, but small mistakes can build up and cause problems.
This team ultimately just never played a full game of impressive hockey. They should have beaten the Czechs, not resoundingly so though, but it looked like a clear situation where they would take a beating in the semi-finals. The only goal is to win so of course the tournament was a disappointment but that doesn't mean it was a total waste. They can take a look at what can be altered or improved before the 2025 tournament. I assume that Minten and Poitras will take the most heat of the players. Minten wasn't especially good but it wasn't his fault that he was put in a position he was poorly suited to - the coaching staff let him down by utilizing him like he was an elite offensive player for this level. Poitras will inevitably be ripped since he came from the NHL, and while he was far from dominating he was still a worthy addition to the team and it is not reasonable to expect a single marginal NHLer to come in and carry a struggling team. He was fine, and if he played the exact same way on a team that was more cohesive he would have likely ended up with a perfectly respectable point total. The team ended up roughly where it deserved to based on on-ice performance so there is nothing to do other than hope that lessons were learned.
There are a few things that were done this year that Hockey Canada should drop. The trend has increasingly been that the camp is almost a formality and lots of players don't play in the games - make a competitive camp, not to the point where it is the sole deciding factor for the team but one where it is an actual camp where players might face adversity and something like chemistry might start to form. Canadian teams tend to lack cohesion in these tournaments early on and a competitive camp would help. Letang made a point of boasting about how they let the players use social media this year, and while I don't think that the team's issues stem from that I do think that keeping them away from the masses ripping them online is a wise approach. The team gave Rousseau the Price treatment as the anointed starter who got every game and essentially all the pre-tournament reps - that was a mistake even if Rousseau was not the reason that the team lost. See what you have unless you have an absolute superstar in net. The team should also stop with not bringing a full group of 25 when the tournament is in Europe. It doesn't matter that it leaves a CHL team without a player for a few weeks - the goal is to win this tournament, and it doesn't help to have players flying in late across several time zones. I don't believe that Hockey Canada lacks the funds to fly players out for a summer camp in Calgary either, so that practice should resume. With no summer camp, no super series, and these small camps with loads of locks from the start the team seems to just exist in Hockey Canada's mind and they hope that what happens on the ice later on works out and justifies their assumptions. I don't think that any of these issues alone caused the failure of this tournament at all, but small mistakes can build up and cause problems.
This team ultimately just never played a full game of impressive hockey. They should have beaten the Czechs, not resoundingly so though, but it looked like a clear situation where they would take a beating in the semi-finals. The only goal is to win so of course the tournament was a disappointment but that doesn't mean it was a total waste. They can take a look at what can be altered or improved before the 2025 tournament. I assume that Minten and Poitras will take the most heat of the players. Minten wasn't especially good but it wasn't his fault that he was put in a position he was poorly suited to - the coaching staff let him down by utilizing him like he was an elite offensive player for this level. Poitras will inevitably be ripped since he came from the NHL, and while he was far from dominating he was still a worthy addition to the team and it is not reasonable to expect a single marginal NHLer to come in and carry a struggling team. He was fine, and if he played the exact same way on a team that was more cohesive he would have likely ended up with a perfectly respectable point total. The team ended up roughly where it deserved to based on on-ice performance so there is nothing to do other than hope that lessons were learned.
