WJC: 2024 Team Canada Roster Talk - Part 1
- Thread starter ORRFForever
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Pavel Buchnevich
Drury and Laviolette Must Go
Can someone give me what the possible roster would've looked like if everyone was available or everyone except Bedard?
WarriorofTime
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Add Fantilli, Benson, Wright (still don’t know why he felt too good to go when he’s in the AHL) at forward. Korchinski on defense.
Eternal Leaf
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Plus Luneau would have been a guaranteed pick if we're counting injured players too.
Missing six stars (including a generational prospect) is a bit much for any team.
WarriorofTime
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Bedard and Fantilli were obvious no shows for over a year. I guess throw in Wright. I think Benson and Korchinski were more unexpected. And then injuries are injuries and suck.
Credit to the Czechs for executing and good luck the rest of the way. Disappointing result for us although not surprising since the team hasn't looked impressive. Hoping they'd get it together but never happened.
I hope someone measured the dimensions of the Czech net - might explain why those first round picks kept missing it.
I hope someone measured the dimensions of the Czech net - might explain why those first round picks kept missing it.
josra33
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Its comments like this that make me think that maybe the internet was a mistake
Maybe he looked at the coach and said “nah”
Would you blame him?
therealdeal
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Great post by JackSlater. Hope the boys are okay, it’s a lot of pressure. I don’t believe they performed their best, but they likely were trying their best, two different things.
Oh well, see you boys in the World Championship thread come March. Let’s go!
Oh well, see you boys in the World Championship thread come March. Let’s go!
Miro4Norris
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Canada loses their home advantage and is out before semi-finals. Nothing surprising to see here
And CZ missed a penalty, wiffed on some shots, etc.. every team misses opportunities.
The Canadian teams inability to close was a result of management choosing players for their 200 ft game and size over skill and game sense.
Add:
Forwards- Bedard, Wright, Fantilli, Benson
Defense- Luneau, Korchinski, Molendyk
That is likely our top pairing in d and a top 4 guy in Molendyk.
Up front there are your top 2 centres who would arguably be the top two centres in the whole tournament and two top 6 wingers. With Fantili being another guy who is likely better than any player in the current tournament.
Rousseau what a rough game… 2 bad goals, and the deflection is just one a dialed in goalie maybe still has a chance at… He seemed to get caught out of position a fair bit this tourney, which led to some cool saves but still, seemed like he was reacting slightly late and not reading rebounds or even 2v1s.
Letangs line juggling and player usage was questionable. Savoie, really underperformed, couldn’t hit the net at all. Geekie seemed pretty good imo although still wanted more from him , Poitras had some good possession but he never took over a game and was underwhelming. Poitras always looked like he was trying to do too much and wanted to be that possible MVP, but it just led to sub-optimal decision making, whereas it seemed like Geekie just wanted to make an impact anyway possible. Celebrini by far the best player for Canada, maybe even the tournament to this point with how impressive he was even when not scoring, and Letang didn’t use him much in the 2nd or 3rd…. Dumais was also not very good considering how he’s lighting up the Q. I think Rehkopf shoulda been utilized more, and the selection of Allard and Minten was just too role heavy imo, Minten ended up being decent but shoulda been on the 3rd line at most. We knew when they took Allard, Minten over Heidt, Firkus, Cristall that it may bite them in the back if they don’t get scoring… which they didn’t. Some of these guys get a pass or excuse because they're not playing their usual top 6 role, like they would in any other junior league, as it's not possible for them to all get the same opportunity.
Defensively I think Mateychuk and Lamoureux were a good pairing, obviously still some mistakes, but I think that was more due to chemistry and Letangs systems.... Furlong seemed ok, Donovan was getting limited minutes, Warren got exposed so hard vs the Czechs, and can't say I noticed Bonk and Nelson too much. Think this team lost it's 2nd pairing which woulda been good, with Molendyk and Luneau, as both are mobile and have pretty good offensive numbers, Luneau being QMJHL DOY. I think Furlong and Bonk woulda been a decent 3rd pair, but because the injuries their top 4 play wasn't great.
Although this wasn't a super stacked roster and guaranteed gold medal winner/contender, I still think it's an underperformance not to get a bronze with this roster. I'm aware other national teams brought similar/better rosters, but still I think going home without a medal is an underachievement, even if you consider this a weaker squad. Don't understand why HC chose Letang, can't say I know their process they have in place, but there definitely isn't anything that stands out about his coaching career. Letang really annoyed me with his line juggling, using only Rousseau, trying to roll 4 lines as if they can all score on their own, and I don't think he did a good job of building team chemistry, and the tactics of his seemed to be exposed, and I don't think that's purely a Canadian "skill issue". I feel like rolling 4 lines who can all score seems like a great idea, but often in practice it fails unless you have overwhelming skill, feels like my Flames where often coaching staff tried to create 3 scoring lines and it just results in three decent lines but no game breaking lines that can take over.
I'm still optimistic about next year though, perhaps some of that is blind loyalty, but next year looks like it has a better d-core with Yakemchuk, Dickinson, maaaybe Parekh, Dragicevic as options. And next years offence has quite a few players who might be able to create some offence, Barlow, Ritchie, Cristall, Heidt, Nadeau, Lardis etc.. And the 2023 draft guys will have another year to return. As for goaltending, I don't know enough, since Canada doesn't have many guys who are jumping off the page to get a start but I'm sure some 19/20 year old goalie will come in and be good enough that if Canada plays to its abilities can win them a medal. Better luck next year.
Letangs line juggling and player usage was questionable. Savoie, really underperformed, couldn’t hit the net at all. Geekie seemed pretty good imo although still wanted more from him , Poitras had some good possession but he never took over a game and was underwhelming. Poitras always looked like he was trying to do too much and wanted to be that possible MVP, but it just led to sub-optimal decision making, whereas it seemed like Geekie just wanted to make an impact anyway possible. Celebrini by far the best player for Canada, maybe even the tournament to this point with how impressive he was even when not scoring, and Letang didn’t use him much in the 2nd or 3rd…. Dumais was also not very good considering how he’s lighting up the Q. I think Rehkopf shoulda been utilized more, and the selection of Allard and Minten was just too role heavy imo, Minten ended up being decent but shoulda been on the 3rd line at most. We knew when they took Allard, Minten over Heidt, Firkus, Cristall that it may bite them in the back if they don’t get scoring… which they didn’t. Some of these guys get a pass or excuse because they're not playing their usual top 6 role, like they would in any other junior league, as it's not possible for them to all get the same opportunity.
Defensively I think Mateychuk and Lamoureux were a good pairing, obviously still some mistakes, but I think that was more due to chemistry and Letangs systems.... Furlong seemed ok, Donovan was getting limited minutes, Warren got exposed so hard vs the Czechs, and can't say I noticed Bonk and Nelson too much. Think this team lost it's 2nd pairing which woulda been good, with Molendyk and Luneau, as both are mobile and have pretty good offensive numbers, Luneau being QMJHL DOY. I think Furlong and Bonk woulda been a decent 3rd pair, but because the injuries their top 4 play wasn't great.
Although this wasn't a super stacked roster and guaranteed gold medal winner/contender, I still think it's an underperformance not to get a bronze with this roster. I'm aware other national teams brought similar/better rosters, but still I think going home without a medal is an underachievement, even if you consider this a weaker squad. Don't understand why HC chose Letang, can't say I know their process they have in place, but there definitely isn't anything that stands out about his coaching career. Letang really annoyed me with his line juggling, using only Rousseau, trying to roll 4 lines as if they can all score on their own, and I don't think he did a good job of building team chemistry, and the tactics of his seemed to be exposed, and I don't think that's purely a Canadian "skill issue". I feel like rolling 4 lines who can all score seems like a great idea, but often in practice it fails unless you have overwhelming skill, feels like my Flames where often coaching staff tried to create 3 scoring lines and it just results in three decent lines but no game breaking lines that can take over.
I'm still optimistic about next year though, perhaps some of that is blind loyalty, but next year looks like it has a better d-core with Yakemchuk, Dickinson, maaaybe Parekh, Dragicevic as options. And next years offence has quite a few players who might be able to create some offence, Barlow, Ritchie, Cristall, Heidt, Nadeau, Lardis etc.. And the 2023 draft guys will have another year to return. As for goaltending, I don't know enough, since Canada doesn't have many guys who are jumping off the page to get a start but I'm sure some 19/20 year old goalie will come in and be good enough that if Canada plays to its abilities can win them a medal. Better luck next year.
He's in the AHL and I don't think the Kraken believed he would get much out of the tournament as he'd be returning as a ~20 year old, who already won gold and captained the team to the victory. I think he woulda been Canadas best forward, or at least challenge Celebrini, even though some aren't as bullish on him as I am I don't see why he wouldn't do well. I can see why the Kraken think why bother sending him to the WJC when he's playing a top 6 role in the AHL and really the only thing he would have to prove is that he could carry Canada to a WJC which he didn't do last year, although he was good in some key moments. Especially if he got injured then missed time. Hockey Canada probably also doesn't mind mixing in new players who can be more prepared for next year if they return.
NyQuil
Big F$&*in Q
acrobaticgoalie
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Thanks for the laugh
In his last 10 GP, he has 2 G, 1A and is -8.
Why he couldn’t go and lead the way is beyond fascinating to me. Been there done that, sure…but this is a chance to represent your country? You’d have to think Seattle at least included him in the decision.
WarriorofTime
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It was probably his decision but Francis protected the player by making it seem like an organization decision.
100%. People were saying how some of the plugs on the team belonged on Canada over guys like Cristall, Nadeau, and Heidt. I’d like to hear them chime in now.
To be fair, major part of the blame goes on the coaching staff for using him like a top 6 superstar (when he's clearly not) just because he played NHL games for the Leafs.
They probably should and deserve to be in the semis. But I'm not really that surprised. By Team Canada standards, this was a very weak team Canada. They were never going to and should not have been expected to win this year's tournament. I knew that going in.
Hockey Canada learned some lessons from Slovakia in the 90s and 2000s that Letang seems to have forgotten. Namely, you put talent with talent. You don't seed each line with a player that can play puck-possession at a high tempo, their impact is diffused that way. Surround talent with talent. The 3rd and 4th line can play at pace with their own tactics.
WarriorofTime
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It's a bit ridiculous that Canada didn't fly out its injury replacements to Sweden and had to fly in a kid last minute before a game. All for the sake of not having them miss a few games with their CHL team. That's amateur hour stuff. These leagues have like 16 teams make the postseason out of 18 (QMJHL), 20 (OHL) or 22 (WHL) total teams, so only really horrible teams that don't even want to win (trade their 19 year olds, etc.) miss the postseason. A kid missing a few games in the regular season doesn't matter.
