Canada got too comfortable - way too comfortable

[Big Phil]

As a Canadian I am very pleased to see Canada winning the gold medal for the thrid year in a row. But even before the semi final game I noticed some alarming trends in the team. First off, I'm not sold on Hartsburg as the coach. I dont like the theory that if he wins he should be invited back. Hartsburg and the coaching staff were lucky. Dont get me wrong the team deserved to win but they made some woeful decisions in teh training camp.
I'm not expecting this team to be like the 2005 team, there may never be one like that, but how do you explain cutting Esposito and Tavares? They didnt even invite Couture. This team dodged a bullet and it showed in the semi finals. We didnt score goals the way we should have. In a tight game against the US we didnt have that go-to guy to get the tying goal.

We relied too heavy on defense and on Carey Price. Dont you think the speed of Esposito would have helped? Even Tavares is lighting up the lamp at a near pace that Crosby did at the same age. Canada has to learn from this team. I know that Crosby, Staal, Brule, Latrendesse were all in the NHL but offense wins games too and we just lacked that intagible. Toews in a great player but even he doesnt have the explosive offensive talent to break a game open. We'll need that next year

We cant get too comfortable just because we've won three in a row. Gretzky and co. made that mistake in the '06 Olympics when we took the same team from 2004 and expected it to translate the same on the big ice. Guess who was sitting at home? A guy who is currently the best player in the NHL right now (Crosby). SO I'd hate to see the juniors make the same mistake. The coaches need to throw in an offensive guy or two next year that have that game breaking talent

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[GKJ]

I think that Canada won, and that's good enough.

 

[therealdeal]

As a Canadian I am very pleased to see Canada winning the gold medal for the thrid year in a row. But even before the semi final game I noticed some alarming trends in the team. First off, I'm not sold on Hartsburg as the coach. I dont like the theory that if he wins he should be invited back. Hartsburg and the coaching staff were lucky. Dont get me wrong the team deserved to win but they made some woeful decisions in teh training camp.
I'm not expecting this team to be like the 2005 team, there may never be one like that, but how do you explain cutting Esposito and Tavares? They didnt even invite Couture. This team dodged a bullet and it showed in the semi finals. We didnt score goals the way we should have. In a tight game against the US we didnt have that go-to guy to get the tying goal.

We relied too heavy on defense and on Carey Price. Dont you think the speed of Esposito would have helped? Even Tavares is lighting up the lamp at a near pace that Crosby did at the same age. Canada has to learn from this team. I know that Crosby, Staal, Brule, Latrendesse were all in the NHL but offense wins games too and we just lacked that intagible. Toews in a great player but even he doesnt have the explosive offensive talent to break a game open. We'll need that next year

We cant get too comfortable just because we've won three in a row. Gretzky and co. made that mistake in the '06 Olympics when we took the same team from 2004 and expected it to translate the same on the big ice. Guess who was sitting at home? A guy who is currently the best player in the NHL right now (Crosby). SO I'd hate to see the juniors make the same mistake. The coaches need to throw in an offensive guy or two next year that have that game breaking talent

If you were at the camp at all you would know that Esposito and Tavares did not deserve to make it, Tavares was closer than Espo, but he was still not good enough this year.

I'd also like to point out that I understand what you're saying, but we lost with Crosby when we took him at a young age and tried to run and gun too much rather than using a strong team defense. I think next year you'll see a much more offensively minded group in the Czech Republic.

 

[SY19]

If you were at the camp at all you would know that Esposito and Tavares did not deserve to make it, Tavares was closer than Espo, but he was still not good enough this year.

Exaclty. History proves that players are aged 17 and less, struggle in International Competition. Both Esposito and Tavares were not even close at the selection camp. They struggled when they consistently had to play against the best in Canada rather then the mediocre players that they play against on their club teams.

IMO Gagner made it because no one talked about him, he was an after thought. He had no pressure and played loose and looked great. But once again, he really struggled in the tournament.

Howver, I thought that Taking McArdle and then having him sit for the vast majority of the tournament was a little pointless. I would rather have seen Tavares do the same and at least learn from the experience. But these coaches do not coach for the future, they coach for the present.

Can't argue with the result. And both Tavares and Esposito have great futures. Tavares also has two more years that he will play in the World Juniors too.