PGT: Exhibition • North America 7 Europe 4 • 9/11/16 •

[HIFE]

No they're not. You're mixing up players of 8 nations where many never played together anywhere while others aren't even that good in the first place you aren't going to get a good team. They gave a little bit of a crap today but this is never a going to be a functional team . I mean the only thing they have to play for is themselves at the end of the day. There's no collective european identity to pull them all together and most players are already established vets that don't having anything left to prove either

They'll play hockey and they'll somewhat try because they're paid for it but don't expect anyone to give his all .

This is really your explanation? I could summarize a lot better, they suck. Lack of identity, pride, is such a poor excuse...what is NA striving to win for then? When I said "supposed to be better," Vanek, Gaborik, Chara, Sbisa, look disabled. If this is the best team possible from "the rest of" Europe, what a joke. I'm glad the teams are limited in this tournament. When a team made up from a handful of nations' best are this terrible...they shouldn't even be in it. What a letdown.

 

[SharkInABoloTie]

He was one of the more responsible forwards for team NA and was directly involved in a lot of great chances. Had very crisp passes, got pucks to the net, and didn't overextend his shifts as much as his linemates were doing at times. Foolish to pretend he did absolutely nothing all game except for one shift. It's exhibition just relax.

They should just sit his ass. He is clearly the worst player out there

 

[Chileiceman]

Europe played fairly well after their atrocious start. They seemed to have found a bit of chemistry by the end. On paper they are probably the weakest team in the tourney after the Czechs, so it's an uphill battle, but they actually looked like they were trying tonight unlike the first game.

 

[fahad203]

Johnny Hockey has been the most impressive player in all the exhibtiions, for any team.

He is just so smooth. I wonder if he has a Ross in his future?

He's a beauty and looked solid so far. Unfortunately for him and 500 other players in NHL, there's a guy name McDavid who will win the Ross every year starting this year.

 

[snipes]

From http://hockeystats.ca/game/2016080108. Corsi percentage.

 

[snipes]

From http://hockeystats.ca/game/2016080108. Corsi percentage.

Sorry this was the wrong chart. I think this was from the previous games, the charts are on the link though at the bottom.

 

[me2]

Big Chara has been horrible those two games, he should just retire.

Chara has $9m owing to him so I think you mean *cough* LTIR

 

[serp]

This is really your explanation? I could summarize a lot better, they suck. Lack of identity, pride, is such a poor excuse...what is NA striving to win for then? When I said "supposed to be better," Vanek, Gaborik, Chara, Sbisa, look disabled. If this is the best team possible from "the rest of" Europe, what a joke. I'm glad the teams are limited in this tournament. When a team made up from a handful of nations' best are this terrible...they shouldn't even be in it. What a letdown.

A team of young 23 or younger players still have something to prove . What do 30+ year old nhl veteran have to prove ? The Czech team on paper isn't very good either but they play with passion and as a team .

By the way this is not even the best "team" a team rest of Europe could field its just the one with the biggest names so it looks nice on paper. A couple more young legs instead of some of the really old players would've done wonders .

 

[Whileee]

Big Chara has been horrible those two games, he should just retire.

Was thinking the same thing. He seemed to struggle quite a bit last season, too. If his game starts falling off a cliff the Bruins are going to be in trouble on D this season.

 

[Whileee]

Physical =/= good defensively. I thought Jets fans were the big on that mantra.

I agree with this. By "physical" I mean that you need to be able to ward off fore-checkers, win some puck battles and check the occasional forward in dangerous areas. That's not a replacement for good puck skills and awareness, but if you can't hold your own when the other team has the puck it can create a mess, especially with strong teams that are strong and effective in the corners and on the cycle (like Canada, USA and Sweden). The best defensemen can make good decisions and plays with the puck, but also have the strength and physicality to handle players in their own zone. Based on the first two games, I thought that the NA D looked like they could get manhandled by a bigger and more aggressive team. I thought that Ghost looked particularly vulnerable, but the whole left side of the D could struggle with bigger and faster forwards. If you keep on losing most of the puck battles, you'll end up chasing the game in your own zone and playing without the puck for extended periods.

Jones, Murray, Ghost and Rielly is a talented group, but I think they'll struggle to handle more physical teams. With the talent on the best teams, skating and puck skills won't be sufficient by themselves.

I guess time will tell.

(Interesting tidbit - every D on Team Canada plays in the Western Conference. 5 of 7 D on Team NA play in the Eastern Conference).

 

[Johnnybegood13]

Big Chara has been horrible those two games, he should just retire.

I could name 9 million reasons why this won't happen but I don't have time.

EDIT: I do have time. Dollars.

He's a beauty and looked solid so far. Unfortunately for him and 500 other players in NHL, there's a guy name McDavid who will win the Ross every year starting this year.

He's never ever lead any league or any team in scoring but the magic McGretzky powers playing in Edmonton will buc his trend for his second season huh? In the NHL no less.

Good luck with that

 

[DearDiary]

Johnny Hockey has been the most impressive player in all the exhibtiions, for any team.

He is just so smooth. I wonder if he has a Ross in his future?

Marchand by far has been the best

 

[Blitzago*]

I could name 9 million reasons why this won't happen but I don't have time.

EDIT: I do have time. Dollars.



He's never ever lead any league or any team in scoring but the magic McGretzky powers playing in Edmonton will buc his trend for his second season huh? In the NHL no less.

Good luck with that

While the poster you quoted is a little overzealous.

McDavid was above Gaudreau in PP/60 in his first NHL season, so its quite possible.

 

[ps241]

Yeah I don't know about that. That defense would struggle against Canada and USA imo. Unless they get it together.

Yea the team defense has left allot to be desired. Anything can happen in one game and they have goalies that could steal them a game but they are not nearly defensively sound enough to compete with Canada night in night out. They are a blast to watch though.

 

[Johnnybegood13]

While the poster you quoted is a little overzealous.

McDavid was above Gaudreau in PP/60 in his first NHL season, so its quite possible.

And it's very unlikely Gaudreau will win the art ross this year.

 

[LeafingTheWay]

(Interesting tidbit - every D on Team Canada plays in the Western Conference. 5 of 7 D on Team NA play in the Eastern Conference).

Didn't know Montreal (Weber) was in the Western Conference

 

[DearDiary]

While the poster you quoted is a little overzealous.

McDavid was above Gaudreau in PP/60 in his first NHL season, so its quite possible.

PP/60 is a useless stat unless you compare it with QOC and Zone Starts

 

[Blitzago*]

PP/60 is a useless stat unless you compare it with QOC and Zone Starts

PP/60 is PP/60. It's a pretty baseline stat.

 

[Swipes]

Didn't know Montreal (Weber) was in the Western Conference

Technically he hasn't played in the East yet, so that statement isn't strictly incorrect ^^

 

[McDavidbowie]

Sorry this was the wrong chart. I think this was from the previous games, the charts are on the link though at the bottom.

McDavid still ended the game with the highest even strength Corsi.

He is generating a lot of chances, I'm not worried. I'd rather he shake off whatever rust he has in exhibition games than regular season games.

It would be nice if they could find him a linemate he can mesh with. Gaudreau is way too fancy for him and Eichel seems to have a bit of rust also.

I want to see Larkin and McDavid. The speed would be insane.

 

[snipes]

McDavid still ended the game with the highest even strength Corsi.

He is generating a lot of chances, I'm not worried. I'd rather he shake off whatever rust he has in exhibition games than regular season games.

It would be nice if they could find him a linemate he can mesh with. Gaudreau is way too fancy for him and Eichel seems to have a bit of rust also.

I want to see Larkin and McDavid. The speed would be insane.

Not worried in the least, he'll show up.

Matthews or Larkin with McDavid-Scheifele would be interesting to try out. Larkin just flies, **** that kid can skate. He will be in the lineup when the tournament begins, I think Scheifele needs to be planted on McDavids line. Both can take draws, and Scheifele brings a bodied hard on the forecheck style game that meshes well.

Eichel will be fine. Keep him at centre on his own line, surround him some of the older guys like Saad, Miller, Trochek (all 23 years old).

Gaudreau is awesome. Phenomenal winger, he can play anywhere in the lineup. He knows how to create offence, he drives the play, and really plays like a centre from the wing.

One thing is for sure, this team is exciting.

 

[DopeyFish]

Sorry this was the wrong chart. I think this was from the previous games, the charts are on the link though at the bottom.

these corsi figures do not look right

 

[L13]

While the poster you quoted is a little overzealous.

McDavid was above Gaudreau in PP/60 in his first NHL season, so its quite possible.

I'm not about to get into a pissing contest over future Art Ross wins, but when will people realize that P60 over 40-odd games with a 20% shooting percentage for 35 of them does not in any way imply the same P60 over 82 games?

There were players with a higher P60 than McDavid's vaunted P60 at the halfseason mark. Their shooting percentage went down, just as McDavid's began to do in the last five games of the season, and so did their scoring rate.

Don't get me wrong, there's a chance that he might just have a natural shooting percentage of 17-20%... but it's not something I would assume right now.

 

[Atomos2]

Matthews with a very impressive game. He's going to be a dandy.

McDavid will be fine, but he was better with Scheifele on the wing.

The D was really suspect - very easy to play against in their own zone. Gostisbehere really struggled in his own zone. So did Jones, who seemed soft and disinterested. Parayko had a strong game. Ekbad and Rielly were up and down. Rielly lost the plot a few times defensively but is very strong moving the puck. Hard to know what to do with the D. You can't take Parayko out, but hard to argue against Trouba who was better in game 1 than most of the D were tonight. They might want to consider switching him over to the left side. I think they'll need his defensive intensity and physical play against the bigger and more talented teams.

Maybe...

Rielly-Ekblad
Murray-Jones
Trouba-Parayko

That group has plenty of offense and will probably offer more resistance in the D zone.

The forwards are ridiculously talented individually. Hard to figure out how to put them together in line combinations.

Overall, they'll score enough goals but their success will depend on their play in the D zone. If Europe can chew them up for long stretches, they are going to struggle against much better competition.

Your Trouba agenda is obvious. I'd keep Ghost over Trouba easily. First he's a better player and second he's a left shot dman.

 

[ffh]

Your Trouba agenda is obvious. I'd keep Ghost over Trouba easily. First he's a better player and second he's a left shot dman.

I believe he shoots right too.