GDT: IIHF WHC: Time to close thread

[Jumptheshark]

I was out last night with a few other guys who usually go to the worlds every year and we are all gob smacked at how many empty seats there are--I hope Slovakia learns from the Danes in what not to do

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

Yes he was. This was before Finland started churning out some real good talent. In the years prior there had been so many disappointing finnish prospects over the years that no one really believed in them anymore. I personally felt that Aho would just be another one of them, which is why I had him ranked really low.

In hindsight, looking at Aho's stats in his draft year and draft-1 year he should've definitely been ranked higher but sometimes those perceptions and stereotypes of certain players and prospects take over.

I think more than just the Canes had him rated a lot higher than the pundits did. Babcock later said they were debating between Aho and Dermott when they picked right before Carolina. NJ, who had the pick right after Carolina, was said to have wanted Aho as well, and traded the pick once the Canes picked Aho.

I think the Canes lucked out because they generally had a smaller scouting staff, but they had Pitkanen as a scout and with his Karpat ties, they were able to get a better view on him. Without Pitkanen, Canes likely would have passed on him as well.

 

[dustrock]

Man, McDavid and Nuge.

 

[LaGu]

In the end I missed the game

Anyway,
Canada - Germany 3 - 0

McDavid 0 G 2 A
RNH 1 G 1 A

This means that Canada will face Russia or Sweden in the quarter finals.

 

[Digger12]

Watched the 2nd and 3rd periods.

-McDavid and RNH work well together.
-Drai wasn't very noticeable, I've got some sympathy for him since his team isn't very good at all though.
-Nurse was OK, nothing great nor bad.
-Barzal is tremendously agile and a gifted playmaker, but is a bit too fancy sometimes for his own good. Makes plays more complicated than they need to be.
-Turris didn't do much.
-O'Reilly is a solid, solid 2 way forward. A bit overpaid IMO, but I'd take him any day.

Not much else, Canada wasn't at their best once again but they were still too much for an underwhelming German squad that tries hard but just aren't that good.

 

[Bryanbryoil]

I would think that Drai would've wanted to compete hard against his Oilers teammates for bragging rights.

 

[DDRhockey]

Adam larsson is a positive for me. Jugding by hfboards you think he was garbage but been very solid for sweden.

 

[LaGu]

Adam larsson is a positive for me. Jugding by hfboards you think he was garbage but been very solid for sweden.

Now things will heat up though. No more France. Now it's Russia, Canada etc.

By the way if you want to see good Larsson you just need to go back to playoffs last year. I thought he was really good there.

 

[Digger12]

Not that it's any big surprise, but this Russia/Sweden game is FAR more intense than the Canada/Germany scrimmage earlier today. 1-0 Russia so far.

 

[ChaoticOrange]

Adam larsson is a positive for me. Jugding by hfboards you think he was garbage but been very solid for sweden.

HFBoards has too many 17 year old stats nerd idiots that think the only way to judge a defenceman is by a HERO chart.

I have yet to see one decent ‘spreadsheet’ measure of defensive defencemen.

 

[Raab]

HFBoards has too many 17 year old stats nerd idiots that think the only way to judge a defenceman is by a HERO chart.

I have yet to see one decent ‘spreadsheet’ measure of defensive defencemen.

To many guys only look at the statistics and dont watch the player. Hard to judge a player solely on statistics, when so much of a players statistics depends on 5 other guys on the ice. You put a good player on a bad team and he'll most likely have bad statistics. Put the same player on a good team and suddenly his stats look much better.

 

[ChaoticOrange]

To many guys only look at the statistics and dont watch the player. Hard to judge a player solely on statistics, when so much of a players statistics depends on 5 other guys on the ice. You put a good player on a bad team and he'll most likely have bad statistics. Put the same player on a good team and suddenly his stats look much better.

Yep. No small wonder Larsson looked worse with Nurse this year than he did with Klefbom at the top of his game last year and in the playoffs.

 

[Digger12]

LOL I guess my previous critique of Turris wasn't entirely fair, considering his equipment didn't arrive with him so he was skating around with a spare pair of Barzal's skates, and using a borrowed stick from Eberle. I'll bet his new teammates had a good laugh about it.

 

[LaGu]

LOL I guess my previous critique of Turris wasn't entirely fair, considering his equipment didn't arrive with him so he was skating around with a spare pair of Barzal's skates, and using a borrowed stick from Eberle. I'll bet his new teammates had a good laugh about it.

Ekholm is playing in Erik Gustsfsson's gear.
Arvidsson's clubs haven't arrived yet.
Anders Nilsson got his gloves yesterday, he'd been borrowing for the whole tournament.



They should just ship the gear instead of flying with it.

 

[joestevens29]

I feel like these guys are pros, like f*** are they completely useless without their own equipment?

 

[LaGu]

I feel like these guys are pros, like **** are they completely useless without their own equipment?

Ekholm said that the only real problem was the skates, for the rest no worries (except he took issue with having to play in Chicago gear )

 

[LaGu]

Yeah
Swe Rus 3-1
I am loving Swe's D.
Larsson saved GA with 50 secs left. For the rest of the game solid as always. Slight hickup when he put a highstick in the face of a Russian in the bdginning of the gsme causing a 2+2 penalty (on which Rus scored).

Quarter finals:
Canada vs Russia
Sweden vs Latvia
USA vs Czech Rep
Finland vs Switzerland

 

[Draiskull]

Adam larsson is a positive for me. Jugding by hfboards you think he was garbage but been very solid for sweden.

Larsson struggled this season and did not have a steady/reliable partner.
Seems to be back to his old \ top pairing self now.

 

[ujju2]

HFBoards has too many 17 year old stats nerd idiots that think the only way to judge a defenceman is by a HERO chart.

I have yet to see one decent ‘spreadsheet’ measure of defensive defencemen.

Exactly, and I'm two of those things (17 years old and a bit of a nerd). Larsson is absolutely a beast.

 

[CycloneSweep]

Larsson struggled this season and did not have a steady/reliable partner.
Seems to be back to his old \ top pairing self now.

Larsson is a perfect complimentary player.

On his own he is fine, but doesn't really carry a pairing. Put him with a good partner and he excels.

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

Larsson is a perfect complimentary player.

On his own he is fine, but doesn't really carry a pairing. Put him with a good partner and he excels.

he made Klefbom great last year

 

[Jet Walters]

To my eye Larsson has been team Sweden's MVP so far, although I've only watched 4-5 periods of Sweden games.

 

[Seiza]

To my eye Larsson has been team Sweden's MVP so far, although I've only watched 4-5 periods of Sweden games.

I can second that, Larsson has been the best player on Team Sweden so far. Very impressive.

 

[ConnorMcMullet]

I have huge hopes for Larsson next year. Hoping he and Klefbom bounce back as a top pairing.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Honestly I don't get the Oil's fear of putting Larsson in offensive situations.

I get that he's your main go-to shutdown option, but on a defence that features Russell, Nurse, and even Gryba, it's not like you couldn't slash his defensive minutes to give him some offensive usage.

I mean, has he ever gotten 1 rep on the top PP unit as the RHS pointman? It's like playing Nuge with McDavid: it seems like a idea that could work well, but Todd stubbornly held out for nearly 3 years before letting that happen.