Kings News: Kings at the World Championships

[Faterson]

No thread so far, so here it is.

Pretty funny to see a King and a Duck play on the same line for Slovakia, and they've been pretty good so far – Chromiak & Regenda.

Chromiak scored Slovakia's first goal in the tournament, a power-play snipe against the Czechs, assisted by the Sabre Kňažko and ex-Bruin Cehlárik:



Overall, 4 Kings players take part – including two from Ontario Reign, that is, on the US squad:



The fourth player is Grundström for Sweden:

Kings to Watch at Upcoming World Championships

If there was anyone who needed this tournament to kickstart a strong season it's Cal Petersen.

www.lahockeynow.com

Click to read more...

 

[Sol]

No thread so far, so here it is.

Pretty funny to see a King and a Duck play on the same line for Slovakia, and they've been pretty good so far – Chromiak & Regenda.

Chromiak scored Slovakia's first goal in the tournament, a power-play snipe against the Czechs, assisted by the Sabre Kňažko and ex-Bruin Cehlárik:



Overall, 4 Kings players take part – including two from Ontario Reign, that is, on the US squad:



The fourth player is Grundström for Sweden:

Kings to Watch at Upcoming World Championships

If there was anyone who needed this tournament to kickstart a strong season it's Cal Petersen.

www.lahockeynow.com

The future being bleak probably has something to do with it.

 

[DirtyDanimal]

Word on the street is Fiala is joining the Swiss team this weekend.

 

[Faterson]

That would set up a Chromiak versus Fiala game on Thursday that I have no time to watch due to two separate meetings during game time.

Cal has been a backup to Casey DeSmith in US's single game so far (after letting in a soft goal in a prep game).

Around 12 minutes of TOI for TJ Tynan and a +1 in a fairly impressive 4-1 US opening win over the home team, Finland. Alex Tuch with 2 goals in that one.

A certain Mikey Eysimmont is likewise on the US squad. Not to mention Kubalík on the Czech one.

Grundy with 15 min of TOI in a Swedish opening 1-0 victory over Germany.

Chromiak is -2 after the first 2 games, with that single power-play tally, after having played 14 and 11 minutes. Slovakia's coach Craig Ramsey said he had not been familiar with Chromiak prior to preparation games, but Chromiak pleasantly surprised him, enough so to get selected for the squad to play in his first Worlds among adults. I think the competition among Slovak forwards was pretty good, so it was by no means a given.

Slovenia has been brutal so far, losing its opening game 0-7 versus Switzerland, after Kopitar declined to play in the tournament. (Now, a Kopitar versus Fiala game would be pretty fun to watch, wouldn't it?)

 

[Byfield]

Would’ve liked to see Byfield on Team Canada but then again off-season work may be better than what he looked like to
End the year

 

[Faterson]

Fiala arrived in Riga, slated to play against Chromiak on Thursday:



Earlier today, in the shootout of Slovakia versus Canada, Chromiak converted, and it could have been the game-winning shootout goal if the Canadian player following Chromiak failed to convert. He converted, though, so the shootout went on.

Later in the shootout (7th round, I believe?), coach Ramsay dispatched Chromiak for another shootout attempt (this is allowed in international tournaments). Unfortunately, Chromiak's second attempt was saved by Montembleau and Canada won the game.

Captain of Team Canada, incidentally? Tyler Toffoli. 3 games so far for Canada, 3 wins, albeit one of them in the shootout which, very wisely in international hockey (and unlike in the too mild, too forgiving NHL), means that Canada lost a point in the standings. Anyway, should Canada win gold, then the second gold medal (after 2015) would look pretty nice next to the Stanley Cup in Tyler's resume – especially given that he's the team captain this time around.

 

[Schrute farms]

Surprised to see Fiala is playing. I fully expected him to have some (minor / cleanup) surgery done in the offseason from his injury.

 

[Lt Dan]

Has Peterson still been playing at a sub ECHL level?

 

[Faterson]

Has Peterson still been playing at a sub ECHL level?

He's only the backup to Casey DeSmith, so only got to play in the 7-1 win of US against Hungary, where the US outshot them 50-14.

TJ Tynan has been good, with 2 assists and +3 in the 3 games played, among the best on the US team.

Switzerland has opened the tournament with 3 straight shutouts, although against inferior opponents. The first real test should be on Thursday against Slovakia, so I hope Chromiak can break the shutout for them. With the reported additions of Fiala, Hischier, Siegenthaler and Niederreiter, some consider them favorites to win the first-ever gold for Switzerland.

 

[King'sPawn]

He's only the backup to Casey DeSmith, so only got to play in the 7-1 win of US against Hungary, where the US outshot them 50-14.

TJ Tynan has been good, with 2 assists and +3 in the 3 games played, among the best on the US team.

Switzerland has opened the tournament with 3 straight shutouts, although against inferior opponents. The first real test should be on Thursday against Slovakia, so I hope Chromiak can break the shutout for them. With the reported additions of Fiala, Hischier, Siegenthaler and Niederreiter, some consider them favorites to win the first-ever gold for Switzerland.

Well at least we know the Kings are safe when they play Hungary.

 

[rapots]

Cal Petersen played very good game against Austria, also saved penalty shot

 

[Faterson]

18 saves in the 4-1 US win this time around.

Three games left for the US in the group stage: France, Denmark & Sweden. France should be a piece of cake, but Denmark has been strong so far (3-game winning streak, although against weak opponents), and Sweden is Sweden (featuring Grundström).

Two games apiece so far for DeSmith and Petersen, all wins, so let's see if the goalie rotation continues.

TJ Tynan with another assist and another two plus points, so after 4 games, he has 3 assists and is +5.

 

[Sol]

Cal Petersen played very good game against Austria, also saved penalty shot

Every broken clock is right twice a day.

 

[Faterson]

Every broken clock is right twice a day.

Well, Petersen was arguably the best US player the last time he played at the Worlds, and that must be the reason why they recalled him to the team, even though he's a minor-league player now. (Something similar can be said about TJ Tynan.)

I'm pretty certain Petersen's great performance at the Worlds played a role in Blake signing Petersen to such a surprisingly big contract. You could say his performance at the Worlds back then really started his professional career. Well, if this time around it helps him to re-start his career, I'm all for it!

 

[Sol]

Well, Petersen was arguably the best US player the last time he played at the Worlds, and that must be the reason why they recalled him to the team, even though he's a minor-league player now. (Something similar can be said about TJ Tynan.)

I'm pretty certain Petersen's great performance at the Worlds played a role in Blake signing Petersen to such a surprisingly big contract. You could say his performance at the Worlds back then really started his professional career. Well, if this time around it helps him to re-start his career, I'm all for it!

The only option I have for cal is cinderblocks around the ankles and a nice lake.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Every broken clock is right twice a day.

Seriously, this happens practically every time Villalta has a good game, too

I don't care if the guy is capable of one huge game every once in a while if the rest of the time he's incredibly erratic. It's why Copley was so great this season--he made guys beat him with great shots most of the time, not constantly leaking.

 

[King'sPawn]

Seriously, this happens practically every time Villalta has a good game, too

I don't care if the guy is capable of one huge game every once in a while if the rest of the time he's incredibly erratic. It's why Copley was so great this season--he made guys beat him with great shots most of the time, not constantly leaking.

It's actually the sign of a decent backup. You only need a good game occasionally.

The probkem is that Cal's not paid like a backup and the Kings don't have a starter.

But if Cal can be good once every 2 weeks (6-7 games) I'd take it. He wouldn't win every game, but going 12-8 over the season and letting a starter handle the rest of the workload is perfectly acceptable. Heck, Martin Jones was 12-6 and Ben Scrivens was 7-5-4 when the Kings won the second cup.

 

[Faterson]

Switzerland defeats Slovakia 4-2, outshooting them 36-13. (Despite all that, it was still tied 2-2 after 2 periods, and the 4th Swiss goal was an empty-netter.)

Lots of criticism levelled at Kevin Fiala after the game, for lack of finishing. Among other things, he failed to convert a penalty shot.

Fiala now has 0 points after 2 games, and is +1, playing around 19 minutes per game. Chromiak has 1 goal after 4 games, and is -3, playing around 12 minutes per game.

 

[chris kontos]

If todd dislikes kaliev as much as it appears, he's going to absolutely hate chromiak (plays litle d, floats around alot)

 

[YP44]

Fiala playing must mean he is ok. Fully expected him have off season surgery

 

[Faterson]

If todd dislikes kaliev as much as it appears, he's going to absolutely hate chromiak (plays litle d, floats around alot)

Looks like coach Ramsay may now be hating Chromiak, too – he only got to play 33 seconds (a single shift, I guess) in Slovakia's embarrassing loss (first ever at the Worlds) to Kazakhstan (4-3 in the shootout), despite outshooting Kazakhstan 51-26 in that game.

Well, at least Chromiak was saved the embarrassment of being part of that.

And I haven't heard anything of an injury; let's see if Chromiak fully returns to the line-up tomorrow against Kopitar-less, weak Slovenia (5 games, 5 losses so far).

 

[Faterson]

Chromiak a healthy scratch in the Slovakia vs Slovenia game currently in progress, Slovakia 1-0 in the lead.

It wasn't entirely precise of me to say that Slovenia is Kopitar-less, of course – Kopi's dad is their head coach. Bad tournament for them so far, though – nothing but losses, and it looks like Slovenia will get relegated to the lower Worlds tier next year.

(The Slovak TV announcer just said that there are only around 100 – no typo – registered hockey players in the entire country of Slovenia. So, basically every fifth Slovenian hockey player gets to play on their national team. Their age average is 30. It's sad and amazing at the same time. Amazing given Slovenia's considerable relative success at the Olympics and elsewhere. Anže Kopitar by himself makes up 1% of all Slovenian players in existence.)

 

[Faterson]

A mighty game by TJ Tynan in the 9-0 demolition of France by the US: 1 goal and 3 assists, +4. Tynan is now among the top 5 scorers of the tournament. (The leader is a certain guy named Kubalík.)

Cal Petersen's season may be over, I'm afraid. He was once again only a backup in today's game, but this time to the 20-year-old Hawks prospect Drew Commesso. Both DeSmith and Commesso posted shutouts in the last 2 US games, so it's hard to see the coach turn to Petersen for the rest of the tournament.

Top group game against Sweden (with Grundström) coming up, and unless DeSmith is injured, he will likely be in goal. Then, the play-offs follow, with 3 games max, and it's hard to imagine goalie rotation there. It's likely DeSmith the rest of the way from now on.

 

[KingsOfCali25]

A mighty game by TJ Tynan in the 9-0 demolition of France by the US: 1 goal and 3 assists, +4. Tynan is now among the top 5 scorers of the tournament. (The leader is a certain guy named Kubalík.)

Cal Petersen's season may be over, I'm afraid. He was once again only a backup in today's game, but this time to the 20-year-old Hawks prospect Drew Commesso. Both DeSmith and Commesso posted shutouts in the last 2 US games, so it's hard to see the coach turn to Petersen for the rest of the tournament.

Top group game against Sweden (with Grundström) coming up, and unless DeSmith is injured, he will likely be in goal. Then, the play-offs follow, with 3 games max, and it's hard to imagine goalie rotation there. It's likely DeSmith the rest of the way from now on.

Did you watch the game? Because I did and Petersen got the start and the win. Petersen made 12 of 12 saves and a couple good saves early in the game. The USA dominated the play and there wasn't much work needed. USA made a goalie change early in the 3rd period after it was 7-0 to give the young goalie Commesso some game action. Commesso is the 3rd goalie with Petersen as the number 2.

 

[Faterson]

Did you watch the game?

Ah, hahahaha! Obviously not! The simultaneously played game of Switzerland vs. Czechia was a lot more interesting than that blowout. (The Swiss won 4-2, with 2 assists from Fiala, and have now won all 6 games in a row, confirming their status as contenders for their first-ever gold.)

I did check the USA versus France stats page which said Commesso concluded the game. Given the shutout, I had not thought of a goalie change. But it makes perfect sense to give the 20-year-old some game experience.

Alright, then, all three US goalies have now posted 2 shutouts in a row. What now? I guess it's still DeSmith against Sweden. If he has a bad game, then it might be Cal for the play-offs.