GDT: The 2018 IIHF World Men Championships

[Spender]

Much credit to Switzerland, they're a force to be reckoned with.

 

[DanishAvsfan]

Sweden deserves the gold though Switzerland deserves a lot of credit for their play in this tournament and particularly in the medal roynd. Ghetto played so well in the final created opportunities when he was on the ice and of course scored in the SO. Genoni was solid in this tourment too especially the last two games.

 

[Hesher]

Congrats Sweden. There was something oddly satisfying in seeing Niederreiter fail in a must-score situation.

 

[Pokecheque]

Good showings from Rantanen, Andrighetto, Jost, and Francouz in this tournament. Much better than last year when we saw Carl Soderberg go from his nightmare season with the Avs to healthy scratch for Team Sweden in favor of Dennis "Don't Touch the Hair" Everberg.

And there was no. Way. In. Hell. I was going to root for a Team USA with Patrick f***ing Kane as its captain. f*** that noise, and f*** USA Hockey for doing that.

 

[Avs_19]

Good for the Swiss. Ghetto was good in the games I saw.

I'd take Everberg back on the 4th line.

 

[Hinterland]

Switzerland has a center named Joel Vermin. Good hockey name.

Good player, too. Deserving of another shot at the NHL. Played 24 games for the Tampa Bay Lightning and Jon Cooper liked him a lot. Understandably he didn't get to remain with the Bolts full time...Bolts forward depth is terrific and Vermin had to battle for icetime with guys ike Point, Gourde or Erne. Strangely, no other NHL-team wanted him so he decided to return to Switzerland. I think most teams were probably worried about his size. For a bottom six forward he's rather small but he plays with a big heart.
He's not really a Center though. Just had to play Center for the national team because of the lack of depth. Since Hischier and Malgin weren't there, somebody had to step in.

 

[MarkT]

And there was no. Way. In. Hell. I was going to root for a Team USA with Patrick ****ing Kane as its captain. **** that noise, and **** USA Hockey for doing that.

Is this about the rape accusation? If so, wasn't he cleared of that?

 

[Hinterland]

Is this about the rape accusation? If so, wasn't he cleared of that?

Most of them do. Doesn't mean that nothing happened. There are also many other reasons not to like Kane. He's dirty and a well known diver. I don't hate the guy so I wouldn't be against a team just because he's on it but I don't really like or respect him.

 

[MarkT]

Most of them do. Doesn't mean that nothing happened. There are also many other reasons not to like Kane. He's dirty and a well known diver. I don't hate the guy so I wouldn't be against a team just because he's on it but I don't really like or respect him.

I don't particularly like him either, but I just looked it up and at the time the DA made it very clear that he thought Kane was innocent - apparently the victim's story was inconsistent with the evidence. I don't think a DA making statments like that is very common. Plus, even without that I don't think anyone should be treated as guilty unless convicted in a court of law. It's way too easy, especially in the modern age, for people to be tried and convicted in the public sphere where people don't really know the whole story or have all the evidence.

In Dismissing Patrick Kane Sexual Assault Case, District Attorney Suggests Accuser Not Believable

(Sorry I probably shouldn't have even brought this up - I don't want this - or any - thread to devolve into social politics. Everyone should feel free to ignore this post)

 

[BKarchitect]

Good player, too. Deserving of another shot at the NHL. Played 24 games for the Tampa Bay Lightning and Jon Cooper liked him a lot. Understandably he didn't get to remain with the Bolts full time...Bolts forward depth is terrific and Vermin had to battle for icetime with guys ike Point, Gourde or Erne. Strangely, no other NHL-team wanted him so he decided to return to Switzerland. I think most teams were probably worried about his size. For a bottom six forward he's rather small but he plays with a big heart.
He's not really a Center though. Just had to play Center for the national team because of the lack of depth. Since Hischier and Malgin weren't there, somebody had to step in.

Wouldn’t mind if the Avs brought him back to NA to add some organizational depth. I know some Bolts thought he had some sneaky upside as a legit NHL player and he’s a total gamer. He’s got the Tampa-seal of approval and that’s saying something with the way they build and develop their organizational depth up front.

Also the WC were a reminder that Sven’s a pretty useful little player. In everybody’s “idealized future Cup winning Top 6” he’s pretty much non-existent and I’ve seen suggestions that we can trade him but he’s still a keeper for me in that’s he’s cheap and can slot in the top 6 and provide scoring depth. So maybe he’s not a top 6 fixture or building block as we build our second line up to be more competitive but guys will always be injured and young players are unpredictable so to that end, Sven is still very nice to have around.

 

[Hinterland]

Wouldn’t mind if the Avs brought him back to NA to add some organizational depth. I know some Bolts thought he had some sneaky upside as a legit NHL player and he’s a total gamer. He’s got the Tampa-seal of approval and that’s saying something with the way they build and develop their organizational depth up front.

Also the WC were a reminder that Sven’s a pretty useful little player. In everybody’s “idealized future Cup winning Top 6” he’s pretty much non-existent and I’ve seen suggestions that we can trade him but he’s still a keeper for me in that’s he’s cheap and can slot in the top 6 and provide scoring depth. So maybe he’s not a top 6 fixture or building block as we build our second line up to be more competitive but guys will always be injured and young players are unpredictable so to that end, Sven is still very nice to have around.

Good post. Vermin also put up solid AHL numbers but I don't think he'd return to North America without a one way deal. If I remember correctly it was him who decided to leave while Tampa would have been perfectly happy to keep him for organizational depth. General problem for Swiss players. Best and best paid league in Europe apart from the KHL is always gonna be more attractive than riding the bus for little money in the AHL. That's why Swedes or other Europeans outside of KHL area are far more likely to accept a demotion and wait for their opportunity. Probably why many franchises are still hesitant to sign/draft Swiss or Russian players even if they're better than Americans/Canadians/other Europeans.

While it's nice to have a strong and attractive league, it also hurts not to have more NHL players.

 

[Freaky Styley]

Good post. Vermin also put up solid AHL numbers but I don't think he'd return to North America without a one way deal. If I remember correctly it was him who decided to leave while Tampa would have been perfectly happy to keep him for organizational depth. General problem for Swiss players. Best and best paid league in Europe apart from the KHL is always gonna be more attractive than riding the bus for little money in the AHL. That's why Swedes or other Europeans outside of KHL area are far more likely to accept a demotion and wait for their opportunity. Probably why many franchises are still hesitant to sign/draft Swiss or Russian players even if they're better than Americans/Canadians/other Europeans.

While it's nice to have a strong and attractive league, it also hurts not to have more NHL players.

Could be a good target for Seattle

 

[Hinterland]

Could be a good target for Seattle

I don't know. I really like the player and not just because he's a countryman but realistically, dozens of similar players are gonna be available for them to choose in the expansion draft. I think that he does have NHL level but I don't really see him as unique or top6 guy.

 

[Tweaky]

Good post. Vermin also put up solid AHL numbers but I don't think he'd return to North America without a one way deal. If I remember correctly it was him who decided to leave while Tampa would have been perfectly happy to keep him for organizational depth. General problem for Swiss players. Best and best paid league in Europe apart from the KHL is always gonna be more attractive than riding the bus for little money in the AHL. That's why Swedes or other Europeans outside of KHL area are far more likely to accept a demotion and wait for their opportunity. Probably why many franchises are still hesitant to sign/draft Swiss or Russian players even if they're better than Americans/Canadians/other Europeans.

While it's nice to have a strong and attractive league, it also hurts not to have more NHL players.

Umm, best paid is correct. Best though? Sorry, but not seeing the NLA as better than the SHL or Liiga. Maybe even with ELH, but not above it. Unless you are talking about other factors...like average attendance, travel times, etc. Those are in the NLA's favor. But as far as which league puts out the best product...they are at best third (6th overall).

 

[Hinterland]

Umm, best paid is correct. Best though? Sorry, but not seeing the NLA as better than the SHL or Liiga. Maybe even with ELH, but not above it. Unless you are talking about other factors...like average attendance, travel times, etc. Those are in the NLA's favor. But as far as which league puts out the best product...they are at best third (6th overall).

Attendance is terrible in Northern Europe. Nobody cares...even about top games. And it shows. I know that many Swedish clubs struggle financially. SHL is still the top development league and Swiss players often go there when they're young for development reasons but it's not exactly attractive for top players...even the best Swedes mostly move on to play in Russia or Switzerland. Liiga I don't know. I think it used be stronger, partly also because they lost Jokerit. But I will admit that I don't follow the Liiga a whole lot.

My original point was that Swiss or Russians are more likely to leave an NHL organization just because their home league is more attractive than others. And I really think that's the case and also why many NHL GM's still shy away from signing/drafting them.

 

[Tweaky]

More attractive to players I can agree with. Heck, if the offer for my wife's Singapore job had not come through first, good chance I would be posting from Basel right now.