The WHL prospects were just on another level!!

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HabLover

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These guys were awesome in the two games against the Russians and were completely dominant! Even with basically two different teams more less the really never missed a beat from one night to the next. They outscored the Russians 11 - 2 and outshot them in last night's game something like 45 to 5!!! Just amazing! The WHL turned it up a notch compared to the OHL and a several notches above the Q. I will say the Q were missing two very good players and the Russians were just starting the series against the Q, whereas the WHL got the Russians at the end of the series.

I was impressed with Meyer, MaCarthur, Ladd(better than I thought), Fehr, Stone(very, very impressed with Stone) and Boyd. All the returning veterans from last year looked good. I wasn't too thrilled with Barker, but it was only one game. It's not that he did anything bad, but he didn't do anything to catch my eye, although I've seen him a few times now and it seems to be the same story everytime.
 

HuskyFlames

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Habsfan 32 said:
Kyle Chipchura played well too and he's going to be a good one in the futur

One thing that i noticed about him is he appears to have a lack of finish. he had a ton of very good quality chances but could never really find the net. The rest of his game did look very good but now I see why he wasn't drafted as high as some people thought.
 

Le Golie

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Jul 4, 2002
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Oh oh...wait till JasonMcIsac sees this...he's going to snap.

But yes, the WHL team did play on a different level, which I expected from a team with so many WJHC experienced defensemen and a ton of quality forwards. Half the national junior team will come from this squad.
 

Le Golie

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Habsfan 32 said:
Kyle Chipchura played well too and he's going to be a good one in the futur

To be honest he didn't impress me that much. Good hard nosed player but no finish. His P.A. teammate Jeremy Colliton played great in both games though, he showed me more than I expected.
 

LaLaLaprise

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Feb 28, 2002
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It was obvious Russia gave up mid way through the game and tried to goon it up.

Perhaps next year Russia should start on the West Coast and move out East.

That being said. WHL had the best team on paper. The 85's in the WHL are very good, no one can dispute that :)
 

SmokeyClause

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La-La-Laprise said:
It was obvious Russia gave up mid way through the game and tried to goon it up.

Perhaps next year Russia should start on the West Coast and move out East.

That being said. WHL had the best team on paper. The 85's in the WHL are very good, no one can dispute that :)


How many key contributors did Russia lose throughout the tourney? I know they had a couple of good players play against the Q that didn't dress for the other two leagues.
 

SmokeyClause

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La-La-Laprise said:
Radulov and Khoudobin.

Did you think that had any impact on the Russian squad? Judging from the numbers, they probably wouldn't have been enough to beat the O or the W, but could they have at least made a game of it?
 

LaLaLaprise

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SmokeyClause said:
Did you think that had any impact on the Russian squad? Judging from the numbers, they probably wouldn't have been enough to beat the O or the W, but could they have at least made a game of it?

I still think the WHL was the best team assembled :) I dont want to come off as a bias QMJHL fan. But i just hate when people judge the leagues based on these games.

Radulov was reunited with Yunkov and Voloshenko and they were nearly unstopable. Khoudobin was amazing in the 2 games and Kuzentsov was pretty brutal in the other 4 games.
 

rebedom

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Isn't it interesting that when the Q played the Russians - skill vs skill or should I say what Don Cherry says "Visors vs Visors", (sorry, couldn't help myself). It was pretty good hockey and I really enjoyed watching the prospects but when all is said and done it ended in a tie and we lost in a shootout, which a lot of people obviously hate. Oh, and Crosby was injured.

What a difference a day makes? The OHL played a physical game and showed us what Canadian hockey is all about, granted Russia did have there two best players missing. The WHL turned it up another notch in the physical play department and showed us that physical play is one way to beat skilled players. That was the first time I saw Brule and I was impressed, that kid is good all over the ice and he hits.

It will be interesting to see how all the other teams will be able to handle a Sutter team at the WJHC. It will also be interesting how many players from each of the 3 Canadian Junior leagues make the final roster.

Q- Sidney Crosby, Steve Bernier (no goalie or defence, no Bourret or Latendresse)
OHL - Steward, Richards, Carter (no goalie or defence)
WHL - Nastiuk, Glass, all the defence, send two teams to playoff for the gold.
 

Johnny

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rebedom said:
Isn't it interesting that when the Q played the Russians - skill vs skill or should I say what Don Cherry says "Visors vs Visors", (sorry, couldn't help myself). It was pretty good hockey and I really enjoyed watching the prospects but when all is said and done it ended in a tie and we lost in a shootout, which a lot of people obviously hate. Oh, and Crosby was injured.

What a difference a day makes? The OHL played a physical game and showed us what Canadian hockey is all about, granted Russia did have there two best players missing. The WHL turned it up another notch in the physical play department and showed us that physical play is one way to beat skilled players. That was the first time I saw Brule and I was impressed, that kid is good all over the ice and he hits.

It will be interesting to see how all the other teams will be able to handle a Sutter team at the WJHC. It will also be interesting how many players from each of the 3 Canadian Junior leagues make the final roster.

Q- Sidney Crosby, Steve Bernier (no goalie or defence, no Bourret or Latendresse)
OHL - Steward, Richards, Carter (no goalie or defence)
WHL - Nastiuk, Glass, all the defence, send two teams to playoff for the gold.

To a extent I agree that physical play is a necessary component to being successful, as well that is the way I feel the game should be played... at the same time, there was both plenty of skill on both the O and Dub teams which was showcased... In fact I recall some commenting on how they found the Q to be more physical then the O after the first game the O played...I myself can't say for sure as I only caught really a period of each game that the Q played... If anything their was a good combination of skill and physical play on both the O and dub teams from what I saw that helped them to be successful... In order to be successful as a team that blend is needed.
 

BlindWillyMcHurt

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May 31, 2004
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Stone(very, very impressed with Stone)

As a Penguins fan this interests me. What made you notice him more than anyone else you mentioned? Playmaking? Physical play? Finishing? The kid has insane chemistry with Fehr, from what I understand (witness their numbers thus far in the WHL).
 

SeLaine

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May 26, 2004
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You could just send Team WHL to the World Juniors and I think they would have a very good shot at winning the gold
 

Zine

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rebedom said:
Isn't it interesting that when the Q played the Russians - skill vs skill or should I say what Don Cherry says "Visors vs Visors", (sorry, couldn't help myself). It was pretty good hockey and I really enjoyed watching the prospects but when all is said and done it ended in a tie and we lost in a shootout, which a lot of people obviously hate. Oh, and Crosby was injured.

What a difference a day makes? The OHL played a physical game and showed us what Canadian hockey is all about, granted Russia did have there two best players missing. The WHL turned it up another notch in the physical play department and showed us that physical play is one way to beat skilled players. That was the first time I saw Brule and I was impressed, that kid is good all over the ice and he hits.

It will be interesting to see how all the other teams will be able to handle a Sutter team at the WJHC. It will also be interesting how many players from each of the 3 Canadian Junior leagues make the final roster.

Q- Sidney Crosby, Steve Bernier (no goalie or defence, no Bourret or Latendresse)
OHL - Steward, Richards, Carter (no goalie or defence)
WHL - Nastiuk, Glass, all the defence, send two teams to playoff for the gold.

While I agree with your assesment, I think many people are over-estimating the quality of this Russian team. Only Yunkov and Voloshenko have a legitimate change of making the WJC team. There's a couple lower round draft picks and the rest are a bunch of scrubs (in the U-20 depth chart). Actually, I'm suprised they did so well.

Canada will certainly be the most physical team in the WJC, but I would expect other countries "A" teams to hold up much better physically than the Selects did - particlarly the Americans and Russian WJC squads.
Anyhow, it should make for some great hockey.
 

gb701

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The comment from Craig MacTavish summed up the first game west really well - it was "shinny" with the W players able to do whatever they wanted, wherever they wanted - except for pretty good goaltending. Did not show us much.

The second game was a bit more interesting if not more competitive - certainly the physical side came out.

Combination of factors, but perhaps most clearly is the strength of the 85's in the West, with some pretty good support from 86's as well.
 
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