U18 World Championship Game Discussion

jay-P

Registered User
Dec 21, 2005
297
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Finland
USA won it.

Just got home from the game, here's a few thoughts.

First of all, me and two of my friends were watching the warm-up skate, when we heard some English talk behind us. As an amazing coincidence, Red Wings Assistant General Manager Jim Nill was there few rows above us, with a couple of their scouts. Already wearing my Red Wings jersey, I went there and had a chat with him. A most unique and fortunate of an experience for a European guy to get to talk with a management person of your favourite NHL team.

A player who made a big impression was Mark Katic. He played great defensively and always seemed to be in control of the situation. He complemented his superb skating with clever stick work and made a number of significant defensive plays. Offensively, he displayed a cunning hockey sense. In one of Canada's power plays, he made an incredible interception, when a USA player was trying to clear the puck. Katic was already going in the "wrong" direction, but he quickly spun around and prevented the clearing attempt with his backhand. He was selected as the best player for team Canada.

Kyle Turris was most notable as a playmaker. Some of the passes he made while he was leading a rush were just downright unbelievable. His speed was apparent, and he had one partial breakaway when Canada was playing a man short.

Similar precise passing was put forth by Steven Stamkos. In the first power play Canada had, he immediately created two glorious scoring chances, but the teammates weren't successful. In the first period he had an effortless-looking end-to-end rush, but his shot wasn't good enough to gain a goal to his credit.

Angelo Esposito didn't really stand out, but he wasn't lazy at all. He took part in backchecking in a serious way. He didn't seem particularly strong on the puck. Whether it is due to lacking strength or a reason for concern, one doesn't know.

Drew Doughty was perhaps the best defenseman on team Canada. He brought the puck up the ice with ease and looked confident. He made two big hits, the latter of them being more spectacular in terms of impact and importance. During the last minute of overtime, USA was dictating the route of the puck. It became to an end when Doughty threw a huge hip check to steamroll the guy who was coming down the boards.

James vanRiemsdyk wasn't a notably visible offensive figure, as he usually drove to the net looking for rebounds. He scored on the power play when he sweeped the puck with his backhand.

Kevin Shattenkirk was named as the best player for team USA. He had a few scoring chances, as a result of an end-to-end rush, or an odd-man break. His skating stride was truely effective.

At times Jordan Schroeder was unstoppable. With various dangles and spurts, he created bona-fide scoring chances. How good will he be in a couple of years?
 
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kostitsyn1489

Registered User
Jun 18, 2006
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Louiseville, Quebec
nah Canada did... IIHF made a mistake then most website follow...

I red that canada-russia game was on TSN tomorrow. I think I read that in one of the article somebody posted in this thread but I didnt see it on tsn.ca... Anyone saw it too?
 

shaner8989

Registered User
Aug 6, 2005
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Can anybody mention who has been impressive and who has been not as good in the tourney (just of the big name guys)? Thanks in advance
 

VanW27

Registered User
Jun 9, 2003
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Canada
nah Canada did... IIHF made a mistake then most website follow...

I red that canada-russia game was on TSN tomorrow. I think I read that in one of the article somebody posted in this thread but I didnt see it on tsn.ca... Anyone saw it too?

thats what i figured but then jay-P has "USA won" highlighted at the start of his post and he says he was at the game, that added to the confusion.
 

Juke

Registered User
Apr 16, 2007
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O'Brien took a lot of dumbass penalties this season for the Gophers and was a 4th liner. He rarely showed any speed. He was, however, the youngest player in the NCAAs this season so there is growth in all areas to be expected.

Apparently he's only played fwd for 2-3 year as he did with the Gophs this year. Depending on defections and incoming recruits, there was some small talk about moving him back to D next season. That will be a last ditch effort, but the coach and he himself both mentioned it in an article that there's a chance.

That statement, taken at face value, gives the wrong impression, and is basically alot of bull. I'm going to explain why, but you'll probably never be able to get anyone to come clean on it. Lucia gave his son the minutes, not Obrien. Jim would have not gone to Minn, had Lucia not lied to him, and his dad. Obrien was probably really frustrated at the lack of minutes, and exposure, but compare his minutes and scoring, to say, Lucia's scoring,,,, see a problem ? He scored as many goals, a few less asst's w/ alot less time. Way better scoring pct. A better player.

Lucia has calculated all of this, and line 4 is intentional, not because of Obriens play, work, or anything else. Lucia figures if he gives JB the ice time, he'll go real high in the draft. If he don't get the time, and exposure, he'll go lower,,,,, and maybe they'll project low enough, late first or second, that he may stay at Minn instead for another year. That, is wrong to do, but that is exactly why he's a 4th line guy. He's not switching to D next year, if he doesn't like the draft outlook, he'll go play MJ hockey, get his stock back up, and wait another year. Lucia is basically a jerk, and a liar, I know that for a fact.

Now, can anyone here say that it's right to intentionally hold a guy down like that ?
Had he gotten the ice time promised, maybe he would stay. Let's see what happens, but what Lucia did, has pretty much guaranteed, one way or another, he's gone, and rightly so after being screwed
 

#66

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Dec 30, 2003
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A player who made a big impression was Mark Katic. He played great defensively and always seemed to be in control of the situation. He complemented his superb skating with clever stick work and made a number of significant defensive plays. Offensively, he displayed a cunning hockey sense. In one of Canada's power plays, he made an incredible interception, when a USA player was trying to clear the puck. Katic was already going in the "wrong" direction, but he quickly spun around and prevented the clearing attempt with his backhand. He was selected as the best player for team Canada.

Angelo Esposito didn't really stand out, but he wasn't lazy at all. He took part in backchecking in a serious way. He didn't seem particularly strong on the puck. Whether it is due to lacking strength or a reason for concern, one doesn't know.
Its good to hear some love for Katic. I'm a huge fan and I think that he'll have an awesome future.

IMO Espo's tag as being lazy or having attitude problems is just downright wrong. I have a problem with his sense and strength but thats about it. I still think that he's a 5-10 pick in this draft and in a lot of ways is like Kessel last year. I think that he'll be the same type of player Kessel is and in the future both will be good players. Just not great ones.
 

jay-P

Registered User
Dec 21, 2005
297
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Finland
thats what i figured but then jay-P has "USA won" highlighted at the start of his post and he says he was at the game, that added to the confusion.

Well, I just grabbed the first remark regarding the outcome, without really thinking. Canada indeed won it, with the fifth shooter.

Shootout:

CAN Goal - Steven Stamkos with a smooth deke to his forehand and a lift to the rear corner.

USA No Goal - The attempt of Ryan Hayes was saved by Trevor Cann with his blocker.

CAN No Goal - Zack Torquato (who didn't get a lot of ice time) seemed to shoot the puck straight to the chest of Josh Unice.

USA Goal - Kevin Shattenkirk with a deke and a calm backhand lift from a small corner.

CAN No Goal - Kyle Turris seemed to stumble a bit and didn't have a proper release. The puck didn't go through the legs.

USA No Goal - James vanRiemsdyk tried to take the puck wide and slide it between the legs, but he was denied.

USA was the home team and they switched the shooting order. This time Shattenkirk tried more of a direct shot, but Cann saved with his shoulder.

CAN No Goal - Stamkos tried a backhand bid after a deke, but he didn't manage to raise the puck enough to elude the leg of Unice.

USA No Goal - Jordan Schroeder's shot towards the gap between Cann's glove hand and left leg was saved.

CAN Goal - Zach Boychuk came in with fast speed, to the extent that he fell down after performing a body fake and lifting the puck past Unice.

Colton Gillies had at least four big hits in the game. He scored the tying goal from a rebound, but he didn't really stand out in the offensive game. There was a sequence in the first period that I recall. USA was changing their lines and Yann Sauve noticed that. From behind his own goal line he made a breakout pass to Gillies who was near the penalty boxes. Perhaps Gillies wasn't completely aware of the situation. Maybe he didn't pay enough attention and he missed the pass that would have given him a lane to the net.

Another version of a similar play was performed by Patrick White. In the third period he was attended by a backchecking Canadian player, but he still succeeded in receiving the breakout pass. He was almost in full speed when he gathered the puck to the backhand side of his blade without even keeping his eye on the puck while it was coming towards him. In addition, he looked very strong on the puck and challenged Canada's defense eagerly.
 
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Alter Haudegen

Registered User
Dec 7, 2004
365
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Well, I just grabbed the first remark regarding the outcome, without really thinking. Canada indeed won it, with the fifth shooter.

Shootout:

CAN Goal - Steven Stamkos with a smooth deke to his forehand and a lift to the rear corner.

USA No Goal - The attempt of Ryan Hayes was saved by Trevor Cann with his blocker.

CAN No Goal - Zack Torquato (who didn't get a lot of ice time) seemed to shoot the puck straight to the chest of Josh Unice.

USA Goal - Kevin Shattenkirk with a deke and a calm backhand lift from a small corner.

CAN No Goal - Kyle Turris seemed to stumble a bit and didn't have a proper release. The puck didn't go through the legs.

USA No Goal - James vanRiemsdyk tried to take the puck wide and slide it between the legs, but he was denied.

USA was the home team and they switched the shooting order. This time Shattenkirk tried more of a direct shot, but Cann saved with his shoulder.

CAN No Goal - Stamkos tried a backhand bid after a deke, but he didn't manage to raise the puck enough to elude the leg of Unice.

USA No Goal - Jordan Schroeder's shot towards the gap between Cann's glove hand and left leg was saved.

CAN Goal - Zach Boychuk came in with fast speed, to the extent that he fell down after performing a body fake and lifting the puck past Cann.

Colton Gillies had at least four big hits in the game. He scored the tying goal from a rebound, but he didn't really stand out in the offensive game. There was a sequence in the first period that I recall. USA was changing their lines and Yann Sauve noticed that. From behind his own goal line he made a breakout pass to Gillies who was near the penalty boxes. Perhaps Gillies wasn't completely aware of the situation. Maybe he didn't pay enough attention and he missed the pass that would have given him a lane to the net.

Another version of a similar play was performed by Patrick White. In the third period he was attended by a backchecking Canadian player, but he still succeeded in receiving the breakout pass. He was almost in full speed when he gathered the puck to the backhand side of his blade without even keeping his eye on the puck while it was coming towards him. In addition, he looked very strong on the puck and challenged Canada's defense eagerly.

Great posts jay-P. Thanks :handclap:

Do you remember who played on the PP and PK for Canada?
According to IIHF Torquato played this game on a line with Esposito and Gillies but you write that he didn't get a lot of ice time. Did they juggle the lines again?
 

jay-P

Registered User
Dec 21, 2005
297
0
Finland
Do you remember who played on the PP and PK for Canada?
According to IIHF Torquato played this game on a line with Esposito and Gillies but you write that he didn't get a lot of ice time. Did they juggle the lines again?

They did shuffle the lines. Dion Knelsen started the game on the line with Turris and Couture, but sometimes he was replaced with Gillies. The conceivement that Torquato didn't play much could simply stem from the fact that I didn't notice him many times. The only moment I remember was in the early third period, when he made a diving effort to prevent an American from receiving a pass to the open spot he was in.

First power play unit was Esposito - Turris - Stamkos, Katic - Doughty.

The penalty kill mainly consisted of Sutter, Couture, Fortier, Bastien, Gillies, Turris sometimes. The primary defensemen were Schenn, Negrin and Doyle.
 

mnhowitzer

Registered User
Jul 7, 2006
674
0
That statement, taken at face value, gives the wrong impression, and is basically alot of bull. I'm going to explain why, but you'll probably never be able to get anyone to come clean on it. Lucia gave his son the minutes, not Obrien. Jim would have not gone to Minn, had Lucia not lied to him, and his dad. Obrien was probably really frustrated at the lack of minutes, and exposure, but compare his minutes and scoring, to say, Lucia's scoring,,,, see a problem ? He scored as many goals, a few less asst's w/ alot less time. Way better scoring pct. A better player.

Lucia has calculated all of this, and line 4 is intentional, not because of Obriens play, work, or anything else. Lucia figures if he gives JB the ice time, he'll go real high in the draft. If he don't get the time, and exposure, he'll go lower,,,,, and maybe they'll project low enough, late first or second, that he may stay at Minn instead for another year. That, is wrong to do, but that is exactly why he's a 4th line guy. He's not switching to D next year, if he doesn't like the draft outlook, he'll go play MJ hockey, get his stock back up, and wait another year. Lucia is basically a jerk, and a liar, I know that for a fact.

Now, can anyone here say that it's right to intentionally hold a guy down like that ?
Had he gotten the ice time promised, maybe he would stay. Let's see what happens, but what Lucia did, has pretty much guaranteed, one way or another, he's gone, and rightly so after being screwed

For his lack of minutes, he also only trailed Ben Gordon, Mike Carman and Ryan Flynn for penalty minutes. He put the Gophers short-handed for a 1/2 hour more than Lucia did on the season. Lucia didn't appear to be handed anything in my opinion.

But I'll take your post for what it's worth. As I mentioned, O'Brien is awfully young. If he plays all 4 years he'll be what - 20 - when he graduates? I look forward to him continuing to develop. I will say this, if he's POd about the "lack of minutes" then he's got some serious growing up to do.
 

kostitsyn1489

Registered User
Jun 18, 2006
3,448
0
Louiseville, Quebec
Swiss just won 4-0 against Slovakia and they are sure to make it to the playoff round. It was their last game and they'll most likely finish 3rd except if Slovakia-Finland game goes in OT.

CZE-Sweden game ill be huge tomorrow. The loser will be out except if Both CZE-Sweden and Slovakia-Finland goes in OT.

Huge games tomorrow it'll be nice :)
 

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