PGT: USA vs Europe - Europe 3 United States 0 F

[Chaels Arms]

Is Torts really the best the Team USA could do? I mean an blowhard retread that players hate for a short tournament with the elite seems like the opposite of what you'd want.

NHL is so far behind the other 3 major sports in terms of coaching and team management. You know why Abdelkader is on an NHL team? Because the talent isn't deep enough to be able to choose a T. Johnson or Ryan or Kessel instead of him.

USA management doesn't understand this and would fight you tooth and nail (you're right). Too many people seem to think that since NHL teams fill the bottom six with a certain type of player that that HAS to be the way every single hockey team is built. People don't realize that if you allowed an NHL GM to build a team with talented players on all four lines they would absolutely chose to do so and leave the goons at home.

 

[Chaels Arms]

Come on, that D is almost just as bad as the current one...
They need guys to move the puck man. Guys that can move well, combined with a few responsible, safety type of guys. Btw, mcdonagh on the 1st pair ? Seriously?

Suter - Carlson
Yandle - Erik Johnson
Fowler - Faulk
Shattenkirk/Byfuglien

Something of the sort would be nice. Yandle is absolutely necessary to this team. With the speed they got on the wing with Kane Wheeler Pacioretty, and if they had acted rationnally and picked Kessel, it would be very beneficial.

Suter, Carlson and EJ are all more than solid in their own zone. Fowler and Faulk can hold their own.
Buff is good but he hasnt been overly impressive internationally and he can be a real liability.

I can't stand how readily people just leave Keith Yandle off this team. I'm sure part of this is my Rangers bias but Yandle is one of the best pure puck movers in the NHL. Furthermore, USA has a plethora of strong defensive d-men who can cover up Yandle's weakness in that area. He absolutely should have been on this team.

 

[Corax]

Team Europe played well and were full value for their victory. People underestimated them sans doubt. They were patient, tactically superior and jumped on their opportunities to counterattack with both numbers and speed...resulting in many, many odd man rushes. Really, except for a few moments on pp, Yanks never threatened/ never looked capable of mounting a comeback. And Quick, despite what some people are saying to the contrary, was in no way to blame. That 3rd goal was a lucky deflection, and the first two goals? Man, he had NO CHANCE...

Absolutely not Quick this one. It would be a miracle to make save on any of those, but wanting 3 miracles per game while having really just single chance on Halak? If there was a brick wall in US goal, it would still be 0:0.

 

[Scotty B]

USA management doesn't understand this and would fight you tooth and nail (you're right). Too many people seem to think that since NHL teams fill the bottom six with a certain type of player that that HAS to be the way every single hockey team is built. People don't realize that if you allowed an NHL GM to build a team with talented players on all four lines they would absolutely chose to do so and leave the goons at home.

Some wouldn't, some would pick brawny role players in lieu of dynamic skaters who can light the lamp, and even play a good 200 ft game, so long as the game really means something to them ( which isn't the case, for many, in many regular season NHL games ). Alas, a few dinosaurs don't comprehend that on the biggest stage superior talent usually wins out. They still prefer that archaic , cookie cutter formula, as Team USA's Braintrust, or lack thereof, has proven

 

[RandV]

USA management doesn't understand this and would fight you tooth and nail (you're right). Too many people seem to think that since NHL teams fill the bottom six with a certain type of player that that HAS to be the way every single hockey team is built. People don't realize that if you allowed an NHL GM to build a team with talented players on all four lines they would absolutely chose to do so and leave the goons at home.

Yes, I've always felt the distinction here is that after the legit top 6 caliber forwards in the NHL the physical grinder guys are more effective than the remaining AHL talents. If on the national team it comes down to a difference between Abdelkader and Kessel, that's not really the same thing.

 

[Philly85*]

Well, they didn't pick the best team, certainly not for this type tourney. The defense choices are questionable at best and guys like Dubinsky should not be sniffing this roster.

guess what buddy. They win gold, almost every time. You could put the "B" team out here and they could still win gold. Great players will be left off the roster, but their second best are still better than what a team like USA can afford to leave off. It's just not comparable. It's funny, and really stupid that Canadian fans get worked up over who's left off when all we do is continue to win. It's that stupid NHL home team ******** loyalty or whatever you want to call it.

And I have to say, to keep it on topic, I love USA too, and I want them to crush and be pushing Canada, but it just won't happen with Torts at the helm and selecting a roster who's primary focus is to physically punish. It will not work.

 

[pucka lucka]

USA management doesn't understand this and would fight you tooth and nail (you're right). Too many people seem to think that since NHL teams fill the bottom six with a certain type of player that that HAS to be the way every single hockey team is built. People don't realize that if you allowed an NHL GM to build a team with talented players on all four lines they would absolutely chose to do so and leave the goons at home.

The same argument applies to Team Canada (you can see in the Subban thread what people think of this). Team Canada is much deeper and those choices have a far less severe impact. It's still the same mistake. It gets amplified with weaker depth teams like the USA.

Somehow preemptively avoiding imaginary problems by never putting all the best players on a team proves that it's a bad idea to put the best players on a team.

 

[CrazyJoeDavola]

USA hockey players are much better then this. Torts has built " a team to beat Canada" well team USA has to now beat Canada to keep going. If USA loses to team Canada on Wed, I don't blame the players at all, it's Torts that brought a knife to a gun fight. It's ALL ON HIM.

Why are people blaming Torts? This is on Burke and Lombardi more than him, imo. A coach has input into the roster but ultimately it's up to the higher braintrust to construct the team.

 

[Canuckistani]

Jack Eichel sure would have looked good on team USA. But thankfully he's playing for his age group instead.

American fans should be livid.

 

[BackToTheBrierePatch]

Jack Eichel sure would have looked good on team USA. But thankfully he's playing for his age group instead.

American fans should be livid.

not enough grit in his game man.
don't you know this by now

 

[Xokkeu]

Jack Eichel sure would have looked good on team USA. But thankfully he's playing for his age group instead.

American fans should be livid.

I went through the five stages of grief when they announced the format. I already knew we had no chance to win given the Frankenstein team. So I'm just enjoying it like I enjoy the all star game or regular season NHL. Only watched three periods total so far but probably will watch more when it's not competing with football

 

[The Winter Soldier]

I wish I could find that post after Europe looked bad in pre-tourney, and I questioned were they playing possum? Maybe they were.

 

[Xokkeu]

I wish I could find that post after Europe looked bad in pre-tourney, and I questioned were they playing possum? Maybe they were.

US hockey media was going ape after the Canada win and all I could think was who cares. It doesn't count

 

[likid]

I wish I could find that post after Europe looked bad in pre-tourney, and I questioned were they playing possum? Maybe they were.

Well, check Kopi:

"fooled em all with the first two games, boys!"

https://www.wch2016.com/video/micd-up-anze-kopitar/t-281230378/c-44718503