GDT: WJC Pre-Competition: Team USA (Galchenyuk) vs Team Finland

[Disappearing Semin]

Galchenyuk should play with Grimaldi

 

[CP31]

Why did I wake up for under 15 minutes of Galchenyuk?

 

[99GoHabsGo99]

Missed the game, did anything good happen?

 

[Account Terminated]

Missed the game, did anything good happen?

Still on going. Galchenyuk likely won't even play 15 minutes today.

 

[CP31]

I can't count how Many times the US has missed the net and have the puck go all the way back into their own end

 

[Account Terminated]

Can anyone handle a Galchenyuk pass? Anybody?

 

[Disappearing Semin]

Player of the Game? Id say Barkov for Finland and for USA.. Ill go with Galchenyuk for not choking his coach to death

 

[DekeLikeYouMeanIt]

Barkov was so good at creating space behind the D. Love seeing that. We can only dream....

 

[Account Terminated]

3rd period:
4 shifts, 4:21 TOI

Breakdown:
3:23 ES
0:58 PP
0:00 PK

Stats:
Shot missed the net, 2-for-2 in face-offs (both won cleanly, on PP)

Rundown:
Again, only 4 shifts. Not much Galchenyuk can do with that little ice time and his linemates, whether it was Trochek or Gaudreau, Lucia or Barber, nobody could handle his passes. They'd either bobble on their sticks or they'd just turn it over quickly. Galchenyuk showed some frustration too with his body language. On the PP, he worked well and was given enough room to execute passes but you knew he wanted to fire that shot from the left face-off circle. Just not enough room.

Totals:
Total of 12 shifts for 12:33 TOI.
7:50 ES
4:43 PP
0:00 PK

1 shot on net and 3-for-3 in face-offs. All of them were taken on the PP and two of the three were won cleanly.

 

[Whitesnake]

Gally didn't bring it that much today. Yet, if US keeps doing this, they're doing the best they can to waste his talent. Besides....is this really all the firepower that US has? And while we all have our reservations on the guy, and if that's the only firepower you could provide, do the team understands chemistry? Boucher didn't deserve even a look? In today's game, you felt like he was playing with pluggers on a 4th line role.....

 

[niftymove]

Gally was not a factor today, not enough icetime.

The Finns are to be taken seriously this year. Very balanced team with an energic game and crisp passes.

Solid team with Barkov, Armia, Teravainen, Granlund, Salomaki, Maatta, Ristolainen, etc Armia much improved from last year....solid pick for Buffalo.

First time i have the opportunity to see Seth Jones, i understand why he's projected to be top draft, he's a beast!

 

[DekeLikeYouMeanIt]

Guys stop freaking out. They're not trying to win but to evaluate. It's not a good mentality going into the tournament. But it's what they're doing. I'm sure they will lean heavily on Miller's line and then on Galchenyuk's.

 

[Prendan Brust]

The US coaching staff doesn't seem to believe Galchenyuk is their best player. They seem to peg him as a second line winger. Am I wrong?

 

[Whitesnake]

Guys stop freaking out. They're not trying to win but to evaluate. It's not a good mentality going into the tournament. But it's what they're doing. I'm sure they will lean heavily on Miller's line and then on Galchenyuk's.

Well I didn't watch the absolute whole game but if they'd be trying to evaluate.....would they shuffle their lines from time to time? Not every shift but maybe 2 or 3 times a game? Have they done that? Was Gally seen with Grimaldi?

 

[Forgedias]

I think before people get too worried, lets really look out how the whole squad for the US team played. They didn't play well, Seth Jones and the Bardreau line were the only stand outs for me and even then the US effort was an overall poor performance.

What I noticed is the lack of chemistry the top line for the US has. Gaudreau, Miller and Grimaldi really have to work to get anything done together. The first period and first half of the second, they were the top PP unit, but as we saw, they put little or no pressure on the Finnish defense even when they had a 5-3.

Phil Housley then changed up the PP lines and put Alex Galchenyuk out on the first PP unit with Johnny Gaudreau and Riley Barber. Galchenyuk centered the PP line and if my memory serves me right, he won all the face offs in the 3 PP attempts Galchenyuk had. Winning the faceoff on the PP is huge, it allowed them to set up and actually put a fair bit of pressure on the Finnish defense with several good attempts to score and Galchenyuk making several nice passes. Its obvious to me that Gaudreau has alot more chemistry with Galchenyuk then he has with JT Miller.

I don't know if Phil Housley will change the line ups, but the Miller line simply wasn't doing what they were suppossed to do. Put pressure on the oppossing defense and force the play in the oppossing zone. Then again the Galchenyuk line with Vince Trocheck and Riley Barber wasn't working either. The lack of chemistry between these 2 top lines is going to be a concern for the USA.

Should the US make some line changes? I think they probably should look into it, Galchenyuk really should be centering with Gaudreau, but that does create alot of line up problems for the US if this happens. So the US may be forced to keep what they have in the top lines and hope they can create some chemistry in the tournament.

 

[DekeLikeYouMeanIt]

Well I didn't watch the absolute whole game but if they'd be trying to evaluate.....would they shuffle their lines from time to time? Not every shift but maybe 2 or 3 times a game? Have they done that? Was Gally seen with Grimaldi?

It's more about the bottom 6 that they're unsure of.

Their top 6 is set with:
Gaudreau-Miller-Grimaldi
Barber-Trocheck-Galchenyuk

For the tournament, I would switch Miller and Galchenyuk + move Trocheck to RW because the 3 Gs all have similar puck skills and can handle the puck at a higher level whereas Miller is a step below imo.

 

[Whitesnake]

It's more about the bottom 6 that they're unsure of.

Their top 6 is set with:
Gaudreau-Miller-Grimaldi
Barber-Trocheck-Galchenyuk

For the tournament, I would switch Miller and Galchenyuk + move Trocheck to RW because the 3 Gs all have similar puck skills and can handle the puck at a higher level whereas Miller is a step below imo.

For what I see so far, I'd graduate either Lucia or Pietila instead of Barber. And the others would be on a short leash. I understand that almost all of those other guys can't fill the spot in a bottom 6....but if my "pluggers" are doing better....might as well go all in.

 

[DekeLikeYouMeanIt]

For what I see so far, I'd graduate either Lucia or Pietila instead of Barber. And the others would be on a short leash. I understand that almost all of those other guys can't fill the spot in a bottom 6....but if my "pluggers" are doing better....might as well go all in.

Based on these few games, I agree. Barber has had an excellent freshman year and I think they wanna get that out of him for this tournament.

 

[Kenny Powders]

He's the best player on that team, WHY THE **** does he only doesnt play 25+ mins ...

****ing christ housley ur a bonehead

 

[otto bond]

Not a good game for the US squad and like most who saw the game, Galchenyuk didn't have enough ice time. I also feel that they are wrong pegging him on the second line. They have played that grinder line way to much IMO.

 

[canadiensnation]

There not playing Galchenyuk a lot cuz they already no is his on the roster. There trying out other players more to see what they have.

 

[PricePkPatch*]

When Galchy had the puck, especially during the PP, he usually made a noticeable difference.


If only his teammates could catch a ****ing pass once in a while. In his last PP shift, he made two brisk passes and his teammates seemed surprised to see the puck coming their way.

NEW MEMO TO TEAM USA:

When #15 has the puck, always expect to see it coming your way. The kid can pass at any angle, through any circulation.

 

[FlyingKostitsyn]

Guys, its only pre-competition.

 

[PricePkPatch*]

Guys, its only pre-competition.

If they can't catch a puck pre-competition, why could they during the tournament?

 

[Marc the Habs Fan]

Well, that was a letdown.

As many have said:

- He barely played.

- USA took a ton of penalties and the flow of that game was often non-existent.

- Barber seems completely unable to keep up with Gally on that line.

- Seeing him at LW just pisses me off. If USA was stacked at center like Canada is I could accept it...but Miller and Trocheck?!

Good to see Barkov really kick it into another gear in the 3rd. So big. That interview was hilarious too.

Ristolainen was solid on the backend.