If Kleven turns into even half of what Volchenkov was in terms of shut down capability, we are set. Volchenkov was an absolute beast and great at breaking plays.
This is all I care about...Hopefully he's ready for camp...
From what I have seen; he is fast.. plays a solid two way game.... I know there was hype about his goal scoring before the draft but what I have seen in limited viewings, he seems to be more of a playmaker, pass first type.For people who have watched the games, how does Kemell look?
Really impressive stats so far but those can be misleading.
Sources or it's just your feeling?That looks like a shoulder separation for Grieg, unfortunately. Even if it is mild, it's hard to imagine that he plays tomorrow or Saturday. Hopefully he's ready for camp...
Peters: It really looked like Tyler Kleven took a big step forward in his development
Chris Peters joins the show to talk about Team USA bowing out to Czechia in the World Junior Semifinals, and to evaluate the Americans' tournamentwww.tsn.ca
He defended well but I didn't see much development where it was needed - his puck moving.
Made a lot of questionable decisions with the puck and that's what may keep him from the NHL, not anything else to do with his game.
But if it does come, what an asset that would be to have on the ice in the playoffs. Not many guys that size move that well.I am trying to stay positive on Kleven .. Work in progress on the decision making .. hopefully he can put it together. I have found when I have watched him at UND he seems to be fully engaged mentally sometimes and other times not so much. He has to fix that obviously but if he can he has some very good tools to accompany what looks like a real desire to blow people up. May take some time. May never come.
He is a slow bake for us. Hopefully he will learn proper decision making in the A.He defended well but I didn't see much development where it was needed - his puck moving.
Made a lot of questionable decisions with the puck and that's what may keep him from the NHL, not anything else to do with his game.
Is he also a guy you hate to be the team's net presence guy for when he's on the point taking shots because he shoots high risers no where near the net at 100mph?Kleven is like Volchenkov/Gill type player.
Big guy, can skate well, decent pass but thrives at clearing the net, laying bit hits and has a bomb of a shot. Don't expect big totals ever with this guy.
No one expects any ounce of offense from him though so can't be disappointed if you had 0 expectations. Do we know many of those 24 goals were PP goals out of curiousity? If we consider that he has a 1/3 chance of being on the ice for a goal and thats a net 18 goals he could have been on ice for, thats (0.666^18) which does make the odds quite extremely low by chance lolI don't expect big totals but being rating 0 , with US outscoring opponents 24-6 is disappointing.
Or makes a full recovery. I don't care if he only returns post christmas but has zero lingering effects from the injury.This is all I care about...
From what I have seen; he is fast.. plays a solid two way game.... I know there was hype about his goal scoring before the draft but what I have seen in limited viewings, he seems to be more of a playmaker, pass first type.
When he does shoot, it's a sneaky quick release.
Played on the top line with Finlands top 2 forwards Hirvonen and Raty. He's looked pretty good. Also on PP1.
A Nate Leaman team won the World Juniors last year, quite easily, as mentioned. Leaman knows what he's doing. This is the worst group of players the US have had in over a decade, they were expected to be a very weak team compared to normal years. They had 4 1st rounders on the entire team. 4. Sanderson, Beniers and Lucius would have been there, so 3 more at least if they could have taken the guys they wanted.It seems like it was a pretty big mistake for Team USA to cut Boucher from their roster. In that quarterfinal game in particular against Czechia, USA was very flat. In the third period when USA was down 3-1 the commentators were pointing out how flat the team was and mentioned how when Kleven tried to throw a big hit that even he was recognizing that his team needed a spark and was trying to get something going.
Almost halfway through the final period it looked like USA wasn't going to find any spark and was just going to lose the game. If it wasn't for Stanislav Svozil taking that 5 minute kneeing penalty, it was doubtful that USA was even going to score that 2nd goal.
Boucher would have provided that much need spark. His skating and speed would have made him difficult to contain and all the reports were that he was scoring goals in the scrimmages of the evaluation camp. He could have potentially been a difference maker in a game like this and maybe Team USA would have gone further in the tournament if they had added him to their roster.
Personally, I didn't like the way Team USA was built so it wasn't just Boucher that maybe should have made the team. There are plenty of other U.S. prospects who took part in the evaluation camp who I think could have made a meaningful impact if they made the team. I wasn't impressed with Team USA's head coach deployment of his players in the 2021 WJC where they won gold and questioned his evaluation of talent. I questioned the final roster he constructed for the 2022 WJC this summer but felt it seemed aligned with the types of players he likes. I think this was a Nate Leaman kind of team and I think this is the kind of outcome you get with a Nate Leaman kind of team.
Fortunately for the 2023 WJC Rand Pecknold is at the helm for Team USA.
Saw the Twitter doctor who analyzes injuries, and he said separated shoulder from what he could see. (For the life of me I can't remember his name.) There is a retired NFL team doctor who does the same thing on Twitter (provide a quick diagnosis based on the video of an injury) and these guys are usually right, It kind of tracks with what we saw - he went shoulder to shoulder with the Swiss player, instantly flinched and was in obvious discomfort.Sources or it's just your feeling?
So hard to say - teams are very secretive with injuries (which drives me insane, but that's a different thread) so we won't hear much out of the Sens until we are much closer to camp.Glad they aren't rushing him back but still dissapointing. I hope he's ready for camp.
So hard to say - teams are very secretive with injuries (which drives me insane, but that's a different thread) so we won't hear much out of the Sens until we are much closer to camp.
Take note of the start time for the game today - 4 pm Eastern. TSN has a CFL doubleheader tonight, so the Canada game got shifted to the afternoon...
Chris Peters had a good segment on TSN 1200 yesterday about why Team USA failed and why their team this coming winter might contain way more 2022 drafted players with higher skill sets. Was a good listen.It seems like it was a pretty big mistake for Team USA to cut Boucher from their roster. In that quarterfinal game in particular against Czechia, USA was very flat. In the third period when USA was down 3-1 the commentators were pointing out how flat the team was and mentioned how when Kleven tried to throw a big hit that even he was recognizing that his team needed a spark and was trying to get something going.
Almost halfway through the final period it looked like USA wasn't going to find any spark and was just going to lose the game. If it wasn't for Stanislav Svozil taking that 5 minute kneeing penalty, it was doubtful that USA was even going to score that 2nd goal.
Boucher would have provided that much need spark. His skating and speed would have made him difficult to contain and all the reports were that he was scoring goals in the scrimmages of the evaluation camp. He could have potentially been a difference maker in a game like this and maybe Team USA would have gone further in the tournament if they had added him to their roster.
Personally, I didn't like the way Team USA was built so it wasn't just Boucher that maybe should have made the team. There are plenty of other U.S. prospects who took part in the evaluation camp who I think could have made a meaningful impact if they made the team. I wasn't impressed with Team USA's head coach deployment of his players in the 2021 WJC where they won gold and questioned his evaluation of talent. I questioned the final roster he constructed for the 2022 WJC this summer but felt it seemed aligned with the types of players he likes. I think this was a Nate Leaman kind of team and I think this is the kind of outcome you get with a Nate Leaman kind of team.
Fortunately for the 2023 WJC Rand Pecknold is at the helm for Team USA.