Lapps
Registered User
Obviously one of the biggest stories at the outset of the tournament was the number of high-profile players skipping out or getting injured. As nice as it would have been to see Fedorov, Khabibulin, Palffy, Schneider, Zubov, Hatcher, et al. play, how great was it to see players like Gomez, Bouwmeester, Tuomo Ruutu, Cajanek, Hannan, and Martin play well. These guys made the team as replacements or played bigger roles on their teams because of injuries (well, I guess Ruutu would have been important anyways on Finland) and they really stepped it up. It makes me wish USA left off some of the older guys and added some of the "next generation" players to the team.
I thought this was a fantastic feature. And man, Canada's defense looks set for the next 10 years.
I thought this was a fantastic feature. And man, Canada's defense looks set for the next 10 years.