Young players in World Cup

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Lapps

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May 15, 2003
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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.
 

Paxon

202* Stanley Cup Champions
Jul 13, 2003
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Let's not forget about Lecavalier... went from not being on the original roster to being the tournament MVP!

I agree, it was fantastic to see the young guys get their time in and it all leaves excited for the next big tourney (2006 :fingers crossed:).

It was most evident in Canada and Russia. The Russians really looked like a brand new team out there.
 

H/H

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Aug 27, 2004
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Russia impressed heavily on me. Leaving all those vets at home was probably a smart move, because this was the first time in many years I've seen Russians play like a team, while still taking full use of their individual skill. I doubt there's a more technically skilled national team out there. GIve this team a couple of years and a goalie and they might just end up being the best team of them all.

Canada's defense is young and promising, but in this tournament they were also the only dent in the canadians armor. Especially Hannan seemed to have trouble keeping up with faster technically skilled forwards. Bouwmeester did some impressive stuff but also showed a few flaws, flaws that will probably disappear with a few more seasons under his belt. As always, routine is a D-man's best asset.
 
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CREW99AW

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Mar 12, 2002
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Frolov looked very impressive.No wonder Kings fans are so quick to reject trades, proposed for this kid.
 
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