So it'll likely be another showdown between Canada and Sweden - the two best hockey nations in the world.
And Canada will win.
And Canada will win.
OT: 2016 World Cup
- Thread starter Ranksu
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Evocable Manager
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Well to be fair, the Russian defense is a crap shoot. They don't have even 1 true top pair or 'anchor' defenseman in the NHL, nevermimd in a best on best.
As good as the forwards are, they need to have better development on the back end.
Robb_K
Registered User
I'd rather have seen Canada/USA or Canada/Sweden. But this Eurpean team is surprising everyone. I hope to see an interesting final game.
Canada is going to run over Team Europe. Its nice to see them play at least two games, 'cus winner is best of three.
Evocable Manager
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Don't underestimate team Europe. They've proven they can compete, not the star talent like others, but a good team game and having everyone buy in with a solid goaltending performance can go a long way.
jura
booze & blues
I'm glad I'm not the only one to notice this. I think he was recovering from injury last year. His skating, which powers his game, was visibly hampered. The eye test indicates his skating is back to normal. Hopefully he'll return to his form of two seasons past.
I agree, he has, but still not an indicator of how he will look with us. He usually looks solid for Canada. Of course, it doesn't hurt when your D partner is Drew Doughty and there are three All-Star forwards on the ice at all times. Most guys won't look bad.
Dbrownss
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- Jan 5, 2014
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It's the simple things he's better at. His skating and decision making is better, along with his passing. These attributes don't require elite partners.
That's debatable. You have more time to make decisions when the opposition is probably more worried about Doughty when he doesn't even have the puck than they are about Bouwmeester.
His skating has been hit or miss the past few years. He's always been a good skater, but that injury hampered him. He looked a little better to start the season last year but then declined again. It's hard to say what his skating will look like throughout the season, IMO.
His passing is better, that's one thing I agree with. But, I still think playing with elite players helps that. Somebody's gonna be open when there's all that firepower. He just needs to hit whatever target that is.
He's looked solid. I've hardly seen him do anything spectacular.
Dbrownss
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Good points, it's just hard to really tell at this point but as you suggested...he does have a lot of room out there. As for the bolded, that's all we need out of him
Brian39
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- Apr 24, 2014
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Every other time he has looked solid for Team Canada was at a point where he looked just as solid in the NHL. 2014 was best season as a Blue. I don't think you can argue that his game changes significantly from the NHL to international competition. He has looked good on team Canada before because he was a good player, not because he elevated his play significantly.
As for your point about playing with elite guys, I don't think that should worry us. Doughty is better than Petro, but not by a huge margin. He will also be playing with some darn good forwards here in STL. He is generally (at absolute best) the 3rd best player on the ice when he is playing for us (assuming you think he is better than Schwartz/Steen/Stasnty). Obviously we don't have the talent of Team Canada, but the NHL teams we play also have less talent than the competition he has been facing at the World Cup. We won't be asking him to be the focal point. Other teams will still be focused way more on Petro than him and he has some really good forwards to outlet the puck to.
Obviously a preseason tournament isn't a guarantee of his success this year. However, there have been a lot of positives and I think they point more towards his ability than the situation he has been in on Team Canada. His skating looks better than it has in 2 years. If he can keep that up, it will be absolutely huge.
