WJC: 2019 Team USA Roster Talk

[GoAwayPanarin]

I disagree with your assessment. Mikey Anderson got stuck out there more than a few times. St Ivany was often a train wreck though. I thought Samuelsson was ok.

I remember one shift where that happened (not counting the end of the game), Samuelsson was out with him.

Mattias doesn't make the "glaring" mistakes, but he made at least a half dozen weak clearing attempts yesterday which failed and resulted in more zone time. I don't expect him to make the pass out of his own end as that isn't his game, but if you're going to try to get the puck out off of the windows, you better make sure you get it out.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

That was a good performance. I knew it was going to be hard to win this game convincingly because Dostal has been the best goalie at this tournament. I didn't think we were going to score 5 or 6 on him, so it was going to be a close game. We outshot them 2-1 though, so I don't think you can complain about a game where we outshot the other team 2-1 and won.

No more St. Ivany. He's been terrible. The rest of the defense was pretty good. Quinn Hughes needs to limit the turnovers. Miller should have his time limited. He's not had a good tournament. Aside from that, the defense is starting to come along. Kemp had a big game. He's showing that the decision to pick him over Emberson was the right decision. I also liked Primeau's play. He's a good keeper, but maybe he just wasn't tracking the puck well against Kazakhstan. Its not easy for a goalie to play well when they aren't seeing many shots.

Jack Hughes needs more ice time. He was great yesterday. I also agree that Barratt hasn't been great. The rest of the forwards have been very inconsistent. Some good games, some bad games. The only forwards who I think have been good all the games are Farabee, Madden and Robertson.

 

[Smitty93]

Agree with those who have said Jack Hughes needs more ice time, particularly on the power play. I think he also needs to play with better line-mates, or at least line-mates who are better finishers.

 

[mphmiles]

Would imagine the coaches wanted to be cautious with his ice time with Jack coming off a knock/missing 3 games. Bet it gets upped in the semis.

 

[AmericanDream]

Dave Starman on NHL Network has said team USA's best line has been the 2nd line...Madden - Barratt - Cates... called all 3 of them 200ft warriors...Barratt has been a beast around the net and Madden has been everywhere as well. I agree with him, this has been the most consistent line the entire tournament on both sides of the ice...a bit better puck luck and the entire line has 4-5 points each.

 

[William H Bonney]

 

[William H Bonney]

Wouldn't be surprised by any result in this matchup, really. Both teams are peaking at the right times and both have the best specialty teams thus far in the tournament, which is always critical here. I think the biggest key for the team is to get on the board early against Kotchetkov as he's been really strong thus far. It's important to deflate them a bit early and build some confidence.

 

[SanDogBrewin]

US tentative in the beginning but settled in. Q. hughes overhandling the puck some times. Hate to get on Miller on D but dang on the Russia goal that got called back he looked bad.

1-0 going into the 2nd is something to build on. Hopefully refs sent a Russian player to the box to as well to start the 3rd.

 

[William H Bonney]

Pretty even period, both teams hunkering down pretty well. Other than the breakdown on the disallowed goal and the zone time and chances after Quinn's fanned dump in, the Russians didn't generate much. Granted, neither did Team USA.

• That was incredibly stupid by Samberg. Definite penalty, although Kravtsov with an impressive acting job. Why are you holding your face when you were cross checked in the chest? Samberg's lucky Denisenko matched him in the stupidity department.
• Team must stay out of the box. Russia is lethal on the PP.
• Russia is getting away with some late hits (Muranov's late hit from behind on Quinn was the most obvious one) and I'd expect the refs will eventually call one.
• Beyond that stupid play, Samberg/Anderson have been great thus far. Probably the steadiest Anderson has looked all tournament.
• Cockerill with an impact play! Great transition and pass to set up an easy one for Wahlstrom. Cockerill's in tough here because they're asking him to fill a role he's not physically equipped for, but any offense he can provide is a bonus.
• I don't know the stats, but it felt like we lost a lot of faceoffs, especially critical ones (Norris to start the PK, Poehling on quite a few in the offensive zone, etc.) Need to be better here, as it's crucial to keeping the Russians chasing.

 

[William H Bonney]

Primeau looks shaky like he did against Kazakstan, which doesn't exactly leave one confident heading into the 3rd. That Denisenko goal was incredibly soft and gave Team Russia life when they were lifeless. And the way he played that non-icing not long after? Good god.

• 2 easy, but failed clearing attempts by Kemp on the PK to start 2nd. Lucky those didn't cost the team. Otherwise he's been solid and steady.
• Cockerill with his best game of the tournament without question. His back pressure and steal in offensive zone to create Poehling's drive that led to Kravtsov's tripping penalty was the type of play he's on the team to make. His stick block on Kravtsov at the end after Primeau decided to slide into the corner was huge.
• Chmelevski is this team's unsung hero. He does it all.
• Great backcheck by Jack Hughes to negate that shorthanded break.
• Quinn needs to get it together. The blind passes are getting old and he's being very lazy after he spins away from a player like he's in the clear and it keeps costing him.
• Farabee has to shoot that on the 2-on-1 right before Denisenko's goal. He passed to a teammate that wasn't open instead and started the Russian transition. He's flubbed quite a few odd man breaks this tournament.
• Stop taking late period penalties. Another byproduct of losing too many face-offs.

 

[Friar85]

Primeau looks shaky like he did against Kazakstan, which doesn't exactly leave one confident heading into the 3rd. That Denisenko goal was incredibly soft and gave Team Russia life when they were lifeless. And the way he played that non-icing not long after? Good god.

• 2 easy, but failed clearing attempts by Kemp on the PK to start 2nd. Lucky those didn't cost the team. Otherwise he's been solid and steady.
• Cockerill with his best game of the tournament without question. His back pressure and steal in offensive zone to create chance that led to Kravtsov tripping penalty was the type of play he's on the team to make. His stick block on Kravtsov at the end after Primeau decided to slide into the corner was huge.
• Chmelevski is this team's unsung hero. He does it all.
• Great backcheck by Jack Hughes to negate that shorthanded break.
• Quinn needs to get it together. The blind passes are getting old and he's being very lazy after he spins away from a player like he's in the clear and it keeps costing him.
• Farabee has to shoot that on the 2-on-1 right before Denisenko's goal. He passed to a teammate that wasn't open instead and started the Russian transition. He's flubbed quite a few odd man breaks this tournament.
• Stop taking late period penalties. Another byproduct of losing too many face-offs.

Really enjoy your analysis and appreciate the information you provide but calling that Denisenko goal soft is insane. That was a world class shot.

 

[William H Bonney]

Really enjoy your analysis and appreciate the information you provide but calling that Denisenko goal soft is insane. That was a world class shot.

No, it's not insane. A goal can both come on a great shot and still be soft. They're not mutually exclusive concepts. Primeau's 6'3. There shouldn't be that much net to shoot at when the shot comes at the bottom of the face-off dot. He got caught going down early and he wasn't square to Denisenko, as he was cheating the potential pass to the slot. It was a great shot, but still soft.

 

[Friar85]

No, it's not insane. A goal can both come on a great shot and still be soft. They're not mutually exclusive concepts. Primeau's 6'3. There shouldn't be that much net to shoot at when the shot comes at the bottom of the face-off dot. He got caught going down early and he wasn't square to Denisenko, as he was cheating as he thought there'd be a pass to the slot. It was a great shot, but still soft.

Puck caught crossbar and in. That’s an NHL level finish. He was cheating, as almost any goalie would there, but that shot goes in at every level.

 

[William H Bonney]

Some great puck tracking and saves by Primeau on that PK, but almost let in another stinker. Composed play by Kemp as he could have easily and accidentally put that in himself.

 

[William H Bonney]

Puck caught crossbar and in. That’s an NHL level finish. He was cheating, as almost any goalie would there, but that shot goes in at every level.

You keep focusing on that shot. That's not the point.

 

[Friar85]

I’m not a goalie not a goalie expert. But my son played goalie at a high level as did my brother. I have been around a ton of elite goalie instruction. Not going to spend a lot of time on this but these kids are instructed endlessly on how to approach that exact situation. He played it as elite goalies are taught. He sealed low and prepared for a push based on the angle and the handeness of the puck carrier. The approach is based on percentages. You are betting that the shooter can’t finish from that position. He did. Tip your hat and know that 99 times out of 100 you are in a better position to keep the puck out of the net with that approach.

 

[ps241]

Congrats US very gutsy win.

 

[SanDogBrewin]

Wanted to strangle Farabee on the back pass that led to the Russian goal. It was a beautiful snipe but as mentioned that puck needed to head to the net. Norris was awesome on the forecheck the last few minutes.

Wore a hole in my carpet. Big win US.

 

[Jaykay]

I'm happy to eat crow, Phil Kemp has been a rock the past few games.

 

[William H Bonney]

Really even game. Feels like if those two teams played 10 times, they'd each win 5. Team USA started slow in this tournament, struggling to find an identity and they've finally found one. Not going to light up the scoresheet, but they're a dogged 200 foot team.

• Cockerill was great and when a pure role player can step up like that, it's a huge boost. The best forward for Team USA today.
• Samberg, Anderson, and Kemp were rock solid. Kemp really struggled early in this tournament but he's found his footing and stepped up big time. He's earned his role on this team.
• Primeau had that shaky one that Kemp cleared off the goal line on the PP early in the 3rd, but other than that he was much more composed in net that period than he was in the 2nd. Calmly pushed rebounds into the corners as the Russians were firing from long range hoping for rebounds.
• Team is in the gold medal game and that's where they should have been based on the available talent. It wasn't always a smooth ride, but they have one game to seal it.
• Last year they won their third straight medal in this tournament for the first time ever. Now they've made it 4. USAH should be competing for a medal every year and they're finally doing it.

 

[SK94]

-Primeau was really good IMO.
-Kemp is this year's Joe Cecconi
-Q.Hughes, J.Hughes, Poehling, Barratt, Madden.. Despite the victory, i want more scoring in the final from those guys.
-2017 semi-final was a classic so the game is hard to get to that level but i still expected a little more. Victory the only thing that means so its okay.

 

[Joe Zanussi]

Probably just me....but I felt like there were two big shifts by the Madden line in the third. At about 11 minutes left I really felt like we were on our heels... game felt bad. We got it deep, cycled, and controlled play for about a minute. Shifted the pace. Same guys did it again (for a shorter period of time) at about 8 minutes. To me it just felt like it stemmed the tide a bit and got us settled a little.

 

[William H Bonney]

Probably just me....but I felt like there were two big shifts by the Madden line in the third. At about 11 minutes left I really felt like we were on our heels... game felt bad. We got it deep, cycled, and controlled play for about a minute. Shifted the pace. Same guys did it again (for a shorter period of time) at about 8 minutes. To me it just felt like it stemmed the tide a bit and got us settled a little.

Madden in particular was very good in the 3rd on the forecheck, causing turnovers, holding up the puck, and forcing the Russians to circle back.

 

[Joe Zanussi]

It must be a good sign that I’ve mistakenly referred to Primeau as “Parsons” twice in the last hour, right?

 

[kabidjan18]

I’m not a goalie not a goalie expert. But my son played goalie at a high level as did my brother. I have been around a ton of elite goalie instruction. Not going to spend a lot of time on this but these kids are instructed endlessly on how to approach that exact situation. He played it as elite goalies are taught. He sealed low and prepared for a push based on the angle and the handeness of the puck carrier. The approach is based on percentages. You are betting that the shooter can’t finish from that position. He did. Tip your hat and know that 99 times out of 100 you are in a better position to keep the puck out of the net with that approach.

This is all true but I feel like that approach needs to slowly adapt because we're seeing more and more players roofing it because they know that corner is going to be the corner that's given.