WC: 2019 US Roster Discussion Part II

[SanDogBrewin]

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[William H Bonney]

Bad turnover by Kane. Soft goal by Schneider, who looks shaky again after looking good against Denmark. Nice tip by JVR and Keller has done a better job recently of getting pucks on net. Larkin was the most noticeable he's been all tournament. That call against Eichel was awful.

 

[SanDogBrewin]

Ugly ugly passing. No rhythm at all.

 

[William H Bonney]

German goalie looks dialed in after they sacrificed their #3 goalie against Canada.

JVR has missed at least 6 tap in goals this tournament, including that one in the 2nd.

No idea what Blashill is doing with the line combinations but it's pretty asinine. He should have mixed up the lines long ago as this team has yet to gel but instead he's chosen to just juggle them every shift that period, killing any chance for momentum.

There's just no chemistry on this team. Hopefully they turn it on in the 3rd. Stop the stupid line juggling. Shorten the bench, ride the guys that are skating, and run set lines with those groups. Shoot the puck more.

 

[SK94]

When Germany can play 40 minutes without single penalty against this team, its tells you everything you need to know. Germany should chase the game much more but when team play like this it is not happening. Captain Kaner is summary about this team. I pick 23 Luke Glendening's or Derek Ryan's anyday rather than superstars who play with attitude like this. I honestly think last year i was more confident about gold medal at this point of the tournament. I also hope this is last time we see Jeff Blashill coaching national team. Shoot the damn puck. All pointless passes for me is sing that certain guys dont took this with right attitude.

 

[William H Bonney]

Adam Fox is going to get abused in the NHL if he doesn't learn a simple wrist shot on net is better than always trying to walk the forward on the blue line.

 

[Star Ocean]

Bad turnover by Kane. Soft goal by Schneider, who looks shaky again after looking good against Denmark. Nice tip by JVR and Keller has done a better job recently of getting pucks on net. Larkin was the most noticeable he's been all tournament. That call against Eichel was awful.

Why are you not posting in the actual GDT?

 

[William H Bonney]

The most Larkin has looked like himself all tournament. Hell of a pass by JVR.

 

[William H Bonney]

Why are you not posting in the actual GDT?

I find GDTs on here to be far too much trolling.

 

[SK94]

Eichel is amazing and still our best player IMO. It is just amazing how he can't score in this tourament.

 

[SanDogBrewin]

Now that is some passing.

 

[SK94]

First PP when 5 minutes left. Amazing.

 

[Nexon]

There's just no chemistry on this team. Hopefully they turn it on in the 3rd. Stop the stupid line juggling. Shorten the bench, ride the guys that are skating, and run set lines with those groups. Shoot the puck more.

I keep saying this all the time just to be clarified by canadians that it will be different in encounter with them, but if it’s not there, it won’t be there even against them.

 

[William H Bonney]

Eichel is amazing and still our best player IMO. It is just amazing how he can't score in this tourament.

There's that shot. He's been dominant here, all over the ice.

 

[William H Bonney]

Ray Ferraro is dreadful. He pushed the stick away from Suter who had dropped it.

 

[SanDogBrewin]

Glad that blankity blank game is over.

 

[Chainshot]

I thought Hughes looked good when Blashill would let him go out there with Eichel. Granted, Eichel-Kreider were the guys who seemed to get the puck out and deep time and again. Glad to see Jack find the twine after so many great chances.

 

[SK94]

I dont want to sound like a hater but Blashill is just awful. I feel that today there was pretty much different line combination in every shift. Least now QF spot is sure so anything can happen.

 

[Chainshot]

I dont want to sound like a hater but Blashill is just awful. I feel that today there was pretty much different line combination in every shift. Least now QF spot is sure so anything can happen.

I don't understand his line juggling. *shrug* Losing Gaudreau didn't help there.

 

[William H Bonney]

Not a good performance but they stepped up when they needed to in the 3rd and clinched their QF spot. Right now that's all that matters. It would have been a nightmare to go into the Canada matchup needing points to move on. Now that game is all for seeding, likely the #2 or #3 spot unless Germany beats Finland in which it's for #1. I'm sure they'll show up with much more life against Canada as that's typically how Team USA does it at this tournament. As others point out, they always play down to their competition here.

Larkin looked the best he has all tournament. Eichel was dominant again. JVR with his best game - his goal was vintage JVR, and although he missed another tap in to a wide open net, and his beautiful pass to Larkin was probably the first positive play he's made all tournament that wasn't within 3 feet of the net - it was an all world pass. Kane was dreadful. He wants it too much sometimes and forces everything, which summed up his game today. His pass to Eichel was vintage Kane but he was responsible for the only German goal and was mishandling the puck all game.

Werenski is going to hopefully be a shot of life to the defense. It's a real shame he's missed 3 games since being added to the team as those were great chances to get his legs going, but I'm sure he'll come in with a lot of jump nonetheless. Hopefully he eats up ice time from a guy like Skjei as something bad happens every time he's out there. From here on out, it should be pretty rare when at least one of Suter or Werenski isn't on the ice, which is good news.

Schneider wasn't under siege by any means but he had a poor first. His rebound control was bad and that goal was soft, but he settled down after that and did well.

 

[SanDogBrewin]

So does the US play Sweden or the Swiss ?

Play like it matters against Canada.

 

[William H Bonney]

I dont want to sound like a hater but Blashill is just awful. I feel that today there was pretty much different line combination in every shift. Least now QF spot is sure so anything can happen.

I don't understand his line juggling. *shrug* Losing Gaudreau didn't help there.

It was really odd and then he deviated away from it for the most part in the 3rd. I'm not a Blashill hater at all, but I expected his coaching to be a little more dialed in this tournament given it's his third straight time here. He's been too complacent with his line combinations all tournament. We should have mixed up the lines for sure, but with new combinations, and earlier in the tournament. Now that hodgepodge mess in the 2nd where each player was getting new linemates on every shift.

There's not been a ton of natural chemistry out there beyond Kane/DeBrincat and yet he's mostly gone with the same lines for the first 5 games. The Gaudreau injury is the only reason we really saw any sustained change. And then he starts to mix and match all 2nd period, with some really odd combinations, for what purpose? It's one thing if a guy or two are really bringing it and earned a promotion, an extra shift, or you're trying to use them to jumpstart a line, but none of those were the case with his moves.

 

[Chainshot]

It was really odd and then he deviated away from it for the most part in the 3rd. I'm not a Blashill hater at all, but I expected his coaching to be a little more dialed in this tournament given it's his third straight time here. He's been too complacent with his line combinations all tournament. We should have mixed up the lines for sure, but with new combinations, and earlier in the tournament. Now that hodgepodge mess in the 2nd where each player was getting new linemates on every shift.

There's not been a ton of natural chemistry out there beyond Kane/DeBrincat and yet he's mostly gone with the same lines for the first 5 games. The Gaudreau injury is the only reason we really saw any sustained change. And then he starts to mix and match all 2nd period, with some really odd combinations, for what purpose? It's one thing if a guy or two are really bringing it and earned a promotion, an extra shift, or you're trying to use them to jumpstart a line, but none of those were the case with his moves.

I may be in the minority, but I thought Ryan did a good job as the F3 for Kane and DeBrincat, allowing them to dangle while doing the dirty work. Similarly, Kreider with Eichel works a lot as well, just finding someone for the other wing. What has hurt is Larkin's lingering LBI, I agree this was the most like himself he's seemed, and that they have some guys who are just don't seem to mesh. Keller has driven me nuts most of the games going back to the tune-up where he's relying on his stickhandling time after time and that well is dry. He's not shooting the way he can, and he's not moving the puck back to open teammates. Instead he's diving into traffic or turning away from high danger areas.

Short answer: I'd like to see Blashill figure out forward pairs (Kane-DeBrincat, Eichel-Kreider) that work and shuffle around those, at least for the first two lines.

 

[Nexon]

I dont want to sound like a hater but Blashill is just awful. I feel that today there was pretty much different line combination in every shift. Least now QF spot is sure so anything can happen.

Sadly, given Detroit forecast for future we may see him for upcoming years as well. On the other hand we may not Drury again next year what will screw us even more.

 

[William H Bonney]

So does the US play Sweden or the Swiss ?

Play like it matters against Canada.

Too early to say. We could still finish #1-4 in our group, although #2/3 is our likely destination.

In Group B, it's not much different. There's still a lot of possibilities in play.

Barring any upsets in the games in parentheses, we should have these rankings headed into the final round robin game:

Group A

1. Finland - 16 points (plays France)
2. Canada - 15 points (plays Denmark)
3. USA - 14 points
4. Germany - 12 points

In the final round robin game, we have these matchups:

• Finland vs Germany
• Canada vs USA

Group B

1. Russia - 18 points (plays Switzerland)
2. Czechs* - 15 points
3. Sweden* - 15 points (plays Latvia)
4. Switzerland - 12 points (plays Russia)

*Czechs beat Sweden, so they have the tie-breaker.

In the final round robin game, we have these matchups:

• Russia vs Sweden
• Czechs vs Switzerland

Things are really tight right now and the top 4 teams in each bracket play each other in their last games, so things will shift around drastically if there's an upset. Finland probably takes the #1 seed, but it's not like Germany can't beat them. If Sweden beats Russia, the top 3 spots in that group will come down to goal differential in the games those 3 played against one another.