The one thing on my wish list for tonight's game, aside from a Canadian win, is a better ice surface. I've never seen a game, at this level of competition, where so many players had pucks bounce over their sticks, mishandled pucks or passes, or simply fall inexplicably. The relegation game between Latvia and Austria should have been played in Moncton, so not having that third game on the Halifax surface should help.
As to the game, aside from what's already been said about Milic, I like the way Williams deployed the bottom 6 forwards last night, and I really like the way they responded. I thought Fantilli had a great game - easily his best game - and I thought Gaucher and Ostapchuk were noticeable, in a good way, throughout the game. Dean obviously made the nice play on the Fantilli goal, but I'd still like to see a more disciplined approach from him. Beck and Bankier were quite good in their limited ice time. On defense, I'd like to see better puck handling and outlet passes from Allan and Hinds. Allan, in particular, was quite bad last night. Del Mastro made some defensive mistakes, here and there, but more than made up for it with his pass on the Bedard goal and steady play overall. Clarke and Zelwegger are what they are, and we need them at their best tonight.
