GDT: 2024 WJC Games: GOLD - USA | SILVER - SWE | BRONZE - CZE | 4TH - FIN

[salbutera]

Nice game from him. I said a week or so ago that I’d rather him look good defensively than produce. We all know he can create every time he touches the puck.

He has his skating warts and the size (which isn’t prohibitively small but small enough that it’s a bit of an uphill battle) but people act like he’s incapable of playing D. Someone said he has bad defensive IQ. That’s certainly not the case.

If he was a smoother more effortless skater it would help a lot. @Estimated_Prophet certainly is right in that respect (though I think it’s gotten better).

He’s pretty strong for his size as well which helps. I’ve seen him hit and absorb contact quite well on many occasions.

He needs plenty of work but betting against him so definitively is unwarranted. I can see a scenario where he could possibly not hit his expectations or even be a net liability. But I think he’s too good and driven to not push himself to meet and exceed expectations. He’s got plenty of drive.

Keep in mind though, larger ice surface is more forgiving to defend vs NHL size surface w a big body thundering down a lane

 

[salbutera]

https://x.com/bardown/status/1743417642499616847?s=46&t=a3HPp5YfHU2XDo78oSJMFA

 

[Miller Time]

Keep in mind though, larger ice surface is more forgiving to defend vs NHL size surface w a big body thundering down a lane

His competitiveness & his intelligence are two underrated variables...

The players and coaches around him constantly speak about them, and while intangibles can often be overstated, in some cases they are very much what allows athletes to defy typical limitations.

Will be fascinating to see how he adapts to the NHL level. To your point, he'll need to show an almost unprecedented ability to adjust if he's to become a top pairing impact player. I won't be surprised if he does, based on what he's shown this far.

 

[Estimated_Prophet]

To be fair, I have a hard time cheering for team canada in hockey, we are pretty arrogant about it all the time (though I do cheer the women). People expect to win gold and go on and on about how we could ice 3 top teams...LOL then we go on to finish out of the medals on a few occasions. Still angry Draper was on Team Canada, what an embarrassment by Yzerman.

There are never more arrogant teams than American teams in any sport. Typical American arrogant, disrespectful behaviour at the end that was just gross but unfortunately unsurprising.

Team Canada with Bedard, Fantilli, Wright, Korchinski, Luneau and Molendyk would be the best team in this tournament. Also, putting Dumais in the lineup over Nadeau was stupid. Even though Rousseau was not the problem, I had absolutely no faith in a tiny goalie like him against the Americans if we ended up getting there. I would love to see some combine measurements as he does not even look like the 5'11" that he is listed at.

That being said, congrats to the Americans as they had a very strong roster and earned the gold. Canada had the most inexperienced WJC entry that I can ever remember seeing them ice and it showed.

 

[Rapala]

I assume that USA will have Smith Leonard Perreault back as I assume they go back to BC for 1 more year as all of them need to bulk up and get stronger. But add Hagens and Eiserman to next year's team they should be a top team again I would think.

What is it 8 or 9 eligible to return. Canada went through something similar and players wanted to come back for another kick at that can.

 

[salbutera]

There are never more arrogant teams than American teams in any sport. Typical American arrogant, disrespectful behaviour at the end that was just gross but unfortunately unsurprising.

Team Canada with Bedard, Fantilli, Wright, Korchinski, Luneau and Molendyk would be the best team in this tournament. Also, putting Dumais in the lineup over Nadeau was stupid. Even though Rousseau was not the problem, I had absolutely no faith in a tiny goalie like him against the Americans if we ended up getting there. I would love to see some combine measurements as he does not even look like the 5'11" that he is listed at.

That being said, congrats to the Americans as they had a very strong roster and earned the gold. Canada had the most inexperienced WJC entry that I can ever remember seeing them ice and it showed.

So if that was “typical & disrespectful” 2018 Team Canada @ WJC was??

 

[Ozmodiar]

It’s all about $$$. As in all American industry, USA Hockey throws $$$ at all talent - coaches, trainers, big into analytics in youth hockey etc

My children play MidFairfield and you see all the former hockey people coming from CHL, let alone all the Hughes and MSL types

The incredibly heavy focus on skill emulating Euro hockey is impressive

They are definitely emulating the Euro model - skill development, athleticism, etc. (There are some cultural constraints tho)

Interesting you bring up $$ (financial model vs development model)

Minnesota is having a lot of success with their non profit community model (it helps that many rinks are publicly owned). It makes the sport more affordable and they now have the most registered players, the most D1 players, female players, etc … Minn was the most repped state on this world junior team (6 I think).

Not sure about the $$ model in CT, but it’s more private ownership in Mass, for example, and numbers were declining at one point.

Anyway, no fluke that the US is having success.

 

[Ozmodiar]

So if that was “typical & disrespectful” 2018 Team Canada @ WJC was??

 

[dinodebino]

Happy for our prospects. Comparing dev programs is futile. Canada would have walloped everybody (not even close) if their hockey program took them out of the NHL, a la NCAA. Bedard would have been a cheat code by himself. Add to that the test of the NHLers and it’s a statement. Not 2005 like but very close offensively.

 

[salbutera]

They are definitely emulating the Euro model - skill development, athleticism, etc. (There are some cultural constraints tho)

Interesting you bring up $$ (financial model vs development model)

Minnesota is having a lot of success with their non profit community model (it helps that many rinks are publicly owned). It makes the sport more affordable and they now have the most registered players, the most D1 players, female players, etc … Minn was the most repped state on this world junior team (6 I think).

Not sure about the $$ model in CT, but it’s more private ownership in Mass, for example, and numbers were declining at one point.

Anyway, no fluke that the US is having success.

The powerhouse Chicago Steel USHL program were privately owned / developed, and the family (Robbins) clearly stated from get go, their goal was to build a powerhouse elite development program mirroring the Russian elite programs… I’d say they’ve done a damned good job of it - let’s see how it goes moving fwd after Hawks ownership (Wirtz corp) bought them last summer

 

[donghabs98]

They are definitely emulating the Euro model - skill development, athleticism, etc. (There are some cultural constraints tho)

Interesting you bring up $$ (financial model vs development model)

Minnesota is having a lot of success with their non profit community model (it helps that many rinks are publicly owned). It makes the sport more affordable and they now have the most registered players, the most D1 players, female players, etc … Minn was the most repped state on this world junior team (6 I think).

Not sure about the $$ model in CT, but it’s more private ownership in Mass, for example, and numbers were declining at one point.

Anyway, no fluke that the US is having success.

The community model is interesting. I've long thought that Canada needs to make hockey more accessible for kids to play or else we'll see the long run issue of a shrinking pool of quality players that excludes talented players due to them choosing to do another sport or being unable to get into hockey due to cost.

There's also the issue of Hockey Canada being a general mess without a clear long term vision that spans multiple age groups.

 

[Scintillating10]

I'd ove to have Leonard in our prospect pool right now. Hughes I don't think I can ever forgive you on this one!

Given our lack of goal scoring and size.

 

[Kimota]

Holly shit! I guess in a losing situation, the Swedes wanted to start something so the US would be disqualified like it happened between Canada and Russia when Lindros was there.

 

[Zam Boni]

Congrats to the US, better team in the final and definitely the best team over the tournament.
I thought Sweden had a chance when we made it 3-2 late in the second but 4-2 was a back breaker. It seemed like the US got their goals a bit too easy while we had to work harder for ours.

The bigger questions is why us Swede so often come up short in gold medal games. 1-6 since 2008.

 

[HomaridII]

Scott Wheeler's World Junior's notebook on The Athletic has notes on every player or almost every player. Here the 3 that concern us (no notes on fowler)

Mesar:

Big-game, big-moment player for Slovakia throughout. Dangerous on the flank on the power play. Playing to the interior more consistently at five-on-five, while still making plays out wide and off the rush. Working on and off the puck. I thought Mesar was excellent, as you’d expect out of a 19-year-old first-round pick. Still positive, though. Had a strong case to be named one of their top three players of the tournament, even though he wasn’t. Best player on the ice in their quarterfinal loss to Finland. Would have been in the media all-star/tournament MVP conversation had they managed to win that game.

Beck:

Tone-setter physically and in work ethic. Thought he really struggled in execution with the puck and am concerned about that more and more in terms of his NHL projection.

Hutson:

Hutson didn’t blow the doors off the tournament offensively but he made a statement with his play defensively and his competitiveness, right to the final buzzer. Huge minutes and he handled them like a pro, which I expect he’ll be this spring when BU’s season is over

 

[WeThreeKings]

Scott Wheeler's World Junior's notebook on The Athletic has notes on every player or almost every player. Here the 3 that concern us (no notes on fowler)

Mesar:

Big-game, big-moment player for Slovakia throughout. Dangerous on the flank on the power play. Playing to the interior more consistently at five-on-five, while still making plays out wide and off the rush. Working on and off the puck. I thought Mesar was excellent, as you’d expect out of a 19-year-old first-round pick. Still positive, though. Had a strong case to be named one of their top three players of the tournament, even though he wasn’t. Best player on the ice in their quarterfinal loss to Finland. Would have been in the media all-star/tournament MVP conversation had they managed to win that game.

Beck:

Tone-setter physically and in work ethic. Thought he really struggled in execution with the puck and am concerned about that more and more in terms of his NHL projection.

Hutson:

Hutson didn’t blow the doors off the tournament offensively but he made a statement with his play defensively and his competitiveness, right to the final buzzer. Huge minutes and he handled them like a pro, which I expect he’ll be this spring when BU’s season is over

I read the whole notebook.

Here is it summed up (he's an ex Leafs scout during the Dubas regime)

If you are small and produce offense = you are good prospect.
If you are big, played a defensive role, or have pro habits = you are bad prospect.

Shows in the Leafs build, tbh.

 

[HomaridII]

I read the whole notebook.

Here is it summed up (he's an ex Leafs scout during the Dubas regime)

If you are small and produce offense = you are good prospect.
If you are big, played a defensive role, or have pro habits = you are bad prospect.

Shows in the Leafs build, tbh.

Lmao that’s a very accurate summary lol

You made me laugh.

 

[rik schau]

Crikey! who's the arsewipe that made the title of that clickbait crap? No gloves were dropped, what a drongo.lol
Good for the kid though getting involved and protecting his hands, should use gloves more often to scrap it out, makes sense to do so.

 

[Gaylord Q Tinkledink]

As someone who wanted Edstrom, from the games I saw for Sweden I barely noticed him.

 

[JianYang]

To be fair, I have a hard time cheering for team canada in hockey, we are pretty arrogant about it all the time (though I do cheer the women). People expect to win gold and go on and on about how we could ice 3 top teams...LOL then we go on to finish out of the medals on a few occasions. Still angry Draper was on Team Canada, what an embarrassment by Yzerman.

I do have a hard time as well from time to time, but that's only because I'm a sucker for the underdog story, and canada has never really played that role in best on best tournaments.

I also feel that the expectations are coming down just a tad. A 5th place finish in the 90s would have been grounds for a national summit to discuss what is wrong with the program.

 

[Estimated_Prophet]

So if that was “typical & disrespectful” 2018 Team Canada @ WJC was??

That is a terrible example and has no relevance to the American team behaving like Nationalist monkeys being let out of their cage for the first time. American athletes, much like the rest of the under educated population of the USA are the products of Nationalist brainwashing and predictably expose themselves for the mindless sheep that they are in international arenas/forums/events

 

[Estimated_Prophet]

I read the whole notebook.

Here is it summed up (he's an ex Leafs scout during the Dubas regime)

If you are small and produce offense = you are good prospect.
If you are big, played a defensive role, or have pro habits = you are bad prospect.

Shows in the Leafs build, tbh.

I am pretty sure that Wheeler has never been a professional scout at any level......he just covered some Leaf's drafts early in his career. Asked a friend just now who scouts for a Western Conference team and he said Wheeler is a fraud as far as he knows. To be fair I threw in the "fraud" part lol but I have little respect for Wheeler and especially Pronman as scouts because they lack some fundamental scouting skills. Wheeler is the better of the two but he would make a poor NHL scout at this point in his development.

 

[Estimated_Prophet]

The powerhouse Chicago Steel USHL program were privately owned / developed, and the family (Robbins) clearly stated from get go, their goal was to build a powerhouse elite development program mirroring the Russian elite programs… I’d say they’ve done a damned good job of it - let’s see how it goes moving fwd after Hawks ownership (Wirtz corp) bought them last summer

That isn't a development program as much as it is typical American elitist ideologies where they segregate the best from the rest and dominate for the sake of dominating. If Canada just recruited all of the top CHL players and put them on a national "development" team there is no doubt that it will result in more international success in short tournaments. It will also mean that the top prospects on that team who were already top prospects before they got there will unsurprisingly dominate the draft and the common layman will call that a developmental success even though it likely makes very little difference in these kids development and likely hinders the kids who would be top players on their teams but are now bottom line players who don't see power plays and see less ice time altogether. All of this is also would result in a subpar CHL where franchises would be forced to put out a crappier product just like the USHL does in the States......unless of course you are talking about the Chicago Steel who are basically the USNDTP sister team that makes ice time available for top players who may not have got that ice time in the program as well as top Canadian players with hopes of playing in the NCAA.

 

[yianik]

Holly shit! I guess in a losing situation, the Swedes wanted to start something so the US would be disqualified like it happened between Canada and Russia when Lindros was there.

Yep. Pair Hutson and WiFi and we have the toughest and nastiest D pairing in the NHL.

 

[Goldenhands]

Hutson had a really solid final game against a strong Sweden team, played it simple, but effective, basically mistake free, so it shows he can adapt his game depending of the the situation. Loved the warrior attitude as well, he clearly stepped up to the challenge. Hopefully we can see him in a Habs jersey for a couple of games once his NCAA season is over like Farrell did, will be very fun to watch.

Overall, team USA played their best game of the tournament in that final game and the talent level on this team was just too high. Poor Swedes did their best, but nothing could stop the Americans to win gold.

Hopefully team Canada has more to offer next year.