WJC: Horrible team selection (Canada)

[GirardIsStupid]

Wow..
We led 3-0 in the third period. Are you serious? I can't even begin to describe how stupid the people who are armchair gming after the game is over.

What do you expect is going to happen if your team doesn't win? Regardless, managing/creating a team isn't easy and I'm not going to crucify Team Canada for it's choices. But, when you don't get what you want, you can't help but think what you or your team or your country could have done better.

 

[William Hylander]

Cowen did not have a great tourny, he had a good one. I don't think he deserved a top 3 player award I would have voted for Ryan Johanssen but w/e.

The real players who played poor on D were Depres and DeHaan. I expected way more out of them.

On forward it was Coutourier who I was disapointed in as well as Brett Conolly.

In Goal maybe Anderson would have been better than Roy but that is grasping at straws.

The problem is that the team was essentially built around Ellis on D and Schenn on Forward, when it should have been the whole team to build around.

Same as last year you had Eberle and Peiterangelo to build around and they got us the same result a silver.

 

[Aaaaaaaaaaaaa]

Revisionist history...what we should have done.

So easy to make those decisions after a tough loss.

The team was a good one. Be respectful of your opponent and admit the Russians just wanted it a little more, and outworked us. I don't know why, but I do know it happens in sports. That's why you play the games.

No looking back...just onward and upward. There's always next year!

 

[canucksfan]

I know very little about what junior players could have been taken instead. However, what I got from TSN was that Canada assembled a team to beat the Americans. This is a tournament where more than two teams are invovled. Why bring a team that is built to beat one team. Why not bring the best possible team?

 

[Tavaresmagicalplay*]

What do you expect is going to happen if your team doesn't win. Regardless, managing/creating a team isn't easy and I'm not going to crucify Team Canada for it's choices. But, when you don't get what you want, you can't help but think what you or your team or your country could have done better.

Yeah they could have done better by protecting a 3-0 lead. Roster decisions don't matter up until that point. Whats Ryan Murphy and RNH going to do in that situation. They could have been just as likely to have coughed up a puck in the neutral zone or been outmuscled for a puck(they're both 160-170 pounds) as they could have been to score a 4-0 goal. This is one of those situations where hindsight is not 20-20.

 

[seanlinden]

It looked at one point that it wouldn't come back and bite us with a 3-0 lead to start the 3rd. From that point Russian speed and skill took over and made our slow defense look foolish. When they scored the 4th the team did not have enough skill to come back.

Why do we have players like Olson and Cowen when we could have had Murphy? Why do we have player like Eakin and Ashton when we could have RNH? Very puzzling player selection the last few years. Our slow defense and lack of skill was exposed. We could have used an elite talent like Seguin last year too.

Because prospects and draft-eligble players are extremely overrated on these boards. The players that made team Canada are 1-2 huge development years older with professional experience in many circumstances. Simply put, they are better players at this point in time. It's why Brayden Schenn (who has played professional hockey for basically the entire season) was their best forward, and Sean Couturier was not. Team Canada goes for gold every year, not trying to "get guys experience for next year".

 

[Canuck21t]

That's just stupid, Team Canada in the Olympics had the same kind of build, axed towards big bodies instead of speed and they won. Team Canada stopped playin' in the third and Visentin sucked.

Team USA was the main target in this event, not Russia, hence the big body presence.

Russia derserved it, congrats to them. They won it but coming back from 3-0 deficit, they should thank god for this result.

What? I totally disagree. Team Canada in the Olympics was full of talent and skills. You could always argue and swap a couple players, but we mostly brought our best. I doubt we did the same this time around. We had a strong team, but maybe we could have been even better.

 

[PensFan101]

I think the lesson learned is that even with a pool as deep as Canada, they should always take the best players available.

In Owen Sound, the CHL Player of the Week (and the most productive offensive player available for the tournament) in Joey Hishon would have made a huge difference to the offense. Garrett Wilson produced just as much as some of the guys picked for the bottom lines and has the character and defensive grit to stick there... Both were surprising omissions.

And Brandon Pirri. I really thought his pro experience would be really helpful to the team. Those are the guys I wanted to see on the squad. It gave me a reason to want Canada to lose and while there are too many what if's to say if adding any of these players would have changed things, but clearly this wasn't the right mix of players and coaching philosophy to get the job done.

 

[GirardIsStupid]

Yeah they could have done better by protecting a 3-0 lead. Roster decisions don't matter up until that point. Whats Ryan Murphy and RNH going to do in that situation. They could have been just as likely to have coughed up a puck in the neutral zone or been outmuscled for a puck(they're both 160-170 pounds) as they could have been to score a 4-0 goal. This is one of those situations where hindsight is not 20-20.

They shouldn't have been trying to protect a 3-0 lead. You gotta go for it and keep attacking until the end. This is the new era of hockey. Trapping doesn't work anymore. It is why teams like the former Chicago Blackhawks can win cups, while bigger teams like San Jose have more difficulty.

For some reason, Canada played the 1-2-2 and laid back. I think that has to do with some of the roster decisions. The team look gassed to me. As the game wore along, they started losing 1-1 battles with more frequency and I think this was related to being fatigued and trying to chase around a faster team...thus, this leads to the decision to just lay back and trap to contain Russia's speed (which I think was both a conscious effort on the part of the coaches and a subconscious tactic on the part of the players).

 

[Wilma]

Why do we have players like Olson and Cowen when we could have had Murphy? Why do we have player like Eakin and Ashton when we could have RNH?

These two were easily two of our best players today, so I really would turn elsewhere. How about Courtier? His contributions were pretty minimal.

Agree with Olsen and Cowen though...

 

[ponder]

Meh, we had the talent to win, incredibly dominant against the Americans and very dominant again in the first 2 periods against the Russians, but just choked hardcore while Russia stepped up like crazy in the 3rd. I don't blame the team selection.

 

[afrobomber11]

there is one sore thumb no body has mentioned

quintin howden was responsible for not clearing the puck twice leading to goals and once for not getting the puck deep leading to a goal the other way

visentin was not at fault, there were alot of defensive breakdowns

you want a goat? quintin howden

 

[Torts]

your kidding right

this thread is useless

 

[NyQuil]

Blaming the defence is stupid.

The forwards stopped forechecking and cycling.

They would simply dump and change.

This team was good enough to win the tournament, they had a 3-0 lead in the 3rd and they lost.

Team selection is pretty irrelevant when you're up by 3 with one period left in the gold medal game.

 

[Nidema]

Selection was not the problem. It was how the players were used that was a key problem along with line combos.

 

[Brozak]

This is all hindsight, and you should be ashamed for even starting this thread. The team we had was more than capable of winning the gold, after all they did beat Russia before and made it the hard way to the finals.

Are they capable of battling through adversity? Maybe, but not this time. Not every single game will end in an Eberle moment.

 

[22Brad Park]

It looked at one point that it wouldn't come back and bite us with a 3-0 lead to start the 3rd. From that point Russian speed and skill took over and made our slow defense look foolish. When they scored the 4th the team did not have enough skill to come back.

Why do we have players like Olson and Cowen when we could have had Murphy? Why do we have player like Eakin and Ashton when we could have RNH? Very puzzling player selection the last few years. Our slow defense and lack of skill was exposed. We could have used an elite talent like Seguin last year too.

One thing for sure ,they played the wrong goalie.Roy played harder teams and has the experience

 

[Big Phil]

Was it the poor selection that had them in prime position to win with 15 minutes to go?

Nope, it was a poor selection that made them crawl into a hole and not have an answer skill wise when the Russians pounced. Schenn couldn't do it all himself. Couturier is the #1 prospect for 2011? I'm sorry, I just didn't see it. Not tonight, not even against Norway.

Canada badly lacked the game breaker. Last year I can swallow it. We lost to the USA in overtime. Heck, we almost won because Pietrangelo nearly won it when he pinched on the rush with that wicked shot. Then it goes back the other way and game over. I can live with that. This one I cannot. It has the earmarks of the 1998 Olympic team that assumed that the only team to beat was the Americans. That team lacked skill too and didn't score when it needed to.

Honestly would another rushing defenseman like Murphy or Nugent Hopkins have hurt in the third period when we needed a goal? Either when we were up by one or even when it was tied, we needed that offense but didn't have it. Terrible selections by Dave "I refuse to discuss the wonderful history of the Canada/Russia rivalry" Cameron.

 

[Canuck21t]

If Canada tied it at the end and won it in over time, we wouldn't be seeing this thread.

The selection was in question from the start no? All I keep hearing was that this team is a blue-collar team, a grinding team. Of course there's skills with this team, but maybe there should have a little more skill. I'm questioning the selection, but in no way does this mean that we'd win. The Russians definitely deserved the World Champions title.

 

[dm1371]

I still can't believe that RNH wasn't on the team.. We had too many 3rd/4th line grinders on the team.

 

[newfy]

I have been saying this all tourney, I cannot stand Cameron.

Sheahan completely lights up the camp and is the leading scorer but doesnt make it? Cizikas didnt even have to play the tryout game because he was Camerons captain. Who guarantees a spot toa 4th line center?

Cameron handled the goalies poorly as well.

Its a loss and I'm not making excuses for sure but come on the camps leading scorer doesn't make it as your 4th line center after proving that line had a tonne of chemistry? pathetic

 

[Man Bear Pig]

From the start it was always going to come down to our weakness in net. Our goalies were flat out bad and looked nervous...fighting the puck the entire tourny. I was a little confused as to why hockey Canada went with a different approach this year. The whole size thing and dominance along the boards. Well, that's great but I want to see skill along with that, lines that are able to pick apart the defense with the rush as well. Your prototypical first, second, third and fourth line style. Instead we were seeing second/third line type of play. Some of the really skilled players weren't even invited to camp and a guy I really thought should have made especially with this style of play in Brad Ross was cut right away for whatever reason. It's time to go back to those pure skill teams.

 

[NyQuil]

Nope, it was a poor selection that made them crawl into a hole and not have an answer skill wise when the Russians pounced. Schenn couldn't do it all himself. Couturier is the #1 prospect for 2011? I'm sorry, I just didn't see it. Not tonight, not even against Norway.

Canada badly lacked the game breaker. Last year I can swallow it. We lost to the USA in overtime. Heck, we almost won because Pietrangelo nearly won it when he pinched on the rush with that wicked shot. Then it goes back the other way and game over. I can live with that. This one I cannot. It has the earmarks of the 1998 Olympic team that assumed that the only team to beat was the Americans. That team lacked skill too and didn't score when it needed to.

Honestly would another rushing defenseman like Murphy or Nugent Hopkins have hurt in the third period when we needed a goal? Either when we were up by one or even when it was tied, we needed that offense but didn't have it. Terrible selections by Dave "I refuse to discuss the wonderful history of the Canada/Russia rivalry" Cameron.

Bleh.

It wasn't the players, it was the attitude at the time.

I couldn't disagree more.

Who knows if Canada would have made it this far with Murphy or Nugent Hopkins in and some other player out, who contributed in some way towards getting them this far.

This kind of speculation is totally pointless.

Maybe we would have lost 6-0 with their lack of experience and physical grit.

 

[Big Phil]

Team selection is pretty irrelevant when you're up by 3 with one period left in the gold medal game.

I don't think it is. I think it shows the cracks in your armour. You knew Russia was going to play pond hockey in the third period to try and salvage a comeback. You knew that, or at least Cameron SHOULD have known that. So you counter with YOUR version of pond hockey. Sure play smart, but make it 4-0 like in the semis. Look what happened to the Americans, they get a late goal and we're still up 4-1. Loads of insurance. Don't sit back like chumps, counter with your own offense. Throw out the skilled guys. Throw out Schenn........................ummm........throw out.........ummm......was Nugent-Hopkins on this team? No? Hmmm, too bad.

 

[mikehmb]

Shouldn't have cut JP Anderson and Taylor Doherty.