WJC: Horrible team selection (Canada)

[Aaaaaaaaaaaaa]

Why do we rely on Hockey Canada to make the picks when obviously there are people more capable of selecting a gold medal winning team on this very board?

 

[lakai17]

I can live without RNH because he will be there next year but Ryan Howse is a beast, like come on, he's racking up points on a 9th place team in the west of the WHL. They should have stuck to Roy in the end, really, he made some big saves when he was needed.

 

[ohlguy]

Speed and skill will prevail...

Speed and skill will prevail...I had this funny feeling that we didn't have enough of it. Those game breakers with speed and skill we could have selected instead of some of the so called blue collar role players. The name of the game is speed and the Russians had pleanty of it, that's how they scored 5 goals in one period. I know that Cameron wanted no super stars and a blue collar lunch pail team, but it cost us. We had a huge advantage over every team we played with 18,000 screaming fans in the building and still couldn't get the job done. I hope that next time we decide to take the speedy skilled players and not the big grinders that you also need, just not as many as we took this time around. Congrats to the Russians, what a talented team.

 

[Torts]

just funny how after the tourny is over

everyone has NO faith in the roster that was picked

wow, classy

 

[octopi]

Good Lord. Anyone can second guess. Horrible ? Come on.

They were good enough to get to the final. Sorry if your team doesn't win every freaking year.

 

[Hockeynomad]

I understand the team passed on selecting 3 promising 17 year olds.

Is this correct?

The team was missing 8 junior aged NHLrs but Sweden was also missing at least 2.

 

[Z-Diddy]

I understand the team passed on selecting 3 promising 17 year olds.

Is this correct?

The team was missing 8 junior aged NHLrs but Sweden was also missing at least 2.

The eligible players playing for their respective pro clubs that do not get released has little to no validity, that's the case every year sans the lockout, also generally speaking the style of selection has always shown only 1 maybe 2 17 year old players selected mainly by performance in camp and a small part in order to groom them with the previous years experience as a quasi veteran for the next squad

Let's go back, if you were asked in the summer, shown this roster, and told this group would give you all the way up to a 3-0 lead in the gold medal game would you have been contempt then? Is sure would have, no big deal, I would have liked to of seen Joey Hishon, but that's a personal pref

 

[cynicism]

Their were two good teams involved with this game. Good teams are susceptible to bad losses on occasion.

Sure they are. But you know what separates good teams from great ones?

The latter don't blow 3 goal leads in the third period of a championship deciding game.

 

[Minister of Offence]

Sure they are. But you know what separates good teams from great ones?

The latter don't blow 3 goal leads in the third period of a championship deciding game.

Then they fell short of greatness by your (and surely others) standards.

 

[leafmon]

Good Lord. Anyone can second guess. Horrible ? Come on.

They were good enough to get to the final. Sorry if your team doesn't win every freaking year.

Yeah really. Sometimes you just gotta say congrats to the winners and move on. IMO the training and selection process for Canada is outstanding. So congrats to the winners and the way they did it over the last three games should make them near the top of the list all time for Russian fans.

 

[Andy Dufresne]

I love the hate on Eakin, not like he was the POG, as well as one of the best defensive forwards of the tourney.

Exactly. I didn't read any of this thread beyond page 1, but I knew this thread would be here, and it's pretty typical that the OP picked only 2 players to crap on and yet still managed to pick our best forward during that 3rd period. If we had 12 Eakin's that comeback/collapse doesn't happen.

 

[zeus3007*]

Sour grapes here. Our boys thought they had the game after the second intermission, and the Russians busted their arses and showed them why they can't coast. Good lesson for them to learn if you ask me, worst time ever to learn it.

 

[AquaticBirdman]

Still not as bad as the dreaded team that we saw back in 1998. Although, this was probably the worst goalie duo that we've seen in recent memory.

 

[AquaticBirdman]

Sour grapes here. Our boys thought they had the game after the second intermission, and the Russians busted their arses and showed them why they can't coast. Good lesson for them to learn if you ask me, worst time ever to learn it.

Agreed. I also like to put things into perspective. People think that this team was "so bad", yet they were still just 20 minutes away from going home gold medalists. Food for thought

 

[David]

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.

All very good points...and what idiot doesn't call time out when 2 goals are scored in 14 seconds to make it 3-2?

Many have questioned cutting mobile game breakers like Murrphy, Hischon and Murray from the beginning esp. after they out played many who were selected in the training camp.

 

[David]

Sour grapes here. Our boys thought they had the game after the second intermission, and the Russians busted their arses and showed them why they can't coast. Good lesson for them to learn if you ask me, worst time ever to learn it.

Something the coaching staff should have addressed before the 3rd period began...sad.

 

[Blind Gardien]

All very good points...and what idiot doesn't call time out when 2 goals are scored in 14 seconds to make it 3-2?

Many have questioned cutting mobile game breakers like Murrphy, Hischon and Murray from the beginning esp. after they out played many who were selected in the training camp.

Well, Hishon was one of my pre-selection camp favourites, but I guess if you look at it like they took Schwartz as a potential game-breaking offense-generating forward instead, it's just bad luck that Schwartz got hurt. And while I wanted Murphy there... I really have no complaints about Tyson Barrie, he played great and I don't think Murphy was going to do better. Ellis already gets the prime-time offensive responsbility, and Murphy wasn't going to give us a better 2-way game than what Barrie gave us.

I will fall back on my complaint that Stajcer is my OHL goalie of choice and nobody will agree with me that he should have been there.

I don't see any value in hindsighting the selections. You go through the process, and Canada is meticulous in their process, and the team that comes out of it may or may not vindicate all the selections, but I don't think you could do the process much differently. It's not just Team USA that plays big or hard, the Russians, Swedes, Finns are all playing tough hockey too, and I don't buy that Team Canada was selected just to pit against Team USA. The same values that favoured a blend of size and grit with skill over pure skill would have emerged when trying to construct an opponent for any of those teams IMHO.

 

[Chumley]

The Canadians went from winning the gold to not losing the gold in the third period.

 

[Mathradio]

It wasn't all that bad; if the picks really were that bad we wouldn't have been going all the way to the gold medal game.

 

[iamcanadian23]

I put alot of faith into the scouts for our national program, and trust in their decisions pre-tournament. In hindsight, there will always be questions.

Roy seemed an interesting choice, given that his play was sub-par. But not knowing much of him prior to the tournament makes it impossible to pass judgement. He certainly must have earned his starting spot on the team somehow.

My concern, from the beginning, is the selection of Kassian. Not only did he not perform well offensively - which is speaking with the advantage of aforementioned hindsight - but he is a risk in the international game. We've seen it before with past agitator-types like Stefan Della Rovere or Jordin Tootoo. They can either bring great energy, or put games in jeopardy by taking penalties that they aren't used to getting in major junior. The international game is officiated differently, and big hits aren't always welcome - not to mention the tendency towards reactionary calls.

Kassian's suspension didn't cost Canada gold, obviously. But, in the cost/benefit game - should we continually risk putting this type of player on our roster? I always find alot of players step forward and play that desirable energy role in this tournament, even when not known for it. The selection of these borderline dirty players will always puzzle me.

 

[Reverend Mayhem]

We coulda had Howse, RNH and Toffoli?

WTF

 

[Afro Thunder*]

No Toffoli, No RNH, No Murphy, No Murray.

 

[Rabid Ranger]

We coulda had Howse, RNH and Toffoli?

WTF

So slightly changing the complexion of the forward group would have made a difference with the terrible defense and goaltending exhibited by Team Canada in the 3rd period of the Gold medal game where they were up 3-0?

 

[Joey Moss]

I thought team Canada should have gone with Pickard and Elliot (who didn't even get a invite). Oh well. Russians just wanted it more. Gotta give credit where its due.

Because they're Avalanche prospects right?

Olsen and Despres shouldn't have made it. Murphy and Murray should have. Couturier shouldn't have made it, RNH should have. Cameron wanted size but jesus we needed some speed too. There was almost "too much" size. This team was not balanced at all, especially the defense which was probably the slowest ever for Team Canada.

This also may piss off some people, but after this tourny I would have much rather had Scott Glennie than Louis Leblanc.

 

[CanadienErrant*]

Because they're Avalanche prospects right?

Olsen and Despres shouldn't have made it. Murphy and Murray should have. Couturier shouldn't have made it, RNH should have. Cameron wanted size but jesus we needed some speed too. There was almost "too much" size. This team was not balanced at all, especially the defense which was probably the slowest ever for Team Canada.

This also may piss off some people, but after this tourny I would have much rather had Scott Glennie than Louis Leblanc.

As I see, you love the Q !