Sportsnet: King on wjhc: Canada’s semifinal disaster

[Paris in Flames]

While you applaud mediocrity, many of us have big expectations for Canada every year. Especially a lock-out one! Jeeeese! WHAT the f is wrong with our hockey program? 4 years without gold!? Are you kidding me?!?!

I'm not applauding mediocrity and I do consider anything less than Gold disappointing. I'm merely suggesting it's silly to drag kids this young through the mud for one play.

 

[Dayjobdave]

I called this disaster long ago.

Too many offensive defencemen (like the Leafs) and too many pansies playing forward (not enough grit).

You could tell this was coming when the team announced personal chefs and tanning lights were coming with the team.

This team needs to understand what it's like to have nothing. Similar to Rocky 4, they need to experience the harshness of the Russian geography. Rocky never had a personal chef or tanning lights.

Pretty sure they catered the film production, actually....

 

[FlareKnight]

So, Morgan Rielly, as the youngest dman on Canada has been on for a total of 1 goal against for the entire tournament including pre-season games.

A shockingly bad performance really . God knows what kinds of articles would be written if he had been on the ice for two goals .

Not going to get on Rielly in the end. Wasn't given much in terms of minutes and from his play may have been outright told to play it safe. This whole tournament was a coaching disaster. Give Spott this much talent and he turns a decent group into this.

 

[Badger Mayhew*]

I called this disaster long ago.

Too many offensive defencemen (like the Leafs) and too many pansies playing forward (not enough grit).

You could tell this was coming when the team announced personal chefs and tanning lights were coming with the team.

This team needs to understand what it's like to have nothing. Similar to Rocky 4, they need to experience the harshness of the Russian geography. Rocky never had a personal chef or tanning lights.

This is the IIHF. More "grit" would just mean more players getting suspended.

 

[Rants Mulliniks]

Pretty sure they catered the film production, actually....

I couldn't believe I just read someone referencing Rocky as a comparison. I'm glad at least someone knows it was a movie.

 

[Bomber0104]

Pretty sure they catered the film production, actually....

Yeah and Ivan Drago had the best sports science had to offer and guess what? He lost.

Canada was Ivan Drago. Team USA was Rocky Balboa.

 

[Michael Gary Scott]

Seems to me the problem was that canada didn't choose the right players for the right positions. Too many players playing in situations they just aren't used to playing. Rielly, Reinhart, Murphy playing 3rd pairing, Mackinnon playing next to no minutes, a severe lack of a strong defensive defenceman, and the line shuffling my god the line shuffling

 

[Bomber0104]

Seems to me the problem was that canada didn't choose the right players for the right positions. Too many players playing in situations they just aren't used to playing. Rielly, Reinhart, Murphy playing 3rd pairing, Mackinnon playing next to no minutes, a severe lack of a strong defensive defenceman, and the line shuffling my god the line shuffling

This, and also a lack of grinding forwards.

The closest and only thing we had to a Devante Smith Pelley was Boone Jenner.

And when we did have DSP, that wasn't enough either (and Boone was on the team too).

Canada needs to tone it down with all these exotic tuners and go with some muscle.

Get back down to basic, and roots.

 

[ACC1224]

I couldn't believe I just read someone referencing Rocky as a comparison. I'm glad at least someone knows it was a movie.

It's true. No way Rocky wins that fight without the winter training.

 

[Transplanted Caper]

Morgan Rielly's play the last week should have no bearing one way or another one when he plays for the Leafs.

 

[Pyrophorus]

Fire Spott

 

[Bomber0104]

It's true. No way Rocky wins that fight without the winter training.

Exactly and I'll also add there's no way Rocky wins that fight if he was spending his time trying to get re-tweets from Justin Bieber rather than focusing on the task at hand.

This team had a character problem right from the get-go.

 

[zeke]

pretty sad tourney for canada. IMO they didn't look good in any of the games, before or during the tournament.

bad enough that they always take two lines of "grinders" every damn year no matter what, but even worse when they lean so hard on underperforming vets ahead of super talented youngsters.

they never looked good IMO, and even worse they never even tried to shake things up to try something different.

 

[ULF_55]

So what is this 4 years without a Gold?

Either US or Sweden will have multiple Golds in the past 4 years.

 

[Bomber0104]

Pretty sure Canada only had two grinders (Jenner, McNeill)...not two lines.

LOL

 

[Stats01]

I still don't get the hype surrounding Hamilton. He was complete trash throughout the tournament, for someone who has been praised about his skill and size, he sure didn't show much of it. Last night he was like a chicken with it's head cut off, he avoided any type of physicality and on the first goal was completely lost.

The whole team had a rough game but I expect more from players who have played in this tournament more than once. And Spott should never coach a national team again IMO.

 

[Stats01]

Morgan Rielly's play the last week should have no bearing one way or another one when he plays for the Leafs.

He's not ready. He'll be back next year and hopefully he dominates.

 

[Leaf4Life]

I called this disaster long ago.

Too many offensive defencemen (like the Leafs) and too many pansies playing forward (not enough grit).

You could tell this was coming when the team announced personal chefs and tanning lights were coming with the team.

This team needs to understand what it's like to have nothing. Similar to Rocky 4, they need to experience the harshness of the Russian geography. Rocky never had a personal chef or tanning lights.

Yeah Team Canada should've trained in an old barn and run up snow covered mountains instead of bikes.... What were they thinking?? And you knew it was all over when the Russian fans didn't switch sides and start cheering for Canada.

 

[Stephen]

I still don't get the hype surrounding Hamilton. He was complete trash throughout the tournament, for someone who has been praised about his skill and size, he sure didn't show much of it. Last night he was like a chicken with it's head cut off, he avoided any type of physicality and on the first goal was completely lost.

The whole team had a rough game but I expect more from players who have played in this tournament more than once. And Spott should never coach a national team again IMO.

He looks lackadaisical, casual and uncoordinated like a Joe Colborne on defense...

Ryan Murphy needs to be converted to a forward so his tunnel vision puck hog ways can at least potentially pay off like a Jason Blake, and not sink someone's blueline and PP.

I thought Malcolm Subban looked a little like Roberto Luongo in the way he patterns his game out there, but he looks to have inherited Bobby Lou's big game prowess too. How disappointing. I was thinking that with a Subban in net, we would have found our swaggering money goalie after years of bed wetters in goal.

 

[VL]

Yeah Team Canada should've trained in an old barn and run up snow covered mountains instead of bikes.... What were they thinking?? And you knew it was all over when the Russian fans didn't switch sides and start cheering for Canada.

I blame Apollo Creed for not dying and serving as motivation to avenge his death. Was Carl Weathers too busy making stew?

 

[hockeyfanz*]

So much crying over the loss to the Americans. Canadians better realize that any International hockey tournament can be won be at least 4 teams if not 5....USA, Russia, Sweden, the Czechs and even Finland have won major tourneys. The days of Canada being heavy favorites are long gone. I will even venture that one day the Americans will surpass Canada as the hockey Nation to fear. I hate it but I believe its true.

 

[Crispy Crust]

From the games I've seen, Rielly looked really good and was being underused in favour of Ryan Murphy who was pretty terrible for the most part. Biggs was decent in his role as a checker, but he missed out on plenty of scoring opportunities with hands of stone.

 

[Stephen]

So much crying over the loss to the Americans. Canadians better realize that any International hockey tournament can be won be at least 4 teams if not 5....USA, Russia, Sweden, the Czechs and even Finland have won major tourneys. The days of Canada being heavy favorites are long gone. I will even venture that one day the Americans will surpass Canada as the hockey Nation to fear. I hate it but I believe its true.

I'm not too upset, the international field is very competitive and we didn't have the sharpest knife in the drawer running the show. The whole tournament Canada looked sloppy and ill prepared. I guess they were just hoping to sleepwalk their way to Gold.

 

[7even]

I called this disaster long ago.

Too many offensive defencemen (like the Leafs) and too many pansies playing forward (not enough grit).

You could tell this was coming when the team announced personal chefs and tanning lights were coming with the team.

This team needs to understand what it's like to have nothing. Similar to Rocky 4, they need to experience the harshness of the Russian geography. Rocky never had a personal chef or tanning lights.

I honestly can't tell if you're joking or not...

 

[Schenn]

I don't think Subban was good enough to take this team deep.

I don't blame Reilly, but I wish he could have stepped up more at times.

He did have several good games though.

The team didn't lose because of Subban, it was the lousy play of the team in front of him.

And Reilly didn't get the chance to step up because Steve Spott was to busy playing his golden boy Ryan Murphy, who played absolutely terrible today.