Player selection for the U.S.

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Puckhead

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Rabid Ranger said:
This tournament has been full of missed opportunities for the U.S. They had a bye into the semis virtually gift-wrapped, and they blew it. If they can't beat Sweden I'm going to be beside myself.
If they can muster the same type of effort as they did against the Czechs they will take care of Sweden. If they don't, I will be standing beside you while you stand beside yourself. Realistically, at this stage of the tourney there are no gimmies, but Sweden is the easiest of the possible quarter final match ups, so if they can't get it done, it's back to the old drawing board...in a hurry!!!
 

Puckhead

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:)
Rabid Ranger said:
This looks to be one of those years for the U.S.
With all due respect to the US hockey program which has been getting better and better at finding and nurturing talent, the US has only medalled 3-4 times in the history of the WJC, so how can this be one of those years. Only Canada and Russia have won consistantly enough to be able to say "it's just one of those years where things don't work out".
 

Rabid Ranger

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Puckhead said:
:)
With all due respect to the US hockey program which has been getting better and better at finding and nurturing talent, the US has only medalled 3-4 times in the history of the WJC, so how can this be one of those years. Only Canada and Russia have won consistantly enough to be able to say "it's just one of those years where things don't work out".



Fair enough. All I'm saying is that with the player pool we have at our disposal, it seems like (at this point) there were some questionable choices in not only players, but coaches, and as a result, we're left with an under-achieving team, especially with what happened last year, and the fact that some key components returned, namely Montoya and Suter. Oh well, you can't win 'em all.
 

Rabid Ranger

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Reilly311 said:
keep the faith brotha!!


I'm just really disappointed right now, especially with how much trash I talk! ;) Anyway, I do think the the U.S. should beat Sweden, but beyond that, well.......let's just beat Sweden first.
 

Reilly311

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Rabid Ranger said:
I'm just really disappointed right now, especially with how much trash I talk! ;) Anyway, I do think the the U.S. should beat Sweden, but beyond that, well.......let's just beat Sweden first.


Well this team has the talent to win, they just need some confidence. If they can someone how get a nice, convincing win, they could be good to go.
 

Crossroads*

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To me, it looks as if the U.S. is going the way of the Czechs. They won last year and for the next 5 or 6 years, the U.S. will just be average (middle of the pack- with the likes of Slovakia, Sweden, and Swiss). I feel sorry for middle of the pack teams as they have to wait 5 or 6 years for a solid team to emerge. Besides Schneider, who is the next solid goaltending prospect of the U.S? They have Jack Johnson for a solid D-man and Kessel for a solid scoring forward but who do they have after that that will lead them to be a dominating country in the WJC?
 

Rabid Ranger

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Reilly311 said:
Well this team has the talent to win, they just need some confidence. If they can someone how get a nice, convincing win, they could be good to go.


If the U.S. can build on the Czech game and play to their potential, than they can beat Sweden and who knows? They have to concentrate on the game at hand though, and not look ahead. Al Montoya, get your head out of Cuba!!!!!!
 

Rabid Ranger

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Feb 27, 2002
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CloudNine said:
To me, it looks as if the U.S. is going the way of the Czechs. They won last year and for the next 5 or 6 years, the U.S. will just be average (middle of the pack- with the likes of Slovakia, Sweden, and Swiss). I feel sorry for middle of the pack teams as they have to wait 5 or 6 years for a solid team to emerge. Besides Schneider, who is the next solid goaltending prospect of the U.S? They have Jack Johnson for a solid D-man and Kessel for a solid scoring forward but who do they have after that that will lead them to be a dominating country in the WJC?


No offense, but to suggest the above demonstrates you don't really have a clue about who's coming down (player wise) the American pipeline. I would say next year's team will actually be more talented than this one. I don't have time to list all the names now, but a goaltender you should keep your eye on is Jeff Frazee, who will be at Minnesota next year. I wouldn't be surprised if he's Schneider's back-up.
 

Puckhead

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Rabid Ranger said:
I'm just really disappointed right now, especially with how much trash I talk! ;) Anyway, I do think the the U.S. should beat Sweden, but beyond that, well.......let's just beat Sweden first.
There is nothing wrong with doing some trash talking, but you have to be prepared to eat some of it at a time like this. Atleast you are man enough to admit to the problems the US has shown, which I can respect. I have read countless posts of we are the best, when clearly it hasn't been shown on the ice, where and when it counts. The US still has every opportunity to repeat, they just have to go the long way around. To be honest I don't like their chances, but that is because I haven't seen a lot of chemistry on the ice. They played a great game last night, which was the first time all tournament. Now they have to build off that, and grow as a team. If they can look at it one game at a time, and make sure not to look passed Sweden, then they have a shot.
 

chicpea*

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I could be way off here, but I seem to recall Gord saying , near the end of the game, that Hagemo hadn't been seen in some time. Does anyone else recall that or am I hallucinating?
 

Puckhead

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chicpea said:
I could be way off here, but I seem to recall Gord saying , near the end of the game, that Hagemo hadn't been seen in some time. Does anyone else recall that or am I hallucinating?
I too heard the same thing, but have yet to hear why or what happened.
 
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