Team USA.

[bling]

i have to disagree that the forwards were capable...or at least consistantly capable.

except for the first two games, they had trouble putting on good consistant pressure and finding a way to entire the zone. a lot of times they'd carry the puck in and get forced wide or knocked off the puck, or get a weak shot from the blueline. in the zone they were forced to play on the perimeter for the most part and could rarely get to the slot with any effectiveness

then when they dumped the puck in, the forechecking pressure was rarely there. they looked like a team without a strong gameplan, yes even the forwards

If the forwards were as bad as you say and the defense was as obviously sucky as everyone has noted and Montoya was letting in beach balls, how did they get as far as they got? It is my contention the forwards were the only positive in all this and although not perfect, their overall skill and ability was all that kept the USA out of the relegation rounds...

 

[Rabid Ranger]

Eerie that the WJC hockey team has some of the same problems as with the basketball program, although in hockey, if this team can get a medal, it's all icing on the cake for me.

I don't think you can compare the two at all, but that's me.

 

[Rabid Ranger]

Montoya played average against Russia in the quarter final. He played awful against the Swiss and Belarus, and was average at absolute best the rest of the tourny.

That's you're opinion.

 

[Levitate]

oh i agree the forwards were the bright spot...i just felt if they could have been more consistant, the US could have won some of those games they lost

i mean, only scoring 3 goals against belarus? regardless of how the goalies played, that's horrendous. and they had trouble getting anything going at all for most of the game. and again against russia...in the 2nd game they just were not playing with any real cohesion in my opinion. compare the first russian game with the second one and there's a huge difference.

but they often took advantage of their opportunities when they did come and that kept them in games and won them games.

i think the forwards just didn't have a good gameplan, and maybe that's attributable to coaching.

 

[Hockeyfan02]

Montoya played average against Russia in the quarter final.

I disagree. For the most part he kept them in that game. That 2nd period he was making some huge saves to keep the Russian power plays from biting them in the butt. 2 games back to back for a goalie is tough, but he looked great in the 2nd period and then the entire team fell apart in the 3rd period. Constant turnovers and penalties were the main reasons they lost to Russia IMO.

 

[Lanny MacDonald*]

My view on this year's tournament is pretty simple. Team USA played up to its potential and went as far as could be expected. IMO, last year's team over-achieved, winning the gold medal in a huge upset, and set a false expectation for the team to attain this year. This time around the Americans could not sneak up on everyone. Everyone was gunning for them, especially on their home turf. It's unfortunate for the players on this team, as I think its a superior team and was built to win gold in this year's tournament, but that upset gold worked against them more than any one poor performance by anyone on the roster.

 

[Fozz]

Well, from what I saw from the US team during the tournament, I'm starting to understand why O'Sullivan and Schremp have their bad reputations. That 2 and a half minute shift by Schremp was a perfect example of that.

 

[beerpaul*]

What "bad reputation does O'Sullivan have, and where did you see it in this tournament?

Well, from what I saw from the US team during the tournament, I'm starting to understand why O'Sullivan and Schremp have their bad reputations. That 2 and a half minute shift by Schremp was a perfect example of that.