The 2nd All Encompassing World Juniors Thread

[Frank the Tank]

$@#&, I have to listen to the super-homer US broadcast crew for the gold medal game on NHL Network.

 

[iCanada]

And here comes the Finnish parade of excuses on the mains...

 

[Drivesaitl]

Either way, gold game is going to be a great matchup.

Not at all. Finland would've been a cake walk like it was in round robin. I don't think any of the clubs can hang with Canada but the US at least are an opponent we haven't seen Canada walk all over.

 

[CupofOil]

Zegras’ vision is high high end. His hockey IQ alone will make him an NHL player, and a very good one. I don’t follow Ducks info, is he going to camp after this tournament? He has a contract...

IMO he’s tournament MVP at this point.

I think Boldy should be MVP. He's been their best overall forward along with Turcotte.

 

[Zaddy]

Cam York is less than impressive defensively.

He is not so good in the d zone.

I think Heinola might be the best d man in this game.

I stopped watching after the 1st, what did he do? He usually makes almost no mistakes in the defensive zone. One of the least noticeable players you'll ever see defensively. So quietly effective.

 

[Zaddy]

I think Boldy should be MVP. He's been their best overall forward along with Turcotte.

Boldy over Zegras? Absolutely not. Turcotte has been good but Zegras is the guy that stirs the drink on that team. Like it's not even close.

 

[iCanada]

Not at all. Finland would've been a cake walk like it was in round robin. I don't think any of the clubs can hang with Canada but the US at least are an opponent we haven't seen Canada walk all over.

Eh, tbh, I think this Finnish team has more moxy and is a scarier opponent than the US. Just no quit in their game, when their going gets tough they put their head down and work harder. They're the kind of team that would come into a gold medal game against a team that fed them their lunch through a straw with a renewed sense of purpose and pride.

The US club on the other hand seems to struggle a lot with adversity. Too used to sleeping through USNDT games and winning 5-0 because all the good players are on their team. Plus I think the Canadian players will get up to play the Yanks instead of an opponent they already steamrolled.

 

[CupofOil]

Boldy over Zegras? Absolutely not. Turcotte has been good but Zegras is the guy that stirs the drink on that team. Like it's not even close.

Really disagree. Zegras is super flashy but Boldy has been doing everything for that team while also being an offensive catalyst. There's more to the game than just points and this is coming from somebody who is a fan of Zegras.
I mean, I could see an argument for Zegras, I just like the all purpose guys (Turcotte included) especially when they are also putting up offense.

 

[Drivesaitl]

Eh, tbh, I think this Finnish team has more moxy and is a scarier opponent than the US. Just no quit in their game, when their going gets tough they put their head down and work harder. They're the kind of team that would come into a gold medal game against a team that fed them their lunch through a straw with a renewed sense of purpose and pride.

The US club on the other hand seems to struggle a lot with adversity. Too used to sleeping through USNDT games and winning 5-0 because all the good players are on their team. Plus I think the Canadian players will get up to play the Yanks instead of an opponent they already steamrolled.

Finland needed 2 fluke goals just to get by a German team missing several players. Finland lost the game against Canada in the first period and put up the resistance of floor mats.

Canada would sweep Finland around like a broom, again. No doubt of that.

 

[iCanada]

Finland needed 2 fluke goals just to get by a German team missing several players. Finland lost the game against Canada in the first period and put up the resistance of floor mats.

Canada would sweep Finland around like a broom, again. No doubt of that.

I think the Finnish team is far less talented than the American team. But I think the Canadian team is far more talented than either the Finns or the Americans, and plays a very structured game. Only realy way I see this Canadian team losing is if the other team locks it down 5 on 5 and wins a special teams battle, and I think the Finns could potentially play that game, but I dont think thats in this American teams blood. I dont think they have the will and heart to play that way for 60 minutes, and thats really the only way we lose.

You have to come in against us the way the Czechs did and get lucky. I could see the Fins pulling that off, I can't really see the Americans doing it.

 

[5 Mins 4 Ftg]

The December 31st pot went unclaimed. Someone missed out on over $3.8 million.

Shit. That was the night I got blackout drunk and was trying to buy a ticket....I wonder if I did...

 

[snipes]

Crazy good effort by the Finns.

Both games tomorrow should be excellent.

I thought Holloway was excellent tonight, him and Byfield along with Perfetti/Zary completely hemmed in the Russians all night.

Holloway is such a beast below the dots at both ends of the ice.

 

[Delicious Pancakes]

Rough way for the Finns to lose. They dominate the 3rd, come back and tie it, continue hemming the US in their own zone, and then the US finally get the puck into the Finnish zone and it's in the back of the net. Good performance by Turcotte though, and that goes to show why Kaliev can be so dangerous.

 

[Drivesaitl]

Rough way for the Finns to lose. They dominate the 3rd, come back and tie it, continue hemming the US in their own zone, and then the US finally get the puck into the Finnish zone and it's in the back of the net. Good performance by Turcotte though, and that goes to show why Kaliev can be so dangerous.

Just desserts. For years the Finn Juniors win every close knockout game they are involved in. Nice to seem them lose a tough result for once. Should happen more often. Lucky to W against Sweden to even be in Semi final. Finns were in no way impressive in the tournament and their top scorer has 7pts in tourney. They really don't have a producer in the lineup as far as I can see. Wonder if we're going to see a drop in Finland performance now in World Juniors and less talk of them being the hockey super power, lmfao.

Finland getting punted, good riddance.

 

[iCanada]

Just desserts. For years the Finn Juniors win every close knockout game they are involved in. Nice to seem them lose a tough result for once. Should happen more often. Lucky to W against Sweden to even be in Semi final. Finns were in no way impressive in the tournament and their top scorer has 7pts in tourney. They really don't have a producer in the lineup as far as I can see. Wonder if we're going to see a drop in Finland performance now in World Juniors and less talk of them being the hockey super power, lmfao.

Finland getting punted, good riddance.

Yeah, I would even say you could argue there is a bit of a cultural shift from the Finns of old (Kurri / Tikk / Koivu / etc) to the Finns of new (Laine / Pulju / Aho / etc). I think as that trend continues the Finns will start to lose a much greater percentage of tight elimination games.

 

[Zaddy]

Really disagree. Zegras is super flashy but Boldy has been doing everything for that team while also being an offensive catalyst. There's more to the game than just points and this is coming from somebody who is a fan of Zegras.
I mean, I could see an argument for Zegras, I just like the all purpose guys (Turcotte included) especially when they are also putting up offense.

Zegras is not just flashy he's actually the guy who creates offense on that team way more than anyone else. He leads the team in goals and has 9 more points than the next guy which is pretty huge in itself and then you realize that most of his points aren't cheap ones but actually produced through great skill and plays from his side. To me he's clearly the most important player on the US roster and what gives them an edge over all other teams in this tournament outside of Canada.

 

[McDrai]

Just desserts. For years the Finn Juniors win every close knockout game they are involved in. Nice to seem them lose a tough result for once. Should happen more often. Lucky to W against Sweden to even be in Semi final. Finns were in no way impressive in the tournament and their top scorer has 7pts in tourney. They really don't have a producer in the lineup as far as I can see. Wonder if we're going to see a drop in Finland performance now in World Juniors and less talk of them being the hockey super power, lmfao.

Finland getting punted, good riddance.

I don't know much about the Finnish roster for upcoming years but Lambert should at least be one of the top point getters in the tournament next year. It seems like no matter who is on the Finland roster, all of their teams are super competitive so I wouldn't be surprised if they made it to the semi final or even beyond in the 2022 WJC.

 

[Drivesaitl]

I don't know much about the Finnish roster for upcoming years but Lambert should at least be one of the top point getters in the tournament next year. It seems like no matter who is on the Finland roster, all of their teams are super competitive so I wouldn't be surprised if they made it to the semi final or even beyond in the 2022 WJC.

I think if you're a young person you see Finland as a power. if you've been around World hockey for a longer while you dont see them as being better than Czechs. Finland had their moment, thats about it, and it just happens to be recently, over the past decade. A lot of that predicated imo on goaltending and getting lucky 1 goal results in just about every big game. I mean gutsy sure. But I think we're going to see decline now in those results and kind of what happens when there starts to be weight of expectation like Canada always faces.

 

[Cloned]

US seems to always give Canada problems in the Final when they play against each other. Ugh.

 

[CycloneSweep]

Either way, gold game is going to be a great matchup.

Canada would stomp either of these teams so it really doesn't matter who won this game.