Who's got the better defence....Canada or USA??

HabLover

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Mar 2, 2002
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Are these the strengths of both teams and if so, who has the advantage?

Staal
Russell
Parent
Bourdon
Letang
and two of; Vlasic, Franson, Alzner, Doughty, Kohn, McNeill, Mikkelson or Ellerby

VS

Johnson
Johnson
Lee
Chorney
Lawson
McBain
Zimmerman
 

Geese_Howard*

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USA has a better 1-2 punch with the Johnsons but as a whole, in terms of depth, Canada.
 

Roger's Pancreas*

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USA has the top end talent, but Canada has the depth. Toss up.
 

Zine

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Feb 28, 2002
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I'd rather depth than anything. However, wouldn't Team USA be wise to split up the Johnson's?

If the Johnsons are split up, I think that would mean Lee and Chorney would have to be also. They've been paired together at UND since last year and have some great chemistry together.

If Lee and Chorney are kept together, that means 2 of either Lawson, McBain or Zimmerman would see a lot of ice time being paired with Jack and Eric - not sure I'm too comfortable with that.

I'd put something like this

J. Johnson - Chorney
E. Johnson - Lee
McBain - Lawson
Zimmerman
 

southpaw

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Dec 31, 2003
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actually, lee and chorney have been split up for most of this year. they had great chemistry last year, but have been divided up to help the other young d-men.
 

Street Hawk

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Feb 18, 2003
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On paper, the US

But when the games start, Canada.

Given that 5 of the Dmen from Canada are returning players, who all played very well at last year's tournament, we know that Canada's D can play. However, this time around, the Tournament is on the International sized ice, so that is going to be interesting to see who can adapt. I hear Canada is holding camp in Calgary, so I hope they are going to be practicing on the big ice surface to get used to the difference.

I recognize Johnson, Johnson, and Lee, but not the other 4 guys for the US. Lee was a disappointment at last year's tournament, so he'll need to turn it around.

Based soley on talent, J&J are the 2 best. But, Canada overall has the better depth, as there is very little dropoff from #1 to #7. And in a short tournament like this, where you have back to back games, not having to rely on 2 guys to each play close to 30 minutes a game will keep the D fresher for Canada. If you have 3 excellent pairings, then at most, the top ice time for the top pair should be about 22/23 minutes.

Bourdon/Letang will pair up again and should be expected to bring some offense
Parent/Staal will pair up again to shut down the top line

That leaves Russell to pair with one of the new D men.
 

VernonForrest

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Feb 20, 2003
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San Diego
I'd rather depth than anything. However, wouldn't Team USA be wise to split up the Johnson's?

They will

look for JJ to be paired with Lawson, the two played together regularly at the NTDP and have good chemistry. Lawson is very solid, can compensate when JJ wants to get aggressive and is a good set up man as well..

I think it will be something like


EJ Lee

JJ Lawson

Chorney McBain

Zimmerman

with the top 4 playing the bulk of the minutes
 

xander

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Nov 4, 2003
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We saw most of the guys on the Canadian D Corps dominate opposing teams last year. The US group probably has better longterm prospects, but interms of this turnament there is no question that I'd rather have Canada's group.
 

Roughneck

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Oct 15, 2003
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I'd take Canada mostly because of the depth. The difference in the effectivness of the Staal-Parent pairing and the Johnson-Johnson pairing isn't that big, if there is a difference at all. They showed last year that they can shut anybody down and Staal is the reigning d-man of the tourney. I'm not saying thei NHL potential is the same, but as far as this tournament goes, the difference in the top end is negligible. Canada has depth, experience, versatility, and in the chance that Vlasic gets released, it is no contest really.
 

time

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Feb 26, 2005
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I'm just saying...

USA has a better 1-2 punch with the Johnsons but as a whole, in terms of depth, Canada.

I'm still not convinced that the US has a better top 2. JJ was around a minus-6 at the tourney last year. Marc Staal was tabbed as top D.

Other than hype and draft order, what makes those two better? Head-to-head last year they were not as good as the Canadians.
 

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