World Jr Thread: All WJC talk here

[BertCorbeau]

Thought Gauthier looked fantastic today. Did everything you could've asked for -- threw his weight around, finished checks, made some nice tape-to-tape passes, and was really quick on his feet. He needs to work on his puck skills and his shot, but he was fun to watch tonight.

Agreed .. Liked what I saw from him today, particularly finishing his checks

 

[Menzinger]

Gauthier had a pretty good game - he looks like he'll develop into a very serviceable NHLer.

I just hope he finds a way to find some offensive capabilities.

 

[Alerion]

He got lucky they let that go. I counted about 4 glove punches.

Agreed, I'm surprised the IIHF refs didn't get him for more than roughing.

The main boards are absolutely freaking out over this right now, half the posters are commending him for being a good ol Canadian kid and the other half are saying he's lucky.

 

[Morguee]

Agreed, I'm surprised the IIHF refs didn't get him for more than roughing.

The main boards are absolutely freaking out over this right now, half the posters are commending him for being a good ol Canadian kid and the other half are saying he's lucky.

He's a lucky good ol Canadian Kid

 

[sniper81]

Gauthier had a pretty good game - he looks like he'll develop into a very serviceable NHLer.

I just hope he finds a way to find some offensive capabilities.

It might take a while, I've always felt that it might just randomly show up when he's 24 or 25 after a few years in the NHL.

 

[AcerComputer]

Why are ticket such a rip off for the WJC in toronto!

 

[skacore]

Agreed, I'm surprised the IIHF refs didn't get him for more than roughing.

The main boards are absolutely freaking out over this right now, half the posters are commending him for being a good ol Canadian kid and the other half are saying he's lucky.

That's the mix of reigning hockey fans who are used to the rough/intense/physical stuff, and then the new age NHL fans

 

[Ace88*]

I love how fast the tune of this thread changed re: gauthier. Im not even a huge fan of him either, have no strong feelings one way or the other

Like i said, wed rather have him and not need him way more than need him and not have him

 

[Nithoniniel]

Gauthier isn't progressing as hoped. However, I do dislike the comments that classify him as a third liner and then say they are easy to get. All third liners are not made the same. If you want a sub-par or decent third liner you can get them easily. The reason Gauthier went so high is not solely because he's regarded as a safe pick, it's because it was believed he could be a rare kind of third liner, the type that you generally very rarely get on FA. And if you find one, you'll have plenty of competition and likely have to overpay.

Gauthier can still progress to become a player that can put up a decent amount of minutes while giving size, physicality, possession and elite defense. So perhaps he will not be as good as hoped offensively, but he's not so bad that if you give him some skill on the wings he won't be able to support them.

Either way, that's still a valuable piece and a decent catch for a late first. The homerun potential seems to have disappeared, but in my opinion he is still looking like someone we'll be glad we have in the future.

 

[Liminality]

Gauthier isn't progressing as hoped. However, I do dislike the comments that classify him as a third liner and then say they are easy to get. All third liners are not made the same. If you want a sub-par or decent third liner you can get them easily. The reason Gauthier went so high is not solely because he's regarded as a safe pick, it's because it was believed he could be a rare kind of third liner, the type that you generally very rarely get on FA. And if you find one, you'll have plenty of competition and likely have to overpay.

Gauthier can still progress to become a player that can put up a decent amount of minutes while giving size, physicality, possession and elite defense. So perhaps he will not be as good as hoped offensively, but he's not so bad that if you give him some skill on the wings he won't be able to support them.

Either way, that's still a valuable piece and a decent catch for a late first. The homerun potential seems to have disappeared, but in my opinion he is still looking like someone we'll be glad we have in the future.

Agreed 100%. Decent 3rd liners are easy to find, good or great ones are the players that are rare and valuable.

Players who know their role and are good at it. Still quite some time before Gauthier might show that potential but here's hoping he's great.

 

[jbell886]

Agreed, I'm surprised the IIHF refs didn't get him for more than roughing.

The main boards are absolutely freaking out over this right now, half the posters are commending him for being a good ol Canadian kid and the other half are saying he's lucky.

And most of the ones saying he did a good job are Canucks fans. Could you imagine if that was gauthier they'd be roasting him for it

 

[weems]

This tournament should make it obvious we made the right selection in Nylander for all those Ritchie supporters.

Ritchie is awful.

 

[Giuseppe Sallo]

USA are in for some rude awakening, I just don't see them stopping us unless Demko is lights out.

Also Canada's D is out of this world. That said, TSN knows this game will bring in more cash for their greedy *****.

 

[Giuseppe Sallo]

Surprise player for me for Canada is Virtanen. What a stud! I like his game. And what is wrong with Connor Mac?

 

[Nithoniniel]

Surprise player for me for Canada is Virtanen. What a stud! I like his game. And what is wrong with Connor Mac?

MacDavid looked good to me. What is "wrong" with him is that he is just returning from a lengthy injury.

Agree about Virtanen, he's been better than I thought. Might be because he's the kind of player who needs a quality center and he's getting one though.

 

[TheLeafsBro]

This tournament should make it obvious we made the right selection in Nylander for all those Ritchie supporters.

Ritchie is awful.

It terms of skill Nylander is light years ahead no doubt. Still think Ritchie will be good though. Only reason anyone ever starting bringing up Ritchie was because a certain old senile man on TV gets 5 mins to rant every saturday night about ontario players.

 

[Swervin81]

It terms of skill Nylander is light years ahead no doubt. Still think Ritchie will be good though. Only reason anyone ever starting bringing up Ritchie was because a certain old senile man on TV gets 5 mins to rant every saturday night about ontario players.

Leave Bob Cole out of this

 

[leafs in five]

"just needs to work on his skill"

 

[BigWilly]

Nylander is looking great so far

 

[IBeL34f]

Nylander is looking great so far

Today was his best game so far, I thought he could have been Sweden's MVP of the game, despite Forsling's 2 goals.

He looked a little more engaged than the past two games, and I thought he used his teammates better today. His shifts were shorter as well, something that had bothered me earlier on. He looked dominant on the faceoffs early on, and when the game was down to the wire with 9 seconds left and a defensive zone draw, he was the one trusted to go out and take it. Granted, he lost it and Russia got a chance, but I liked the shift in the coaching mentality with regards to him today. They trusted him more, and he delivered more consistently. I don't know what his TOI stats were from the last two games compared to today, but it felt like every second shift he was on the ice.

He's got tons of promise, I'm loving getting the chance to see him up close and in person. Really looking forward to seeing him develop even more throughout the tourney.

 

[HellasLEAF]

any chance of a Nylander highlight pack from tonights game? do people do these lol.

 

[Peen]

any chance of a Nylander highlight pack from tonights game? do people do these lol.

There's a guy named Canucks1219 who's done one for Virtanen every night.

Quality is a bit low, but it's wonderful



Maybe he's interested in doing one for Nylander

 

[TheLeastOfTheBunch]

This tournament should make it obvious we made the right selection in Nylander for all those Ritchie supporters.

Ritchie is awful.

I don't take WJC performances all that seriously, and I'd easily pick Nylander over Ritchie, but Nick does have massive upside if he puts his offensive skillset and physical gifts successfully together. Has a lot of time to figure it all out

 

[X66]

It actually makes me laugh how it seems like Nylander's line's play is drop the puck to Nylander in the defensive or neutral zone and just let him go.

 

[johnny_rudeboy]

It actually makes me laugh how it seems like Nylander's line's play is drop the puck to Nylander in the defensive or neutral zone and just let him go.

Every time I see Nylander I think of Leonardo Di Caprio. No, not because of looks but of that movie, "Catch me if you can". He is so elusive and looks like quicksilver at times when he goes on a run. Still think he has not really put on a show like I think I know he can. Does not really control the puck as he has the skill for but even then he is by far the most skilled guy on Team Sweden.