2013 Canada’s most disappointing world junior team?

[Boonk]

For sure 2013 and 1992 were disappointing. 1998 is a whole other category for me, ghastly outcome. 2019 is a close 2nd buuut..

For me personally its the 2016 team that placed 6th and had these guys on their team:

Point
Konecny
Marner
Barzal
Strome
Crouse
Virtanen
Beauvillier
Chabot
Sanheim
Dermott
Fleury
Blackwood

 

[ORRFForever]

For sure 2013 and 1992 were disappointing. 1998 is a whole other category for me, ghastly outcome. 2019 is a close 2nd buuut..

For me personally its the 2016 team that placed 6th and had these guys on their team:

Point
Konecny
Marner
Barzal
Strome
Crouse
Virtanen
Beauvillier
Chabot
Sanheim
Dermott
Fleury
Blackwood

Remind me...

Didn't Virtanen shoot us in the foot by getting 2 penalties seconds apart against Finland?

I agree, THAT is a LOT of talent to finish 6th.

 

[Statsy]

Remind me...

Didn't Virtanen shoot us in the foot by getting 2 penalties seconds apart against the Fins?

I agree, THAT is a LOT of talent to finish 6th.

Oh, man! The papers here in Vancouver were pretty ruthless towards Virtanen for that. I was pretty upset at him myself, but to have a major newspaper throw you under the bus when you’re still a teenager because of a hockey game is pretty rough!

 

[ORRFForever]

Oh, man! The papers here in Vancouver were pretty ruthless towards Virtanen for that. I was pretty upset at him myself, but to have a major newspaper throw you under the bus when you’re still a teenager because of a hockey game is pretty rough!

He deserved it.

But it does show you, all the talent in the world will not keep you from finishing 6th if you have bad luck, no chemistry and you're stupid.

 

[Speyer]

I think with looking back at old rosters it gets overlooked sometimes that some of todays star players were not as good as prospects as you might think looking at their success now. Some players take huge leaps in their early or even mid twenties. This also goes the other way around as some players who didnt reach their potential as pro players were very dominant in such junior tournaments.

Just look at Petterson as a non-canadian example. Today everybody wonders how he could fall to 5th overall in 2017 (wich was still considered a reach back then). Was he underrated then? Probably, but his development in his 2 seasons after the draft was pretty much insane so he wasnt as underrated in 2017 as many experts and fans want to believe nowdays...

 

[Statsy]

I think with looking back at old rosters it gets overlooked sometimes that some of todays star players were not as good as prospects as you might think looking at their success now. Some players take huge leaps in their early or even mid twenties. This also goes the other way around as some players who didnt reach their potential as pro players were very dominant in such junior tournaments.

Just look at Petterson as a non-canadian example. Today everybody wonders how he could fall to 5th overall in 2017 (wich was still considered a reach back then). Was he underrated then? Probably, but his development in his 2 seasons after the draft was pretty much insane so he wasnt as underrated in 2017 as many experts and fans want to believe nowdays...

I think you make a great point. When looking back we definitely tend to add too much weight to how a player’s NHL career turned out. Many good juniors could easily have gone on to great careers if they’d had a different set of circumstances (better health, better coaches, more talent to play with, etc.). It gives us a bit of a warped view of how good a junior team was years after the fact when we just list off the NHL studs.

 

[SpoolCat]

The 2016 team still bugs me as I recall there was a ton of talent but everything to do with it just seemed like a mess.
Point as I recall was injured, Marner ended strong but didn't start well, Strome started well but didn't end well, Barzal was good but barely played, You never would have thought Blackwood would have been as successful as he's been in the NHL by that tourney, Chabot barely played, Our two best players were Travis Konecny and Mitchell Stephens who barely played. Meanwile Virtanen, Perlini and Hicketts were all over the ice. The whole tourney as I recall was frustrating. Its a shame that team playing on all cylinders would have made a terrific matchup with the Finns that year in the final.

 

[Dack]

The 2016 team still bugs me as I recall there was a ton of talent but everything to do with it just seemed like a mess.
Point as I recall was injured, Marner ended strong but didn't start well, Strome started well but didn't end well, Barzal was good but barely played, You never would have thought Blackwood would have been as successful as he's been in the NHL by that tourney, Chabot barely played, Our two best players were Travis Konecny and Mitchell Stephens who barely played. Meanwile Virtanen, Perlini and Hicketts were all over the ice. The whole tourney as I recall was frustrating. Its a shame that team playing on all cylinders would have made a terrific matchup with the Finns that year in the final.

You nailed it IMO. Barzal and Konecny didn't play much and were some of our better players. Neither of Strome or Marner were as good as they should have been. Meanwhile Joe Hicketts is getting 25 minutes of TOI a game and Virtanen is taking a minor penalty every 5 shifts.


It was just a disaster on every level. Every goalie who played for us was letting in leaky goals left and right. It was a big disappointment but it was also one of the funniest meltdowns I've ever seen.

 

[TheDoldrums]

The thing about 2016 is that there really wasn't much shame in losing to the Finns that year. And I actually remember thinking they played decently in that game, aside from Virtanen taking a bunch of stupid penalties. But that should've never been a QF, their lackadaisical group play really doomed them. I think they were slowly improving throughout the tournament and if they had a softer opponent to get through to the semis they were still a real threat for gold, but it's fair to say they got what they deserved overall.

It's funny that Konecny-Point-Marner was a successful line at the World Championships but I don't remember Konecny ever getting a chance with them at the juniors.

 

[novisor]

The thing about 2016 is that there really wasn't much shame in losing to the Finns that year. And I actually remember thinking they played decently in that game, aside from Virtanen taking a bunch of stupid penalties. But that should've never been a QF, their lackadaisical group play really doomed them. I think they were slowly improving throughout the tournament and if they had a softer opponent to get through to the semis they were still a real threat for gold, but it's fair to say they got what they deserved overall.

It's funny that Konecny-Point-Marner was a successful line at the World Championships but I don't remember Konecny ever getting a chance with them at the juniors.

This is true as well, the 2016 iteration of Team Finland is probably the greatest team they have iced to date: Kapanen, plus the line of Aho-Puljujarvi-Laine was a juggernaut upfront. Not to mention a solid Olli Juolevi on the back end. Oddly enough this team was lead by draft eligible players.

 

[JackSlater]

You nailed it IMO. Barzal and Konecny didn't play much and were some of our better players. Neither of Strome or Marner were as good as they should have been. Meanwhile Joe Hicketts is getting 25 minutes of TOI a game and Virtanen is taking a minor penalty every 5 shifts.


It was just a disaster on every level. Every goalie who played for us was letting in leaky goals left and right. It was a big disappointment but it was also one of the funniest meltdowns I've ever seen.

That team was very undisciplined. Marner and Strome took irresponsible shifts and seemingly refused any accountability. In addition to Hicketts being overplayed by his junior coach, Sanheim was practically stapled to the bench despite looking like the best defenceman on the team whenever he played. Disappointing team but the result definitely wasn't surprising with how the tournament was going.

 

[ORRFForever]

That team was very undisciplined. Marner... took irresponsible shifts and seemingly refused any accountability.

Another reason why I don't want him on Canada's Olympic team. I see the same thing with the Leafs all the time. Some things never change.

 

[IHaveNoCreativity]

Steve Spott was the reason the team lost.

 

[Chiarelli]

No one mentioned MAF scoring on our own net yet?

 

[ORRFForever]

No one mentioned MAF scoring on our own net yet?

I thought I did. Maybe it was another thread. Still hurts. Still hate him for it.

 

[JackSlater]

Steve Spott was the reason the team lost.

He was a very significant factor. At least USA had a very strong roster that year so it isn't like the team lost to another team that it should have destroyed. 2013 was definitely a team that played like much less than the sum of its parts though, and the trouble in the semi-finals was easy to spot coming for most of us.

 

[Islay1989]

I thought I did. Maybe it was another thread. Still hurts. Still hate him for it.

Imagine hating a kid. What on Earth?

 

[Kent Nilsson]

For sure 2013 and 1992 were disappointing. 1998 is a whole other category for me, ghastly outcome. 2019 is a close 2nd buuut..

For me personally its the 2016 team that placed 6th and had these guys on their team:

Point
Konecny
Marner
Barzal
Strome
Crouse
Virtanen
Beauvillier
Chabot
Sanheim
Dermott
Fleury
Blackwood

The 2019 team was fine it just had an insane bad bounce at the wrong time.

 

[Figgie]

This is true as well, the 2016 iteration of Team Finland is probably the greatest team they have iced to date: Kapanen, plus the line of Aho-Puljujarvi-Laine was a juggernaut upfront. Not to mention a solid Olli Juolevi on the back end. Oddly enough this team was lead by draft eligible players.

You forget Mikko Rantanen and Roope Hintz. That was amazing team.

 

[ORRFForever]

Imagine hating a kid. What on Earth?

Yup. I'm shameful.

 

[ChiefWiggum]

2013 and 2016 were the worst tournaments in my years of watching.

You could tell from right off of the bat that the 2016 team was not going to do very well and it really should have made Hockey Canada look in the mirror when they were the underdogs in a quarterfinals game.

The 2013 team was definitely a disappointment; the top two lines were all future NHL stars and you had two of the projected top three picks in the upcoming draft in MacKinnon and Drouin as well. Unfortunately, it was goaltending that let the team down, as it did pretty well for the entire decade until Carter Hart stepped in.

 

[Mathieukferland]

The 2019 team was fine it just had an insane bad bounce at the wrong time.

But they should have never been in that position though, Tim Hunter was clueless, worse than Spott in my opinion. With essentially the same core, Mark&Dale managed to win gold the next year.

 

[ORRFForever]

Coaches get too much credit and too much blame.

 

[kk87]

The 2016 team still bugs me as I recall there was a ton of talent but everything to do with it just seemed like a mess.
Point as I recall was injured, Marner ended strong but didn't start well, Strome started well but didn't end well, Barzal was good but barely played, You never would have thought Blackwood would have been as successful as he's been in the NHL by that tourney, Chabot barely played, Our two best players were Travis Konecny and Mitchell Stephens who barely played. Meanwile Virtanen, Perlini and Hicketts were all over the ice. The whole tourney as I recall was frustrating. Its a shame that team playing on all cylinders would have made a terrific matchup with the Finns that year in the final.

Funny thing is, that team had a terrible round robin and actually played really well against a stacked Finnish team in the quarters. We definitely deserved to win that game but Hicketts fired a puck over the far end boards (the glass was ridiculously low) for a delay of game penalty late in the 3rd when we were down a man, and Laine burned us on the 5 on 3. Brutal way to go down

 

[thrillhous]

Funny thing is, that team had a terrible round robin and actually played really well against a stacked Finnish team in the quarters. We definitely deserved to win that game but Hicketts fired a puck over the far end boards (the glass was ridiculously low) for a delay of game penalty late in the 3rd when we were down a man, and Laine burned us on the 5 on 3. Brutal way to go down

Hicketts also tipped a puck into his own net as though he were Pavelski/Perry, putting his stick right in front of his goalie. Can’t remember if it was in the Finland game or another hotly contested game though.