WJC: 2015 — Canada Roster Talk

[habsrule4eva3089]

If only life were fair.

Drouin Mackinnon Virtanen
Domi Horvat Lazar
McDavid Reinhart Ritchie
Dal Colle Bennett Klimchuk
Gauthier

Nurse Ekblad
Morrissey Morin
Mckeown Bowey
Theodore

Fucale
Comrie

 

[Nalens Oga]

Forward group needs to be less balanced (and more skilled) while defence needs to be more balanced.

Some guy on here mentioned that almost every dman minus Eklbad thought that they were Bobby Orr in this tourney and it didn't work. Forwards on the other hand didn't have enough skill and despite being balanced, there was no aggressive Casey Cizikas type forward who would try to hit anything or even a pesky Brendan Gallagher type who takes punishment and constantly goes to the net.

Imo, just keep it simple, pick the most skilled and highest performing players and forget about balance or training camp performances....just balance the r/l D and have at least some forwards who can kill penalties or be responsible C's....no need to bring the disaster of the 4th line that we had in this tourney along.

Edit: Also it depends completely on who drafts him but even if he goes high, I think there's a good chance of Sam Reinhart coming back. Ekblad seems more NHL ready to me if anything. Drouin's an NHLer next season.

 

[Phenomenon13]

This team truly lacked a dynamic offensive defencemen that could really give us the offence, help stabilize the transition game and power play. We had it in previous years and it worked pretty well ex. Ellis, Doughty, Subban, etc...
Transition in international ice is probably the most important factor in a game and you really need it to click in important games.

I felt we didn't have enough forwards who play with intensity. We had marchand, gallagher, Downie, etc... Obviously its tough to judge but a minicamp of seeing who wants to be there and shows the greatest desire would really help.

Canada always had a go to player that would be the "man" and this year it was suppose to be Drouin. He played pretty poorly in the semis. I felt, he was puck hog at times that tried to do too much. However, the support from the team was pretty atrocious.

I didn't like how McDavid was given a top six role. I felt he should've been the thirteenth forward like Tavares and Gagner was as an underager who had to earn his time.

I felt the leaders and coaches didn't take charge of the team. The adjustments weren't made and we just kept doing the same garbage. Laughton I felt tried when he upped his physical play but the team didn't really respond and at that point it was little too late.

I feel that Canada's method of selection isn't well thought out. They try and do the two scoring lines and two two way defensive lines but it doesn't really work. Taking the best players isn't necessarily good because they usually don't gel too well together. The best way in my opinion is to pick a style of play and just pick players that suit it. There should be less emphasis on roles and more on who can play your style of game. The game I watched it felt like many of the players couldn't keep up or execute what was being asked of them. It was like playing this style wasn't part of their game.

 

[New User Name]

Well, the semi-annual Canadian advantage of playing in Canada will be afoot so plan accordingly.

Nothing stopping the US from bidding for more tournaments.

As for advantage. Seems to me the US has more advantage than anyone. I think you know what I'm referring to. And yes it is a major advantage.

 

[spfan]

Petan-McDavid-Lazar
Domi-Dal Colle-Perlini
Horvat-Bennett-Ritchie
Gauthier-Verhaeghe-Nastasiuk
McCann

Morrissey-Nurse
Bigras-McKeown
Theodore-Morin
Fleury

Fucale
Comrie

 

[chaosrevolver]

One bright side is that we finally found a goalie that can handle it. For once, it wasn't the man between the pipes that played a huge part in our struggles.

 

[dmacgreg37]

What merit would make you automatically put his name for next year? I think you're even more laughable; he was forgettable this year, even moreso than other players on this forgettable Canadian team.

"He has potential!", "A generational talent!"

Didn't show any of that; unless he does, why invite him? Waste of a spot.

Potential is useless unless you actually utilize it.

If you look at the 16 yo that came to WJHC for Canada, and then again as 17 yo, they were all much better at 17. I wasn't expecting him to lead Canada in scoring or anything at this tourney. He could be a huge part of the team as a 17 yo.

 

[HockeySauce]

One bright side is that we finally found a goalie that can handle it. For once, it wasn't the man between the pipes that played a huge part in our struggles.

I'm not saying the game was Fucale's fault, but the 2nd Russian goal was a dagger and the game would have ended 2-0 if not for a fortunate bounce of Morrissey's skate.

Team Canada over the past couple years have not been able to answer any adversity they've faced. Drouin was a mess in this tournament. Let his emotions get the better of him on way too many occassions.

Taylor Leier, Frederik Gauthier and Josh Anderson were all useless. Canada has to realize, especially on the bigger ice, that you need to bring your most skilled players.. stop bringing role players, it doesn't work anymore. Bring the best guys available for the team.

Dumba had an exceptionally mediocre tournament as well. His decision making is on another level bad, for a supposed "elite" prospect.

 

[FrankMTL]

Team Canada: Pleasant Surprises and Biggest Disappointments

I don't know if this belongs in the General Team Canada thread or not, but I thought it would be interesting to know who your pleasant surprises and biggest disappointments were.

For me..

Pleasant Surprises

Anthony Mantha- Created a ton of offence, Was really a catalyst on the team but slightly disappointed that he disappeared when we needed him most
Curtis Lazar- Was always implicated in the play. Physical player who plays with an edge and created offence
Sam Reinhart- Actually created more offence than I expected considering he's only 17. Wasn't amazed, but he'll be a really good one...Looked good especially if you compare him to most of his teammates.
Derrick Pouliot- What a slick d-man. Really great moves on the PP and his transition game is excellent.


Biggest Disappointments

Kerby Rychel- Hardly noticed him and created no offence at all)
Matthew Dumba- Wow, really? Took a bunch of penalties and was really mediocre in his own end. Isn't he an offensive d-man?
Scott Laughton- This guy brought virtually nothing to this years team. Yes he was ok on defence but what else did he bring to the team? People were really praising the guy when he got selected but really noticed nothing special.
Bo Horvat: Again, people were really pumping his tires, but I saw a guy that looked lost or played without any spirit most of the times.


Had no business on the team

Josh Anderson
Taylor Leier
Frederick Gauthier- Was one of only 4 minus players on the team (-2) along with Taylor Leier, Josh Anderson and Kerby Rychel.

All the other players were only slightly good or slightly bad. I expected more from Petan (showed up in one game), McDavid (showed up in one game, but is only 16) and Drouin (yes he had 9 points, but tried to do too much on his own and missed a lot of chances. Plus he whines a lot) on offence.

Overall this team created virtually nothing on offence in the big games scoring a total of 5 goals against Russia, USA and Finland. You're not going to win very many games by scoring an average of 1.5 goals per game.

 

[Novak Djokovic]

Suprises: Derek Pouliot (had a terrible semifinal game yet was POTG, but he's going to be a very, very good defenseman in the NHL) and Anthony Mantha (not a huge fan of his but definitely surprised me)
Disappointing: Most of the team but Laughton was at the top of my list. Pretty useless except for 1-2 plays in the whole tournament.

I also want the Wild to release a statement saying what they saw in Dumba because all I saw was dumb penalties and turnovers.

Lazar was good, and as a Sens fan, I'm glad we picked him.

 

[dmacgreg37]

I don't know if this belongs in the General Team Canada thread or not, but I thought it would be interesting to know who your pleasant surprises and biggest disappointments were.

For me..

Pleasant Surprises

Anthony Mantha- Created a ton of offence, Was really a catalyst on the team but slightly disappointed that he disappeared when we needed him most
Curtis Lazar- Was always implicated in the play. Physical player who plays with an edge and created offence
Sam Reinhart- Actually created more offence than I expected considering he's only 17. Wasn't amazed, but he'll be a really good one...Looked good especially if you compare him to most of his teammates.
Derrick Pouliot- What a slick d-man. Really great moves on the PP and his transition game is excellent.


Biggest Disappointments

Kerby Rychel- Hardly noticed him and created no offence at all)
Matthew Dumba- Wow, really? Took a bunch of penalties and was really mediocre in his own end. Isn't he an offensive d-man?
Scott Laughton- This guy brought virtually nothing to this years team. Yes he was ok on defence but what else did he bring to the team? People were really praising the guy when he got selected but really noticed nothing special.
Bo Horvat: Again, people were really pumping his tires, but I saw a guy that looked lost or played without any spirit most of the times.


Had no business on the team

Josh Anderson
Taylor Leier
Frederick Gauthier- Was one of only 4 minus players on the team (-2) along with Taylor Leier, Josh Anderson and Kerby Rychel.

All the other players were only slightly good or slightly bad. I expected more from Petan (showed up in one game), McDavid (showed up in one game, but is only 16) and Drouin (yes he had 9 points, but tried to do too much on his own and missed a lot of chances. Plus he whines a lot) on offence.

Overall this team created virtually nothing on offence in the big games scoring a total of 5 goals against Russia, USA and Finland. You're not going to win very many games by scoring an average of 1.5 goals per game.

Totally agree on your first 3 surprises. All were good. Disagree on Pouliot. Thought he got caught out of position a lot and was extremely undisciplined at times. That said, he had to play a ton, especially before G. Reinhart came back.

Rychel didn't get a chance, but didn't look good when he did. Dumba was very bad. Laughton was invisible most of the time, so I agree on those three.

Thought Horvat was pretty meh. Was definitely hoping for more as a Canucks fan.


I was also impressed with Drouin's play, but disappointed by his lack of discipline and composure at times. Needed to be more of a leader.

Was pleasantly surprised by Ekblad being so solid at 17.


As for your minus stat, that tells you a lot about this team. The 4 guys who rotated on the 4th line were our only minus players. Should've picked an entirely different group of guys, and maybe could've rotated more and things may have been different.

 

[Dr Quincy]

Suprises: Derek Pouliot (had a terrible semifinal game yet was POTG, but he's going to be a very, very good defenseman in the NHL) and Anthony Mantha (not a huge fan of his but definitely surprised me)
Disappointing: Most of the team but Laughton was at the top of my list. Pretty useless except for 1-2 plays in the whole tournament.

I also want the Wild to release a statement saying what they saw in Dumba because all I saw was dumb penalties and turnovers.

Lazar was good, and as a Sens fan, I'm glad we picked him.

There was one rush against the Finns that made me go "Wow, what skills", but there were a lot more "WTF is he thinking" moments. So, I guess I'd say they saw some pretty attractive and rare tools and picked him based on those.

Don't know if the hockey sense is there yet though.

 

[HockeySauce]

Pretty much agree with everything you said, and forgot about Laughton in my post in the other thread. 1 point, an assist, and he's Canada's captain?

 

[HockeySauce]

There was one rush against the Finns that made me go "Wow, what skills", but there were a lot more "WTF is he thinking" moments. So, I guess I'd say they saw some pretty attractive and rare tools and picked him based on those.

Don't know if the hockey sense is there yet though.

One thing about hockey sense.. it's not really one of those things that comes in time. A player can learn to make better decisions, but elite or game-changing hockey sense usually it's developed over time.

 

[Ohashi_Jouzu*]

Anthony Mantha- Created a ton of offence, Was really a catalyst on the team but slightly disappointed that he disappeared when we needed him most

Everyone should be used to this from Mantha. Will torch bad teams, or teams that don't show up to play, but will completely disappear against competitive teams that work hard. Grant touched on it on our board, and I've noticed, too.

 

[Mc5RingsAndABeer]

Oh look! Exactly what Nurse-supporters said would happen with Dumba did happen. Every reason against taking Nurse applied to Dumba too.

 

[Fire Sweeney]

Surprises:

Josh Morrissey

Disappointments:

Drouin
Horvat
Laughton

 

[shootscores]

I was impressed by Ekblad and Pouliot on defense. Noone else impressed me especially Dumbass. Red Deer traded his rights to Portland (I think) if he is sent back from Minnesota. Well lets just say if I was Minnesota that is the last time he will see Minnesota for a long while.
Goaltending was underwhelming. A lot of easy goals going in when big saves are needed
Forwards - too many grinders and not enough finness players. Once Reichel was taken off the scoring line and McDavid lost his way we were in trouble because we did not have replacements. Laughton is not the guy for the job for replacing finness.

 

[Mr Forever]

Nurse- Ekblad will be a pair, hopefully they can develop some chemistry for when they anchor the Oilers' blue line in a couple of years

 

[Rodzilla]

LOL get Gauthier far away from this team, far far away. What an awful player. Brought 0 energy to the table for a 4th liner, waste of a roster spot

 

[newfy]

Everyone should be used to this from Mantha. Will torch bad teams, or teams that don't show up to play, but will completely disappear against competitive teams that work hard. Grant touched on it on our board, and I've noticed, too.

He showed up as a bubble player and ended up dominating offensively. No one on the team showed up offensively except for him Drouin and Lazar. Its not their fault they got no secondary scoring to take some pressure off. I didnt realize these guys have to score multiple goals a game, every game. In the Q hes shown up and dominated every team hes played. He also had the best playoff of any foward on his team last year.

So I'm not sure what youre basing this off of.

For me the surprises were

Drouins selfish play. He wasnt terrible but should have been better

Lazar was better then expected

Ekblad as a 17 year old was the best dman on the team

Sutter putting McDavid in that shootout, idiotic

 

[nitz]

Surprises
Lazar - I've watched him play a lot in Edmonton and I've actually never been that impressed with him. He really had a hell of a tournament though.
Mantha - I expected him to be quite good, and he was really a catalyst for them. Unfortunately his semi-final game wasn't the best.

Disappointments
Gauthier - I'm a Leafs fan and its my opinion that Gauthier had no business being on this team. He just brought..... nothing. A waste of a roster spot.
Dumba - Undisciplined, dumb plays, etc. We're all used to his story by now.
Leier, Anderson and Rychel were also just empty roster spots who brought nothing.

 

[Mehar]

Surprises
Lazar - I've watched him play a lot in Edmonton and I've actually never been that impressed with him. He really had a hell of a tournament though.
Mantha - I expected him to be quite good, but he was really a catalyst for them. Unfortunately his semi-final game wasn't the best.

Disappointments
Gauthier - I'm a Leafs fan and my opinion that Gauthier had no business being on this team. He just brought..... nothing. A waste of a roster spot.
Dumba - Undisciplined, dumb plays, etc. We're all used to his story by now.
Leier, Anderson and Rychel were also just empty roster spots who brought nothing.

Very well said. Dumba is the one guy who i expected a lot more from. Hoping for a better result next year in Toronto. Will be there to attend the action live, and cannot wait.

 

[nbwingsfan]

Everyone should be used to this from Mantha. Will torch bad teams, or teams that don't show up to play, but will completely disappear against competitive teams that work hard. Grant touched on it on our board, and I've noticed, too.

Through the last 2 years in the Q, Mantha's PPG has been near identical against the top teams as it has been against the weaker teams.

He also led his team in points during the playoffs and is over a PPG.

He was the sole reason Canada had their comeback against Slovakia, and he sparked the offence against USA.

Say what you want about Mantha, but the guy has no trouble scoring against competitive teams.

Every single player decided not to show up the last 2 games this year, not just Mantha.

Mantha was Canada's best player in this years WJC.

 

[nbwingsfan]

As for the biggest disappointment, it has to be Morissey for me.

For a guy who was brought to create offence, he didn't really do a thing. Also, did anyone else notice he literally "whiffed" on many of his shot attempts/passes? I don't remember ever seeing a player miss a puck so often.