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WJC: 2015 — USA Roster Talk

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Xokkeu said:
Players develop a lot at this age and year to year the variables are large.

Sure we can have a good idea of some of the players, but those U17, U18 events etc are such small sample sizes that I really find it hard to believe any of us on this side of the pond have such a strong grasp of the player pools to really give a true accurate judgement.

I feel fairly confident comparing the US and Canadian teams, because I see most of the players year round.

Mostly what I am interested in anyway with regard to the US team is not how the US team compares to Russia or Finland, but in how the US team looks compared to previous years. In a short tournament like the U20s, where one bad game can end your tournament and a short run of good fortune can win you the title, it's difficult to really compare teams and think you can accurately predict where each will fall.

Last year I felt the US team had a weak team and that they'd have to play nearly perfect to win knockout games against the favorites. In 2013 I felt we had a strong team, but I didn't realize John Gibson was going to go insane and that we hit a hot streak at just the right time. Pretty much everything went perfect. 2012 I felt we had a strong team but a few unlucky injuries, bounces and a collective morale collapse lead to disaster. 2011 was an average collection and they finished with a pretty average tournament.

I think the 2015 team is pretty strong. Which of course means they can give all the big boys trouble, and if we get the bounces at the right time, we could win the tournament. It would take another lunar eclipse to see the Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde type 2012 performance with this group, but it's not impossible that they get in a close game and lose to Canada or Russia early and the tournament is deemed a failure.

As always it will come down to Thatcher Demko and whether we can play our best hockey in the final three games.
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very well put. This American team is very good and it think has the right balance up front at least to win it all.
 
the US should have a strong Gold medal caliber team here. it will always come down to coaching, selection, and goal tending for the US, but I am fairly confident in all three areas this time.

Thatcher Demko is the likely #1, but Nedle is right behind him as a wonderful fall back option to have.

Osiecki is a great coach who has been behind the bench in a number of capacities over the past few years. I am a fan of his and happy he finally gets his shot.

The selection process needs to pick it right this year. Hold no grudges and pick the best team possible. This means guys like DeAngelo and Hanifin are still in the running for the December camp.

How young will team USA go?? Kyle Connor and Auston Matthews are two of the most dynamic players this country has to offer under the age of 20....will they select one or both of them to this team?
I don't want to see 3-4 grinders picked just for the sake of it when we have talent like this.

I am all for building a team, and picking players to fill roles, but when you have firepower like this, you use it.
 
looks like team White is clearly filled with "bubble" players....a lot of the young guns on that squad with a lot of the possible 4th line guys as well..

interesting to see how they kept a lot of the USNDP forwards together on team Blue....Blue looks to have the firepower IMO....and how funny is it that Demko will be playing against that team :laugh:
 
Will be interesting to watch Demko in that situation. I really like Demko but am becoming more and more a fan of Nedie.
 
Up in Lake Placid watching camp right now..Auston Matthews as the youngest player on this roster looked great at practice today, doesn't look out of place at all at this level and I wouldn't be surprised at all if he makes this team.

Poganski was a bit of a surprise today too, especially since he's an injury replacement and I'm sure won't make the team.

Excited to see this Blue/White scrimmage tonight. Hopefully it shows something about some of these bubble guys. Not sure if that game is on FastHockey but either way I'll post here tonight with some comments
 
I think evaluating this US team is fairly simple. If the Selection process is fair and unbiased, and ergo players like Hanifin, DeAngelo, Connor, and Matthews are on the team, then we're deep, and highly talented. If they leave off those guys for age/league/attitude reasons, and bring a bunch of grinders instead, we'll do like we did last year.

There is a ton of talent in this age group, enough that if healthy we could compete with any team in the tourney. It's just a question of whether USA Hockey has the balls to bring it all and ignore their perceived slights.

Eichel, Milano, Connor, Matthews, Hanifin, DeAngelo, Larkin, Tuch, Santini, McCoshen, Butcher, Compher, Fasching, and Schmaltz is a strong top-end of a roster. But the US cannot afford to leave of their equivalents of Nurse and Domi, etc.

Connor, Matthews, and Hanifin were three of the best players in the entire U18 tournament a few months ago. I really don't see any excuse for leaving them off.
 
Highlights from today's exhibitions:





I would imagine the staff was hoping Demko would take control and stake his claim to the goalie spot, especially with Nedeljkovic home with an injury, but they can't be happy with his performance so far. Still lots of time to turn it around.
 
@NHLAdamK

Auston Matthews, 16, will be w/USA team after cutdowns. Osiecki: "We're going to look forward to watching him here the rest of this week."
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Not surprising as it sounds like he's played very well so far. The goalies, on the other hand, are definitely still in summer mode.
 
No surprises on the cuts for me. The few head-scratching invitees are on their way home and I'm happy that USAH didn't automatically defer to the older players as 10 of the 14 cuts are '95 born (not counting McCoshen as he wasn't really cut).
 
I love hearing that the young kids are holding their own. Usually I'm on the side of bringing older players, because despite the talent of many underagers, they simply can't be impact players yet against kids two or three years older. Even the best can struggle, like Nathan MacKinnon or Connor McDavid, against older competition.

Jack Eichel being one of the best players on the US team last year was refreshing.

Hopefully Hanifin and Matthews can buck convention wisdom and be impact players for us.
 
Reported lineup for today's exhibition against Sweden:

Alex Tuch - Jack Eichel - Tyler Motte
Anthony Louis - Chase De Leo - J.T. Compher
John Hayden - Auston Matthews - Nick Schmaltz
Sonny Milano - Dylan Larkin - Hudson Fasching

Michael Downing - Steven Santini
Ryan Collins - Will Butcher
Louis Belpedio - Jack Dougherty
Brandon Carlo

Thatcher Demko
Brandon Halverson

Scratched: Kyle Connor, Anders Bjork, Dominic Turgeon, Anthony Florentino, Evan Cowley, Brendan Burke
 
TheJuxtaposer said:
I think evaluating this US team is fairly simple. If the Selection process is fair and unbiased, and ergo players like Hanifin, DeAngelo, Connor, and Matthews are on the team, then we're deep, and highly talented. If they leave off those guys for age/league/attitude reasons, and bring a bunch of grinders instead, we'll do like we did last year.

There is a ton of talent in this age group, enough that if healthy we could compete with any team in the tourney. It's just a question of whether USA Hockey has the balls to bring it all and ignore their perceived slights.

Eichel, Milano, Connor, Matthews, Hanifin, DeAngelo, Larkin, Tuch, Santini, McCoshen, Butcher, Compher, Fasching, and Schmaltz is a strong top-end of a roster. But the US cannot afford to leave of their equivalents of Nurse and Domi, etc.

Connor, Matthews, and Hanifin were three of the best players in the entire U18 tournament a few months ago. I really don't see any excuse for leaving them off.
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If all those guys make it....That's a scary scary group. That would be one of the most dynamic rosters they've ever made. Connor is scratched for today's game :/

I'm a bit surprised Justin Bailey didn't get an invite to this camp, being the MVP of a yes.. bad Kitchener Rangers team. But he is better than some of these invitees.
 
I have a hockey streams membership but I didn't see it there. Is there a stream available?
 
See, this kind of domination is what happens when you ice a roster free from no-talent grinders. They had Eichel, Milano, Larkin, Compher, Tuch, Schmaltz, Matthews, De Leo, Fasching, and Hayden, all of whom are capable scorers. This is what I was hoping to see.
 
How did Demko do tonight?

Chris Peters ‏@chrismpeters 46m

Always tough for the U.S. goalies to stand out at early stage of preseason, but Thatcher Demko looked sharp today. 22 saves, 1 GA.
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Apparently quite well, From twitter I heard he had a number of highlight real glove saves.
 
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