WJC: 2016 — Canada Roster Talk (Part V) [mod warning in OP]

[Dod93Cityt]

Why are you guys blaming the coach and the players. You do know there were two teams on the ice. Game could have gone either way but give some credit to Finland. I know hockey is suppose to be Canada's game, but Canada is no longer dominate like years ago. This is a very competitive tournament.

Probably because they played like that the whole tournament.

 

[Blender]

But I was told Marner sucks(from Leafs haters here), that he has stone hands and terrible vision????

He stepped it up when it counted. What a beauty!


He is going to be amazing!

A few people might have said that, and they were obviously wrong before he scored a couple goals in this game, that's an absurd opinion.

Despite his points, he didn't have a strong tournament overall though. Poor games against the US and Switzerland, decent game against the weak Danes, strong game against Sweden, and a poor first half and strong second half against Finland. He clearly has tons of talent, but his decision making was often poor in this tournament, and he mostly played on the perimeter. When he did get himself to the inside, he created offense, but he needed to do that much more consistently as one of Canada's top players.

I sure wouldn't hold this tournament up as some great example of Marner as a prospect, that's for sure. At the same time it's unfair to use to disparage any prospect as well.

This Canada team had a lot of issues, and there were times when Marner was one of them, but it'd be absurd to even suggest that it's any one players fault for this mess. Canada also has nothing that matches the top lines of Finland, Sweden or the US in this tournament. Probably the same talent, but not the same level of play.

 

[flames12]

The job of a head coach is to makes adjustments during the game if things aren't going well and he did none of that. I agree with people that Blackwood should have been pulled after the 4th goal.

 

[Philip Kessel]

Why are you guys blaming the coach and the players. You do know there were two teams on the ice. Game could have gone either way but give some credit to Finland. I know hockey is suppose to be Canada's game, but Canada is no longer dominate like years ago. This is a very competitive tournament.

Because Canada could've competed for Gold but decided to play like **** almost every single game and then when they had a good chance late in this game we took ridiculous penalties…Finland was good but its understandable to be mad when our team didn't live up to expectations.

 

[Jakey53]

Probably because they played like that the whole tournament.

Stop the blame, give the other teams credit.

 

[Gaunce4gm]

I think Canada focused too much on taking all the best players but not focusing on chemistry. Also never heard Sanheims name and I was expecting him to be the #1 D... Seems like Lowry wanted to go with Hickets Mckeown and Fleury and I thought they were pretty meh all tourney (I'm from Victoria so the royals are my team) hicketts was played way too much. He's a good #3 or 4 dman but not #1 on TC... He's coaches favourite though so what can you do... I wish he'd let Crouse and Virtanen play with Barzal or Point instead of Strome also

 

[Random Forest]

Dave Lowry got what he deserved. All the grievances with this team are pretty obvious at this point, but I'll list all of mine one last time:

-Hicketts. Not as bad as some suggest, but he's not a 30+ minute defender on a team with the talent of TC.
-Hickey and Fleury. It's a good bottom pair. Nothing more. They were used as more. Go figure.
-Sanheim and Demott. Both were deployed terribly. If you don't trust them defensively, fine. But give them the offensive opportunities they need to maximize their skill set.
-The ****ing power play. Really? You make it all the way to the elimination round without deciding who is going to QB your top unit? Why isn't the rotating ******** done on your second unit? What possible purpose did this serve?
-Virtanen. The kid's a bonehead. It was blatantly obvious. To everyone but Lowry. Lowry deserved to die on this hill. He got top line time and PP1 time for the whole tournament.
-Point. He wasn't 100% which is fine. But a proper coach will adjust to these adversities.
-Beauvillier. This kid is a phenom in the Q and a really responsible player to boot. Was stuck in the bottom six in favor of Virtanen and Crouse even while TC was struggling to score.
-Konecny. Ditto everything above regarding Beauvillier. Responsible, energetic, highly skilled. How the **** does he get stuck on the fourth line the whole tournament?


I mean, Lowry got pretty much everything wrong. It's absolutely incredible how a man so stupid is in charge of running Team Canada's bench.

People can say, "Oh, this roster isn't as good this year". Bull ****. They are deeper, more talented, and older than Finland. There's no excuse. It was miserable coaching.

 

[Adonis Creed]

5 things ill remeber from this Squad

- Bad coaching
- **** Blackwood
- Indiscipline/stupid penalty
- 2 Min shift by Marner/Strome etc, Selfish *****
- No icetime for deserving players

Also even if Mitch scored some goals... he played around 8min out of 10 and 3rd period...and take a stupid penalty...they had no juice in last 8min and made mental mistakes caused by fatigue.

 

[Jakey53]

Because Canada could've competed for Gold but decided to play like **** almost every single game and then when they had a good chance late in this game we took ridiculous penalties…Finland was good but its understandable to be mad when our team didn't live up to expectations.

In who's eyes? You can't win every year or every tournament. Stop crying like a bunch of babies. I'm sure the kids gave it their all.

 

[Swervin81]

As I said, Lowry deserves to take this tourney on his shoulders as a whole.

I mean, I have never scene this kind of lack of preparation and organization from a coaching staff ever. No system in place, just "everyone, do your thing" kinda 1 on 1 crap.

And only today did we finally have a legitimately good game against a good team. If you only just NOW find lines that work after disorganized, disjointed, shoehorned junk in the round robin, you're in a world of trouble. Even though we didn't have the same level of talent this year as some other teams, it's still no excuse for getting bounced out in round one.

Of course, Lowry criminally underutilized Konecny (by far our most consistent player in the tourney) and spoonfed Virtanen all the playing time to take bad penalties and put a well-known undisciplined player out there in a tournament where the officiating has always been soft and trigger-happy. Zero accountability, zero structure.

 

[Breakers]

Who can return for next year ?

Hopefully not Lowry Blackwood

 

[KevinBXA]

5 things ill remeber from this Squad

- Bad coaching
- **** Blackwood
- Indiscipline/stupid penalty
- 2 Min shift by Marner/Strome etc, Selfish *****
- No icetime for deserving players

Nailed it

 

[JackSlater]

Canada just completed its worst WJC performance since 1998, and a bottom three performance overall. It's fitting that they were eliminated a one line team with bad defence and bad goaltending. The blame lies in a few places, but we all know the main issue: Lowry. The team was easily talented enough to win. There are no particularly strong teams this year, and Canada showed flashes against each quality team that it played. Still though... Lowry.

This performance may be worse than Steve Spott's, because at least Spott's team (while playing pretty badly) didn't lose a game until elimination. Lowry oversaw two losses and a shootout, and still clung to the same ideas.

Can anyone point to a year with a worse defenceman than Hicketts leading Canada's blueline? I can't. It isn't even Hicketts' fault, as he was good enough to make the team, but Lowry made it clear that Hicketts was unquestionably the #1, most clearly when he played ~4 minutes in a 5 minute overtime. Sanheim, who most expected to be the leader on the blueline, was relegated to a rotating #7 spot until the last half of the elimination game. It was ridiculous. Lowry's forcing of Hicketts into a role he wasn't up to, and keeping two defencemen (McKeown and Sanheim) off balance with his ice time distribution is ultimately the biggest problem with the defence.

Also of note: Hickey and Fleury were Canada's attempt at a shutdown pairing, a staple of the teams of the last decade, and I can't remember a worse pairing. They basically caused two of the goals against Canada in the elimination game and as a pairing were an abject failure. Fleury in particular looked terrible.

Goaltending was a problem as well. McDonald and Blackwood were anointed as the pair before the tournament. McDonald was bad in the summer camp, the super series, the exhibition games and in the tournament. I think we can all agree, he just isn't good. Blackwood is a different case, as he looked good in every opportunity leading into the tournament. He was given the reigns in the final game, and we all saw how terrible he was. Both goaltenders failed. Once again I think about Lowry. It seems clear that Blackwood is the guy that they wanted. If that is the case, and knowing that Blackwood was going to be somewhat cold coming from his suspension....... why not play him in the exhibitions outside of the one Czech game? If he's the goaltender, then give him game experience to make up for his suspension. The failing performance in net is on the goaltenders, but Lowry didn't help.

Another indicator of Lowry's incompetence: can anyone remember worse special teams for Canada? The penalty kill was atrociously ineffective, with unused players in some cases playing a significant role. The powerplay only scored when a player had a great individual effort. You would think that a coach would adjust their idiotic PP formation when they noted that it wasn't working. Lowry doesn't think that way apparently. Stationary umbrella PP. How effective.

The forwards were not bad individually, but there was no structure. Think about how often the forwards had to skate back and carry the puck up ice because the breakout was so bad. Think about Beauvillier, who often made things happen when on the ice,in the 13th forward role for a few games. The whole Barzal line, which was generally effective with Barzal among Canada's best players, barely got any playing time when games got close. Same for the Stephens line. Also, Lowry seemingly blindly believed TSN about there being chemistry between Strome and Marner (still 0 evidence of chemistry) and sat them out in games when he could have... you know... actually looked for chemistry. Inexcusable. Also, I certainly hope Point is injured. He was unexpectedly horrible. If he is injured, then horrible choice of captain by Lowry.

Lowry's bench management. We've all discussed it, but it's unacceptable to have shifts that long in this day and age. There was no accountability on this team. Point's line and Strome's line were going to get big minutes no matter what. Even Virtanen, after practically costing Canada the game with one of the stupidest plays ever witnessed on the international stage, was out there at the end of the game. Mind blowing.

Virtanen turned in by far the worst performance ever for a returned player. He had a role to play, and physically he was capable of fulfilling that role, but he was utilized horribly. Virtanen just isn't suited to a scoring line role. He can't cycle and make quick plays. He was forced into a scoring role and that's not acceptable. Still, he deserves a ton of blame for his own idiocy. No one did more to help Finland in the elimination game than Virtanen did. Not even Lowry.

For positives, there aren't many. Konecny was consistently very good for Canada, and shame on Lowry for not utilizing him enough. Crouse and Stephens were also good in their roles. Strome, who I was quite skeptical of, looked pretty good overall. Smart player. Marner was bad to start the tournament, despite what some want to believe, but he turned it on late. Looks like he could be a great player. Barzal was criminally underutilized, and if he returns next year I would be quite comfortable with him as Canada's top centre. He also looks like he could be elite. Beauvillier is also someone who had a lot more to give, had he been given the chance. None of the defencemen stood out a whole lot in a positive way, perhaps Chabot was the best. The goaltenders sucked.

This isn't an issue of poor player development, despite what some (Sportsnet is already beating this drum) are going to claim. This team was easily talented enough to win, and add Ekblad/Bennett/Fabbri/McCann/McDavid and they walk all over the tournament. This is an issue of coaching. Canada has won gold with teams half as talented as this. Hockey Canada cannot make such an idiotic coaching selection again. Lowry is an idiot, it is as plan as day for anyone to see. Here's a thought: don't select junior coaches with only a few years of experience who haven't won a thing.

I'm looking forward to next year now, should be a good roster unless the team is decimated by the NHL. I've learned though that it may be more critical to see who is named to the team this spring than it is next December.

 

[flames12]

Another thing with 3 minutes to go in the game and down a goal with the faceoff deep in the Finland zone; Lowry could have pulled Blackwood and made it a 5 on 4. Who knows what could have happened maybe we could have tied the game.

 

[Sky04]

Remember when people said Vitanen should be gauranteed a top-6 spot and top ice time because he came from the NHL?

"They didn't loan him to be a 4th liner", maybe could've had a different result if they didn't send him at all.

 

[leafsfuture]

Couple thoughts:

1. This was the first year where there werent any controversial cuts. Canada could have used the Dal Colle that played for Oshawa last year, but he definitely wasnt up to par at camp. By and large, the 23 guys selected were the right choices (Virtanen was never not making the team)

2. Jake Virtanen was an utter disaster. I normally dont like being this harsh about a teenager, but for a guy who plays in the NHL, he was awful. Because of the penalties though, I would make an argument he was our worst player. Quinville after some shaky games in the top 6 was effective with Konecny. Beauvilier didnt do much, but really didnt get much icetime, and his main use was on the PK where he was effective. Only rival would be Perlini who also took a pair of dumb penalites. Anyways, Virtanen's stupidity really hurt us in the 3rd.

3. Dave Lowry also gets a failing grade from me. A lot has been said about him. What I will criticize is how he distributed ice time -- it was clear that he only wanted to roll 3 lines. Unfortunately this meant that on any given night, 1 of Konecny/Stephens and Barzal/Gauthier was getting shortchanged. Early in the tourney, it was Konecny, but then in the last two games, Barzal and Gauthier got little ice. I feel bad for Gauthier. Offensively the stat sheet didnt show much, but I really admired the way he played. Under the weather at times, showed some good speed, desire and always working. In essence he should have taken Virtanen's ice time. Also its absurd Virtanen continued to play on the PP. I am sure Hockey Canada made promises to Vancouver about ice-time, but I can imagine the Canucks would have any fault if Virtanen was benched today. After 4 games of crap, Lowry should have limited him. We all know Virtanen's a short fuse, but the only guy who has decion-making power didnt heed the threat.

4. Honestly outside of Virtanen and Perlini there wasnt really anyone who played particularly bad. Biggest issue for me was a lack of team cohesiveness, a lack of a strategy to play on big ice and a lack of discipline .

5. Last point. We WILL win gold next year. Generally with the exception of Hicketts, all our best players were 18. Chabot will be back, and I expect him to be a real good player. Crouse will be back. Barzal will be back. I hope Konecny is back and wears the C. And If we can have at least 1 of Strome/Marner, we will be the favorites. Until next year!

 

[stewpac]

One situation that really sticks out in this finally game was on the 5 on 3 with the faceoff in our end and we don't put out are best faceoff guy. This draw is so important in this situation, its basically a must when. We lose it and a few seconds later Finland scores.

 

[WaltWhitman]

http://hfboards.mandatory.com/showpost.php?p=111019219&postcount=493

Originally Posted by WaltWhitman View Post
OMG Hockey Canada is so dumb. Wow. I'm shocked

I can't believe some of the players they left off the team. there are so many good players in the NCAA, but the arrogant Canadians have to take more CHLers, of course.

Now I get why US has won more golds this decade.

Wow

Like who?

Hickey is on the team

Walman was at camp but got injured.

The 'cream' in regards to the rest of WJC eligible NCAA Canadians is what? Jake Evans, Brett Seney, Michael Prapavessis, Ryan Kuffner, AJ Greer, Matthew Dawson Cameron Hughes & Colt Conrad? None of these guys make team USA... Hickey and Walman were the only NCAA Canadians who on merit should have been on the team/looked at.

Cuz USA is better than Canada!

(i couldn't help myself)

 

[Burr14]

Virtanen is a double agent

 

[snipes]

Too many left shot defenceman.

 

[leafsfuture]

Canada just completed its worst WJC performance since 1998, and a bottom three performance overall. It's fitting that they were eliminated a one line team with bad defence and bad goaltending. The blame lies in a few places, but we all know the main issue: Lowry. The team was easily talented enough to win. There are no particularly strong teams this year, and Canada showed flashes against each quality team that it played. Still though... Lowry.

This performance may be worse than Steve Spott's, because at least Spott's team (while playing pretty badly) didn't lose a game until elimination. Lowry oversaw two losses and a shootout, and still clung to the same ideas.

Can anyone point to a year with a worse defenceman than Hicketts leading Canada's blueline? I can't. It isn't even Hicketts' fault, as he was good enough to make the team, but Lowry made it clear that Hicketts was unquestionably the #1, most clearly when he played ~4 minutes in a 5 minute overtime. Sanheim, who most expected to be the leader on the blueline, was relegated to a rotating #7 spot until the last half of the elimination game. It was ridiculous. Lowry's forcing of Hicketts into a role he wasn't up to, and keeping two defencemen (McKeown and Sanheim) off balance with his ice time distribution is ultimately the biggest problem with the defence.

Also of note: Hickey and Fleury were Canada's attempt at a shutdown pairing, a staple of the teams of the last decade, and I can't remember a worse pairing. They basically caused two of the goals against Canada in the elimination game and as a pairing were an abject failure. Fleury in particular looked terrible.

Goaltending was a problem as well. McDonald and Blackwood were anointed as the pair before the tournament. McDonald was bad in the summer camp, the super series, the exhibition games and in the tournament. I think we can all agree, he just isn't good. Blackwood is a different case, as he looked good in every opportunity leading into the tournament. He was given the reigns in the final game, and we all saw how terrible he was. Both goaltenders failed. Once again I think about Lowry. It seems clear that Blackwood is the guy that they wanted. If that is the case, and knowing that Blackwood was going to be somewhat cold coming from his suspension....... why not play him in the exhibitions outside of the one Czech game? If he's the goaltender, then give him game experience to make up for his suspension. The failing performance in net is on the goaltenders, but Lowry didn't help.

Another indicator of Lowry's incompetence: can anyone remember worse special teams for Canada? The penalty kill was atrociously ineffective, with unused players in some cases playing a significant role. The powerplay only scored when a player had a great individual effort. You would think that a coach would adjust their idiotic PP formation when they noted that it wasn't working. Lowry doesn't think that way apparently. Stationary umbrella PP. How effective.

The forwards were not bad individually, but there was no structure. Think about how often the forwards had to skate back and carry the puck up ice because the breakout was so bad. Think about Beauvillier, who often made things happen when on the ice,in the 13th forward role for a few games. The whole Barzal line, which was generally effective with Barzal among Canada's best players, barely got any playing time when games got close. Same for the Stephens line. Also, Lowry seemingly blindly believed TSN about there being chemistry between Strome and Marner (still 0 evidence of chemistry) and sat them out in games when he could have... you know... actually looked for chemistry. Inexcusable. Also, I certainly hope Point is injured. He was unexpectedly horrible. If he is injured, then horrible choice of captain by Lowry.

Lowry's bench management. We've all discussed it, but it's unacceptable to have shifts that long in this day and age. There was no accountability on this team. Point's line and Strome's line were going to get big minutes no matter what. Even Virtanen, after practically costing Canada the game with one of the stupidest plays ever witnessed on the international stage, was out there at the end of the game. Mind blowing.

Virtanen turned in by far the worst performance ever for a returned player. He had a role to play, and physically he was capable of fulfilling that role, but he was utilized horribly. Virtanen just isn't suited to a scoring line role. He can't cycle and make quick plays. He was forced into a scoring role and that's not acceptable. Still, he deserves a ton of blame for his own idiocy. No one did more to help Finland in the elimination game than Virtanen did. Not even Lowry.

For positives, there aren't many. Konecny was consistently very good for Canada, and shame on Lowry for not utilizing him enough. Crouse and Stephens were also good in their roles. Strome, who I was quite skeptical of, looked pretty good overall. Smart player. Marner was bad to start the tournament, despite what some want to believe, but he turned it on late. Looks like he could be a great player. Barzal was criminally underutilized, and if he returns next year I would be quite comfortable with him as Canada's top centre. He also looks like he could be elite. Beauvillier is also someone who had a lot more to give, had he been given the chance. None of the defencemen stood out a whole lot in a positive way, perhaps Chabot was the best. The goaltenders sucked.

This isn't an issue of poor player development, despite what some (Sportsnet is already beating this drum) are going to claim. This team was easily talented enough to win, and add Ekblad/Bennett/Fabbri/McCann/McDavid and they walk all over the tournament. This is an issue of coaching. Canada has won gold with teams half as talented as this. Hockey Canada cannot make such an idiotic coaching selection again. Lowry is an idiot, it is as plan as day for anyone to see. Here's a thought: don't select junior coaches with only a few years of experience who haven't won a thing.

I'm looking forward to next year now, should be a good roster unless the team is decimated by the NHL. I've learned though that it may be more critical to see who is named to the team this spring than it is next December.

Great post. Agree with much of it.

Gauthier had more goals this year than anyone else on the team. Konecny had to be near the assist lead. Both werent given enough ice-time. And no these are 19 year olds dominating the CHL due to experience, They are 18 year old high skill guys

 

[snipes]

Wish Canada would go back to putting teams together that are big fast and physical.

We should be living up to our reputation of being big mean dirty bullies who steam roll their way to gold. Hate when they try and match these teams Euro style.

This!

We should just play the Canadian way. Play with Canadian heart and fight.

Salmond and Jankowski should be fired by tomorrow.

 

[carlweezer*]

Coach deserves blame but he wasnt the bonehead that took 2 penalties during our power play not was he the other bonehead that punched a Finn w 3 min left that negated an upcoming PP

 

[moon*]

Lowry was a terrible choice before the tournament and showed through out that he was way out of his depth here. I don't understand the choice. He hasn't won at the WHL level, is at best the 10th best coach in that league can't rate him any better than that, hasn't won anywhere else and we have a ton of much better options. Just seemed crazy that he was the guy choosen.

Other than that such a weird roster for Canada. Missing a stud center (Point if healthy would have been this), stud defenseman, solid shutdown pair and a stud goalie. Canada doesn't always have each of these but at least have a couple and this year they were lacking completely.

People can complain about sour grapes but this team really missed McDavid, Ekblad, Bennett and Fabbri. Sure every Canadian team has to go with missing its best guys but this year those guys seemed to be exactly what the team was missing. Having Ekblad back there for 35 minutes likely cuts down on a lot of mistakes and obviously a Bennett-McDavid-Fabbri line takes care of any scoring issue and makes the Finnihs 1st line look like a joke. But that is life for the Canadian junior team and they should have been able to overcome that.

I guess after so many years of dominance 1 bad year isn't a big deal (17 straight years in the SF is f'ing amazing) but I am sure many fools will freak out and wonder what is wrong with Canadian hockey.

Oh well time to move on and wait until next year because who gives a crap about the 4 garbage teams left this year.

 

[Michael Brand Eggs]

This!

We should just play the Canadian way. Play with Canadian heart and fight.

Salmond and Jankowski should be fired by tomorrow.

But you can't really fight in international hockey...