World Cup: 2016 World Cup — Team USA

[YearlyLottery]

I understand maybe leaving Okposo off the team (maybe not ahead of Callahan and Dubinsky) but Leddy?!?! He would have been a joy to watch on that ice.

 

[Preisst*]

That's mostly what they did in Sochi and it didn't work. I fail to see how it is a wise choice. Then again, you can't expect much wisdom when Burke is part of the management and Tortorella is the coach.

The American team for the Money Cup is a better team then the one they sent to Sochi. Whether or not they fare better is, of course, yet to be determined but they are a better team.

 

[Preisst*]

I understand maybe leaving Okposo off the team (maybe not ahead of Callahan and Dubinsky) but Leddy?!?! He would have been a joy to watch on that ice.

Yes, the ice at the ACC in Toronto is magnificent. You can watch him play there during the NHL regular season games though so you do have that. I do question him not being on the team though.

 

[K Fleur]

Can't have Tyler Johnson, and Phil Kessel if it means "character" guys like Abdelkader, and Callahan wouldn't be on the team.

Hopefully they can give some real high "character" interviews after team USA gets bounced early from this tournament.


They might lose every game, but team USA is going to have the highest of character post game interviews in this tournament. Book it!

 

[YearlyLottery]

Yes, the ice at the ACC in Toronto is magnificent. You can watch him play there during the NHL regular season games though so you do have that. I do question him not being on the team though.

I'm an idiot, my bad.

 

[GPF]

What really sticks out imo, 2 days later even more than on Friday, is Jack Johnson, I mean, yes ...

... maybe someone can strike a game-plan-philosophy-debate around the nominations of Calahan, Backes, Dubinsky and JVR; maybe. Dubinsky versatile, one of the better/best in taking FOs, JVR versatile, can score, physical, Backes PP and checking center, Calahan leader and grinder (but why Abdelkader then?) blabla ... just Tyler Johnson, maybe best oiffensive C the US has, excellent +/- player through all the years, just significantly worse at FOs than Dubisnky and so you wonder if this in a sane mind can tip the scales for a team thin as thin can on this position, but hey ..

cause then you realize again: there is still Jack Johnson .. and you wouldn't even know one argument why he is on this team, other than loyalty, emotional compensation, bribe or methamphetamine consume.

He is either insignificant or absolutely bad in all considerable stats or comparisons with other dmen available ... and many more than the obvious and mentioned ones (Faulk, Fowler, shattenkirk etc). For a bottom pairing / 7th dman role (most probably where he ends up) you will pick rather Goligoski, Greene, Alec Martinez, DeKeyser, Bogosian, Justin Braun than JJ, who on top of all of this just completed the worst season in his career (PTS, Shot Total, Shot% per game, in a full 82 GP season he would have tied his -21 record, he ranks 30th in hits vs US dmen and 29th in blocked shots, and so on and so on ... and still he manages all this "nothing" with being 4th in TOI, which is downright impressive if you ask me, so ..)

.. why on earth would anybody with a sane mind and the intention to win this tournament nominate him?

bizarre

 

[JTD]

The American team for the Money Cup is a better team then the one they sent to Sochi. Whether or not they fare better is, of course, yet to be determined but they are a better team.

No, it is much worse. Paul Martin and Justin Faulk essentially being swapped out for Erik Johnson and Jack Johnson is a clear downgrade and the 2nd best RW being swapped out for Justin Abdelkader makes this team much worse. They didn't take their 2nd best C in the NHL and brought multiple grinders who have no business on the team. Sochi team on North American ice would smoke these dudes

 

[JTD]

What really sticks out imo, 2 days later even more than on Friday, is Jack Johnson, I mean, yes ...

... maybe someone can strike a game-plan-philosophy-debate around the nominations of Calahan, Backes, Dubinsky and JVR; maybe. Dubinsky versatile, one of the better/best in taking FOs, JVR versatile, can score, physical, Backes PP and checking center, Calahan leader and grinder (but why Abdelkader then?) blabla ... just Tyler Johnson, maybe best oiffensive C the US has, excellent +/- player through all the years, just significantly worse at FOs than Dubisnky and so you wonder if this in a sane mind can tip the scales for a team thin as thin can on this position, but hey ..

cause then you realize again: there is still Jack Johnson .. and you wouldn't even know one argument why he is on this team, other than loyalty, emotional compensation, bribe or methamphetamine consume.

He is either insignificant or absolutely bad in all considerable stats or comparisons with other dmen available ... and many more than the obvious and mentioned ones (Faulk, Fowler, shattenkirk etc). For a bottom pairing / 7th dman role (most probably where he ends up) you will pick rather Goligoski, Greene, Alec Martinez, DeKeyser, Bogosian, Justin Braun than JJ, who on top of all of this just completed the worst season in his career (PTS, Shot Total, Shot% per game, in a full 82 GP season he would have tied his -21 record, he ranks 30th in hits vs US dmen and 29th in blocked shots, and so on and so on ... and still he manages all this "nothing" with being 4th in TOI, which is downright impressive if you ask me, so ..)

.. why on earth would anybody with a sane mind and the intention to win this tournament nominate him?

bizarre

Honestly seems like Jack Johnson was just thrown a bone after he whined about not making the Olympic team. Never thought he'd play for the US again but apparently the management team decided to "make up" for it by putting him on a team he had no business even being considered for

 

[GPF]

Honestly seems like Jack Johnson was just thrown a bone after he whined about not making the Olympic team

This! (Or at least similar related motive)

Means nothing else than, considering how bad Johnson has played last year, the leadership group of USAH obviously doesn't take the event in any way serious.

I'm a player on this team, proud to represent my country, willing to perform and eager to win, I would pick up the phone and tell them: **** you!

 

[Zero Pucks Given]

The American team for the Money Cup is a better team then the one they sent to Sochi. Whether or not they fare better is, of course, yet to be determined but they are a better team.

I'm sorry...what?

Our Sochi squad, on big ice or NHL ice, would steamroll this WCH team.

 

[Staccato]

They will win the tournament. Remember where you read it first. First they lose out on Gaudreau, Eichel, et al because of the U23-team and then this controversial final squad. They will be the only team that really feel they have something to prove and will play with heart and grit.

 

[JTD]

They will win the tournament. Remember where you read it first. First they lose out on Gaudreau, Eichel, et al because of the U23-team and then this controversial final squad. They will be the only team that really feel they have something to prove and will play with heart and grit.

Heart and grit doesn't score goals tho

 

[JTD]

This! (Or at least similar related motive)

Means nothing else than, considering how bad Johnson has played last year, the leadership group of USAH obviously doesn't take the event in any way serious.

I'm a player on this team, proud to represent my country, willing to perform and eager to win, I would pick up the phone and tell them: **** you!

I think they take this tournament seriously and that's the worst part. I guarantee they think Callahan and Abdelkader give them a better chance to win than Kessel and Okposo and that's disturbing. It just shows that Burke and Lombardi need to be fired cause they have no clue what they're doing. Lombardi left Kessel off for character reasons....which is.....yeah. Kessel has character issues but Patrick Kane is a stand up guy. Lombardi and Burke need to go

 

[Rabid Ranger]

I think they take this tournament seriously and that's the worst part. I guarantee they think Callahan and Abdelkader give them a better chance to win than Kessel and Okposo and that's disturbing. It just shows that Burke and Lombardi need to be fired cause they have no clue what they're doing. Lombardi left Kessel off for character reasons....which is.....yeah. Kessel has character issues but Patrick Kane is a stand up guy. Lombardi and Burke need to go

To be fair, Kessel and Okposo were ripped by their respective fan bases for much of the season for their play. Okposo appears to be a guy that doesn't pass the smell test and Kessel just isn''t Torts material.

 

[TT1]

aye, no idea how Jack Johnson made this team, hes beyond brutal defensively..

 

[wej20]

There is more to hockey then points. Callahan is the type of impact player that will do the USA well. His play away from the puck is very strong.

He's redundant when they're already bringing Abdelkader, Backes and Dubinsky.

 

[usahockey22flyers]

I know I'm definitely in the minority here, but I have 0 problems with JJ being the #7 D-Man.

 

[Creativero]

Was Chip Kelly involved with the selection process?

 

[Creativero]

These guys are going to get smoked

 

[Rabid Ranger]

These guys are going to get smoked

How do you figure? Should be a strong defensive team.

 

[Creativero]

Seems about right. This is going to be a very tough tourny for the US and will be interesting to see what type of team they want, fast and skilled or more of a tougher grind it out team. But not having Bylsma coaching is a step in the right direction.

Because they are slow poor offensively. Literally half these guys play for flat out bad NHL teams... Why would they be better playing at a higher level? People are really overthink this.

 

[NYCGroundhog]

I think the player I'm most baffled by is Jack Johnson. What has he done since being excluded from the Sochi team to warrant a spot on this team over a guy like Faulk?

Given his parents all his money

 

[NYCGroundhog]

John Tortorella is an embarrassment to the NHL and to USA Hockey. I think most of us realized that he only got this job because a few geniuses stupidly thought it would be good to get a coach that didn't have an NHL job at the time the coaches were chosen.

As an American, I hope this team gets destroyed so the people that made decisions this year never get close to making them for USA Hockey in the future.

 

[JTD]

John Tortorella is an embarrassment to the NHL and to USA Hockey. I think most of us realized that he only got this job because a few geniuses stupidly thought it would be good to get a coach that didn't have an NHL job at the time the coaches were chosen.

As an American, I hope this team gets destroyed so the people that made decisions this year never get close to making them for USA Hockey in the future.

100% agreed. I never like to see USA Hockey do poorly but this year it is best for the future of USAH if they get smacked. Even if the NHL sends players to the 2018 Olympics, Johnny Gaudreau has zero chance of making it with this current regime. All they care about is "grit" and "size" and even though he's been dominant at every level he'll be seen as "too small" cause this regime believes in outdated philosophies that don't work in international hockey. He, like, Tyler Johnson will be 2 examples where skill is seen as less important cause they don't match Lombardi and Burke's size fetish. They chose Torts because his style suits their garbage "vision". With an embarrassing showing, Burke and Lombardi will be shown the door and they can bring in a coach like Laviolette or Sullivan for the 2018 Olympics and hopefully find management that understands hockey in 2016. I've had gripes about roster construction in the past but this roster construction was just ludicrous

 

[GPF]

I think they take this tournament seriously and that's the worst part. I guarantee they think Callahan and Abdelkader give them a better chance to win than Kessel and Okposo and that's disturbing. It just shows that Burke and Lombardi need to be fired cause they have no clue what they're doing. Lombardi left Kessel off for character reasons....which is.....yeah. Kessel has character issues but Patrick Kane is a stand up guy. Lombardi and Burke need to go

Again, I think the forward decisions are at least debate worthy (though the Tyler Johnson snub is beyond me tbh, independent of the system you wanna play as a coach) but Johnson is so obviously nonsense, politicaly or personally inspired, that it transcends more than just on-ice doubts, but general ones, which might erode the spirit of a team long before stepping on the ice. You don't believe - you don't win. Period.

You bet there were similar reactions within the team like you read here, because you can't even argue with "oh well, it's a Tortorella team" when it comes down to JJ, like: "Jack seriously? Oh man.. let me call call Patrick"

Was really looking forward to this tournament, gimmick teams & aspects apart, since I still think the 96 finals were one of the best games I've ever seen ...

.. considering US depth nowadays it's ironically impressive that they manage to ice a team inferior to the 96 one.

And whoever said he has no problem with JJ as 7th d will change his mind, when injury occurs, game misconduct, 10 Min and he'll see a lot of ice time. Though I think the psychological effect of his nomination might be even worse