Toggle sidebar

WJC: 2019 Team USA Roster Talk

  • Xenforo Cloud will be upgrading us to version 2.3.5 on March 3rd at 12 AM GMT. This version has increased stability and fixes several bugs. We expect downtime for the duration of the update. The admin team will continue to work on existing issues, templates and upgrade all necessary available addons to minimize impact of this new version. Click Here for Updates
BelovedIsles said:
First time seeing many of these prospects for a full game. Just a few thoughts on game 1.

US controlled most of the game, the Slovak goalie and timely D kept the score close.

Q-Hughes’ skating is a joy to watch. His edge work is so graceful, incredibly tight turning radius, he can skate effortlessly straight ahead or laterally. His skating and transition remind me of Erik Karlsson. He made a few questionable decisions w the puck, forced a few plays instead of making the safe play.

Robertson was a force out there. His puck control in the O zone looked elite. He made things happen almost every shift. He’s fast, rangey, and kept that puck like a magnet.

Barratt had a big goal, he also had strong puck skills; but I was more impressed w Robertson’s.

J-Hughes was ok. You can see the acceleration and lateral mobility, the puck skills. But he didn’t wow me. It’s just one game and he’s 17, in a year or two he should be controlling the O zone if he’s truly in that Eichel tier, IMHO.

Want to see more from Whalstrom; he had some chances, created a few. Left me wanting more.

Madden looks like he could be an energy 3rd liner w some offense. There were a few times I thought he was J Hughes w his skating and puck skills.
Click to expand...

The sole reason Robertson fell to second round was his skating. I know he has improved it big time since the draft but it's cool to see someone call him fast haha
 
  • Like
Reactions: Pavel Buchnevich
Slovakia beat us last year, teams like this find ways on certain nights to keep things close despite being out skilled heavily..it wasn't a pretty win, but you take it to start this thing out.

Hughes bros were sold out there, both as advertised.

I absolutely loved the way Barratt played, IMO he was the best forward out there as he was always buzzing around the net, just missed the tip but still screened the goalie on the Anderson goal and scored his own wicked back hander. This kid is a gamer, he will be a pivotal player here.

Robertson was my second fav forward, he played a lot like Barratt and created a lot of offense, both of these kids carried this offense for stretches.

I didn't even hear Drury's name which was odd...why bring the kid?? O'Brien looked like he had another gear out there I would definitely be playing him more...same for Sasha, get him more ice time too...

Farabee and Wall-E have to play better. First game in, some ups and some downs, but time to adjust and get the right lines going - play the kids that are showing effort/fire out there more..

Defensively team was good, had a few too many odd man breaks...Anderson was bad out there IMO, he had some boneheaded plays -his goal salvaged his night...his penalty on a freaking icing for a Captain is simply unforgivable...

I liked what I saw from Samberg though, kid played the game like a rock. Outside of Samberg and Hughes, the rest of the defense can and will step up more.

Not sure what they do in net, if Keyser is going to ride the wave for now...he looked fine, not really overly tested so will be interesting to see if he gets the nod again.

Take the win and run, wasn't pretty but still a victory.
 
  • Like
Reactions: SanDogBrewin
AmericanDream said:
Slovakia beat us last year, teams like this find ways on certain nights to keep things close despite being out skilled heavily..it wasn't a pretty win, but you take it to start this thing out.

Hughes bros were sold out there, both as advertised.

I absolutely loved the way Barratt played, IMO he was the best forward out there as he was always buzzing around the net, just missed the tip but still screened the goalie on the Anderson goal and scored his own wicked back hander. This kid is a gamer, he will be a pivotal player here.

Robertson was my second fav forward, he played a lot like Barratt and created a lot of offense, both of these kids carried this offense for stretches.

I didn't even hear Drury's name which was odd...why bring the kid?? O'Brien looked like he had another gear out there I would definitely be playing him more...same for Sasha, get him more ice time too...

Farabee and Wall-E have to play better. First game in, some ups and some downs, but time to adjust and get the right lines going - play the kids that are showing effort/fire out there more..

Defensively team was good, had a few too many odd man breaks...Anderson was bad out there IMO, he had some boneheaded plays -his goal salvaged his night...his penalty on a freaking icing for a Captain is simply unforgivable...

I liked what I saw from Samberg though, kid played the game like a rock. Outside of Samberg and Hughes, the rest of the defense can and will step up more.

Not sure what they do in net, if Keyser is going to ride the wave for now...he looked fine, not really overly tested so will be interesting to see if he gets the nod again.

Take the win and run, wasn't pretty but still a victory.
Click to expand...

Agreed about Anderson, it's a good thing he found the back of the net because otherwise it was not great.

And I'd suspect we'll see Primeau face his ten shots against Kazakhstan before Keyser is rolled with in the following games.
 
It was an ugly game really. The Slovaks really closed ranks. Wasn't a ton of open ice. That's what teams that on paper can't compete do and they almost pulled off an upset.
 
Bonin21 said:
So Drury didn't even get a shift? Was he on the bench? Never seen that before.
Click to expand...
I can confirm that Drury has one shift last night. And the reason I know this it's that he replaced for his only presence on the ice, Islander prospect, Logan Cockerill! I'm the only one to have noticed it lol. Even the official scorer missed it!
He probably played 30 seconds yesterday, it's like he did not play finally ...
 


I'm sure he won't see much action in that one, but he likely needs a shutout and Keyser to falter at some point to take over as the starter. It's a good problem to have 3 legitimate #1s.
 
  • Like
Reactions: TheGoldenJet
MrHeiskanen said:
Lack finish? He is a goal per game player in the OHL and has 132 in 222 games in his OHL career despite playing for a bad team for a good chunk of it.
Click to expand...
Sure as crap couldn't finish yesterday. Several chances where he elected to take the wrong shot choice...
 
Didn’t get to posting after the game. Just read everything and I agree with much of what’s already here (especially the stuff about Samberg; I thought he looked like a man against boys). Some thoughts I haven’t seen posted here:

1) We tried to do everything really fast. That can be good but it also can turn into forcing things. Even simple little passes out of the zone....our guys were just winging them.....often slightly ahead of or slightly behind the intended target. If they can develop the chemistry to pull that off, great....but it’s a short tournament. I would’ve traded an extra second or two for a bit of precision the other night.

2) I was not at all complimentary of Poehling last year but I thought he looked good the other night.

3) Robertson threw a saucer pass with amazing touch that made me get out of my chair. Gotta have really soft hands to make that pass.

We got a win in regulation and I’ll take it. Hopefully we’ll get some breathing room tonite so we can work on refining things instead of just winning the game.
 
  • Like
Reactions: AmericanDream
Jack Hughes' talent is obvious, but it appears that it would be difficult playing on his line. He tends to hold the puck a bit too long and skates into his passing option on the zone entry too often.
TBF, I haven't watched him enough to state that these are his consistent attributes, but I would love to see him be a bit smarter the rest of the tournament.
 


Big time line changes. Wonder how much that's the lack of chemistry and how much is Jack Hughes is out tonight. Hope it's not serious.

 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Ad

Upcoming events

Ad

Top Bottom