WJC: 2019 Team USA Roster Talk

[Rabid Ranger]

Well i would think according to anyone, if both players are not having a great tournament so far then that affects how good your defense will be, they are important guys, they didn't make the team for nothing.

You don't think your team defense would be automatically better if Miller and Sammy were playing at their absolute best? really?

I mean, how could that do anything but help.

You're filling in a lot of blanks that aren't there. The two players you singled out have been fine. Yes, if they can somehow find an extra gear that would be great and benefit the team.

 

[jj cale]

You're filling in a lot of blanks that aren't there. The two players you singled out have been fine. Yes, if they can somehow find an extra gear that would be great and benefit the team.

I don't know if I am filling in blanks that aren't there so much as just stating the obvious I guess, which we seem to agree on.

 

[ps241]

Jack Hughes out again tonight. Huge blow to face Sweden without him.

Any word on why?

 

[William H Bonney]

Any word on why?

 

[ps241]

Thank you!

 

[William H Bonney]

Only changes from last night's lineup:

• Knight in the press box and Keyser dressed and back in the net.
• Hughes with Anderson, which moves Samberg with Kemp.

 

[SabresSharks]

Sounds like he should have been scratched against SVK, and he'd be playing tonight.

Tough choice for all concerned, I know.

 

[William H Bonney]

This isn't a team. It's poorly constructed, poorly coached, and poorly executed by the players.

• Hastings coaches with no urgency. There's not a lot of evident chemistry and he seems fine with it.
• Is there even a system? It's impressive how the coaching staff is able to have all 5 players on the ice doing different things. There seems to be no philosophy, just a bunch of individuals out of sync with one another.
• Players like Cockerill, Kemp, and St. Ivany have no business being here. This is why you don't force role players unless they're the best option.
• Why is Mikey Anderson quarterbacking a PP? He's not good at it. Sure would be nice to have Reilly Walsh here, even if that's all you had him do.
• Quinn Hughes is playing selfish hockey.
• K'Andre Miller is in way over his head. He's not ready for this level.
• If the players aren't choosing to pass up a shot, they're definitely choosing to throw a blind pass to the front of the net. Are they not paying attention to how Sweden is collapsing?
• Neither Keyser or Primeau have looked good or capable of a big save. Knight may not be ready for this level yet, but he's by far the most talented goalie and capable of stealing games. Time to give him a game.

In a short tournament, anything can happen, but this group hasn't shown they have what it takes to compete for a medal barring a big improvement in their play. Really disappointing group thus far.

 

[behemolari]

Whats the deal with Hughes? he was supposed to be locked #1 but not even playing.

 

[William H Bonney]

Whats the deal with Hughes? he was supposed to be locked #1 but not even playing.

He's hurt.

 

[William H Bonney]

Incredible. 4 goals since my post trashing them. Suffice to say they've found some jam and heart.

 

[SanDogBrewin]

I was just about to write how great it was that the US didn’t lie down after going down 4-0.

WoW!

 

[NTDP]

Incredible. 4 goals since my post trashing them. Suffice to say they've found some jam and heart.

You weren’t alone, was drafting a post saying this team has erie similarities of the 2012 group

 

[Hanji]

Samuelsson and Walstrom = maybe I picked the wrong team.

 

[William H Bonney]

Ooof. Really awful shift for Farabee to end it. Blows a chance to win the game on a 2-on-1 and then an unforced turnover to lose the game.

Hopefully that comeback will give the team some life because they've looked sluggish and disinterested for a lot of this tournament.

Coaching staff better learn some things from the players that showed up down the stretch. For example, they've done their best to give him no chance despite the obvious, but Chmelevski keeps showing he clearly deserves a top 6 role. Will they finally give it to him? Move Cates to the 4th line.

 

[William H Bonney]

I'd like to see some new lines:

Farabee - Poehling - Chmelevski
Barratt - Hughes - Wahlstrom
Madden - Norris - Robertson
Cates - Drury - O'Brien
Cockerill

Samberg - Anderson
Hughes - Samuelsson
Miller - Kemp
St. Ivany

Keyser
Knight

• Ride that top 9 in some combination into the ground if needed. I'd even be more inclined to give the 4th line guys spot shifts in the top 9 versus giving the 4th line many shifts as a unit. Essentially give the best players more time with the occasional rest.
• Defense is a challenge. With Hughes struggling, and guys like Miller in over their heads, and the forced choice (Kemp) and off-the-board choice (St. Ivany) clearly out of place, Vanbiesbrouck and the staff has really handicapped what should have been a really strong group. Similar to the forwards, I'd ride some combination of the top 4, with spot shifts to the 3rd pair or give those guys spot shifts in the top 4.
• Cockerill and St. Ivany basically shouldn't see the ice.
• I'd still start Knight the next game, but expect Keyser.

 

[Legend123]

I wanna see Poehling with Hughes and Wahl-E. They could be dynamic. Or with Farabee and Chmelevski

 

[DownGoesMcDavid]

This USA forward group looks superrr underwhelming ..Q Hughes looks like he is trying to do waay too much to try and compensate for it.

 

[Rabid Ranger]

Coaching and personnel decisions: the nadir of USA Hockey.

 

[Rabid Ranger]

This USA forward group looks superrr underwhelming ..Q Hughes looks like he is trying to do waay too much to try and compensate for it.

There are some very good players in this group but they aren't being optimized.

 

[DownGoesMcDavid]

There are some very good players in this group but they aren't being optimized.

Can you elaborate

 

[NewHampshire]

The US trailed Russia in the pre-tournament 2-0 after two and won, 3-2. Against Slovakia they faced a 1-0 deficit through two periods and won, 2-1. Tonight a four-goal third period forces overtime. It hasn't been pretty but they're sure not quitting...

This is a forward group that really has to work and be hard on pucks to have success and they're just not doing that for anything close to 60 minutes. They've spent a lot of time on the perimeter, made a lot of soft passes and waved at a lot of pucks.

The first and last ten minutes of regulation shows who they can be. Can they play that way for an entire game? Put a few complete games together and they can win this tournament if they get some help from the defense...

The D is a massive disappointment so far. St Ivany isn't even playing (and he shouldn't be). Kemp is basically a specialist - and those two, Miller and Samuelsson have not been great when they've been used.

It puts a lot on the plates of the top-3 who have been both very good and not so good at times. I'll harp on it again, but this team blew it when they passed cavalierly on both Gildon (UNH) and Walsh (NH Native). Yes, I am biased, but the lack of puck movement up ice and the turnovers at the blueline have really hurt this team. These forwards need a puck-moving D to really get playing downhill and they're not getting that support consistently...

When you can move pucks up ice - you don't have to worry about playing so much defense! The shortcomings of these two are overblown. They don't need to be Phil Kemp because they're not going to spend their entire shifts chasing pucks. Instead they'll collect them and clear them...

Right now we're getting all the D-Zone mistakes (and then some) they feared those two might make and NONE of the offensive or transitional benefit from their bottom four blueliners. And even if you assume you had Gildon and Walsh out there making all those mistakes - they would have more than likely created a goal in the meantime...

---

Hastings coaches a team at Minn St that has to rely on bigger, older, intangible/role types because all the studs go to UMN or St Cloud - that's the style this D (and team) seem built to play. I bet Gildon and Walsh make this team if Quinn is the coach and had anything to say about it (Eastern skill guy who sees them all the time)...

I don't like the current GM and I'm skeptical he'll ever get over the US building teams and playing the way they did when he was still a player. Am I wrong?

 

[Henkka]

Jack Hughes out again tonight. Huge blow to face Sweden without him.

USA looks better without Hughes than with him, imo.

 

[William H Bonney]

USA looks better without Hughes than with him, imo.

That's silly.

 

[SabresSharks]

That comeback was so sweet I didn't even care about the loss. Lots to build on in spite of that.

J Hughes will have had 4 days to recover by the time they play Finland on Monday. Hopefully he'll be ready to go, and can add a spark.

Finland will be a good test heading into the elimination round. I expect the coaching staff will be poring over lines and pairings in the meantime, and can get that right. 3 radically different games should give them plenty of insight.