I finished watching the game from today.
I didn't like how we played, and I think this team is going to struggle if the coach relies so heavily on these 2000 born players. We struggled a lot at even strength. The only line I liked was the one with Robertson and Wahlstrom. Pinto wasn't bad either, but he's clearly there to play more of a grinder role on that line.
It was pathetic how little Brink and York played. I think York got a few shifts at even strength, which was better than Brink. I don't know if there are stats for this game, but I'd be surprised if Brink played a second outside of the PP. There's little justification for using Stastney in such a big role over York. If you are going to have Stastney on the team, he's the 7th defenseman. Stastney was playing PK over Emberson, which is also completely ridiculous. I suspect the lineup for the first game will be the same as today, but with Zegras replacing Beecher on the second line, and Beecher in the spot of Janicke, who was cut.
This coach also thinks these 2000 born centers are better than they are. How can you tell a top five pick at center like Turcotte that an undrafted guy like Ford needs to be his center or Zegras, a top 10 pick center, that a grinder like Drury needs to be his center? Ford probably doesn't even belong on the team. And if he's on it, it's in a 13F role or at least the 4th line. Drury should be no higher than third line. He works very hard and isn't bad, but he's a complete passenger on a line with skill players. He doesn't belong on the PP either. I suspect that might be corrected when Zegras re-enters the lineup. Pinto is more skilled, and I wouldn't mind his line with Wahlstrom and Robertson as line 3, if Turcotte and Zegras are the centers on lines 1 and 2. Pinto and Drury can both play 3C on a team like this, but not any higher.
And this kind of thing filters down. If you slot Ford, Drury, Pinto correctly, Brink is in the top 9, and Boldy makes the team. Instead, this coach wants to turn our world junior team into a team of 19 year old grinders in the big roles. Why does USAH hire these college hockey coaches every year to coach the team? The whole coaching staff are college hockey coaches who coach these teams that are low on skill and high on work rate, physicality, discipline. It's no wonder they are trying to turn our world junior team into that style of team. It's not so hard to set the team out. Let your best players be your best players, and hope that you can win. I'd much rather that then playing these average prospects in big roles, and marginalizing all our good prospects.
I thought the defense wasn't that bad. Harris and Samuelsson were pretty good. A little quiet from Miller, but not bad. Jones did well on the PP. Stastney held his own, which is about as good as its going to get. Emberson had a quiet game, but he should be playing a bigger role. I found the forwards to be a much bigger issue. Turcotte looked bad at ES at winger. Kaliyev was on his line, and also struggled. I think part of it for both of them was playing with Ford. That guy was brutal. Caufield struggled with Drury as his center at ES. Who decides that its a good idea to put Caufield on a line with Drury and Beecher, neither of which are top-level players? This coach doesn't have long to sort this out. Canada is the first game. The fourth liners took too many penalties. I think thats why Janicke got himself cut today.
