WJC: 2021 Team USA Roster Talk - Part 2
- Thread starter TaLoN
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Sens of Anarchy
Registered User
- Jul 9, 2013
- 68,297
- 54,626
Congrats y'all .,, Good Tournament .. Great performance in the final
William H Bonney
Registered User
We have a decent amount of players returning. Next year's team will be a lunch pail group up front, but the defense could be very strong.
Friar85
Registered User
- Dec 16, 2013
- 437
- 355
William H Bonney
Registered User
Leaman wasn't the most popular choice as coach, and of course, he made moves we didn't all agree with, but he won gold. He's now got an NCAA national championship and a WJC gold. Not bad, not bad at all.
AmericanDream
Thank you Elon!
@SanDogBrewin , @usahockey22flyers , @Rabid Ranger , @William H Bonney , @Jaykay , @Pavel Buchnevich Cheers my friends!!!!
SanDogBrewin
Righteous bucks!
AmericanDream
Thank you Elon!
AmericanDream
Thank you Elon!
Proud to be a Gopher tonight. I'm also a little glad we got Motzko instead of Leaman cuz I'm thinking he might have an NHL job in his future if he wants it.
William H Bonney
Registered User
No one. Well, Commesso would have been there too if Covid didn't strike BU, as would have Bordeleau.
I just don't think 6 returnees is that bad. This team only had 8 returnees and one of those was the backup goalie. The talent level returning obviously won't be as high, but if Sanderson is back next year, the defense could be very good.
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AmericanDream
Thank you Elon!
SanDogBrewin
Righteous bucks!
Ducks fans gotta be real excited.
Regarding that Zegras tweet, that is almost exactly the same as Poolparty's EP page for 2016 haha... But he should turn out better in the show.
AmericanDream
Thank you Elon!
True..but when your returnees are top studs Turcotte, Zegras, Kaliyev, Boldy, York, Knight, Caufueld, etc...we have a chance...when we have....Berniers....4th liner Berard, and Colangelo who sat tonight...with Sandersson and Kleven who sat..though #11 will be back..just saying..we need a massive draft
All Mighty
Registered User
SanDogBrewin
Righteous bucks!
Pavel Buchnevich
"Pavel Buchnevich The Fake"
The 2001's go out at the Junior level as they deserved!
I'm really proud of all these NTDP kids that have been there from the beginning. Knight, York, Thrun, Helleson, Turcotte, Zegras, Caufield, Boldy, Moynihan. These guys deserved better than all their losses in big games over the years. And this win is for the kids that weren't there today. All those guys were part of a historic age group for the United States, and they finally got their deserved Championship.
I said from the beginning of the tournament that if we played our game that we should believe we would win. And thats exactly what we did. We had a few weak spots. Physical teams gave us problems, and that first loss to Russia was a pretty bad performance, but after that first game we played much better and played our game.
This team might've not been as deep as we all would've liked a year ago, but we had a very solid defense core, we got big goaltending from Knight when it mattered, the PP was excellent, the third line stepped up to provide some offense, and the first line delivered as expected. In this game in particular, I thought it was a very simple formula for winning. We played a very solid defensive game all around, our first line had a few great shifts to score some important goals, and Knight showed why he's the best goaltender at this tournament this year.
For this tournament, Zegras delivered, Turcotte delivered, York delivered, Boldy delivered, and Knight delivered when it mattered most. Our 2001's stars played as you'd expect, and thats why we won this tournament most of all. Someone like Caufield didn't have a great tournament, but he still had his contributions, as did Kaliyev. I thought all of our regular defensemen were really solid. Thrun and Faber in particular were excellent, in my opinion. Johnson and Sanderson were above-average, and Helleson being the worst of the regulars with an average tournament is pretty stout for a defense. Lacombe also had his moments, although he was erratic. Kleven and Skinner didn't play very much, but at least they got on the ice and get their gold medals. I thought Wolf did his job. Good for Stein that he gets a Gold Medal. I'm sure he helped out as a third goaltender usually does.
Beniers had some big contributions. His tenacity on the puck and skating it out of trouble was huge in some moments where we needed to relieve pressure. Farinacci was huge. One of the unsung heroes of this team. Brink had his contributions, as did Berard. The fourth line wasn't great, but credit to Slaggert, Moynihan, Colangelo, and Brisson for playing their roles. It's not easy to be a fourth liner, and those guys put in the effort and worked hard.
As for the coaching, you are always going to have some disagreements about the coaching, but on the whole I thought this was the best coaching we've gotten in a long time at this tournament. If this coach wants to come back next year, I wouldn't be against it. Leaman has earned a second tournament as head coach.
It's good to be champions. I didn't necessarily think we were given the respect we deserved coming into this tournament, but thats okay. We played our game, and deservedly were crowned champions. Great for the team, and great for all USA Hockey fans. Everyone stay safe and enjoy the upcoming NHL season!
I'm really proud of all these NTDP kids that have been there from the beginning. Knight, York, Thrun, Helleson, Turcotte, Zegras, Caufield, Boldy, Moynihan. These guys deserved better than all their losses in big games over the years. And this win is for the kids that weren't there today. All those guys were part of a historic age group for the United States, and they finally got their deserved Championship.
I said from the beginning of the tournament that if we played our game that we should believe we would win. And thats exactly what we did. We had a few weak spots. Physical teams gave us problems, and that first loss to Russia was a pretty bad performance, but after that first game we played much better and played our game.
This team might've not been as deep as we all would've liked a year ago, but we had a very solid defense core, we got big goaltending from Knight when it mattered, the PP was excellent, the third line stepped up to provide some offense, and the first line delivered as expected. In this game in particular, I thought it was a very simple formula for winning. We played a very solid defensive game all around, our first line had a few great shifts to score some important goals, and Knight showed why he's the best goaltender at this tournament this year.
For this tournament, Zegras delivered, Turcotte delivered, York delivered, Boldy delivered, and Knight delivered when it mattered most. Our 2001's stars played as you'd expect, and thats why we won this tournament most of all. Someone like Caufield didn't have a great tournament, but he still had his contributions, as did Kaliyev. I thought all of our regular defensemen were really solid. Thrun and Faber in particular were excellent, in my opinion. Johnson and Sanderson were above-average, and Helleson being the worst of the regulars with an average tournament is pretty stout for a defense. Lacombe also had his moments, although he was erratic. Kleven and Skinner didn't play very much, but at least they got on the ice and get their gold medals. I thought Wolf did his job. Good for Stein that he gets a Gold Medal. I'm sure he helped out as a third goaltender usually does.
Beniers had some big contributions. His tenacity on the puck and skating it out of trouble was huge in some moments where we needed to relieve pressure. Farinacci was huge. One of the unsung heroes of this team. Brink had his contributions, as did Berard. The fourth line wasn't great, but credit to Slaggert, Moynihan, Colangelo, and Brisson for playing their roles. It's not easy to be a fourth liner, and those guys put in the effort and worked hard.
As for the coaching, you are always going to have some disagreements about the coaching, but on the whole I thought this was the best coaching we've gotten in a long time at this tournament. If this coach wants to come back next year, I wouldn't be against it. Leaman has earned a second tournament as head coach.
It's good to be champions. I didn't necessarily think we were given the respect we deserved coming into this tournament, but thats okay. We played our game, and deservedly were crowned champions. Great for the team, and great for all USA Hockey fans. Everyone stay safe and enjoy the upcoming NHL season!
William H Bonney
Registered User
What can you say? Team USA was up-and-down all tournament and I had doubts they'd be ready for this one, but I shouldn't have doubted that they'd show up against Canada. They always seem to. It's kind of crazy they've defeated Canada in 4 straight WJC gold medal games. Who would have thought?
Knight needed to have an excellent game and that he did. That was vintage Knight. Calm, cool, collected, and positionally sound. He didn't have to stand on his head - a lot of the Canada shots were from the outside and are routine saves for him - but he made some big, big saves, his rebound control was excellent, and so was his puck distribution.
The team defense was excellent. That was an extremely deep and talented Team Canada and they shut them out. Yes, Canada had their grade-A chances, but the defense did an excellent job forcing a lot of their shots on the net to come from the outside, and they let Knight make the first save and then cleaned up the loose change. Hell of a performance, especially against Canada's top line, who was largely invisible.
I was really hard on York after his semifinal performance, but he was a beast tonight. Excellent gap control and stick positioning all night.
Sanderson and Johnson were also fantastic. They closed gaps so well in the defensive zone and stood up often to shut down Canadian forwards. Everyone on defense had a good night, but I also really liked Thrun's game tonight too.
Zegras was Zegras. Dominant player and clear tournament MVP, so I'm glad the media recognized him accordingly. He's been elite for a long time, but it's been great to see how he's continued to improve his entire game. Everyone's going to talk about his offense, but his stick work defensively was so underrated this tournament.
Turcotte had another excellent game. Like Knight, that was vintage Turcotte. All over the ice and scoring a goal in a dirty area.
Yes, Kaliyev needs to improve his skating a lot, but that kid cares and he tries hard. He was very good on the forecheck tonight.
Also, respect to the officials. They let both teams play tonight. Yes, there were 'missed' calls on both teams, but it was nice to see an IIHF game that didn't turn into an unnecessary special teams game.
That has to feel good for the '01 group, as they've been screwed (i.e. the 2018 Hlinka where Canada's game-tying goal came after the game was over) and/or been unlucky in their past big tournaments (i.e. the 2019 WJC U18 where they dominated Russia and hit like 6+ posts on Askarov). I don't know that they're better than the '97 birth year, but it's great to see them finish on top.
Knight needed to have an excellent game and that he did. That was vintage Knight. Calm, cool, collected, and positionally sound. He didn't have to stand on his head - a lot of the Canada shots were from the outside and are routine saves for him - but he made some big, big saves, his rebound control was excellent, and so was his puck distribution.
The team defense was excellent. That was an extremely deep and talented Team Canada and they shut them out. Yes, Canada had their grade-A chances, but the defense did an excellent job forcing a lot of their shots on the net to come from the outside, and they let Knight make the first save and then cleaned up the loose change. Hell of a performance, especially against Canada's top line, who was largely invisible.
I was really hard on York after his semifinal performance, but he was a beast tonight. Excellent gap control and stick positioning all night.
Sanderson and Johnson were also fantastic. They closed gaps so well in the defensive zone and stood up often to shut down Canadian forwards. Everyone on defense had a good night, but I also really liked Thrun's game tonight too.
Zegras was Zegras. Dominant player and clear tournament MVP, so I'm glad the media recognized him accordingly. He's been elite for a long time, but it's been great to see how he's continued to improve his entire game. Everyone's going to talk about his offense, but his stick work defensively was so underrated this tournament.
Turcotte had another excellent game. Like Knight, that was vintage Turcotte. All over the ice and scoring a goal in a dirty area.
Yes, Kaliyev needs to improve his skating a lot, but that kid cares and he tries hard. He was very good on the forecheck tonight.
Also, respect to the officials. They let both teams play tonight. Yes, there were 'missed' calls on both teams, but it was nice to see an IIHF game that didn't turn into an unnecessary special teams game.
That has to feel good for the '01 group, as they've been screwed (i.e. the 2018 Hlinka where Canada's game-tying goal came after the game was over) and/or been unlucky in their past big tournaments (i.e. the 2019 WJC U18 where they dominated Russia and hit like 6+ posts on Askarov). I don't know that they're better than the '97 birth year, but it's great to see them finish on top.
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William H Bonney
Registered User
Don't get me wrong, I'd rather have this year's returnee group, but I think you're being a little unfair. Berard was a great 3rd liner this year and he should be even better in that role next year. Sanderson was pretty good this year, and excellent tonight, and he'll be a dominant player next year if he's back. Faber struggled in the semis, but he was good overall. Kleven sat, but he's more than capable of being a good 3rd pair d-man next year.
We'll have a very good defense and goalie next year. But we won't be able to win like this tournament where we have a superstar forward to ride, but that's okay. Who knows how it'll go since a lot can change in a year, but I wouldn't be surprised to see them put together a team like the 2010 WJC team stylistically.
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Rabid Ranger
2 is better than one
Gotta love it. That's all I'm going to say.
William H Bonney
Registered User
cleveland408
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- Apr 12, 2014
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