WJC: 2021 Team USA Roster Talk

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Simple fact is: as a 19 year old top 5 pick in this tournament, you are expected to dominate. Not just make a solid play on the forecheck here and there or make a nice pass once a period.

fair or not, that’s reality. It’s always been that way

Turcotte's not being exempt. He, like everyone, needs to play better. I'd like to see him try to make more plays on the perimeter and hold onto the puck longer instead of going to the net as soon as we gain the zone. However, we were told from multiple Duck fans (and now here you're another Duck fan), that Turcotte was a big issue. I'm sorry, but if you watched this game and thought Turcotte was an issue, you need to re-watch the game. He was one of the few effective forwards. He was trying to do the right things. He wasn't one of the culprits of how Russia was shutting down our forwards. And those stats posted were such a disingenuous argument, as I previously explained.

As to your general point, I'm not sure Turcotte is set up to dominate. For instance, he's not on PP1, even though he should be. He's not set up to get those extra few points in this tournament that other forwards will get. I thought he was one of our 3-5 best forwards in this game. Thats pretty good, and generally there would be praise not complaints for that. But when you lose a game, fingers will be pointed. I thought Turcotte was more towards the middle/bottom of the lineup in the exhibition, although the common theme remains that Duck fans thought he was bad in both games.

I don't want to play the blame game for our players because I don't see the need to start doing this at this point and I think it was more of a team wide problem in this game, but I had more of an issue with how Caufield, Kaliyev, Zegras, Sanderson played, if we want to discuss which big names had weak games. Those three forwards played with almost zero intensity. Their fancy play was easily shut down by the Russian forwards. People want to talk about the face-off numbers for our centers? How about those guys help out on the tie-ups. The Russian wingers were doing that. And Sanderson was coughing up the puck when pressured. Defensemen can't be giving free goals to the opposition.

 

[Rabid Ranger]

I agree that was a not a medal winning performance last night. Goaltending needed to be better but overall the attention of detail simply wasn't there. The compete level also needs to be a lot better. Skill alone won't get us there.

 

[X66]

This team could really use Robertson’s buzzsaw style of play.

 

[Zaddy]

I have been very impressed with Russia. Based on a small sample size, they are not allowing any time or space for opposing skill players.

I think this is an important point. The US team were able to get their skill guys working against Finland but when playing against the constantly pressuring Russians they just weren't up to the task and looked rather disjointed and had extreme difficulty to get any sort of sustained pressure, even on the power play. It was pretty jarring to see from a team with such high-end talent. Of course not having played much probably played a part too but I expect we'll see a more dominant US team against the other opponents in the group.

 

[Rabid Ranger]

I think this is an important point. The US team were able to get their skill guys working against Finland but when playing against the constantly pressuring Russians they just weren't up to the task and looked rather disjointed and had extreme difficulty to get any sort of sustained pressure, even on the power play. It was pretty jarring to see from a team with such high-end talent. Of course not having played much probably played a part too but I expect we'll see a more dominant US team against the other opponents in the group.

I give Russia a lot of credit. They had a game plan and executed it well. The U.S. will need to adapt and play better. The latter is what typically kills the U.S. in these tournaments. Let's see if Leaman is up to the task.

 

[Wings4Life]

Turcotte was a huge disappointment. Doesn't look like a player that deserves more PP time to me.

Wolf deserves to start, he has been a wall in his two half-games while Knight has been very shaky.

 

[57special]

Interesting that Faber has the second most TOI amongst Dmen.

I thought Russia was clearly better, but two clear giveaways by the US lost the game for them. Knight's was obvious, and i've thought his decision making when handling the puck has been suspect all along, but on the other I'm more inclined to blame Berard(?) than Sanderson. The pass was right there...he can't be surprised at that...at least get your skates on it. You can't just skate by it like it's not your problem.

 

[shaner8989]

Did Berard play?

 

[CaptTennille]

Did Berard play?

He did.

He didn't get a lot of ice time, but made a lot happen.

 

[De Montreal]

Wolf deserves to start, he has been a wall in his two half-games while Knight has been very shaky.

Probably, but it's a bad timing for him to get a good performance, just before a b2b game.

 

[Docgonzo]

Turcotte was a huge disappointment. Doesn't look like a player that deserves more PP time to me.

Wolf deserves to start, he has been a wall in his two half-games while Knight has been very shaky.

90% of the team was a huge disappointment. Most of the skilled players turned the puck over the minute they were in the offensive zone.

And just judging on how awful the PP was nobody on PP1 or PP2 deserves more time.

 

[kilowatt]

Turcotte's not being exempt. He, like everyone, needs to play better. I'd like to see him try to make more plays on the perimeter and hold onto the puck longer instead of going to the net as soon as we gain the zone. However, we were told from multiple Duck fans (and now here you're another Duck fan), that Turcotte was a big issue. I'm sorry, but if you watched this game and thought Turcotte was an issue, you need to re-watch the game. He was one of the few effective forwards. He was trying to do the right things. He wasn't one of the culprits of how Russia was shutting down our forwards. And those stats posted were such a disingenuous argument, as I previously explained.

As to your general point, I'm not sure Turcotte is set up to dominate. For instance, he's not on PP1, even though he should be. He's not set up to get those extra few points in this tournament that other forwards will get. I thought he was one of our 3-5 best forwards in this game. Thats pretty good, and generally there would be praise not complaints for that. But when you lose a game, fingers will be pointed. I thought Turcotte was more towards the middle/bottom of the lineup in the exhibition, although the common theme remains that Duck fans thought he was bad in both games.

I don't want to play the blame game for our players because I don't see the need to start doing this at this point and I think it was more of a team wide problem in this game, but I had more of an issue with how Caufield, Kaliyev, Zegras, Sanderson played, if we want to discuss which big names had weak games. Those three forwards played with almost zero intensity. Their fancy play was easily shut down by the Russian forwards. People want to talk about the face-off numbers for our centers? How about those guys help out on the tie-ups. The Russian wingers were doing that. And Sanderson was coughing up the puck when pressured. Defensemen can't be giving free goals to the opposition.

I agree with pretty much all of this. Turcotte isn't going to be making Zegras-like plays. He's the guy that will be entering the zone, driving to the net, forechecking to retrieve pucks, and backchecking hard. And yes, I'm a Kings fan, but that doesn't mean I can't see thins objectively. Turcotte does need to play better too, but his game yesterday wasn't a reason why USA lost. On the other hand, Kaliyev looks really slow out there. Almost to the point of disinterest. I think he's just out of shape, perhaps. It seems he still has a lot of work to do off the ice in order to become an effective player on the ice. Yes, he can shoot, but the team needs more than that.

I'd consider splitting up Zegras and Turcotte. Put Caufield and Beniers with Zegras and Boldy and Kaliyev with Turcotte. Perhaps Zegras and Turcotte deferred to each other a bit too much. It just seemed like Russia had too much pressure and the USA forwards couldn't deal with it.

Also, I know I've said it multiple times, but even though Faber is the youngest defenseman on the team, he sure looked the most poised. Phenomenal game for him.

 

[Tube Skates]

I don’t understand why people want Wolf in for this game. I think play Knight as a wake up call for the 10 shots he’s gonna face hopefully stopping all of them then give the reigns to Wolf until he loses the gig.

 

[bsu]

Faber was giving me josh morrissey vibes... really great game from him.

 

[Beaker]

Play Caufield with Zegras.

Remove Caufield from the slot position on the powerplay.

 

[Ed Ned and Leddy]

Really bummed Bordeleau is out. I recognize every team has injuries and COVID omissions, but Bordeleau has started the year really well for UofM and I think he was set to have a big impact this tournament.

I also agree that our best bet to outgun teams is to play Zegras with Caufield. I'd have Turcotte centering. Second line would be Beniers and Boldy, not quite sure who I'd have on that wing, probably Brink or Kaliyev.

 

[bsu]

I'd put Zegras with Boldy and Caufield.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

I agree with pretty much all of this. Turcotte isn't going to be making Zegras-like plays. He's the guy that will be entering the zone, driving to the net, forechecking to retrieve pucks, and backchecking hard. And yes, I'm a Kings fan, but that doesn't mean I can't see thins objectively. Turcotte does need to play better too, but his game yesterday wasn't a reason why USA lost. On the other hand, Kaliyev looks really slow out there. Almost to the point of disinterest. I think he's just out of shape, perhaps. It seems he still has a lot of work to do off the ice in order to become an effective player on the ice. Yes, he can shoot, but the team needs more than that.

I'd consider splitting up Zegras and Turcotte. Put Caufield and Beniers with Zegras and Boldy and Kaliyev with Turcotte. Perhaps Zegras and Turcotte deferred to each other a bit too much. It just seemed like Russia had too much pressure and the USA forwards couldn't deal with it.

Also, I know I've said it multiple times, but even though Faber is the youngest defenseman on the team, he sure looked the most poised. Phenomenal game for him.

To add to this, Turcotte had by far the most zone entries (on either team) with nine and the most zone exits among the American forwards. He needs to do more though than that. I expect him to score, and he didn’t do that, but I don’t think he’s one of the first starting points for the most criticism.

Kaliyev, he is what he is. I might want him moved down if we weren’t missing so many players, but we are missing so many players. Hopefully he has a good tournament in the scoring column. The rest of his game is very frustrating.

And I agree about Faber. He was partially at fault for the first goal standing in front of the net and not tying up the stick of the guy who tipped the puck, but so many of the defensemen made a bad play or two. At least Faber bounced back pretty well and shift to shift after that one error wasn’t an issue from that point forward.

 

[William H Bonney]

 

[SK94]

Today is the day when guys needs to get things going. I don't want to underestimate Austria too much but i want to see least seven goals today. I think seven is fair goal if Swedes did it against Czechs...

 

[KaseMeOutside]

Knight should start tomorrow. Get him back on track. He should play the third game as well. If he falters, you go to Wolf v Sweden and ride it out with Wolf.

This isn't a popularity contest. The US now has a small margin for error if Wolf gets hot you ride him

 

[Fatass]

This isn't a popularity contest. The US now has a small margin for error if Wolf gets hot you ride him

Knight will get his next pre tournament planned start. If he plays poorly under pressure again though, then Wolf gets the nets.

 

[pbgoalie]

Russia looked like a good team
With a very good goalie

we looked like a bunch of nice players
And got poor goaltending

I don’t know how good we will be, but liked the way Russia played

 

[KaseMeOutside]

What is with all these Duck fans constantly hating on Turcotte? It’s more than just one guy now. And before I hear it’s a rivalry, I don’t see the same from Kings fans towards the Ducks players on this team. Take it to your own board. We don’t need NHL team oriented discussions here.

If you think Turcotte was an issue in this game, I don’t know what to tell you other than rewatch the game. He was really solid defensively, in transition, driving to the net, forechecking. He also drew a penalty walking a few Russian defensemen, although apparently he has no skill so I don’t know how that happened.

Other than goaltending, these were the main things that were missing throughout our lineup. Those face off stats are misleading. He was below average in this game on face offs but better than the team average. Re-watch those face offs again and tell me how many he lost clean. Our wingers are bad for all the centers with coming in to take the tie ups. It’s an issue. Too many of them are floating when the puck isn’t on their stick.

And that -3 means almost nothing considering two of those goals he had zero involvement in. I guess you could say he lost a face off on the empty netter. Hardly a disqualifying play towards a full game.

I generally don’t think any of the big names should be singled out here other than Knight, who was dreadful. Even Knight, who might’ve lost his job, could still come up big. It’s one game. The tournament is far from over.

I think in general the defensemen were weak coming out of their zone and the forwards got a lesson in a close checking game from a team that plays a grittier style than they do. That’s where the players need to work at for our next few games against the better teams. No reason for us to start blaming guys on an individual basis yet. I think this team is pretty good and we don’t need to be taking a referendum on where it went wrong yet. Make a few changes. No one was great in this loss. They all gotta be better. Let’s not start the blame game.

you shouldn't presume people are bringing up his play because who he was drafted by. He's the number 1 center he needs to do more than skate fast or do little things he has to generate offense.

That said it was one game against a very good team but you shouldn't just assume people who are both Anaheim fans and USA fans are just hate him bc he's a kings prospect. I could care less

 

[Rubi]

I give Russia a lot of credit. They had a game plan and executed it well. The U.S. will need to adapt and play better. The latter is what typically kills the U.S. in these tournaments. Let's see if Leaman is up to the task.

Igor "The Professor" Larionov is my favorite coach in this tournament. If his team plays as smart as he played, they will be consitently a tough team to beat.