WJC: 2021 Team USA Roster Talk

[Gopher13]

Wonder with Wolf signing with Calgary if he will be on roster.

 

[TheBeastCoast]

Wonder with Wolf signing with Calgary if he will be on roster.

He will still be playing in the WHL I would think.

 

[Rabid Ranger]

Leaman reassembling his 2015 staff that captured the NCAA championship. Familiarity for sure but makes me expect him to just force his Providence system on the WJC team.

Is Steve Miller just a full time assistant at this point?

Let's hope he's more effective this go around. He was responsible for our tournament worst PK (65%!) in 2020.

We're at the stage where talent is a non-issue. We have enough talent at all positions to compete at every level of international competition. We lag though when it comes to senior management and coaching (coaching in particular).

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

I read Canada could have a 90% chance of repeating, so we may as well close up this thread.

 

[William H Bonney]

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Thats a benefit to the three teams participating. Canada will have less cohesiveness within their team at the World Juniors. It probably won't make a huge difference, but in a short tournament with all the big teams being evenly matched, it could be the needed difference.

 

[William H Bonney]

 

[Gopher13]

 

[William H Bonney]

No huge snubs. No Robertson but that's because he's on the Leafs extended playoff roster.

Some other names I expected may be there include:

• Forwards: Ty Smilanic, Judd Caulfield, Avery Hayes
• Defense: Noah Ellis, Mitch Miller, Eamon Powell, Jacob Truscott

None of those guys big snubs though. Blake Biondi is another 'name' but he's been unimpressive outside of high school hockey.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

There are no huge snubs, but there are a few picks I’d make differently. I hope USAH doesn’t insist on the final roster coming from this roster. With so much hockey already missed and this roster not playing the usual games, the roster should matter less. If we get hockey in August/September, the hockey played early next season should have a bigger impact on the roster than it usually does.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Because of the new NHL schedule, I suspect we'll get all our players. The NHL claims the new season won't start until December at the earliest. Even if the NHL started December 1, which I highly doubt, I think players such as Turcotte and Zegras will be available. They'd have to make their NHL teams out of camp, which adds to the likelihood they'll be available here. I think it's even a possibility that Hughes is available, but its too early to say about that. How late could the NHL start the next season?

Kaliyev-Turcotte-Robertson
Boldy-Zegras-Caufield
Brisson-Bordeleau-Brink
Beniers-Beecher-Caulfield
Lindmark

York-Thrun
Johnson-Helleson
Sanderson-Skinner
Fensore

Knight
Wolf
Commesso

I think the first two lines picks itself. You could argue Brink somewhere there, but I wouldn't. I think the other four wingers are more effective 5 on 5 guys. Brisson and Bordeleau are our two best 2020 draft eligible forwards. That might be a smaller third line, but this tournament is all about skill.

Returners don't usually play on the fourth line, but I don't want Beecher playing any higher than that line. I don't think he can keep up with the skill guys. We saw what happened when Drury played too high in the lineup this year because he was a returner. I know Caulfield isn't on the Summer Showcase Roster, but he should be. I'd like to think he'll be on the roster come December. Beniers can play in any situation, so I wouldn't mind adding him for a smaller role here. You could even flip him and Lindmark, but you'd have two right-handed wingers, so lets keep Lindmark as the 13th forward who mostly only plays the PK and takes late face-offs for now.

Only one returner on defense. I think Thrun is probably our second best defensemen, like he was with York on his NTDP age group. Pair them together. It's not as if there's a good RH option there. We can use a shutdown pairing with Johnson-Helleson. I'm not a huge fan of Helleson, but we need RHD, and the choice is him or McCarthy, which is a very easy choice because McCarthy is terrible. Sanderson will probably make it, but 18 year old defensemen rarely play big roles and usually struggle. A 3rd pair role probably makes more sense, but he could even be the 7th D and it wouldn't surprise me. Think back a year ago to York. I think last year one of our biggest problems was the lack of right-shots on defense. If I'm remembering correctly, we only had one.

I think we need at least two, and the options aren't great. Faber isn't good enough yet, and probably shouldn't have even made this roster. Not an option for this year. As already mentioned, McCarthy sucks. Lets hope Skinner has a good camp and season. I think he's decent, but if he's not, we may need to go back to the 6LHD, 1 RHD option, which isn't what you'd want. For the final LHD spot, I think Fensore makes sense because pure skill and skating is what wins in this tournament, and the defensive core already isn't the best offensively. We could use another PP guy. I'd find it hard to leave off Lacombe and Struble, who I think are both good players, but there are a lot of LHD options for this team, and I think they are two players who are hurt by the fact that they are more raw LHD without such a defined skillset of being incredibly good offensively, defensively or in all zones. Goalies picks itself.

 

[clevelandcane]

I understand no CAN/SWE/FIN but are fans allowed to watch the US practice or scrimmage? I'm sure practice is normally open but given COVID, I assume nothing.

 

[canucklax]

Honestly surprised Cross Hanas got invited to camp even though I know he did well at the Hlinka last year. Dont expect him to make the final roster at all, or even next year unless he really figures the game out mentally.

 

[Number 57]

Cross Hanas before Antone Stranges?

 

[Rabid Ranger]

Cross Hanas before Antone Stranges?

Stranges is persona non grata with USA Hockey.

 

[William H Bonney]

 

[SanDogBrewin]

 

[William H Bonney]

Never noticed this:

 

[clevelandcane]

f*** COVID!

 

[canuck2010]

f*** COVID!

Agreed. I'm an old man and have mostly lived a life. I can't really afford to waste too much more time though. I need to see the Ravens, Orioles and any Team Canada win again soon, as well as the Canadiens (even though I hate them) lol.

I do feel really badly for all of the young folks out there who have had their lives so disrupted and their dreams put on hold. Patience with the reality at hand.

 

[NTDP]

Agreed. I'm an old man and have mostly lived a life. I can't really afford to waste too much more time though. I need to see the Ravens, Orioles and any Team Canada win again soon, as well as the Canadiens (even though I hate them) lol.

I do feel really badly for all of the young folks out there who have had their lives so disrupted and their dreams put on hold. Patience with the reality at hand.

Baltimore fan eh? How'd that come about? Always curious to how people got into following certain teams / markets.

 

[canuck2010]

Baltimore fan eh? How'd that come about? Always curious to how people got into following certain teams / markets.

When I was a kid in the 50's the Colts were the glamour team in the NFL. Unitas to Berry, Ameche, Lenny Moore and that's just when they had the ball. Big Daddy, and Marchetti on defence. Don Joyce who could eat 29 pieces of chicken in a sitting, what's not to like? My pee wee football team became the Colts, every helmet was painted blue with a white stripe and a white horseshoe on each side.

It wasn't much of a jump to cheer for the Orioles after that if you liked baseball. I always pretended to be Brooks Robinson when I played. I discovered that I could listen to Oriole and then later Colt broadcasts on the radio at night and that was it.

I mourned when the Colts left Baltimore as if I lived in the city, and I have suffered many a season under the Orioles ownership of Peter Angelos.

Not sure of your age but Baltimore owes the Browns another beating as revenge for 1964 lol.

Trust that you, family and friends are doing ok during these horrific times.

 

[NTDP]

When I was a kid in the 50's the Colts were the glamour team in the NFL. Unitas to Berry, Ameche, Lenny Moore and that's just when they had the ball. Big Daddy, and Marchetti on defence. Don Joyce who could eat 29 pieces of chicken in a sitting, what's not to like? My pee wee football team became the Colts, every helmet was painted blue with a white stripe and a white horseshoe on each side.

It wasn't much of a jump to cheer for the Orioles after that if you liked baseball. I always pretended to be Brooks Robinson when I played. I discovered that I could listen to Oriole and then later Colt broadcasts on the radio at night and that was it.

I mourned when the Colts left Baltimore as if I lived in the city, and I have suffered many a season under the Orioles ownership of Peter Angelos.

Not sure of your age but Baltimore owes the Browns another beating as revenge for 1964 lol.

Trust that you, family and friends are doing ok during these horrific times.

lol that’s interesting and makes a lot of sense. As a kid in the 90s in Cleveland I didn’t grow up with the Browns but have become a fan since they came back, as hard as that is with their recent history. The Indians are my favorite team here though, I watch the majority of their games. Will be tougher this year with watching the Blue Jackets and NHL at the same time but with sports returning I’m not complaining.

All is well here, hope the same for you and yours.

 

[William H Bonney]

Robertson earned a spot in the Maple Leafs lineup to start the playoff, so something to watch for the 2021 tournament.

 

[William H Bonney]