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WC: 2021 USA Roster Talk

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Certainly, a disappointing result as it's a game they should have won, as the shots were even, but the dangerous scoring chances heavily favored the US. The team played well though all things considered, especially since Finland has had a lot more preparation time together than Team USA. Tough break when your team puts in all 3 goals but you lose 2-1.

Olkinuora played really well, but the team could have been better about making his life difficult. Missed the net too much on some prime chances, and didn't bury some prime chances (i.e. Garland breakaway, Labanc missing tap-in into an open net, etc.)

On defense, Wolanin and Jones were the clear standouts. Jones continued to get better as the game wore on and was a constant threat on the ice. I hope he gets a heavy workload tomorrow.

At forward, Garland and Robertson were quiet to start, but once they got going they were unsurprisingly our best forwards. Blackwell and Robinson were also pretty good, although they tailed off from their 1st-period performance when they were constant threats. The team needs a better performance from Labanc going forward as he wasn't effective today and Donato is still one of the most frustrating guys to watch. Chmelevski was very noticeable in his 13th forward / 4th line minutes in the first ~50 minutes, reminiscent of his performance in the 2019 WJC where he was one of our best forwards but was always buried on the bottom line. I hope we see him cemented in the top 9 going forward, which I'm hopeful about since the staff rewarded him with an increased role late in the 3rd.

Petersen was fine but wasn't tested as much as Olkinuora, either. I imagine we'll see Oettinger tomorrow on the quick turnaround.
 
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I really hope that Stolarz wasn't hurt badly because he finally deserves to be a regular NHL goalie in next season.

PP was difficult to watch.
 
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It's hard to be anything but pleased thus far. Sure, they're unfortunate to not be 2-0, but to get through Finland and Canada 1-1 is good, and you have to be hopeful about their path in the rest of the group with how they've played.

Really hope Stolarz and Thompson are okay. You hate to see guys get hurt playing for the love of the game and their country.

Jones and Wolanin are clearly the top guys on defense, with Roy up there too. I've been a huge Jones advocate for years, but I still find myself liking his game more every time I see him play. Both were excellent again today, but the entire defensive group has been strong thus far. They're moving the puck well, doing a good job getting pucks through to the net, and their gap control has been strong. Even when they've been shaky (i.e. they were a bit lost in the 1st today), they've adjusted quickly to get things under control.

Not the way I wanted Oettinger to get in the net but he was very strong today. Calm and economical. He wasn't having to make big saves per se, but he made everything look easy. Excited to see him continue to mature his game. The goaltending trio is so deep for us this tournament, so we'll see how the minutes play out, but Oettinger has everything you need to be the #1 here.

It's been great to see Robertson, Garland, and Moore emerge as our top line. Robertson's hockey IQ is so high and he's always smiling like Cole Caufield. Garland is a skilled guy no doubt, but it's his compete level that I like the most.

The main thing I'm looking for in the next games is which forward line can emerge as a strong secondary scoring option. Labanc and Donato have been quiet thus far, but they have the talent to fill that role for us.
 
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William H Bonney said:
It's hard to be anything but pleased thus far. Sure, they're unfortunate to not be 2-0, but to get through Finland and Canada 1-1 is good, and you have to be hopeful about their path in the rest of the group with how they've played.

Really hope Stolarz and Thompson are okay. You hate to see guys get hurt playing for the love of the game and their country.

Jones and Wolanin are clearly the top guys on defense, with Roy up there too. I've been a huge Jones advocate for years, but I still find myself liking his game more every time I see him play. Both were excellent again today, but the entire defensive group has been strong thus far. They're moving the puck well, doing a good job getting pucks through to the net, and their gap control has been strong. Even when they've been shaky (i.e. they were a bit lost in the 1st today), they've adjusted quickly to get things under control.

Not the way I wanted Oettinger to get in the net but he was very strong today. Calm and economical. He wasn't having to make big saves per se, but he made everything look easy. Excited to see him continue to mature his game. The goaltending trio is so deep for us this tournament, so we'll see how the minutes play out, but Oettinger has everything you need to be the #1 here.

It's been great to see Robertson, Garland, and Moore emerge as our top line. Robertson's hockey IQ is so high and he's always smiling like Cole Caufield. Garland is a skilled guy no doubt, but it's his compete level that I like the most.

The main thing I'm looking for in the next games is which forward line can emerge as a strong secondary scoring option. Labanc and Donato have been quiet thus far, but they have the talent to fill that role for us.
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Imagine if this is the roster that actually wins us a WC after the likes of Kane, Gaudreau, Suter, Larkin, etc. couldn't
 
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Stonehands22 said:
Imagine if this is the roster that actually wins us a WC after the likes of Kane, Gaudreau, Suter, Larkin, etc. couldn't
Click to expand...

I'll take the breakthrough any way we can get it. Obviously, nearly every country is severely hampered by the timing / COVID situation, but I think there are 2 things that have been working well for the team thus far:
  • The WC means the least to the USA out of every participant, and there's been a lot written in past years about how most of the players we do get to show up are showing up to party more than anything else, which isn't an option this time.
  • The roster is so inexperienced and/or young with this being the first WC for almost the entire team, so it means more to them as well.
I think these 2 factors (along with us having 3 capable starting goalies here) thus far have helped quite a bit as we have players that want to be here and are only here to focus on hockey.
 
A good tournament here along with a great rookie season and I can see Robertson in consideration for the Olympics if he takes that next step next year. A very good overall player and he works well with Pavelski.
 
My questions about the overall dmen play coming in have been answered. Sure the defenseman have been hemmed in at times but the breakout through two games has been excellent. Finishing shots in the slot has been my only real gripe. This team is mobile and the US is using the big ice well. Goaltending has been great but hasn’t been needed to carry the team so far.
 
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Sorry that this is an off-topic, but I have to say that our goaltending situation looks really promising for the future, which is great to see.

Gibson, Campbell, Oettinger, Knight, Nedeljkovic, Hellebuyck, Demko, Swayman and others. Many ways it would be a beautiful story if former junior standout Campbell would be in our Olympic squad after his journey but nevertheless it is not going to be our weak spot.
 
SK94 said:
Sorry that this is an off-topic, but I have to say that our goaltending situation looks really promising for the future, which is great to see.

Gibson, Campbell, Oettinger, Knight, Nedeljkovic, Hellebuyck, Demko, Swayman and others. Many ways it would be a beautiful story if former junior standout Campbell would be in our Olympic squad after his journey but nevertheless it is not going to be our weak spot.
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Will be interesting to see who takes the #3 spot for the Olympics. I assume Gibson and Hellebuyck are locks, correct?
 
SK94 said:
Sorry that this is an off-topic, but I have to say that our goaltending situation looks really promising for the future, which is great to see.

Gibson, Campbell, Oettinger, Knight, Nedeljkovic, Hellebuyck, Demko, Swayman and others. Many ways it would be a beautiful story if former junior standout Campbell would be in our Olympic squad after his journey but nevertheless it is not going to be our weak spot.
Click to expand...
Coming from a Leafs fan I don’t think you guys take Campbell even as the #3 he’s played really well for us yhere year but I think you have much better options to choose from. I’m interested to see how Knight starts his season next year if he has a good start he could be a good candidate for the #3 to groom him for 2026
 
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Hopefully Thompson can play in coming games. Is Mackey still quarantined? It would have been nice to see him.

Kazakhstan is going to battle hard so guys need to keep their legs going today. I think that this is one of those games that if they underestimate their opponent they are screwed.
 
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It is interesting to see Mackey in but i don't know why Glendening was scratched over Wideman.
 
Our top line needs more support if we're going to play for medals. Labanc, Donato, Chmelevski, Blackwell and Drury needs to get going. Least some of them. Capuano needs to change something to make that happen.

PP is not good enough and it is hard to compete for medals if they can't improve that. Too many pointless penalties today too.

Beniers got his first one which was nice to see.
 
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