WJC: 2022 Team USA Roster Talk

[SanDogBrewin]

Wasting no time letting shots go.

 

[William H Bonney]

Sloppy start with the penalties and inability to complete a pass but big to come out of the 1st with a two goal lead.

Commesso looks like his normal self, which is huge as he should be one of the best goalies in the tournament.

Coronato and Samoskevich were both more noticeable that period than the entire exhibition. Great sign as we need them to be top players.

Knies looks great again. This could be his breakout party.

 

[SanDogBrewin]

Everytime Slaggert is on the ice his name is called by the announcer until he comes off. Kid is a puck hound.

 

[William H Bonney]

That period was this team's calling card. Hounded the puck all over the ice, consistently hemmed Slovakia in their zone, and forechecked with fervor.

Love Kaiser's game. Pastujov starting to get into the game. Kleven! activating all over the ice. He'll never be a big scorer but he's got capable offensive tools. Starman's player comparables are still as bad as ever, it's almost charming at this point.

 

[Jaykay]

Kaiser-Faber is a really fun pairing, both skate so well and are so good at lugging the puck out of the zone.

 

[William H Bonney]

Really poor 3rd period to let Slovakia back in it. That's a good Slovakian team though, so full credit to them for turning it on. Really interested to see how Slovakia does next year. They could do some serious damage with so many eligible returnees.

Beniers needs to be a lot better. Smilanic loss hurts our top 9, hopefully he's back next game.

I don't know if it's by design or not but our defensemen need to be a lot more active in the offensive zone. Other than Kleven and occasionally Sanderson, they were largely parked at the blue line all game. We have too much talent on the back end to not have them constantly active offensively, especially given our lack of top end forward talent. Compare how active Canada's defensemen we're today compared to ours. That needs to change.

 

[bsu]

All our forwards play the same exact way.... lol

 

[William H Bonney]

All our forwards play the same exact way.... lol

Losing Bordeleau was a huge loss as he'd be our most creative forward.

 

[SK94]

Our offence is the area that worries me the most. There were opportunities to bury this game, but we just miss those big time players this year. I don't have too much good to say outside of the second period but least Commesso was solid.

 

[Rabid Ranger]

I'll give Slovakia credit. They are a good team with some talented players who stepped up while the U.S. sat on a lead. Can't do that. Also, very disappointed to see a lack of composure/discipline at the end of both the first and second periods. You just knew that was going to come back and bite them. They won, which is good, but they will need to build on this.

 

[Zero Pucks Given]

I'll give Slovakia credit. They are a good team with some talented players who stepped up while the U.S. sat on a lead. Can't do that. Also, very disappointed to see a lack of composure/discipline at the end of both the first and second periods. You just knew that was going to come back and bite them. They won, which is good, but they will need to build on this.

Still better than outright losing to the Slovaks a la 2018

 

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

Losing Bordeleau was a huge loss as he'd be our most creative forward.

I think I'd give the nod to Pastujov in that category.

Speaking of which, he needs to play more. Only got 6 mins of ice time and still found a way to get 3 shots.

 

[Rabid Ranger]

I think I'd give the nod to Pastujov in that category.

Speaking of which, he needs to play more. Only got 6 mins of ice time and still found a way to get 3 shots.

Yeah, he appears to be the whipping boy.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

I thought we were okay enough in that game. I wouldn’t say I was happy with that performance, but it also wasn’t a bad performance. We sat on the lead late, which I don’t like, and came out with little early energy, but mostly controlled that game as we should.

Commesso has been good through the exhibition game and first game of the tournament. I think the concerns about him were always overblown because he plays on a rotten team this year. I thought Samoskevich was flying. Probably our top player in this game. He cannot be playing less than 14 minutes if we want to be able to score in this tournament. I liked Cooley’s game. Knies played well. Some of the support guys like Dickinson and James showed up. We need more from some of the top forwards, but I’m not too worried about that.

The defense worries me more. Aside from Kaiser, I’ve been pretty disappointed in the defensemen. They haven’t been bad with a lot of calamitous errors, but they aren’t doing much that helps us win games. I don’t think any of the pairs are working. I really don’t like the approach where we play 8 guys and spread out the talent on each pair. No more than 6 should take regular shifts, and 8 shouldn’t be seeing the ice in a game unless someone is forced to leave a game.

 

[Static]

Pastujov should probably be a regular player. Weird

 

[SK94]

Goalie choice is interesting against Switzerland. Either Mbereko or Silverstein is going to start or then you ride with Commesso the whole tournament. I would like to think that guys are good enough to give one rest for Commesso but i am not sure about that.

 

[William H Bonney]

Goalie choice is interesting against Switzerland. Either Mbereko or Silverstein is going to start or then you ride with Commesso the whole tournament. I would like to think that guys are good enough to give one rest for Commesso but i am not sure about that.

I'd ride Commesso. Mbereko is not good and while Silverstein is actually good, he's only 17. Maybe hope they get a comfortable lead early against the Swiss and pull Commesso to rest.

If we do rest Commesso, I hope we start Silverstein.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

I’d go with Silverstein. If we want to win the tournament, we have to set Commesso up for success. No reason to overwork him with an extra game.

If Switzerland plays well enough that goaltending could even possibly lose us the game, the team around the goalie didn’t do their job.

 

[TheBeastCoast]

 

[Golden_Jet]

IHHF has cancelled the game, the USA forfeits now.
IIHF - Team USA placed in quarantine, to miss game

 

[peconcan]

So stupid they have to forfeit. Why not just rapid test all the other guys and let them play? What happens if this happened in the medal rounds?

 

[Golden_Jet]

So stupid they have to forfeit. Why not just rapid test all the other guys and let them play? What happens if this happened in the medal rounds?

Not confirmed, but sounds like 2 goalies might be positive, that's why.

 

[peconcan]

Not confirmed, but sounds like 2 goalies might be positive, that's why.

That makes more sense then. Does USA not have 3 goalies though?

 

[William H Bonney]

Forcing a team to forfeit because 2 of 25 players tested positive is beyond lunacy, even if it's 2 of the 3 goalies. There's still a 3rd goalie and if he's negative, why can't they play?

 

[SK94]

Player from the press box can dress as a back up and problem solved.