WJC: 2023 Team Canada Roster Talk Part 2

[Scheifele55]

Team Canada would have been better off selecting Dom DiVincentiis. He has played really well on North Bay and some thought he was the best goalie in the OHL, definitely best under 19 goalie last year.

 

[Mr Buckles]

ANYONE, with link for the TC vs Germany game. There is no saved game for Game on Demand on TSN anymore.

Hockey Canada Videos - Highlights and Analysis from the World Juniors, Men's and Women's Worlds

Watch highlights and analysis video from the World Juniors, Men's and Women's World Championship. TSN Hockey Insiders and analysts deliver exclusive interviews, analysis, highlights and more.

www.tsn.ca

 

[GermanSpitfire]

Team Canada would have been better off selecting Dom DiVincentiis. He has played really well on North Bay and some thought he was the best goalie in the OHL, definitely best under 19 goalie last year.

William Rousseau would have been the better choice was even at camp, and even played real well at said camp.

Canada bucking the “We can’t have a 17 year old start“ trend by inviting Carson Bjarnason to camp who has been excellent so far this year.

DiV isn’t likely to start next year either

 

[BigRangy]

From an overall team perspective, it’s gotta be a little concerning that Canada has by my (possibly wrong) count only 3 even strength goals in 3 games that didn’t involve Bedard. And two of them were just the opposing goalie whiffing on a floater from the point.

The Allan goal was a solid one, even though it was stoppable as well. Going back up against the better teams this is slightly concerning me.

 

[BigRangy]

There’s one!

 

[Dominance]

Went from the worst 10 minutes of any Canadian WJC team I can recall to a pretty solid wave-on-wave attack.

We need to be better overall against Sweden, and that kind of start to the game simply cannot happen again.

 

[Daximus]

Went from the worst 10 minutes of any Canadian WJC team I can recall to a pretty solid wave-on-wave attack.

We need to be better overall against Sweden, and that kind of start to the game simply cannot happen again.

Yeah if we start like that vs Sweden its gonna be bad. Hard to get to excited about beating up on Germany and Austria considering thats what every other good team seems to be doing as well. Sweden is going to be a tough test and I'm not sure this squad is prepared for it yet.

 

[Spic Bud]

Its honestly crazy to me that the two NHL loans at forward can't drive the play even against the bottom feeders... I thought Wright Guenther and Othmann on a line could establish a strong cycle game but I have been so unimpressed by them. Powerplay is great though.

 

[ORRFForever]

We will be fine against Sweden.

 

[Mr Buckles]

From an overall team perspective, it’s gotta be a little concerning that Canada has by my (possibly wrong) count only 3 even strength goals in 3 games that didn’t involve Bedard.

I don't think the lines have been ironed out just yet, as only 1 line has 'gotten going' so far.

It's been masked by playing Germany and Austria, but will become a bigger problem when they go up against Sweden.

 

[SpoolCat]

I gotta say despite the two blowouts I'm not feeling so good about this team. Connor Bedard is doing pretty much all the scoring Its starting to remind me of 2021 when Dylan Cozens did pretty much all the scoring . As we can all recall from that tournament Cozens was shut down in the final against the US and we went out with a whimper.
I have to say the most concerning thing is how invisible Guenther and Wright have been 5 on 5. Playing Austria I'm not sure I noticed Wright more than once or twice against Austria.
Another thing about 2021 we had a very good goalie unlike this year. So I imagine we'll be exposed earlier.
Another thing that is concerning me is the amount of grinders we have on this team. We have 5 or 6 when I think we really just need 3 for one line. I'm not saying we shouldn't have grinders when we have the right amount it works well like in 2015 with Ritchie, Crouse and Paul but more than one line is excessive and is really hurting our scoring. Having Dumais and Bolduc for offense would probably be better then Dach and Schaefer.

 

[ORRFForever]

None of the other teams are even close to great. We'll be fine.

If I was another team, Canada is the last team I'd want to face.

 

[SpoolCat]

None of the other teams are even close to great. We'll be fine.

If I was another team, Canada is the last team I'd want to face.

I admire your optimism. Its just I've seen enough Team Canada's to know when they're clicking and they don't feel like it yet. With that being said it could happen still. Look at last year MacTavish did most of the scoring in the preliminary round. Then Stankoven and Johnson took over and we won.

 

[Mr Buckles]

Another thing that is concerning me is the amount of grinders we have on this team... more than one line is excessive and is really hurting our scoring.

That's why I'd like to see Roy go back to the 3rd line. Then you'd at least have 2 lines going (Stankoven + Bedard would still work without Roy), and the potential for the Wright line to break out at any point.

 

[GreenLine]

From an overall team perspective, it’s gotta be a little concerning that Canada has by my (possibly wrong) count only 3 even strength goals in 3 games that didn’t involve Bedard. And two of them were just the opposing goalie whiffing on a floater from the point.

The Allan goal was a solid one, even though it was stoppable as well. Going back up against the better teams this is slightly concerning me.

Absolutely. Any top team can focus on shutting down Bedard if no one else steps up. Even if he puts in a heroic effort and scores a couple or draws some penalties, it's not going to be enough with the goaltending they have. They need other lines to get going at even strength.

 

[JackSlater]

I gotta say despite the two blowouts I'm not feeling so good about this team. Connor Bedard is doing pretty much all the scoring Its starting to remind me of 2021 when Dylan Cozens did pretty much all the scoring . As we can all recall from that tournament Cozens was shut down in the final against the US and we went out with a whimper.
I have to say the most concerning thing is how invisible Guenther and Wright have been 5 on 5. Playing Austria I'm not sure I noticed Wright more than once or twice against Austria.
Another thing about 2021 we had a very good goalie unlike this year. So I imagine we'll be exposed earlier.
Another thing that is concerning me is the amount of grinders we have on this team. We have 5 or 6 when I think we really just need 3 for one line. I'm not saying we shouldn't have grinders when we have the right amount it works well like in 2015 with Ritchie, Crouse and Paul but more than one line is excessive and is really hurting our scoring. Having Dumais and Bolduc for offense would probably be better then Dach and Schaefer.

I agree, I'm not getting a good feeling from this team yet. The power play is ridiculous and that's great, also usually a good indicator of tournament success, but as we saw as recently as the last gold medal game a dominant power play can go cold at any time. At even strength the team hasn't looked great and is prone to defensive gaffes even against the teams that got decimated. I will say that I've mostly liked Wright's game in that he's been very unselfish and supports the play well, but you'd like to see the top line do more than just dominate on the power play. I want to see Canada control play at even strength against a strong team before feeling confident.

At this point I'm ready to write the grinders, for the most part, off as a mistake. They make sense if the team was going to play with an aggressive forecheck that would wear the opposition down as the game wore on. Canada has had great success at the junior level with an aggressive forecheck that other teams are not accustomed to. Canada doesn't play with much structure though and those players tend to just float around for the most part until someone on the team gets the puck. They serve no purpose with how this team plays. You'd be better off with two of Savoie/Dumais/Bolduc/Greene/Kidney in and two of Bankier/Dach/Schaefer out, as at least the skilled players might make a depth line seem threatening. I find it difficult to judge the defence due to who Canada has played. The team focusing on bringing size has proven a littel strange thus far since they don't really use it. The goaltenders need to be compensated for if this team is going to win.

The game against Sweden should be very informative. No team has looked particularly strong at this tournament and that game is a good opportunity for Canada to take a big step forward.

 

[Scheifele55]

William Rousseau would have been the better choice was even at camp, and even played real well at said camp.

Canada bucking the “We can’t have a 17 year old start“ trend by inviting Carson Bjarnason to camp who has been excellent so far this year.

DiV isn’t likely to start next year either

I agree unless Div wins top goalie this year and next year is solid then he SHOULD get an opportunity.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

I'm still waiting to see this team look dominant when it's not on the PP. The lack of skill up front from the majority of the forwards makes me wonder why Canada opted to take "grinders" instead of going for more pure puck skill. Never been a fan of it. Reminds me too much of the whole Rob Zamuner experiment.

Hopefully this team can play well at 5on5 versus Sweden. If it does next to nothing at 5on5 and relies on scoring a bunch on the PP to beat Sweden then that's going to be an issue.

 

[wishywashy19]

I gotta say despite the two blowouts I'm not feeling so good about this team. Connor Bedard is doing pretty much all the scoring Its starting to remind me of 2021 when Dylan Cozens did pretty much all the scoring . As we can all recall from that tournament Cozens was shut down in the final against the US and we went out with a whimper.
I have to say the most concerning thing is how invisible Guenther and Wright have been 5 on 5. Playing Austria I'm not sure I noticed Wright more than once or twice against Austria.
Another thing about 2021 we had a very good goalie unlike this year. So I imagine we'll be exposed earlier.
Another thing that is concerning me is the amount of grinders we have on this team. We have 5 or 6 when I think we really just need 3 for one line. I'm not saying we shouldn't have grinders when we have the right amount it works well like in 2015 with Ritchie, Crouse and Paul but more than one line is excessive and is really hurting our scoring. Having Dumais and Bolduc for offense would probably be better then Dach and Schaefer.

Could not agree more.
Too much western cedar and not enough east coast rabbits.

 

[MasterPecno]

I knew this team was big slow and soft

Wright is a disappointment

You stop bedard and you stop this team

How many goals 5 on 5 that didn’t include bedard ? Not many I bed

Missing savoie and Beck and dumais

Awful job by the coach

They build a salary cap team

 

[MasterPecno]

I gotta say despite the two blowouts I'm not feeling so good about this team. Connor Bedard is doing pretty much all the scoring Its starting to remind me of 2021 when Dylan Cozens did pretty much all the scoring . As we can all recall from that tournament Cozens was shut down in the final against the US and we went out with a whimper.
I have to say the most concerning thing is how invisible Guenther and Wright have been 5 on 5. Playing Austria I'm not sure I noticed Wright more than once or twice against Austria.
Another thing about 2021 we had a very good goalie unlike this year. So I imagine we'll be exposed earlier.
Another thing that is concerning me is the amount of grinders we have on this team. We have 5 or 6 when I think we really just need 3 for one line. I'm not saying we shouldn't have grinders when we have the right amount it works well like in 2015 with Ritchie, Crouse and Paul but more than one line is excessive and is really hurting our scoring. Having Dumais and Bolduc for offense would probably be better then Dach and Schaefer.

Nice post

I agree, I'm not getting a good feeling from this team yet. The power play is ridiculous and that's great, also usually a good indicator of tournament success, but as we saw as recently as the last gold medal game a dominant power play can go cold at any time. At even strength the team hasn't looked great and is prone to defensive gaffes even against the teams that got decimated. I will say that I've mostly liked Wright's game in that he's been very unselfish and supports the play well, but you'd like to see the top line do more than just dominate on the power play. I want to see Canada control play at even strength against a strong team before feeling confident.

At this point I'm ready to write the grinders, for the most part, off as a mistake. They make sense if the team was going to play with an aggressive forecheck that would wear the opposition down as the game wore on. Canada has had great success at the junior level with an aggressive forecheck that other teams are not accustomed to. Canada doesn't play with much structure though and those players tend to just float around for the most part until someone on the team gets the puck. They serve no purpose with how this team plays. You'd be better off with two of Savoie/Dumais/Bolduc/Greene/Kidney in and two of Bankier/Dach/Schaefer out, as at least the skilled players might make a depth line seem threatening. I find it difficult to judge the defence due to who Canada has played. The team focusing on bringing size has proven a littel strange thus far since they don't really use it. The goaltenders need to be compensated for if this team is going to win.

The game against Sweden should be very informative. No team has looked particularly strong at this tournament and that game is a good opportunity for Canada to take a big step forward.

Oh come on , you out of all people , you were for this team and even came out against some posters because they called out this soft big team and now you are questioning the team ??

 

[prongertheman9]

I knew this team was big slow and soft

Wright is a disappointment

You stop bedard and you stop this team

How many goals 5 on 5 that didn’t include bedard ? Not many I bed

Missing savoie and Beck and dumais

Awful job by the coach

They build a salary cap team

US not looking like world beaters with their small mobile D-core. Thoughts?

 

[TopShelfWaterBottle]

Haven’t been able to watch but one game. Has zellweger been the top D offensively?

 

[JackSlater]

Nice post


Oh come on , you out of all people , you were for this team and even came out against some posters because they called out this soft big team and now you are questioning the team ??

I laughed at you for your blatant tantrums, yes. As for the team it's still probably the favourite but I'm not impressed now that it has actually played three games. It's certainly not to the level of the dominant, impenetrable American defence.

Haven’t been able to watch but one game. Has zellweger been the top D offensively?

Yes, he's on the first power play and generally does a very good job pushing the puck up the ice.

 

[NeverForget06]

Don't think we've looked all that strong so far.... but has anyone?

We're lucky there isn't a Michkov led Russian team in this mix. Things would be very interesting