WJC: 2024 Team USA Roster Talk
- Thread starter William H Bonney
- Start date
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William H Bonney
Registered User
Always important to not read much at all into the exhibition games. Some good things, some not so much, all just a part of the progression of a team in a short tournament.
The biggest thing I didn't like today was the no-show effort in the 3rd period, which hopefully is a good learning lesson. Augustine and Fowler both need to be sharper when the games count, as do the special teams. Snuggerud looked like junior-aged Tage Thompson today missing the net on half-a-dozen quality chances. I liked the play of guys like Finley, Leonard, Pohlkamp, and Moore today and others certainly had their moments as well. All-in-all, a really fun game between Canada and the US today even though it was an exhibition.
As to the guys who won't officially be on the roster, I'd be surprised if Terrance isn't the odd man out at forward. Defense is a little more up in the air. They need more out of Chesley who wasn't good in the exhibitions but he's a lock. I'd suspect it'll be Minnetian or Fortescue as the odd man out. I think the coaches will opt to keep Fortescue for his length, left shot, and defensive defenseman proclivities.
The biggest thing I didn't like today was the no-show effort in the 3rd period, which hopefully is a good learning lesson. Augustine and Fowler both need to be sharper when the games count, as do the special teams. Snuggerud looked like junior-aged Tage Thompson today missing the net on half-a-dozen quality chances. I liked the play of guys like Finley, Leonard, Pohlkamp, and Moore today and others certainly had their moments as well. All-in-all, a really fun game between Canada and the US today even though it was an exhibition.
As to the guys who won't officially be on the roster, I'd be surprised if Terrance isn't the odd man out at forward. Defense is a little more up in the air. They need more out of Chesley who wasn't good in the exhibitions but he's a lock. I'd suspect it'll be Minnetian or Fortescue as the odd man out. I think the coaches will opt to keep Fortescue for his length, left shot, and defensive defenseman proclivities.
Is it crazy to suggest that Howard might be best served in a 13th forward + powerplay role once Mcgroarty is healthy?
Mcgroarty-Gauthier-Snuggerud
Perreault-Smith-Leonard
Moore-Nazar-Brindley
Finley-Nelson-Hayes
Howard
Mcgroarty-Gauthier-Snuggerud
Perreault-Smith-Leonard
Moore-Nazar-Brindley
Finley-Nelson-Hayes
Howard
Exhibition games, yes, but the BC line is passing every test with flying colors thus far.
Juxtaposer
Outro: Divina Comedia
Rabid Ranger
2 is better than one
It was just an exhibition, like WHB said, but I think the game exposed a potential downfall of this team, and that is getting pinned down in their own zone. It may not be a big deal against the likes of Norway, but the medal round will be a problem. Harder to simply outscore your opponents when it gets to that stage.
Didn’t like how we reached when the game got more physical. They skated thru plays….we reached.
Moore has to play. Gotta find a spot when Rutger is back.
my instinct is to worry about playing too cute. But with that much skill, we should try to be cute sometimes.
Nazar was excellent.
Is it just me or were we awful in own-zone face offs? Felt that way.
Moore has to play. Gotta find a spot when Rutger is back.
my instinct is to worry about playing too cute. But with that much skill, we should try to be cute sometimes.
Nazar was excellent.
Is it just me or were we awful in own-zone face offs? Felt that way.
Will echo the thought of others that Moore needs to play. His style is a great fit for this tournament where a game breaking skater can take advantage of teams that don’t have a ton of chemistry and systems are a little looser.
I actually quite like him as a puck transporter for Snuggerud and Gauthier.
I actually quite like him as a puck transporter for Snuggerud and Gauthier.
- Apr 27, 2005
- 36,202
- 36,175
I like this idea a lot, as it also allows McGroarty to slide down and play alongside Nazar and Brindley, which would be a really tough line to matchup against and there's some familiarity there.
Moore - Gauthier - Snuggerud
Perreault - Smith - Leonard
McGroarty - Nazar - Brindley
Feels like a strong, well balanced top 9.
The only thing I’d argue against that setup is that the Mcgroarty-Nazar-Brindley line didn’t really work when Michigan tried it earlier this year
- Apr 27, 2005
- 36,202
- 36,175
What's everyone's thoughts on the D pairings? And is anyone else really worried about Buium? He looked really shaky against Canada, hopefully it's just nerves because we've only got 3 left handed dmen on the roster, so he's probably gonna play. But I have Fortescue above him at this point. Rinzel and Pohlkamp have also been better.
I have also not been very impressed with Chesley, the Buium - Chesley pairing was just brutal when they were played together against Canada. I wouldn't mind experimenting with Rinzel up with Hutson or even on the left side with Casey if that means we can drop Buium down. Chesley was arguably our worst RHD vs Canada, but he's obviously he's gonna play. I think Hutson is gonna be puck dominant in this tournament, to the point where he's not gonna need a "steady" partner as much, so I think Rinzel could work there. I think Rinzel's shot would best utilized next to Hutson or Casey.
I'm guessing we'll see something like:
Hutson - Chesley
Fortescue - Casey
Buium - Rinzel
Here's what I would like to experiment with:
Hutson - Chesley
Rinzel - Casey
Fortescue - Pohlkamp
Hutson - Rinzel
Fortescue - Casey
Pohlkamp - Chesley
Hutson and Casey are the only two guys I really trust to handle a heavy forecheck without losing composure.
I have also not been very impressed with Chesley, the Buium - Chesley pairing was just brutal when they were played together against Canada. I wouldn't mind experimenting with Rinzel up with Hutson or even on the left side with Casey if that means we can drop Buium down. Chesley was arguably our worst RHD vs Canada, but he's obviously he's gonna play. I think Hutson is gonna be puck dominant in this tournament, to the point where he's not gonna need a "steady" partner as much, so I think Rinzel could work there. I think Rinzel's shot would best utilized next to Hutson or Casey.
I'm guessing we'll see something like:
Hutson - Chesley
Fortescue - Casey
Buium - Rinzel
Here's what I would like to experiment with:
Hutson - Chesley
Rinzel - Casey
Fortescue - Pohlkamp
Hutson - Rinzel
Fortescue - Casey
Pohlkamp - Chesley
Hutson and Casey are the only two guys I really trust to handle a heavy forecheck without losing composure.
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Chesley was a clear lock for everybody and it is clear that he is going to play reasonably big minutes during the tournament despite he hasn't been impressive this year or last year. This is perfect example how USA Hockey is doing their business often. He is one of those guys who had spot in this team already year ago despite his weak tournament.
Juxtaposer
Outro: Divina Comedia
Buium was a bit of a disaster defensively against Canada, if I’m honest.
Rabid Ranger
2 is better than one
The defense overall struggled under pressure and that will probably be the game plan for teams moving forward,
ORRFForever
Registered User
- Oct 29, 2018
- 20,406
- 11,541
I'm going to follow @WhiskeyYerTheDevils lead and wish all the American posters a Merry Christmas. If 2024 has taught us anything, it's taught us how important GOOD neighbours are and there are no better neighbours than Canada and the U.S. - hockey rivalry aside. Merry Christmas and God bless you all. You are a blessing as a "neighbor".
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Has there been any sort of confirmation on mcgroarty's status for the first game against Norway? He's the captain so kinda weird to name him captain knowing he's not playing game one, but on the other hand the game is gonna be a blowout either way.
And what were the PP lines in the last exhibition game against Canada?
And what were the PP lines in the last exhibition game against Canada?
Pavel Buchnevich
"Pavel Buchnevich The Fake"
Is this actually true?
Because as far as I can tell, he has the best +/- on Minnesota this year by a pretty decent margin. And last year he was middle of the pack, including ahead of some players now playing in the NHL. +/- absolutely has it's faults, so maybe it's deceiving in this situation, but I'd tend to think if you lead a good team by a decent margin you probably aren't struggling. And last season I watched some games, so I'm more able to give my own opinion (compared to this season I haven't yet seen any for Minnesota), I think he was very serviceable last season. He was playing mostly 3rd pair behind three guys now in the NHL, and the fourth that was usually above him on the lines chart was an upperclassman that is a decent player. He's also second on Minnesota in defenseman points this season, despite I'm pretty sure not getting any PP time. People here saying Rinzel is doing better. Is he actually doing better or he just has some more PP time that inflates his stats?
At this tournament last year, he wasn't bad. He got underused, as usually happens at this tournament where coaches overplay the older defensemen. We took a very small defense last year (as we are doing again this year). Chesley was one of the few that wasn't small on that defense core, and when it mattered the small defensemen struggled boxing out, tying up sticks, and winning puck battles. We actually might've had more success if we used him more, but it's not too surprising. Coaches tend to lean on older defensemen.
I read one recent criticism here that I think might've prompted this discussion about how he was struggling. I watched the Canada game, and didn't see it. We gave up 5 goals, and I think he was only on the ice for one. The goal he was on the ice for the left-defenseman (I think it was Buium) lost a puck battle near the net and it turned into a scramble. Chesley could've done a little more to help out his defense partner, but it wasn't on him why the goal happened. I think he had one other notable turnover where the goalie gave him a hospital pass, and he flung it up the boards to where his winger could've been but the other team's was. Amounted to nothing. I didn't see the Sweden game, but he was solid against Canada.
These criticisms seem mostly unfounded to me. He's not going to score like 8 or 9 points in this tournament. He's been cast as a defensive defenseman, even though he's really more of a two way defenseman, so I think the expectations have to be that he plays good defense against top lines, and makes up for some of the physical deficits of the other defensemen. I think he will be capable of doing that. It'd be unfair to judge him on total points compared to Hutson or Casey. His role won't allow for him to score those points, as it doesn't with his college team.
William H Bonney
Registered User
Roster registered with the IIHF: IIHF - United States
McGroarty in. Terrance, Minnetian the odd men out barring them being registered due to a player being lost to injury.
McGroarty in. Terrance, Minnetian the odd men out barring them being registered due to a player being lost to injury.
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All set up here. Plenty of coffee for games one and two; plenty of beer on ice for games three and four. Enjoy the tourney, Folks!
Won’t matter for this game but Moore has been better than Howard for me in the exhibitions.
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