U18: 2024 Team USA

[SK94]

Now I wouldn't blame Kempf at all. Couldn't do anything for those three goals and was good enough.

 

[Juxtaposer]

I'm not directing that to you

Alright. But I gotta say, Connolly has earned his haters and did nothing to dispel what people hate about him.

 

[William H Bonney]

Hagens is going to be so hard on himself for not burying a couple of those that are normally gimmes for him.

 

[SK94]

When you build two years for this and then the team isn't ready to win against teams that haven't played together all the time, that's a massive failure for the program. The best thing is that they will probably be satisfied that the boys will go home with a medal.

Sure, to some extent it might even increase the pressure. Canada and others only had something to win. The USA had the entire two-year project at stake.

 

[William H Bonney]

We need a coach with a mustache

 

[SK94]

Hagens is going to be so hard on himself for not burying a couple of those that are normally gimmes for him.

4-2 and I think that would have been it.

 

[William H Bonney]

When you build two years for this and then the team isn't ready to win against teams that haven't played together all the time, that's a massive failure for the program. The best thing is that they will probably be satisfied that the boys will go home with a medal.

Sure, to some extent it might even increase the pressure. Canada and others only had something to win. The USA had the entire two-year project at stake.

This is a downside of the program. They put far too much into this tournament. Of course Canada or anyone else wants to badly win the tournament, but it's a different pressure.

And for as much as the continuity of the NTDP often gives them a big advantage in this tournament, it's often a big negative, too. They don't deviate from their approach even when the need is obvious because that approach is what they've done for for 2 years, and despite the misbelief, they don't pick the best players they could select. Every year there's at least 6 or so guys that don't really belong at this level anymore, and some years it's more drastic like this one, where it's probably more like 10. Sometimes it works about because the role players are great at the roles, and other times like this team, their role players are normally guys who should get cut from this team.

 

[Zegs2sendhelp]

Havnt the last couple u20 usa gold medals come off of disappointing u18s?

Gold incoming?

 

[Deep Blue Metallic]

best team + stupidest player + meh goalie = silver

 

[SK94]

Canada's f***ing magic touch is starting to piss me off. Somehow they know how to win. WJC is the only one where we are really head to head with them. In the U18s, when they get a team that can win, they do it. They take WC gold medals with medicore teams, and when it comes to the Olympics, I don't even bother to compare.

 

[JiggsNY]

Can add this one to the always growing list of excruciatingly frustrating gold medal game collapses. Didn't bury our chances, heavily outshot them, let them hang around, unnecessary hit, harsh iihf rulebook, 3 goals on a major penalty in the gold medal game. Top to bottom brutal

 

[William H Bonney]

Havnt the last couple u20 usa gold medals come off of disappointing u18s?

Gold incoming?

Yeah, the 01s and 04s both choked away gold medals at this tournament. Both those were heartbreaking in a different way than today. IIRC the shots were like 50+ to 15-ish and those teams each hit like 6+ posts on the way to losing to shit goaltending and bad luck. This team was on its way to a similar performance even if they pulled it out but then the major changed everything.

 

[JiggsNY]

We're not underdogs, we win at this tournament and at the U-20s with decent regularity, they need to start acting like it. Put your foot down and shut the door. USAH needs to stop playing down to their opponents when it matters most.

 

[SanDogBrewin]

The clearing attempt right before the 3rd Canada goal, during the 5 minute major, was a back breaker.

 

[SK94]

1 gold in the last 6 years, excluding the covid year. It is a shamefully bad result and those responsible for it should seriously think about why. There has been talent and it hasn't been the reason.

I have often criticized the level of our coaching. However, I won't start criticizing Fohr so much this time. Sure, the team didn't come ready for the last period, but...

 

[JiggsNY]

Havnt the last couple u20 usa gold medals come off of disappointing u18s?

Gold incoming?

Really hope so. We've won a good amount at both levels, but we also have just as many collapses. Hopefully this one can be redeemed too. We'll prob be favorites to win, but im sure Canada will be loaded too (hoping Celebrini is in NHL)

 

[Zegs2sendhelp]

Really hope so. We've won a good amount at both levels, but we also have just as many collapses. Hopefully this one can be redeemed too. We'll prob be favorites to win, but im sure Canada will be loaded too (hoping Celebrini is in NHL)

Psh give ‘em canadas best…. They hungry now!

 

[SK94]

It would be nice if these losses were least less brutal. It kind of feels like you follow these tournaments for a few weeks and then it ends with some 10 post hits or a total collapse or a something like that. Especially now against Canada.

 

[William H Bonney]

I'm still of the opinion that the program now consistently choking here is probably a good thing long term in terms of possibly bringing about change. Regardless of how much you put it on the program or just improved interest and player development in hockey in general, the program has no doubt helped improve U18/20 results. Which is great, but it's time for the program to take the next step instead of continually hanging its hat on U18 championships, which while nice, aren't that important. Now that they are choking at the U18s quite frequently, maybe it'll cause the program to change to some extent. What the change is, who knows, but they at least need to hold themselves to a higher standard (both in terms of dominating this tournament but also thinking bigger than it, too) and change is good as nothing needs to stay the same for 2+ decades.

 

[SK94]

That's a tough question, because it's not like this team wasn't good enough for gold. Would there have been 5-6 good additions available there? Sure, but that's not why we lost this time either.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

This is a little reminiscent of two years ago where we dominated the GMG and goaltending did us in.

It definitely did in this game. We knew this team didn’t have strong goaltending. Parsons and Heil are sieves, and Kempf is average, at best. The main question was if Kempf could not lose it for us in a game where he faces a good team that could actually score more than 1 or 2. The answer is that he couldn’t. Almost all those goals he gave up are savable. I’m not asking him to stop all of them, but when you give up 3 on one single PP you have to say the goaltender needs to do better than that.

Connelly’s penalty obviously changed the game. Absolutely brain dead play. He should not make the 2025 World Junior team for that. How he thinks the game is something I question, and situationally throwing an illegal hit like that is about the stupidest thing you could've done. That's probably the only way we lose that game is if we do something stupid like that. We were in complete control. He was essentially a mercenary who cost a team a title that he wasn't meant to be part of. USAH brass included him. Doubt it was Fohr who was lobbying for him. This guy with all his off-ice troubles they brought in (something they've rarely done over the years). They put a lot of faith in him, and he totally let everyone down. Really bitter that this happened.

We can talk about how flawed this team was in certain ways, and they were, but they were clearly the better team in this game until that penalty and then that changed the game. Can't really start second guessing others when you dominate Canada in a game for 50 minutes and then do something like that to turn the outcome on its head. That's what decided this game.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

You can't hit a guy in the head. If you do it's a 5. It's a basic IIHF rule. Doesn't matter if he didn't mean to do it. There was no reason to even throw the hit. You're asking for trouble when you go that far to throw a hit on a guy that's already engaged with another player.

Yeah, it was 100% a five minute major for me.

I'm a USAH fan through and through. Was really rooting hard for us in that game. I questioned a few of the referee decisions, but I thought that was clearcut. No debate that was 5 and a game.

 

[Joe Zanussi]

It was certainly a 5 minute penalty. The fact that he brought attention to it by lining it up from 20 yds away just adds to the lunacy. Wish I knew what he could’ve been thinking.

 

[illone84]

Congrats huge win! Loads of talent from this team to watch in upcoming u20s. Also, very entertaining American team.....Could see a Canada vs USA final in Ottawa in early January 2025.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

These guys are probably not going straight to college next year.