WJC: 2025 Team Canada Roster Talk

[JimmyApples]

He didn't pick the team and he didn't delegate the ice time. It's not his fault his coach thought he was Mcdavid and gave him PP1 Pk1 and 1st line ice time and rode him like celebrini.

Baffling decision, honestly.

You’re right, that’s not his fault.

But it is his fault when he blindly backhands the puck into the slot with the net empty. Or has the most embarrassing shootout attempt. Or takes a dumb penalty that cost us a chance of a comeback vs USA. Or doesn’t pass the puck on a 2 on 0.

 

[TheDoldrums]

You’re right, that’s not his fault.

But it is his fault when he blindly backhands the puck into the slot with the net empty. Or has the most embarrassing shootout attempt. Or takes a dumb penalty that cost us a chance of a comeback vs USA. Or doesn’t pass the puck on a 2 on 0.

He's scored on that exact shootout routine multiple times. Against Carter George. In NHL preseason games. You're being very weird to keep referencing this, especially considering every other Canadian shooter (some of who went multiple times) didn't score either.

Edit: Oh damn I didn't realize which account I was replying to nvm

 

[Divine]

You’re right, that’s not his fault.

But it is his fault when he blindly backhands the puck into the slot with the net empty. Or has the most embarrassing shootout attempt. Or takes a dumb penalty that cost us a chance of a comeback vs USA. Or doesn’t pass the puck on a 2 on 0.

You expected a 19 year old player to score on every opportunity he had? Where is that standard for the rest of the team? Cowan set up Ritchie a few times last game and he whiffed on open nets. Yager and McKenna had chance after chance last game.

 

[Matttheleaf]

You expected a 19 year old player to score on every opportunity he had? Where is that standard for the rest of the team? Cowan set up Ritchie a few times last game and he whiffed on open nets.

When expectations get set super high on a player, winning OHL regular season mvp (probably not deserved), winning the OHL championship and playoff mvp, having a 50+ game point streak and being constantly pushed as a great talent on Canadas first line then you are expected to perform at a higher level. Now once again I don't think all that pressure is fair, but if all eyes are pointed at you cause of what you have done you better perform or else (in those people's eyes at least).

 

[nbwingsfan]

Canada could have really used a Carter Yakemchuk, just saying

They could have, and there were still arguably 3-4 guys they could have used before him too.

Just shows how poorly this team was chosen

You expected a 19 year old player to score on every opportunity he had? Where is that standard for the rest of the team? Cowan set up Ritchie a few times last game and he whiffed on open nets. Yager and McKenna had chance after chance last game.

Yeager and Ritchie sucked too, although Ritchie created chances.

Cowan was clearly being used as the #1 forward the whole tournament and was very very bad at it

I don’t know how that’s even debatable.

 

[JimmyApples]

I disagree he did more harm than good. He was actually noticeable. People were mad at him for not scoring on chances, like you just did in your last paragraph with the breakaway. He at least generated chances unlike most of the forwards. Gave the breakaway pass for the shorthanded goal. Led Team Canada in points.

Canada ties the game against Latvia, assisted by Cowan.
Ethan Gauthier takes a penalty immediately after, Finland ties the game.
Not a single player scored in the shootout vs Latvia in 8 attempts, including Berkly Catton, who had 2 attempts. It's Cowan's fault they lost because his shootout shot didn't look pretty though.
Blame the loss on Cowan.

Canada vs USA:
Game is tied, Sawyer Minio takes a penalty
USA scored to put the team up 2-1
Blame the loss on Cowan because if not for him they win 3-2?

Canada vs Czech
Cowan sets up the breakaway that ties the game at 1-1
Sam Dickinson scores an own goal to put the team down 2-1
Eventually the team ties the game with 3 minutes left in the game
Andrew Gibson takes a kneeing penalty immediately after
Czech scores the GWG on the PP
Blame the loss on Cowan

Yes, Cowan was 37th in WJC which is the top scoring player on team Canada. The same way Stutzle is the top scoring player on Ottawa but 25th in the league. Does that make Stutzle a bad player for Ottawa?

But most of the time he was noticeable in a bad way, like assisting on the US empty net goal lol.

I’m not necessarily upset at him for not scoring on the 2 on 0. It was just frustrating to see him being selfish, and give up a 95% chance at an easy goal in an elimination game (which we’d end up losing by a goal). It kinda fit the bill of the tournament for Cowan - selfish play, with no results anyways.

The whole team sucked. No one is doubting that. But Cowan is a returning player who had a lot of hype and expectations, more so than most of the other players. And 3 points (1 goal) in 5 games just doesn’t cut it.

The Stutzle comparison is just… odd. There is hundreds and hundreds of players in a 32 league team, Stutzle being 25th in league scoring is a pretty nice accomplishment. There’s 10 teams in the WJC, and 2-4 of those teams get blown out by the others every year. Players with Cowan’s hype typically come into the WJC and absolutely dominate. For reference, when Stutzle was 18 (one year younger than Cowan was this tournament), he put up 10 points in 5 games.

 

[Divine]

When expectations get set super high on a player, winning OHL regular season mvp (probably not deserved), winning the OHL championship and playoff mvp, having a 50+ game point streak and being constantly pushed as a great talent on Canadas first line then you are expected to perform at a higher level. Now once again I don't think all that pressure is fair, but if all eyes are pointed at you cause of what you have done you better perform or else (in those people's eyes at least).

He's coming off an injury, and a down season in comparison to last year.

Cowan was clearly being used as the #1 forward the whole tournament and was very very bad at it

I don’t know how that’s even debatable.

He led the team in scoring though. People expected more from him, just like they expected more from the rest of the team. That's fair. What's not fair is to single him out when literally half the team had 1 point (or less).

 

[Namikaze Minato]

He's scored on that exact shootout routine multiple times. Against Carter George. In NHL preseason games. You're being very weird to keep referencing this, especially considering every other Canadian shooter (some of who went multiple times) didn't score either.

Edit: Oh damn I didn't realize which account I was replying to nvm

Haha yeah, I didnt reply to him for the same reason. He doesn't care about the result or the team he just wants to relish in one player's supposed demise. Luckily its a short tournament and not an entire career.

 

[nbwingsfan]

He's coming off an injury, and a down season in comparison to last year.



He led the team in scoring though. People expected more from him, just like they expected more from the rest of the team. That's fair. What's not fair is to single him out when literally half the team had 1 point (or less).

“Leading the team in points” isn’t the defense you think it is when it’s 3pts and as far as I know the only forward given over 20mins of playing time.

Martone had the same number of goals with like 20mins of ice time total the entire tournament lol

 

[Divine]

But most of the time he was noticeable in a bad way, like assisting on the US empty net goal lol.

I’m not necessarily upset at him for not scoring on the 2 on 0. It was just frustrating to see him being selfish, and give up a 95% chance at an easy goal in an elimination game (which we’d end up losing by a goal). It kinda fit the bill of the tournament for Cowan - selfish play, with no results anyways.

The whole team sucked. No one is doubting that. But Cowan is a returning player who had a lot of hype and expectations, more so than most of the other players. And 3 points (1 goal) in 5 games just doesn’t cut it.

The Stutzle comparison is just… odd. There is hundreds and hundreds of players in a 32 league team, Stutzle being 25th in league scoring is a pretty nice accomplishment. There’s 10 teams in the WJC, and 2-4 of those teams get blown out by the others every year. Players with Cowan’s hype typically come into the WJC and absolutely dominate. For reference, when Stutzle was 18 (one year younger than Cowan was this tournament), he put up 10 points in 5 games.

Dickinson scored in his own net in a game we lost by 1.
Ritchie missed an open net rebound when McKenna passed it and Cowan got it on net.
Gibson takes a penalty when we dominate the last 40 minutes of the game with 3 mins left to lose the game.

Lots of blame to go around. You using it as an opportunity to blame their leading scorer seems strange. Especially highlighting his game against the USA, which had no real bearing on this one or the tournament. Canada had already advanced, if your goal was to win Gold that was a meaningless game.

Glad you think the Stutzle comparison is odd, that was my point. Maybe you finally get the point that using league scoring to undermine a players team scoring rank is ridiculous. If you play on a low scoring team, which Canada was this tournament, even being the leading scorer will have you finish low in total scoring.

 

[JimmyApples]

He's scored on that exact shootout routine multiple times. Against Carter George. In NHL preseason games. You're being very weird to keep referencing this, especially considering every other Canadian shooter (some of who went multiple times) didn't score either.

Edit: Oh damn I didn't realize which account I was replying to nvm

Don’t really care what he did outside of the tournament, when we’re talking about the tournament. He did lots of stuff before the tournament I wish he would have brought to Team Canada, but unfortunately, he didn’t. The shootout attempt sucked balls.

You can play the victim card and act like everyone is against the Leafs, but you guys hyped him up. Live by the sword, die by the sword. He was the most disappointing letdown on a team full of them.

 

[JimmyApples]

Dickinson scored in his own net in a game we lost by 1.
Ritchie missed an open net rebound when McKenna passed it and Cowan got it on net.
Gibson takes a penalty when we dominate the last 40 minutes of the game with 3 mins left to lose the game.

Lots of blame to go around. You using it as an opportunity to blame their leading scorer seems strange. Especially highlighting his game against the USA, which had no real bearing on this one or the tournament. Canada had already advanced, if your goal was to win Gold that was a meaningless game.

Glad you think the Stutzle comparison is odd, that was my point. Maybe you finally get the point that using league scoring to undermine a players team scoring is ridiculous. If you play on a low scoring team, which Canada was this tournament, even being the leading scorer will have you finish low in total scoring.

Maybe Canada wouldn’t have been such a low scoring team if Cowan had lived up to the hype and converted on his chances, or been a good teammate and set his linemates up instead of being selfish?

If Cowan connected better on the Ritchie chance you’re talking about, he probably scores. But he f***ed up, for the 100th time in a short tournament.

Your comparisons are just a desperate attempt to defend your teams prospect (and they don’t make any sense lol). He’s still a good prospect, and I’m sure he’ll be at least a middle six forward in the NHL. But, in all honesty, I’m very happy he’s not eligible to play on the WJC next year and hope we get away from players like him.

 

[Divine]

“Leading the team in points” isn’t the defense you think it is when it’s 3pts and as far as I know the only forward given over 20mins of playing time.

Martone had the same number of goals with like 20mins of ice time total the entire tournament lol

When did Cowan get over 20 mins of ice time? He played like 17 mins a game. He got like 10 seconds a game more ice time than Yager. If you divided the 4 lines equally, each player would get 15 minutes. The ice time was fairly balanced.

Oh right, you're make things up to make your argument. Continue on.

 

[lakai17]

No Sennecke or Bjarnason is absurd

 

[HabsCowboysOwn]

He led the team in scoring though. People expected more from him, just like they expected more from the rest of the team. That's fair. What's not fair is to single him out when literally half the team had 1 point (or less).

3 points in 5 games lmao, a performance for the ages.

 

[Divine]

Maybe Canada wouldn’t have been such a low scoring team if Cowan had lived up to the hype and converted on his chances, or been a good teammate and set his linemates up instead of being selfish?

If Cowan connected better on the Ritchie chance you’re talking about, he probably scores. But he f***ed up, for the 100th time in a short tournament.

Your comparisons are just a desperate attempt to defend your teams prospect (and they don’t make any sense lol). He’s still a good prospect, and I’m sure he’ll be at least a middle six forward in the NHL. But, in all honesty, I’m very happy he’s not eligible to play on the WJC next year and hope we get away from players like him.

Cowan was coming off an injury and questionable to even play in the tournament. He even said he wasn't 100% and I wasn't expecting him to be Gretzky. Clearly you were. It's okay, he's 19 years old.

 

[JimmyApples]

3 points in 5 games lmao, a performance for the ages.

It’s such an odd flex

 

[Divine]

3 points in 5 games lmao, a performance for the ages.

And that led the team. It's a fact. What does that say about Canada? That's the point.

Nothing wrong to say he's the team's leading scorer when he was. Bedard is the Blackhawks leading scorer but also under a PPG.

 

[Namikaze Minato]

Cowan is the only Canadian player that matters.

I love that.

 

[JimmyApples]

Cowan was coming off an injury and questionable to even play in the tournament. He even said he wasn't 100% and I wasn't expecting him to be Gretzky. Clearly you were. It's okay, he's 19 years old.

Now it’s “well, he was injured”?

You can admit your boy was not good in this tournament. I promise the world will keep spinning.

 

[Divine]

Now it’s “well, he was injured”?

You can admit your boy was not good in this tournament. I promise the world will keep spinning.

He was injured? He wasn't even in selection camp because of the injury.

He had a bad tournament, but he outscored the CHL's leading scorer this tournament (McKenna) who had 1 point in 5 games.

 

[Random Comment]

I’m glad this team lost. Anybody who was defending this roster from the start needs to hand in their HFBoards credentials.

 

[VictorLustig]

Almost no one - if anyone - brings up the fact that the Czech team had more than half of their roster playing in the Canadian Hockey League right now. Basically we keep doing the same tired old boys club things and that is have money change hands and bring in some European teenagers to train and teach how to play our game. And we are stunned when we lose? Among the 100 things that went wrong from roster selection to the final buzzer, this is one of them.

Or maybe Canada should send half of their team to play in European leagues to have a chance?

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

You can have a player literally shove the puck into his own net with his glove and still the only player people want to criticize is Cowan lol

I think if you believe Cowan is the ONLY player getting any sort of criticism, you're resorting to defensiveness about your team's prospect. Because there's certainly been criticism of a lot of the players who didn't really do much.

The reason Cowan seems to dominate discussion is because as soon as one poster criticizes him, 10 Leaf fans defend him, and so entire pages get taken up discussing him. Whereas if someone says Dickinson had a shitty game (which I did in the GDT), it comes and goes because a dozen San Jose fans don't feel the need to defend Dickinson from criticism for poor play.

Cowan sucked, Dickinson sucked, Ritchie sucked. But I'll bet you no Shark or Avalanche fan will be quoting this post of mine to disagree.

 

[iCanada]

Or maybe Canada should send half of their team to play in European leagues to have a chance?

I think Canada should probably start by not leaving it's best players at home, personally, and then progress from there.