4 Nations Cup Discussion - Canada Wins

[ULF_55]

Marner is his supposed buddy and Matthews wouldn’t even look at him.
Poor sport

That's what friends are for ...

 

[garce]

This almost seemed like set play for Canada as well.

Fox played it very poorly.

Most casual fans can’t see the Fox error or understand the context of the play.

It wasn’t all on Matthews.

Matthews mistake was trying to do too much and cover Fox’s mistake, had he stayed in his position Marner would have a path to the net,,,, preferable to leaving McDavid wide open perhaps. I think 34 thought he could block the lane and maybe knock down any pass

 

[Seath The Scaleless]

No, it wasn't.

Everyone should have rotated.

Matthews shouldn't have rotated off because Fox was chasing the puck around the boards, which is incorrect, so Matthews made a mistake too, but it started with Fox.

Marner in the corner near the goal line wasn't a threat at all. Some light pressure by Fox would've been fine, but there was no need for Matthews to jump in and leave the dangerous slot wide open. If Nelson comes in to help, then it leaves Makar wide open for the backdoor

Only Fox was out of position initially because he tried to stop the puck, but he was going towards Marner in the end.

 

[Budz]

Matthews mistake was trying to do too much and cover Fox’s mistake, had he stayed in his position Marner would have a path to the net,,,, preferable to leaving McDavid wide open perhaps. I think 34 thought he could block the lane and maybe knock down any pass

Agreed.

Which is still a mistake - but the hate he’s taking - is silly.

Fox blew the initial portion of the play.

 

[notbias]

Marner in the corner near the goal line wasn't a threat at all. Some light pressure by Fox would've been fine, but there was no need for Matthews to jump in and leave the dangerous slot wide open. If Nelson comes in to help, then it leaves Makar wide open for the backdoor

Only Fox was out of position initially because he tried to stop the puck, but he was going towards Marner in the end.

Complain about the systems they play... Matthews made the right decision initially, and the wrong decision by continuing.

Fox made the first mistake by chasing, and Matthews made the second mistake by leaving the slot since Fox was chasing.

I'm not defending Matthews, just saying multiple people messed up.

 

[Confucius]

Puck watching?

View attachment 980382


Whoops.

View attachment 980383

Yeah, Matthews was definitely the goat and not in a good way. Three guys decided to chase Marner into the corner, minor league stuff. I guess their plan was give Marner no space and don’t let him pass.. lol!

 

[Squiffy]

I'm not defending Matthews, just saying multiple people messed up.

Usually the case on goals.

 

[ULF_55]

Yeah, Matthews was definitely the goat and not in a good way. Three guys decided to chase Marner into the corner, minor league stuff. I guess their plan was give Marner no space and don’t let him pass.. lol!

He needed marner out there to back him up ...

 

[Zybalto]

Brock Nelson icing the puck leaving himself on the ice on a defensive zone draw still not getting enough blame......nor is the decision to let him see the ice in overtime.

 

[Smif]

This almost seemed like set play for Canada as well.

Fox played it very poorly.

Most casual fans can’t see the Fox error or understand the context of the play.

It wasn’t all on Matthews.

I would have to see a prior play to see their D-zone structure, it could go either way. He either should've stayed and guarded McDavid or rotated and gone for Mitch, I don't think it can ne determined unless we know their system.

 

[Racer88]

View attachment 980430

That's what friends are for ...

Right

 

[DarkKnight]

I've seen worse coverage.

 

[ULF_55]

I would have to see a prior play to see their D-zone structure, it could go either way. He either should've stayed and guarded McDavid or rotated and gone for Mitch, I don't think it can ne determined unless we know their system.

He should have stayed to prevent McDavid from having a clear, uncontested slot shot.

Making a mistake because someone else made a mistake isn't the best approach.

Anyway, I think he did Canada a big one there.
We should appreciate the goodwill gesture.

 

[al secord]

I wonder when we'll see Gretzky around Hockey Canada again? Hopefully never.

 

[Menzinger]

Couldn't of asked for a better ending.

Marner needs to builds off this moving forward.

Matthews played great, and hopefully he also takes this as an extra motivation in his own way,

The biggest lesson here is this was fantastic hockey, and needs to happen again and again. The players clearly cared way more about this then the all-star game

 

[hoglund]

I wonder when we'll see Gretzky around Hockey Canada again? Hopefully never.

If he was Canada's honourary captain why did he give more support towards USA than Canada?

 

[Gallagbi]

I wonder when we'll see Gretzky around Hockey Canada again? Hopefully never.

Pretty crazy to see the shift with him

 

[LaPlante94]

They seemed to be chanting U S A a lot during the game

You'd think they won WW3 after the 2nd game of the tournament

Anyone saying that is coping.

I admit my enthusiasm going into this tournament was low but that changed very quickly.

What a tournament. So much energy and pride was brought by all four nations. Loved it. Well done.

Naturally it adds to my excitement that Canada won but either way, I was invested.

I was excited about the tournament but I didn't think the players would go so hard and play it like a playoff game. Got me excited for the Olympics now with even more teams and players being able to play.

 

[9Iron]

Puck watching?

View attachment 980382


Whoops.

Want to give Marner credit here for his perfect use of space. If he takes that puck one more step AWAY from the boards all his angles dry up. By staying as wide as possible the lane stays open for the extra split second he needs.

Below he creates space on the Bennett goal by moving AWAY from the net after cutting to the center baiting Fox to step up that little bit to open the lane.

 

[thewave]

Want to give Marner credit here for his perfect use of space. If he takes that puck one more step AWAY from the boards all his angles dry up. By staying as wide as possible the lane stays open for the extra split second he needs.

Below he creates space on the Bennett goal by moving AWAY from the net after cutting to the center baiting Fox to step up that little bit to open the lane.

View attachment 980542

He is a spatial awareness wizard. That's his big skill because little guys need awareness to survive. Not many guys his size can hack the NHL.

He did really well and was a big part of winning it for us. Binnington was MVP that game was over without him.

 

[13pacheco31]

Thanks, excellent.
I was wondering if they might give Marner and Matthews the weekend to recover.
Pretty heavy schedule coming up with lots of travel.

It was only a 4 game tourney and they were just in Boston. I don't see why they need a break

 

[LeafParade]

I am already wondering what the 2026 Canada Roster looks like in the end.
This tourney provided a lot of good insight for management going forward.

Not sure if the some of older players are going to make it for 2026.

 

[fahad203]

Watching these games made me realize how much I missed watching Reaves and Holmberg play

Cant wait for Saturday

 

[WTFMAN99]

I felt it was important I come back here and say I was wrong.

I thought without other nations in here, this seemed gimmicky and while I would love to see more teams, more Euros join etc...it was undeniably awesome.

 

[fahad203]

Guentzel, Slavin, Werensky all impressed at how good they were. With Canada not as many surprises, maybe a few not as good as I expected. Hagel being able to drop the gloves like he did was biggest eye opener.

Hagel and Cirelli were meh at best. Sure he dropped thr gloves and I appreciate that. But in the Olympics he shouldn't anywhere near the team