PGT: 9/20 - Canada vs USA - Canada 4 United States 2 FINAL - USA ELIMINATED

[CaptainChef]

It would certainly have been possible though difficult for the U.S. to beat this Team Canada if they had sent their best team and it had played its best. But that didn't happen for reasons USA Hockey will want to address. I am sure this board will be ready to offer its advice!

But my fellow Canadian fans are ignoring reality if we do not recognize that the talent gap is narrowing every year. It would be appropriate to be gracious tonight and to remember that next time it could be different.

There is no more talent gap out there. USA & other teams are as good as Canada. But when politics dictates who makes the team or not, and character of the players isn't taken into consideration, this is the result. And, on top of that, you have Torts as a coach

 

[rynryn]

so do we have to play again? why not just go home.

 

[kk87]

As a proud Canadian I'm happy with the result, and we were clearly the deserving victor, but that Kessel tweet was hands down the highlight of my night. Absolutely legendary

 

[Do Make Say Think]

Bad coach did them in.

Torts just doesn't have it anymore. Hasn't had it for a while too.

 

[Sens Vader]

canada has 2 wins
europe has 2 wins

US has 0 wins and only 1 game left to get the 2 wins.

oh... I didnt realize it went right to semi's after this. crazy

does the US actually have to play the last game then?

 

[TLeafsFan]

oh... I didnt realize it went right to semi's after this. crazy

Gotta play a full 82 game NHL season after all.

No room for quarterfinals when they elected to do a best of 3 final I believe.

 

[me2]

oh... I didnt realize it went right to semi's after this. crazy

does the US actually have to play the last game then?

the people that bought the tickets think so.

 

[General Zodd]

Very lucky day for the Canadians

Those guys were so lucky to pull it out. Heck I'd even go as far to say that they were sure lucky to be even in this damn tournament in the first place. Bloody hell man!

 

[67Cup]

There is no more talent gap out there. USA & other teams are as good as Canada. But when politics dictates who makes the team or not, and character of the players isn't taken into consideration, this is the result. And, on top of that, you have Torts as a coach

Well, yeah, there still is. It wasn't all Torts and politics. That's disrespect to Team Canada. But as I said, the gap is narrowing.

 

[Tomas W]

As I take though USA still did a decent effort tonight? I think most people already counted them out after that team Euro loss.

There was just no room to fail that game in such a short tournament.

 

[Ace Card Bedard]

Please don't play Kane against the Czechs.
Why risk injury?

 

[Scotty B]

Patrick Roy is considered one of the best goalies to ever play the game and he had tons of pucks hit the goal posts in his career. So much so that one of his routines before each game was to slap the goal posts with his stick in the hope that they would continue to help him out. \

Man thanks for the history lesson...I can go all the say back to Sawchuk so what?...it has precious little to do with what we're talking about..

Sometimes a nettie is fighting the puck, doesn't look focused , isn't well positioned, is swimming in his net, or whatever, and puck luck bails him out

Did u see game btwn Suomi and T NA?...Rinne was a seive, especially thru five hole, and team mates, goal judge, posts/crossbar, pucks dying on goal line, yadda yadda bailed him out...

He let in four , but shoulda been 8. Did they play him next game? Hell No! Cause they , the coaching staff , saw what everyone else did. Rinne didn't look right...

You didn't see that Price didn't look right in waning moments of game...Hey, ur entitled to a mulligan just like Carey ( who had 3 )

But spare me the meaningless history lessons...doesn't seem like ur forte

 

[CutOnDime97]

McDavid, Ekblad, Reinhart, Fabbri, Bennett, Perlini, Sanheim, McCann, Ritchie

Sanheim was definitely on the team.

 

[CutOnDime97]

As I take though USA still did a decent effort tonight? I think most people already counted them out after that team Euro loss.

There was just no room to fail that game in such a short tournament.

Nope. It was a **** effort.

 

[Sens of Anarchy]

As I take though USA still did a decent effort tonight? I think most people already counted them out after that team Euro loss.

There was just no room to fail that game in such a short tournament.

Exactly they beat team Europe and Team Czech and they are in ... easy peasy

 

[Bryanbryoil]

Well, yeah, there still is. It wasn't all Torts and politics. That's disrespect to Team Canada. But as I said, the gap is narrowing.

There most certainly is a gap. Without knowing off hand Team USA's roster, I highly doubt that their defense can hold a candle to Canada's. The gap is closing and will continue to do so but there most certainly is a gap.

 

[Scotty B]

There is no more talent gap out there. USA & other teams are as good as Canada. But when politics dictates who makes the team or not, and character of the players isn't taken into consideration, this is the result. And, on top of that, you have Torts as a coach

Maybe where their Young Guns are concerned they're almost neck and neck with us Canucks...but let's not go too far...Canada still has twice as many NHLers as Yanks...and the first and ONLY Yank to win an NHL scoring title was P. Kane

 

[CharlesHabsFan]

Looking at this game, I was expecting the Americans to come out real hard and that we'd have one of the great Canada vs USA rivalry going, with a tight score, great defense plays, team effort, the fire burning to beat the other team.

The game was over by the midmark, in the 2nd period. No wonder Canada didn't care through the last half of the 3rd. They should have pushed a review of the 2nd US goal, they didn't even bother. Looked like both teams wanted to end the game as soon as possible before the 2nd period even ended.

I was very disappointed in the US team. Where were the big guns ? Sure there were players that should or should not have made the team, arguably. But the ones on the ice, the Kane, Byfuglien, Kesler, Parise, where were they tonight ? Most 33 shots Price faced were pretty easy, he wasn't challenged one bit... Canada's defense is good, but it's not like the US players were terrible either.

I take the win and am happy that the Canadian system is still very efficient, but I hope our old southern rivals can bounce back with a better managed and coached team, with players hungry for victory. It makes it much more memorable to win against and much more bitter to lose than eliminating them without opposition like what happened tonight...

 

[Scotty B]

Looking at this game, I was expecting the Americans to come out real hard and that we'd have one of the great Canada vs USA rivalry going, with a tight score, great defense plays, team effort, the fire burning to beat the other team.

The game was over by the midmark, in the 2nd period. No wonder Canada didn't care through the last half of the 3rd. They should have pushed a review of the 2nd US goal, they didn't even bother. Looked like both teams wanted to end the game as soon as possible before the 2nd period even ended.

I was very disappointed in the US team. Where were the big guns ? Sure there were players that should or should not have made the team, arguably. But the ones on the ice, the Kane, Byfuglien, Kesler, Parise, where were they tonight ? Most 33 shots Price faced were pretty easy, he wasn't challenged one bit... Canada's defense is good, but it's not like the US players were terrible either.

I take the win and am happy that the Canadian system is still very efficient, but I hope our old southern rivals can bounce back with a better managed and coached team, with players hungry for victory. It makes it much more memorable to win against and much more bitter to lose than eliminating them without opposition like what happened tonight...

Thornton put that puck in our net...no doubt at all IT WAS A GOAL!

 

[Ainec]

There is something fundamentally wrong with US hockey. They have the same issues as the Russians do. I honestly believe the difference between Canada and those two countries is that Canada's best players are all willing to take on roles to help the team win - they simply have better character guys than these other teams.

The Americans and Russians are lead by a lot of me first type players.....selfish types that rely on other players to help their club teams win. Guys like Kesler and Kane - complete ****** bag personalities. Contrast the leadership for Canada being guys like Bergeron, Toews, Weber......character guys.

I do think you're onto something. Can't make a team overnight when you're working with the Kanes,& Keslers. Or Ovechkin, etc. Me first all the way

I can't take anything you guys say seriously when you put Kesler as a me me selfish type player

He's probably the best example of a player that sacrifices and elevates his play when representing his country

 

[Sam Spade]

I do think you're onto something. Can't make a team overnight when you're working with the Kanes,& Keslers. Or Ovechkin, etc. Me first all the way

How do you know these players are "me first"?

None of us know one thing about how these players are behind the scenes or in private.

Seems to me that having a defense made up of Doughty's, Weber's, Pietraangelo's, etc., combined with a goalie named Price may be the biggest factor in the "team working".

If you switch the top three Canadian forwards with the top three U.S. forwards do you honestly think the U.S. wins?

 

[WHOneedsSOX]

There is no more talent gap out there. USA & other teams are as good as Canada. But when politics dictates who makes the team or not, and character of the players isn't taken into consideration, this is the result. And, on top of that, you have Torts as a coach

There most certainly is a giant talent gap. How many guys from team USA would have made Canada's roster? Kane for sure. Suter maybe just because they needed a lefty. Pavelski maybe. Quick maybe a backup to Price. That's about it. Toews, Getzlaf, Thornton, and maybe even Giroux would be the top center on team USA. Subban, Letang, Perry, and ROR didn't even make the original team roster and would easily make team USA. Canada took out about 80 goals from Seguin and Benn and it doesn't even matter.

 

[Burnt Biscuits]

Bad coach did them in.

Torts just doesn't have it anymore. Hasn't had it for a while too.

They could have the best coach in the world and still lose to Canada, it's a hard roster to match up against. The sad part is they stated they built the roster to match up well against Canada, but it didn't even feel like a competitive game. The U.S. vs. Canada game should never feel like an easy win for either side.

All of US management, the coaches, and players deserve some blame for laying an egg out there. Though I do think Torts shouldn't ever be the coach of choice for a big international tournament, the U.S. definitely has better coaching options then that.

 

[BlowPhish]

Proud to be an American

Not to worry. Johnny Gaudreau will be providing that spark for years to come.

 

[Preisst*]

It's not a talent issue. It's a character issue. The US are simply overrun with more me first, selfish hockey players. It's always been like that. I am not sure why - a culture thing I guess.

Then the internet "experts" wonder why Kessel wasn't on the team. They need more character not less.