Final thoughts on WJC 06 for USA

[Tb0ne]

I was at the US-Canada game, and I have to say I was very impressed with Team USA. They definatly could have won the game, and often looked dangerous. The only player I thought wasn't as great as advertised was Bobby Ryan, he is literally one of the first hockey players I've seen where I could say that guys skating is noticably bad,(from his first shift on the ice) and I never played ice hockey.

The anti-US chants went too far I agree, and I'd be suprised if the American players didn't become Vancouver Canucks killers at some point in their futures purely out of hatred for this cities hockey fans. Heck I wouldn't even be suprised if Schneider didn't want to play for the Canucks anymore, and I almost wouldn't blame him.

However, I wouldn't say all fans were doing it out of hatred of Bush or anger over softwood lumber. Some of it was because US was seen at the favourite, and people enjoy cheering for the underdog. Also, many felt that Canada might have a better chance of winning if they didn't have to face the States in the finals, so naturally they would cheer against USA.

As for the Media, they most certainly played a part, as other posters have said. Just look at what all the hype has done to Crosby, especially on the westcoast of Canada, I can count the number of people I know that would cheer for him over Ovechkin for the rookie scoring title on one hand. Their reasons to cheer for Ovechkin never have to do with what sort of person Crosby is, but it seems to be purely backlash for the hype, the commercials, and so on.

 

[Petey Knights]

I think at the end of the day, US fans can be very happy that USA Hockey is developing some top-notch prospects that will have great careers in the NHL.

Jack Johnson is a monster. I think Jim Rutherford is salivating in Raleigh at the thought of adding him to their roster. He is going to be a superstar in the years ahead (I am still puzzled why the fans rode him the last bunch of games.. Downie got up and has been fine. There have been some other blatant head shots so I don't know why the special treatment, but I digress...)

Erik Johnson has put himself in a position to possibly go #1 at the draft. One of the most consistent players in the entire tournament. Every shift he brings it. Good for him.

TJ Oshie was the Steve Downie for the US. Always changing the momentum in the Americans' favor, drawing penalties consistently, creating chances, finishing checks... St. Louis got a beauty at #25.

Chris Bourque didn't do much after the 5 goals in the shinny game against Norway, but he's an NHL player in waiting no question about it.

Kessel was exposed as a one-dimensional player. Get the puck, rush it alone, same move, stopped every time. Dynamic talent for sure, but any mystique he had is gone. Depending on what team has #1, he may or may not go first overall.

Finally, very glad to see Schneider play so well after the pundits called goaltending the Achilles heel for the US in the tournament.

Looking back, it is very possible this tournament unfolds differently if the US holds off Switzerland (say 2-1 instead of the 2-2 tie). If they did, Canada has to pull the goalie to go for the win, maybe they lose. Even if it stays tied, the US would have got the bye and Canada would have had to play the extra game. Take it from there... the sad part is thats maybe all it took in a tournament this long to shake-up the medal round

 

[Draft Guru]

Why didn't the players get it done on the ice though? Pretty shallow to just say the players didn't get it done on the ice, and since he can't play he can't be blamed.

Well one thing I may put some blame on Kyle for, though I'm not entirely sure how involved he was in selecting the players, but this team just did not enough chemistry. Too many offensive players, no real muckers or grinders. I think Team USA put together a team of the 20 best talents, whereas Canada has built a team. They have two offensive lines and then two solid, hard-hitting energy lines. They built a team. Blake Wheeler is not going to succeed in the role of a fourth line player. Canada took a player like Tom Pyatt over somebody with much more flare, such as Angelo Esposito or Devin Setoguchi. Setoguchi and Esposito wouldn't succeed getting limited amounts of ice time in a non-offensive role.

It's still disappointing to see the Americans lose out on a chance for gold, but Russia is a very good team and the likely gold medal winners. We'll see what Canada has in them but the Russians are a complete team from top to bottom. They've trampled over the competition this year. Remember that if it wasn't for the Americans needing a win, that was a tie game against Canada. So in the end the only team they lost to up until this point is the best team in the tournament (Russia), which you can't really be too upset about.

 

[Kaizer]

The anti-US chants went too far I agree, and I'd be suprised if the American players didn't become Vancouver Canucks killers at some point in their futures purely out of hatred for this cities hockey fans. Heck I wouldn't even be suprised if Schneider didn't want to play for the Canucks anymore, and I almost wouldn't blame him.

Just read one post at Russian board. It is tranlated like :
"Canadians chant "USA Sucks" as hard as you can think that Americans steal their gas/oil too"

 

[MentalPowerHouse]

Well one thing I may put some blame on Kyle for, though I'm not entirely sure how involved he was in selecting the players, but this team just did not enough chemistry. Too many offensive players, no real muckers or grinders. I think Team USA put together a team of the 20 best talents, whereas Canada has built a team. They have two offensive lines and then two solid, hard-hitting energy lines. They built a team. Blake Wheeler is not going to succeed in the role of a fourth line player. Canada took a player like Tom Pyatt over somebody with much more flare, such as Angelo Esposito or Devin Setoguchi. Setoguchi and Esposito wouldn't succeed getting limited amounts of ice time in a non-offensive role.

It's still disappointing to see the Americans lose out on a chance for gold, but Russia is a very good team and the likely gold medal winners. We'll see what Canada has in them but the Russians are a complete team from top to bottom. They've trampled over the competition this year. Remember that if it wasn't for the Americans needing a win, that was a tie game against Canada. So in the end the only team they lost to up until this point is the best team in the tournament (Russia), which you can't really be too upset about.

How is the american team selected? Do they have no selection camp? So the coach possibly has little input? I have no idea how they select their team, but I assume the coach has some imput or maybe they need to reevaluate how they select their teams.

In the end the Coaches job is to get his team to play as best they can, which I don't think the US team did.

 

[VOB]

Russia was/is the class of the tournament. No shame in losing to them. I think that they will easily handle Canada as well. It was a real masterful job by TSN and the Canadian media to go out of its way and lable the U.S. the "over-whelming favorites". They know better but wanted the U.S. to start off under pressure.

Both the U.S. and Canada had a young team. This isn't their year. Next year you will see both Canada and the U.S. dominate this tourney, with the U.S. having a slight edge and truley earning the right to called the favorite.

 

[Greg7]

Individually:

DEFENSE

Jack Johnson - Excellent in all facets of the game. He skates well, he's physical, he's strong, he's smart, he moves the puck well, and he shoots well. My favourite player on the American team, and my pick for best defenseman in the tournament. I love the way he can make an always crisp and accurate first pass to get out of the zone, or carry it out himself and rush the puck. He rushes intelligently as well, and if he finds himself in trouble he won't force it. He also doesn't fall into the trap of doing it all by himself as many of his teammates did, and headmans the puck coming through the neutral zone. He dominates physically, and his defensive zone coverage is normally very sharp. His ability to read the play is the best on his team along with Lee, and he normally can quickly react to the play quickly to stop scoring chances before they happen. I'm not completely convinced that he will be able to dominate physically at his size in the same way in the NHL, but certainly he will be strong and tough and no picnic to play against. Offensively, he moves the puck well and skates well. He makes good decisions with the puck and generally makes safe plays. His shot looked decent enough and he passes well enough that he should have no problem manning a point on the powerplay in the NHL, although I don't expect him to be the next Bobby Orr. I see him turning into an excellent two way defenseman who is counted on in every situation, and a top pairing guy, but not quite in that elite perennial Norris contender category.

Brian Lee - He might not be the most popular guy around after this tournament, but he does do a lot of things well. First and foremost, I think he reads the play extremely well. He doesn't wow you in any one area, but he doesn't have any deficiencies either. He could stand to be stronger and more physical, but that doesn't seem to be his style, and he probably never will be. That's okay though, because he skates backwards and laterally well enough and does the little things well enough that he doesn't need to be a punishing defender to be effective in his own zone. His first pass is good, but he seems to lack any creativity or assertiveness with the puck. The obvious comparison to Bourdon is not easy, because they're such different players. It would be best imo to avoid it. He looks like a top 4 type guy, but I don't see any outstanding upside there beyond that. I did think he had a pretty good tournament overall though, but depending on what you expected of him your view might differ.

Erik Johnson - This is a guy who very obviously has a ton of potential. He's already a very good defenseman at this level, although I think he was depended on far too heavily. For a 17 year old, he performed very admirably in the position he was put in on the top pairing playing big minutes in all situations. Physically, he's amazing. Huge, strong, and very very mobile. He can be great carrying the puck, and he can make great passes, but as would be expected from a 17 year old defenseman at the WJs, I thought he made quite a few errors in judgement. He was prone to turning the puck over at times, and making bad decisions on the rush, but at the same time he also had some great rushes. He was also pretty smart in his own zone and capable of throwing some big hits. As a defenseman right now, I thought he was very good but relied on too heavily, but as a prospect I was thorougly impressed. Based on everything I've seen from Kessel (this tournament, u18s, last years wjs), Toews (this tournament, one game at last years u17s) and Johnson (this tournament), I would take Johnson without thinking. Obviously it's too short of a time period to properly evaluate, but it's an indication of how much he impressed me.

Chris Butler - What happened to him? The American team could really have used him to take some of the load off the top 3 guys. From what I saw in the first few games, he looked like an up and down player. Pretty good mobility, decent puck skills, but made some mistakes. Generally pretty good one on one and decent in his own zone, but not great. I would have liked to see how he performed in the medal round games to get a better read on him. Didn't look like anything special to me as far as a pro prospect goes, but he's a very good fluid skater, and maybe he could turn into an okay puck moving guy that is reliable.

Taylor Chorney - I wasn't a huge fan of his, and I think him being forced into the top 4 with Butler's injury hurt the US a bit. He was fairly reliable as long as he didn't have to deal with any top players, but he didn't look to have the ability to do anything spectacular. He's a pretty good skater, but other than that I don't know what got him drafted 36th overall. Nothing great offensively, not particularly physical, not particularly smart - I personally don't see a lot of NHL upside in him, especially at his size, but it's only one tournament.

Matt Niskanen - Obviously he didn't get a lot of ice time, so it was pretty tough to get a feel for him. I never thought he was hurting the team, and I felt he probably could have gotten more ice time, but it's tough to tell with limited viewing. Nice looking skater though I thought.

Mark Mitera - Also hard to get a read on due to limited ice time. He's big and physical, so that's a good start.

Blah, I'm tired, forwards later.

 

[Danny__K]

As for the booing, i thought we Canadians who are supposed to have the inferiority complex here. Do you seriously think jeers directed at the team were meant to be inclusive of your entire nation? Is there perhaps some other way they could have addressed the US team other then team USA? As long as national teams use their nation as their team name thats the way they're going to be jeered.

And Johnson earned all the jeers he got with his flying elbow.

the US was hyped out of this world north of the border. We expected them to win in a walk. Everyone likes to see the underdog win, its universal not a Canadian thing. Also the Americans have some players you just love to hate.

As for my thoughts on the individual players.

Kessel is not as good as Crosby. that being said he's the clear number one for this years draft in my opinion. Toews was not at all nearly as impressive as kessel.

As for biggest disappointment. Well thats easy. i'm calling it right now, Schremp is the next Pavel Brendl, absolutely rips the CHL up but won't likely have a decent NHL career. Is good against weaker competition at one end of the ice, he was a ghost out there in every game i saw. Which i must say as a flames fan is pleasently suprising because i won't hear near as much from oiler fans about how good he's gonna be anymore as IMO Boyd clearly outplayed Schremp in this tournament.

 

[greatwhite101*]

Overhyped. Beating Norway means nothing. Unable to finish scoring in most situations.
I have to give USA credit to come out and play in tough schedule like that.

 

[thomasincanada]

Nice how you turned your thoughts on Team USA into a half assed dis on Canada part way through. USA was being booed for 2 reasons. They didn't come even close to living up to the hype and Jack Johnson. I'd even go so far as to say that if JJ hadn't leveled the cheap shot on Downie the crowd would have been pro-USA tonite.

The US was booed long before JJ did his cheap shot so I don't think they'd have been cheered for tonight regardless. I don't agree with the OP's assessment that some fans chanting US sucks is a diss on their entire country, I doubt the fans really felt that, but I can sort of see why he thought that.

To sum up my thoughts, yes, some Americans did overhype this team and their players, but what ever happened to us Canadians winning with class ? Cripes.. it's embarassing to me as a Canadian to see fellow Canadians constantly bashing the US team, saying they are overhyped, trashing the team, even after they have lost.

If I were American I'd probably be cheering against the Canadians.

 

[Spectacular_Bid]

Of all the US players, Oshie impressed me the most. Never seemed to quit, and always seemed willing to play the team game.

Speaking as an Oilers fan, I've seen Schremp live and on TV many a time, and he was pretty disapointing here. Didn't get much ice time, but didn't do much with what he had.

Didn't get much ice??? Are you serious??? He was the second line center all tournament and he played EVERY powerplay. How much more ice could he have got?? I do agree - he was a disapointment.

We can rip on Kyle like crazy (I agree with some of the posts about him) The US used a very passive approach and almost let every team walk right out of the offensive zone. However, that being said, the US's biggest problem was production. This team was supossedly loaded with these offensive wizards but look at the production:

Phil Kessel - 1 goal

Robbie Schremp - 1 goal

T.J. Oshie - 1 goal (I liked how he played but people are hyping him to much - 1 point in 6 games)

Bobby Ryan - 2 goals

Blake Wheeler - 2 goals

Jack Skille - 2 goals

All first rounder (or soon to be first rounders) Take away the Norway game and this team scored 13 goals. I'm not sure about the rest of you but I was expecting MUCH more production especially from Kessel, Schremp and Ryan.

I've seen every game and I'll post my thoughts on each player later but I would like to make one or two comments now. First, Chris Bourque is WAY over rated. Take away the Norway game and he did nothing. He looked awful on the power play. Why did Kyle have him on the point???? I almost wanted to decline every PP the US had becuase everytime his unit was out the other team automatically cleared it. Besides that, he's small, he has average speed and doesn't compete. At times he looked like he was thinking he was to good to be on the team. Huge disapointment in my eyes. I can't see this kid sticking in the NHL, maybe a career AHLer.

Second, Vancouver is a great city but the Canadian fans totally ruined my visit. I was shocked at how low class they were. Like I said, I've been at all the US games and during that time I was spit on, had beer dumped on me and had garbage thrown on me. I was cursed at and screamed at. I listen to ignorant Canadians chant "US sucks" and boo our national anthem. I was thoroughly disgusted with how these people acted and it has seriously ruined my trip. I'm not talking one or two canadians either, I'm talking every man, woman and child, all ages, shapes and sizes. Fathers with young children swearing and booing the US national anthem - I was shocked. I've been to Canada many many times but after this performance it will be a long time until I return. As much as I hate rooting for Russia I have to. All Canada has is hockey - they have nothing else. After their classless display I hope Russia crushes them. They've been calling for it all tournament long and I listened as they cheered for Russia last night - Well Canada, you got em' (be careful what you wish for)

 

[Spectacular_Bid]

Chris Bourque didn't do much after the 5 goals in the shinny game against Norway, but he's an NHL player in waiting no question about it.

Totally disagree - can't see this kid playing more a season or two in the NHL (and thats if they give him some time)

 

[flambers]

There were two things that stuck out in my mind from this tournament.

1. Awful coaching.

2. No team chemistry, and it didn't seem like this team "wanted" it.

I agree with this, the talent is there but they did not play like a team. The US need a more capable Coach.

 

[Red]

Second, Vancouver is a great city but the Canadian fans totally ruined my visit. I was shocked at how low class they were. Like I said, I've been at all the US games and during that time I was spit on, had beer dumped on me and had garbage thrown on me. I was cursed at and screamed at. I listen to ignorant Canadians chant "US sucks" and boo our national anthem. I was thoroughly disgusted with how these people acted and it has seriously ruined my trip. I'm not talking one or two canadians either, I'm talking every man, woman and child, all ages, shapes and sizes. Fathers with young children swearing and booing the US national anthem - I was shocked. I've been to Canada many many times but after this performance it will be a long time until I return. As much as I hate rooting for Russia I have to. All Canada has is hockey - they have nothing else. After their classless display I hope Russia crushes them. They've been calling for it all tournament long and I listened as they cheered for Russia last night - Well Canada, you got em' (be careful what you wish for)

I'm not going to argue your other points because only you know if they're true, but I was at all the games the US won and not once did the US anthem get booed. You saying people booed it is simply not true. Not once. Got cheered every single time. My dad said he could even hear the cheers on the radio. I didn't see anyone dumping any beer or throwing any garbage in all the games I went to. I'm tired of this city being dumped on when I've been to all the games -- the fans have been incredibly classly IMO -- apparently our two sins are cheering for US opponents and booing JJ. Oh boohoo. I know for a fact there was no athem-booing unless it was two or three people in the section you were in because it was overwhelmingly cheers. If you don't believe me, I believe there's quite a few posts in the Czechs vs. US thread where people say they heard the fans cheering the US anthem.

 

[CanuckistanFlyerfan]

"I'm talking every man, woman and child, all ages, shapes and sizes."
Really? Ya, I could see that happening. As a matter of fact, I saw EVERYONE in the entire country booing the US and spitting on them.

 

[Spectacular_Bid]

TJ Oshie was the Steve Downie for the US. Always changing the momentum in the Americans' favor, drawing penalties consistently, creating chances, finishing checks... St. Louis got a beauty at #25.

Kessel was exposed as a one-dimensional player. Get the puck, rush it alone, same move, stopped every time. Dynamic talent for sure, but any mystique he had is gone. Depending on what team has #1, he may or may not go first overall.

Agreed on both of these. I like Oshie - great speed, good skills, I think he'll be a good player at the next level, a high energy guy. I think people are hyping him a little much though - 1 point in 6 games and it was against Norway in the first period.

Kessel is not the next Mike Modano. Yes he is skilled but Mike Modano he is not. I think a better comparison to a US born player is Tony Amonte (still pretty good) I'm gald you brought up "the same move." I was screaming everytime he did it. I kept thinking that Kessel was like Cerrano in the movie Major League. Once everyone figured out Cerrano couldn't hit the curve he was useless. Well every defensemen at the WJC figured out Kessels move and what happened - 1 goal (sure he had 9 assits but 4 or 5 were against Norway) I also agree about the mystique, last year I was on the edge of my seat everytime he got the puck this year he was VERY predictable.

 

[Spectacular_Bid]

"I'm talking every man, woman and child, all ages, shapes and sizes."
Really? Ya, I could see that happening. As a matter of fact, I saw EVERYONE in the entire country booing the US and spitting on them.

Actually, I met one or two canadian fans who showed some class. Sounds like you were in the other group.

 

[Spectacular_Bid]

I'm not going to argue your other points because only you know if they're true, but I was at all the games the US won and not once did the US anthem get booed. You saying people booed it is simply not true. Not once. Got cheered every single time. My dad said he could even hear the cheers on the radio. I didn't see anyone dumping any beer or throwing any garbage in all the games I went to. I'm tired of this city being dumped on when I've been to all the games -- the fans have been incredibly classly IMO -- apparently our two sins are cheering for US opponents and booing JJ. Oh boohoo. I know for a fact there was no athem-booing unless it was two or three people in the section you were in because it was overwhelmingly cheers. If you don't believe me, I believe there's quite a few posts in the Czechs vs. US thread where people say they heard the fans cheering the US anthem.

I'm not dumping on your city, I'm dumping on your fans. The fans have been anything but classy. Believe what you want but Canadians DID boo the US national anthem. I saw them, I heard them and YOUR sports radio station talked about it. It happened. LOW CLASS. Its odd that all these things happend just in my section. Are you kidding me??? Wake up buddy, do you think everyone is lying?? Canadian fans were pathetic and should be ashamed.

 

[Matrix]

The Swiss game is what killed the Amerks. Plain and simple. The win that one, they get more rest. But as far as disappointments goes, Schremp, Ryan, Kessel and Bourque (mostly after his 5 goals performance) come on top. Erik Johnson, Mueller and Oshie are the nice surprises for me even though Oshie's height is definately a problem in the bigs.

 

[gobolt7]

This is going nowhere.

Closed.