Four Nations-cup

[Arpeggio]

I wasn't really paying attention to this tournament or the roster until after the Sweden game, but it's insane that Bouchard isn't on this team. I don't really understand what Hockey Canada is looking for. Young top pairing defenceman that has consistently played his best hockey on the biggest stage over the last three seasons. Coming off a record-breaking playoff run. Top 3 offensively in the nation, +/- is probably 2nd or 3rd, just put up a point per game regular season. Plays on the PP with the best player on your team.

Insane logic to go like 8 guys deep without considering this guy.

Edit: Bouchard would get absolutely scorched here for flubbing that Doughty pass, or that brutal line change.

 

[MoontoScott]

Was actually buying my little girl some skates last night went to the shop I bought all my hockey stuff as a kid. Talking with the owner. He said the sport has really slowed down and says it's just to much for most people to play now. That's sad to think. But also goes to show why sports like basket ball soccer and even baseball are so popular when they are so cheap cheap to play

Totally agree.

It might be cheaper to get your kid into Formula 1 racing.

 

[Jarvi]

20% of a teams goals means nothing in a two game sample size. One goal is one goal.

And it's 1 more than most on this team, while he directly contributed to the team having the puck for that possession in the first place.

 

[Heavy Dee]

Keep Armstrong and Sweeney tf away from the Olympic Team.

 

[Bryanbryoil]

Interesting observation.
Connor also was passing off and looking for plays when he should have just been shooting.
Aside from a few bursts he still doesnt look like himself to me and if he is in fact injured then he shouldnt be there at all IMO.

On another note...I reluctantly watched the game last night (starved for hockey) and was pleasantly surprised by the very high level of intensity. Based on that game alone I am quite willing to retract my skepticism about this tourament especially if it replaces the crappy All Star stuff.
That was some compelling hockey and a clear step up from the NHL regular season.

I also agree with the posters that said it reminded them of the SCF.
What looks earily similar to me is the lack of space and time Canada had to set up in the offensive zone.

Very few uncontested shots in high danger areas for team Canada.
The US played that smothering system to a 'T' and unless the Canadian coaches can come up with a counter strategy...something to open up the ice... this tournamnet is a done deal IMO.
The US will win it.

The problem is...based on the lineup Team Canada has...I cant forsee a counter strategy to the style of play the US employs. This is not a heavy team and to ask this team (a skill team) to slog through sticks and bodies to create scoring chances is counter to their strengths. Especially once the US gets the lead.
We saw Team Canada players consistently over passing (to try and find some open ice) as a result.

Ultimately I dont think that Team Canada was built properly for this tournament.

The only chance I think they have is to cheat for offence and try to score off the rush.
Try and create odd man rushes. Once the US sets up then Canada produces very little in the way of chances.
All Helle has to do is be solid positionally and prevent/smother rebound chances.
He doesnt need to be spectacular.

I see the same thing with the Oilers...when the game gets played in the mud (so to speak...very few uncontested shots) this team is not a very good stylistic fit to produce against a system like that.
Its just not (functionally) heavy enough at all.

I sincerlely hope that Knoblauch and Bowman are going to school on this tournament because its a prelude of whats to come for this team in the back end of the playoffs.

This is when you need guys like Hyman, Kane, Wilson, etc. and even a guy like Bouchard that can rip a shot home from the point. I completely agree that we need more heaviness on team Canada and the Oilers.

 

[GhostfaceWu]

This is when you need guys like Hyman, Kane, Wilson, etc. and even a guy like Bouchard that can rip a shot home from the point. I completely agree that we need more heaviness on team Canada and the Oilers.

The team didn't lose yesterday because of a lack of heaviness they lost because not 1 defenseman on the team was able to do anything in the ozone. As soon as Makar missed the game the amount of offensive ability in the ozone from the d went down considerably there wasn't a single play where a dman did something individually to either keep possession or create a scoring chance/threat.

 

[Bryanbryoil]

The team didn't lose yesterday because of a lack of heaviness they lost because not 1 defenseman on the team was able to do anything in the ozone. As soon as Makar missed the game the amount of offensive ability in the ozone from the d went down considerably there wasn't a single play where a dman did something individually to either keep possession or create a scoring chance/threat.

I agree that the D didn't piss a drop other than that beauty feed from Doughty to Connor. That said we still needed to be in Hellebuyck's grill more often than we were.

 

[Whoshattenkirkshoes]

His skating was good but his stickhandling and shot still don't look like they are on point. Marner was also taking a bunch of draws on that line which leads me to believe that Connor is hurt.

I mean it's been like this for 2 years now. So is he injured? Or have we already seen the best of Mcdavid?

The jump in his step is a very good sign though. Haven't seen too much of it this season.

 

[Whoshattenkirkshoes]

Interesting observation.
Connor also was passing off and looking for plays when he should have just been shooting.
Aside from a few bursts he still doesnt look like himself to me and if he is in fact injured then he shouldnt be there at all IMO.

On another note...I reluctantly watched the game last night (starved for hockey) and was pleasantly surprised by the very high level of intensity. Based on that game alone I am quite willing to retract my skepticism about this tourament especially if it replaces the crappy All Star stuff.
That was some compelling hockey and a clear step up from the NHL regular season.

I also agree with the posters that said it reminded them of the SCF.
What looks earily similar to me is the lack of space and time Canada had to set up in the offensive zone.

Very few uncontested shots in high danger areas for team Canada.
The US played that smothering system to a 'T' and unless the Canadian coaches can come up with a counter strategy...something to open up the ice... this tournamnet is a done deal IMO.
The US will win it.

The problem is...based on the lineup Team Canada has...I cant forsee a counter strategy to the style of play the US employs. This is not a heavy team and to ask this team (a skill team) to slog through sticks and bodies to create scoring chances is counter to their strengths. Especially once the US gets the lead.
We saw Team Canada players consistently over passing (to try and find some open ice) as a result.

Ultimately I dont think that Team Canada was built properly for this tournament.

The only chance I think they have is to cheat for offence and try to score off the rush.
Try and create odd man rushes. Once the US sets up then Canada produces very little in the way of chances.
All Helle has to do is be solid positionally and prevent/smother rebound chances.
He doesnt need to be spectacular.

I see the same thing with the Oilers...when the game gets played in the mud (so to speak...very few uncontested shots) this team is not a very good stylistic fit to produce against a system like that.
Its just not (functionally) heavy enough at all.

I sincerlely hope that Knoblauch and Bowman are going to school on this tournament because its a prelude of whats to come for this team in the back end of the playoffs.

I'll add that this tournament just reinforces that the amount of penalties called go down. So the Oilers advantage Powerplay is nullified come playoffs.

Like you said it also reinforces that in the playoffs to score goals you need to play heavy and crash the net. The skill game goes away a little bit.

It's the reason why Nuge is not the answer with Mcdavid.

 

[guymez]

This is when you need guys like Hyman, Kane, Wilson, etc. and even a guy like Bouchard that can rip a shot home from the point. I completely agree that we need more heaviness on team Canada and the Oilers.

Yeah...a heavier forward group would help for sure. The coaching is so good now that you need a team that has some balance to it.
As much as I cant stand Vegas thay have used that formula quite effectively.
They can almost run 4 lines evenly and be competitive in any style of game.
The Oilers cant do that. As a matter of fact the Oilers far too often have to throw all of their eggs in one basket (play McDavid and Draisaitl together and increase their minutes) to win games.

The Oilers are just not a balanced team...they are just not built like that so once the competition gets distilled down to the best of the best (which includes the best of the best systems) they are going to have issues IMO.

Thats primarily why a player like Kane is so valuable to this team.

I'll add that this tournament just reinforces that the amount of penalties called go down. So the Oilers advantage Powerplay is nullified come playoffs.

Like you said it also reinforces that in the playoffs to score goals you need to play heavy and crash the net. The skill game goes away a little bit.

It's the reason why Nuge is not the answer with Mcdavid.

Good points.
Solid 5x5 play carries you the further in the playoffs and to achieve that you need balance on your forward lines.
Something this current version of the Oilers dosent have.

 

[guymez]

I agree that the D didn't piss a drop other than that beauty feed from Doughty to Connor. That said we still needed to be in Hellebuyck's grill more often than we were.

100%
Team Canada should be ferociously fighting for space in front of Hellebuyck. Instead they seem to be spread out trying to find space to create. They end up just passing the puck around the perimieter.
That approach isnt going to win them this tournament.

That IMO is also an example of why a 40 year old Corey Perry is so valuable to the Oilers.

 

[BlackDogg]

Didn't realize but yah so much better

 

[Oilhawks]

Didn't realize but yah so much better

Up close view of the thought process when selecting the team Canada roster

 

[Duke74]

I mean it's been like this for 2 years now. So is he injured? Or have we already seen the best of Mcdavid?

The jump in his step is a very good sign though. Haven't seen too much of it this season.

I hope he's saving it for the playoffs.

I'll add that this tournament just reinforces that the amount of penalties called go down. So the Oilers advantage Powerplay is nullified come playoffs.

Like you said it also reinforces that in the playoffs to score goals you need to play heavy and crash the net. The skill game goes away a little bit.

It's the reason why Nuge is not the answer with Mcdavid.

Their powerplay hasn't even been good this year

 

[bellagiobob]

Still a very winnable tourney for Canada. A change to Hill, adding Makar and Cooper properly tweaking the lines should make a big difference, US seems a tad bit over confident as well, like they've already won the tourney.

 

[Fourier]

I'll add that this tournament just reinforces that the amount of penalties called go down. So the Oilers advantage Powerplay is nullified come playoffs.

Like you said it also reinforces that in the playoffs to score goals you need to play heavy and crash the net. The skill game goes away a little bit.

It's the reason why Nuge is not the answer with Mcdavid.

Historically this is not true. In fact the opposite has been the case over many years recently. For example since 2020-21 teams have averaged 2.91 pp/gm in the regular season and 3.03 in the playoffs. Not only do pp opportunities typically go up but the percentage of goals teams score on the pp is also higher.

Now there is a reduction slightly as the playoffs progress. But in the end the pp plays as big a role in the playoffs as it does in the regular season if not a bigger role.

It is also the case that teams that win tend to do so on the back of their skilled players to a very large degree.

 

[North]

The fact Armstrong chose Binnington for this team is a travesty and should result in him never being able to put together another Canadian team. None of the brain trust should be anywhere near another Team Canada.

 

[North]

I know Connor hasn’t been perfect but he’s the one who seems to be going the most and I can’t criticize him too much when his line mates refuse to get open.

 

[guymez]

Historically this is not true. In fact the opposite has been the case over many years recently. For example since 2020-21 teams have averaged 2.91 pp/gm in the regular season and 3.03 in the playoffs. Not only do pp opportunities typically go up but the percentage of goals teams score on the pp is also higher.

Now there is a reduction slightly as the playoffs progress. But in the end the pp plays as big a role in the playoffs as it does in the regular season if not a bigger role.

It is also the case that teams that win tend to do so on the back of their skilled players to a very large degree.

So in the playoffs (when the intensity is dialed up even more) there are going to be more opportunities to call penalties. So really waht we are talking about (and there is no way to gauge this other than to visually note when this happens) is that given the same standard as the regular season the amount of penalty calls should be going up a lot more than it actually does.
This has been an issue in the NHL for a long time now.

All that aside...the last few years the League really seems to be trying to create more parity.
So as a result the games appear to be even more managed.
Instead of calling a penalty when it happens (which should be the standard) they call penalties based on the game situation which tends to get amplified in the playoffs because of the elevated importance of the outcome.
Thats part of what skews that stat you quoted.
The Refs have no problem calling a penalty when the outcome of the game is longer in doubt and that creates the appearance that the totality of penalties they are actually calling is similar to the Regular season.
Which is what the stat you referenced suggests.

So due to this game management philosophy of the NHL that stat isnt reliable enough to use as a guide to provide insight into how playoff games are actually reffed compared to the regular season.

 

[AddyTheWrath]

Historically this is not true. In fact the opposite has been the case over many years recently. For example since 2020-21 teams have averaged 2.91 pp/gm in the regular season and 3.03 in the playoffs. Not only do pp opportunities typically go up but the percentage of goals teams score on the pp is also higher.

Now there is a reduction slightly as the playoffs progress. But in the end the pp plays as big a role in the playoffs as it does in the regular season if not a bigger role.

It is also the case that teams that win tend to do so on the back of their skilled players to a very large degree.

I think the numbers show that penalties decrease as the series progresses as well. More calls in Games 1-4 than 5-7. Refs don't want to be the one to decide who progresses

 

[Lay Z Boy GM]

Hockey Canada needs an overhaul pronto. Get some analytics nerds on board to help select the team, but we need a real leader for the next 10 years, it’s not just about the selection process.

Hockey Canada was amazing but I guess they got too high on their own fumes and started covering up some really nasty crimes.. we need a total overhaul now.

Part of the big picture is we need to develop goalies again.

But man I’d trust most fans to select the team over these guys, not even kidding.

Also these coaches are having too much fun, I bet they spent more time patting each other on the back and yucking it up than getting to work. They’re all accomplished but this isn’t a social club, I think I might rather have someone with hunger and something to prove.

 

[guymez]

I think the numbers show that penalties decrease as the series progresses as well. More calls in Games 1-4 than 5-7. Refs don't want to be the one to decide who progresses

Thats what you hear the League saying when in fact its impossible for the Refs not to play a role in who wins.
Its simple too...no conditional penalties based on game situations.
If its a penalty then call it.

If there are too many penalties (and its affecting the flow of the game) then change the standard.

 

[brentashton]

If this site was any slower, it would be a Calgary Flame’s fan.

 

[AlanHUK]

I think the numbers show that penalties decrease as the series progresses as well. More calls in Games 1-4 than 5-7. Refs don't want to be the one to decide who progresses

And yet by refusing to call penalties they do exactly that

 

[Fourier]

I think the numbers show that penalties decrease as the series progresses as well. More calls in Games 1-4 than 5-7. Refs don't want to be the one to decide who progresses

Its true. This is often used as a means of diminishing the role of the pp. But the reality is that to play games 5-7 you have to win in the first 4. Moreover, the more games you win in the first 4 the more likely it is you win the series. And pp's are even more of a factor in these games.