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WC: General Talk '14 — USA

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Xokkeu said:
I struggle to see us beating the Czechs or even France with our team defense and goaltending.
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I think they will be fine against either to be honest. France is riding high but they do not scare me one bit.

This US team has won games, something many of us didn't think we would. Placing 2nd (hopefully) is a huge accomplishment for what we saw on paper. They are winning ugly and in a tournament like this where only Russia looks elite, this is perfectly fine with me. Thomas can produce a big game, he did a few times already (Swiss and Finland), and the defense needs to buckle down a bit, but this is Laviolette here, defense isn't his strong suit, he likes these guys to run and gun.

Excited to see how it pans out, this US team has been frustrating and entertaining all in one. And to be fair, they have performed better then I expected to this point and have a solid chance at moving on.
 
AmericanDream said:
I think they will be fine against either to be honest. France is riding high but they do not scare me one bit.

This US team has won games, something many of us didn't think we would. Placing 2nd (hopefully) is a huge accomplishment for what we saw on paper. They are winning ugly and in a tournament like this where only Russia looks elite, this is perfectly fine with me. Thomas can produce a big game, he did a few times already (Swiss and Finland), and the defense needs to buckle down a bit, but this is Laviolette here, defense isn't his strong suit, he likes these guys to run and gun.

Excited to see how it pans out, this US team has been frustrating and entertaining all in one. And to be fair, they have performed better then I expected to this point and have a solid chance at moving on.
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France may not scare you, but we've given up 6 goals to Latvia, 3 goals to the worst team in the group Kazakhstan and 4 goals against Germany.

I mean I guess we can just acknowledge that we will need to score five or more goals to beat a team like France, but that doesn't inspire much confidence in me as to our abilities to advance in the tournament.
 
Looks like we got the Czechs.

It's an interesting matchup because they are very different from us. I'm pretty sure every single one of their games were one goal wins or losses.

Dont know much about their goalies or d outside of Kindle and Polak, but they seemed to give goals to Canada and Sweden.

So we can probably score some goals, but we will have to be careful on the counter with guys like Hertl, Jagr and Hudler.
 
I know its a crapshoot the way we've been playing, but you gotta think we should play for a medal now.
 
I think there is only one team left in the tournament that could flat out dominate the US and that is Russia. They have pretty much dominated everyone though. As long as the US defense doesn't leave it up Thomas on Thursday, they have an excellent shot at advancing.

Glad the US game is one of the late ones so I can catch it.
 
Xokkeu said:
France may not scare you, but we've given up 6 goals to Latvia, 3 goals to the worst team in the group Kazakhstan and 4 goals against Germany.

I mean I guess we can just acknowledge that we will need to score five or more goals to beat a team like France, but that doesn't inspire much confidence in me as to our abilities to advance in the tournament.
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have to keep moving forward, can't look in the past anymore my friend ;)

neith team scares me because they lack fire power. regardless of how many goals we let in against other teams, I can only focus on the now and know that our fate is in our own hands and we will be playing against a less talented team to get to a medal game.
 
SanDogBrewin said:
I think there is only one team left in the tournament that could flat out dominate the US and that is Russia. They have pretty much dominated everyone though. As long as the US defense doesn't leave it up Thomas on Thursday, they have an excellent shot at advancing.

Glad the US game is one of the late ones so I can catch it.
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Us game is 9am eastern
 
"Craig Smith of the United States owns the record for the most assists in a quarter-final. Smith had five helpers when the Americans eliminated the Russians with an 8-3 victory on May 16, 2013 in Helsinki."

You can go ahead and duplicate that tomorrow Mr. Smith.
 
SanDogBrewin said:
"Craig Smith of the United States owns the record for the most assists in a quarter-final. Smith had five helpers when the Americans eliminated the Russians with an 8-3 victory on May 16, 2013 in Helsinki."

You can go ahead and duplicate that tomorrow Mr. Smith.
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Man, I remember that game....that was crazy. Stastny and Smith, two stars of that game.... 5 assists against Russia...wow.
 
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Meh even though we lost I'd say it was still a relatively successful tournament. We got second in our group and this was not exactly a championship roster.
 
Really wish Leggio or Helebuyck had gotten to play. Tim Thomas sucks and our PK was god awful
 
Losing Trouba was a blow that defense couldn't overcome. I get what Laviolette was hoping for by sticking with Thomas but it was blind hope.

Abdelkader isn't an IIHF player and he cost his team the game today. That PK was atrocious though. Czechs were obvious in their plan and the US didn't collapse down to the crease nor did any of them take the body.

Seth Jones looked like Randy Jones today which was unfortunate.

Tyler Johnson will play for the team in a best-on-best tournament in his career.

Love Craig Smith's game. I'm excited to see what he can do on a team not coached by Trotz.

Brock Nelson may have had one of the least impressive tournaments for a guy that put up points for USAH in a long time.

The defense on a whole was a letdown but Jake Gardiner was by far the most disappointing player for the team. Turnover machine that looked lost.

Feels like an opportunity missed for USAH. A couple more veterans on this team would have done wonders -- if any would have played.
 
I don't ever want to see Abdelkader in a US uniform again. To think he thought he would get away with something like that when the IIHF refs are already calling everything anyways.

Brock Nelson and Craig Smith had chances and didn't finish a some opportunities today. Two goals during the 5min major was a killer. I agree that the US surprised me getting 2nd in their group with that lineup.
 
William H Bonney said:
Brock Nelson may have had one of the least impressive tournaments for a guy that put up points for USAH in a long time.
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Considering his production (I believe he led the team in goals and was second in points?), and the fact that he was leaned on heavily to play defense... I think he had a pretty damn fine tourney.
 
SanDogBrewin said:
I don't ever want to see Abdelkader in a US uniform again. To think he thought he would get away with something like that when the IIHF refs are already calling everything anyways.

Brock Nelson and Craig Smith had chances and didn't finish a some opportunities today. Two goals during the 5min major was a killer. I agree that the US surprised me getting 2nd in their group with that lineup.
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Yeah I don't either, hopefully the Wings cannot release him again.:naughty:

It wasn't a smart IIHF play, I do think in the reaction to the hit people are missing I think he gets away with it in the NHL. In fact I think it is less vicious and similar in terms of the ice without as much elbow than the Nash hit on Kopecky that the NHL said we don't like the hit, but it isn't suspension worthy.

Still not a great tournament for him. He really does like playing for the US, but given the length of suspension he will have to burn off he probably won't play again anyway as they would have to roster him just to burn off games.

I find it a little hilarious the way they do that at both the World Juniors and Championships. To me that was a 2 and 10 hit even in international hockey, oh well. Understand it is IIHF and like I said not a smart play given that, but still I think a lot of times they run guys out pretty quickly when it isn't really necessary but they fold to the whistles of the crowd and the replay overhead, without really looking. If officials are going to pretty much look at the jumbotron it amazes me how often they stall for it then seemingly don't take what they are seeing into account. Rather they at least knee jerk threw him out, that would be more defensible.
 
The Zetterberg Era said:
Yeah I don't either, hopefully the Wings cannot release him again.:naughty:

It wasn't a smart IIHF play, I do think in the reaction to the hit people are missing I think he gets away with it in the NHL. In fact I think it is less vicious and similar in terms of the ice without as much elbow than the Nash hit on Kopecky that the NHL said we don't like the hit, but it isn't suspension worthy.

Still not a great tournament for him. He really does like playing for the US, but given the length of suspension he will have to burn off he probably won't play again anyway as they would have to roster him just to burn off games.

I find it a little hilarious the way they do that at both the World Juniors and Championships. To me that was a 2 and 10 hit even in international hockey, oh well. Understand it is IIHF and like I said not a smart play given that, but still I think a lot of times they run guys out pretty quickly when it isn't really necessary but they fold to the whistles of the crowd and the replay overhead, without really looking. If officials are going to pretty much look at the jumbotron it amazes me how often they stall for it then seemingly don't take what they are seeing into account. Rather they at least knee jerk threw him out, that would be more defensible.
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Maybe a few years ago he gets away with it, but not with the current rules about targeting the head. It was pretty late as well. It was purely a hit to hurt, not to separate the opposing player from the puck or make a useful defensive play. I think that's a guaranteed penalty in the NHL, although maybe not 5 minutes depending on how the refs feel that night.
 
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