Here's to the USA!

[Pizza]

Almost wanted to start my own thread with this take, but why bother. I'm really glad you Canadians knocked the Ruskies on their butts, and I'm glad you got the GOLD. I wanted Canada to win. I always root hard for Canada when they are not playing the USA. Still: @#$^ off Canada. You've got a bunch of classless louts for fans. You treated our guys like dirt. I hope the next time the tourney is hosted in the USA, our fans cheer like hell for your team, treat your team with respect, and generally overwhelm you as good hosts. That is as it should be. I really love Canada, but this anti-USA thing is getting old. As a US hockey fan I will remember, how our team was treated in Canada.

 

[Skroob*]

We over looked chemistry, we looked like the rangers out there.

do you watch hockey???

Aside from the big 3 (Prucha, Jagr, and Lundqvist), Chemistry is what has us doing better than we should on paper.

 

[Devonator]

I too give kudos to the American teams and some of its wonderful players....you just need too work on that chemistry but you guys should be looking good for the Olympics in Vancouver where I hope you beat the Canadians just too piss off their useless classless fans and I say that as a Canuck!!

Even our papers up here in Canada where outraged by the classless display of the GM Place fans.......they totally ruined this tourney for me and I didn't even bother to watch the final though I was pulling for the Russians who tanked big time...though as a Flyer fan, I was happy too see Downie perform so well!!

Its going to be fun to watch the talents that are Kessel and the Johnson boys.....good stuff!!!

 

[Pangu]

I like that the team showed class in adversity but this team did not show such favorable characteristics on the ice. I cheered the team because of Lee (though normally I would join the BC crowd), but I was disappointed by what I felt was selfish play. I thought it looked too much like my former bantam teams with the puck distributed based on the skills of the players. The defance was not as advertised with J Johnson making mistakes and Lee too weak along the boards. The offence was absent. But on the positive the US program seems to be coming along well with quite a bit of talent. By the next olympics the US should have a competitive program.

And oh yeah, I hope that next time the WJC is in the US that you do chear our opponents. But it seems that you all want to be pretentious and ignore our our friendly offer of rivalry.

 

[Pangu]

do you watch hockey???

Aside from the big 3 (Prucha, Jagr, and Lundqvist), Chemistry is what has us doing better than we should on paper.

I think he met before this year.

 

[Slats432]

One thing I would like to congratulate the U.S. on is development of players. There is some sick talent that we will be watching for years. I think the USNTDP has much to be proud of.

 

[knight44]

I cheered for the Americans till the end, but since the swiss game i knew they wont medal. The americans couldnt get over the hate in the dressing room, Kessel hates Johnson and Skille and Schremp cant get along with any of the college players. To bad they couldnt do more then what they did, but all in all we had some bright spots on the team.

 

[Bloggins]

Congrats to team USA.

 

[turbine]

I feel bad for these guys. This was one of the sickest collections of talent in WJC history and because of that everyone was rooting against them. The fan treatment they were subjected to was appalling and embarassing.

There'll be more future NHLers from this US team than the Canadians, Russians and Finns combined. USA hockey is doing just fine and doesn't need this tournament to prove it.

 

[Behind Enemy Lines]

Almost wanted to start my own thread with this take, but why bother. I'm really glad you Canadians knocked the Ruskies on their butts, and I'm glad you got the GOLD. I wanted Canada to win. I always root hard for Canada when they are not playing the USA. Still: @#$^ off Canada. You've got a bunch of classless louts for fans. You treated our guys like dirt. I hope the next time the tourney is hosted in the USA, our fans cheer like hell for your team, treat your team with respect, and generally overwhelm you as good hosts. That is as it should be. I really love Canada, but this anti-USA thing is getting old. As a US hockey fan I will remember, how our team was treated in Canada.

Excellent post, Pizza. I am a proud Canadian who celebrates the onice victory of our team. But unfortunately I will also remember this tournament for excessive boorish fan behavior. Not our finest hour as the 'seventh man', imo.

I guess if there is a consolation, it can be viewed as an acknowledgement that U.S. hockey has arrived and is producing more than its share of elite players.

Kudos to you for taking the high road.

 

[Randall Graves*]

Agreed but the individual efforts of players such as Paukovich, Fritsche and Schneider (from everything I've read and heard) were for the betterment of the team and that's what I was driving at. Schneider wasn't there just to impress any of the Vancouver Canucks people, he was there to help keep Team USA in games, he demonstrated that. Fritsche and Paukovich (from what I've been able to gather) were relegated to primarily "support roles" and seemed to have really shined without all of the so-called "fanfare" or "spotlight". I would venture to guess that there were some ego and/or personality clashes that contributed to their downfall as well.

To quote Herb Brooks... "the name on the front is a h*lluva lot more important than the name on the back". Perhaps some of them didn't get it.

I think at times Fritsche and Paukovich were overused.

 

[Randall Graves*]

Oh, please. Ryan deserves more ice time the minute he takes off the cement skates. He just flat-out couldn't keep up. And Schremp had a ton of PP time, plus regular second-line duty, and just didn't produce. Not that I think the team was well-coached, but the whole "MJ players got the shaft" story is tired.

As for Kyle getting more out of this year's team than Sandelin last year, I don't see it. They finished in the same spot, and this year was arguably quite a bit more talented.

After the Norway game, Bobby Ryan led team USA in scoring even though his ice time was mediocre at best. Say what you want about his skating but he still averaged a PPG.

 

[therealdeal]

I wish JJ was a Calgary prospect, what a guy, Sutter would kill for JJ.

 

[fatsunny]

I don't know about the American chemistry issue, but much has been written about it over the past couple of years. Team chemistry is more important than individual talent in hockey, imo. That would explain how the US underacheived in this tourney.

It also appeared that the Russians and Fins moved the puck much better than our boys. If it's because some of these guys don't like each other, or because they are more concerned about themselves than their team, that is sad. If it's because they have underdeveloped ice vision, that is also sad. This is the best of the best in America and we expect more.

It was strange to see last years # 2 pick, Bobby Ryan,sitting on the bench earlier in the tourney, but it appeared he got more and more ice time as the tourney went on. He also got a lot of PP time. He is really slow though and this tourney is about speed and puck movement, I'm sure Bobby will be fine long term, but you can't argue that he's not up to speed on the skating side of the game.

Schremp got plenty of ice time, looked good, but too selfish for me. Didn't produce what I expected of him.

Kessel, fast, one dimensional, good player, but not a strong playmaker. Wasn't the big factor in the big games that the US needed him to be.

Eric Johnson really stole the show for me. Since he will be up for the draft this year it was a great showing. Kind of like Vince Young stole the show at the Rose Bowl and up'ed his draft status, maybe even to # 1 overall, I think EJ could have done the same with his play. Yeah, he made some mental errors, but he rarely got beat physically and what quick feet he has for a big man. Big time player for years to come.

Mueller showed that he will be a top 5 player. Strong all around player. Stupid penalty late in the bronze metal game. Showed a lack of character to me, like Jack Johnson's flying elbow. JJ was a stud d-man throughout the tourney, though.

Canadian fans really disappointed me with their boos and their "USA Sucks" chant. I can't help but think they are brainwashed up their and part of the motivation was political, not just that the US was the favored team. O, yeah, can't get Fox News in Canada yet, eh? Freedom of the press expands your mind.

 

[Don Draper]

Canadian fans really disappointed me with their boos and their "USA Sucks" chant. I can't help but think they are brainwashed up their and part of the motivation was political, not just that the US was the favored team. O, yeah, can't get Fox News in Canada yet, eh? Freedom of the press expands your mind.

are you saying Fox news is mind expanding? That would be the first and only time that sentence is used.

By the way, we do get Fox news up here, and please dont read so much into the booing. It was somewhat out of place, and nothing to do with politics. If it was about politics, they wouldve booed team Canada for crying out loud.

 

[creative giant*]

If the US ends ushosting the wjc, and Canada waltzes out of there without getting booed, I'd be a little offended. Just like I was offended when the Lames made their cup run and half of the "Oiler fans" in this city jumped ship. It was hilarious seeing them try to defend themselves on the news, and I have to think that it would have been the same in Vancouver had they not let the US know we didn't want them to win.

 

[GKJ]

If anything, the core members of the American team for next year are only 87's and 88's so they will be back, if they're not in the NHL (Kessel), 5 of the top 6 d-men for the Americans will be back, the team will probably be run up front by Mueller and Skille. The guys who would win this for the USA next year for the most part are eligible next season to play.

 

[Prof_it]

One thing I would like to congratulate the U.S. on is development of players. There is some sick talent that we will be watching for years. I think the USNTDP has much to be proud of.

Agreed, the USNTDP really has had an impact on developing talent. Hopefully, the program will learn to take the next step.

 

[RorschachWJK]

Good things will come in the future.

 

[Fish on The Sand]

I don't think they had chemistry issues, I think the extremely hostile crowd got to them. You have to remember these are 18 and 17 year olds, and I'm sure none of them have played in a crowd that was only there to boo them.

 

[Pangu]

I don't think they had chemistry issues, I think the extremely hostile crowd got to them. You have to remember these are 18 and 17 year olds, and I'm sure none of them have played in a crowd that was only there to boo them.

Well it was only Johnson that was booed and from what the TSN guys were saying, he has had it much worse in college hockey. Since when are 17-18 yr olds so emotionally weak anyway? They are nearly the same age as soldiers. If booing gets them down than its a darn good thing they are not in the military. They lost because they did not play well as a team.

 

[Rabid Ranger]

I think the bottomline here is this particular U.S. WJC squad was overrated as a TEAM. Great collection of individual talent, but spotty chemistry and a propensity to choke at the worst times: i.e. the 3rd period. If the U.S. would have had a consistent effort the majority the time, it would have been us and not Russia in the final, I'm convinced of that. At that point-who knows? The U.S. was one of the few teams that actually played Canada close. I applaud the U.S. developmental program, and we have made the semis four straight years, including gold one year, but some things have to change if we're going to be a perennial threat to win it all.

 

[fatsunny]

are you saying Fox news is mind expanding? That would be the first and only time that sentence is used.

By the way, we do get Fox news up here, and please dont read so much into the booing. It was somewhat out of place, and nothing to do with politics. If it was about politics, they wouldve booed team Canada for crying out loud.

The ability to hear mulitple positions on any issue is mind expanding. The last time I was in Canada, Fox News was not allowed apparently due to cencorship. If Fox is now available in Canada, good for freedom in Canada.

If Canada stopped the booing after the US was eliminated then I wouldn't have taken it so personally.

 

[TruGr1t]

I don't think they had chemistry issues, I think the extremely hostile crowd got to them. You have to remember these are 18 and 17 year olds, and I'm sure none of them have played in a crowd that was only there to boo them.

Bingo.

Regardless of how 'classless' the Vancouver fans were, I find it hard to believe they cannot be given at least some credit for such a dominant Team Canada performance. They threw the US right off their game, and were a HUGE asset to the Canadian team in every single game, right down to the final.

Defenceman Alexei Emelin said the loud, soldout crowd of 18,630 intimidated the Russians in what was a physical, high-energy game.

http://www.tsn.ca/world_jrs/news_story/?ID=149593&hubname=world_jrs

They booed, so what. We've seen it before, and we'll see it again. They NEVER booed the national anthem, contrary to what some US media sources are claiming (just ask Bob Mackenzie, who was there for every game, and said he never heard the US anthem booed once). The J.Johnson booing was to be expected, especially from fans who put up with the Bertuzzi boofest on a consistant basis. When it came down to it, the fans even cheered for various US accomplishments (Schneiders POG got a big cheer, they even cheered for a J.Johnson goal in the bronze medal game). People are making a huge deal out of NOTHING. The fans did their job, they helped the Canadians win the Gold by throwing opponents off their game. What is the point of home-ice advantage if you equally cheer the away team?

 

[Pizza]

Bingo.

Regardless of how 'classless' the Vancouver fans were, I find it hard to believe they cannot be given at least some credit for such a dominant Team Canada performance. They threw the US right off their game, and were a HUGE asset to the Canadian team in every single game, right down to the final.



http://www.tsn.ca/world_jrs/news_story/?ID=149593&hubname=world_jrs

They booed, so what. We've seen it before, and we'll see it again. They NEVER booed the national anthem, contrary to what some US media sources are claiming (just ask Bob Mackenzie, who was there for every game, and said he never heard the US anthem booed once). The J.Johnson booing was to be expected, especially from fans who put up with the Bertuzzi boofest on a consistant basis. When it came down to it, the fans even cheered for various US accomplishments (Schneiders POG got a big cheer, they even cheered for a J.Johnson goal in the bronze medal game). People are making a huge deal out of NOTHING. The fans did their job, they helped the Canadians win the Gold by throwing opponents off their game. What is the point of home-ice advantage if you equally cheer the away team?

Point taken folks. I can see your side of it. Just remember something, next time the tourney is hosted by the USA, if we behave the way Canadian fans did, I guarantee a HUGE freaking deal will be made of it. Especially if we beat Canada or win the gold or both. But if that happens turn about is fair play, eh?