Hockey Canada should be accountable

[NyQuil]

Reading this and about Comtois Instagram account, it seems to be big thing in Canada. At the 98 Olympic loss level.

LOL.

1998 was bitter. Worst national team loss I can remember since 1981 Canada Cup final.

This is just a bunch of kids.

 

[joestevens29]

Problem is Canada players plays mostly at junior league teams. They need to change it maybe send best to AHL. Canada just cant play that fast against guys who grows with mens hockey. shaked knees cant skate

Is there anyone in the AHL that even qualifies. It is after all a U-20 tourney

 

[Deuce Awesome]

LOL.

1998 was bitter. Worst national team loss I can remember since 1981 Canada Cup final.

98 was bitter for me. Very bitter. Was so stoked for that team.

Sad to see Canada knocked out this time, but lets give Finland some credit where it is due. They are a very good team with tonnes of talent that has been drafted by NHL teams.

 

[OldScool]

Fact is hockey is really a global sport now with several countries having legit programs and chances at medals. Days are gone when Canada is the hands down favorite year in and year out. Canada beat Swiss by one, lost to Russia by a goal and lost to Finland by a goal. Any of those games could have gone either way. They could have been 4-0 or 1-3 easily. Hitting a post, broken stick, etc. These moments determine who wins and who loses as the talent globally is that close.

 

[Dr Pepper]

LOL.

1998 was bitter. Worst national team loss I can remember since 1981 Canada Cup final.

This is just a bunch of kids.

1998, at least they played for Bronze after sweeping through the prelims and losing a tight game to prime-era Dominik Hasek.

What about 2006 in Turin? Finished 3rd in the group, lost in the quarterfinals to Russia. No medal there, either.

 

[gtrower]

I am so disappointed with the way hockey is going in Canada hockey use to be a game of creativity reading the ice and that’s what separated the good players from the greats and now the players have to play systems it hand cuffs a lot of players I have had the privilege of watching Ty Smith for a number of years now and that was not his game they made him play he didn’t get to rush the puck jump into the play .how many more players could have been more effective out there with out a leash on system players are for your 3rd and 4th liners and your 5th and 6th defence man

Here's the thing about playing without a leash - when you play an organized team, most of the time you're going to lose. I don't understand why people think just tossing out players and letting them do what they want is going to beat teams playing like a team, most of the time it'll lead to an epic fail. Canada got beat. It's a very competitive tournament. Teams all have speed, skill, and players capable of putting the game away. Could the coaching be better? Maybe, but I don't think it's about taking the players off their leash.

Well which is it. Did Canada lose because they were too structured or because they had no structure?

It’s almost like there are other teams on the ice with coaches designing gameplans for players that are trying to win too.

It’s been mentioned here already, but the issue isn’t with Hockey Canada. The issue is with the fans seeing an OT loss against Finland in the QF as a national tragedy. Rather than it simply being the current state of the world hockey landscape.

 

[NyQuil]

What about 2006 in Turin? Finished 3rd in the group, lost in the quarterfinals to Russia. No medal there, either.

Well, they just didn’t look very good all tournament long.

Odd shenanigans with the roster, like Bertuzzi being promised a spot despite not playing for a year and Crosby on the shelf IIRC.

I wasn’t so much bitter as annoyed at team management.

 

[Kshahdoo]

Problem is Canada players plays mostly at junior league teams. They need to change it maybe send best to AHL. Canada just cant play that fast against guys who grows with mens hockey. shaked knees cant skate

Well, hockey is a business in Canada, almost on any level. While in Europe, it's more like a social policy. At least, on junior level. So it's very manageable, by federations and even government, while I'm not sure, Hockey Canada will be able to do anything vs CHL teams' owners.

 

[bobber]

Problem is Canada players plays mostly at junior league teams. They need to change it maybe send best to AHL. Canada just cant play that fast against guys who grows with mens hockey. shaked knees cant skate

The CHL can't send players to the AHL. They have rules in place for these drafted players. If they go to a NHL camp they either keep them on their squad or have to sent them back. If they are a year older they can play in the AHL or some other minor pro league if they have the skill level. Lets face it. These other countries in this tourney have put a lot of effort into their programs to improve. You can see the result of this live on the tube. It is actually great for hockey world wide.

 

[Dr Pepper]

Well, they just didn’t look very good all tournament long.

Odd shenanigans with the roster, like Bertuzzi being promised a spot despite not playing for a year and Crosby on the shelf IIRC.

I wasn’t so much bitter as annoyed at team management.

Meh, Bertuzzi being on the 2006 team is no different than Rob Zamuner or Shayne Corson somehow making the Nagano roster.

 

[NyQuil]

Meh, Bertuzzi being on the 2006 team is no different than Rob Zamuner or Shayne Corson somehow making the Nagano roster.

I had thought they had learned at that point, picking the best players available based on their play as opposed to promising spots to veteran guys that they liked.

They couldn’t score and yet Crosby, Staal and Spezza were sitting in the press box.

 

[SuperScript29]

They had good players, but very dumb coaching.

 

[13 others]

Ya I think you are on to something I loved the 2006 team coached by Sutter they put there work boots on every shift they were gritty and finished every check and not afraid to dump the puck in

You think this team was afraid to dump pucks in?

 

[Ahoy there]

Flip your perspective. You should be happy about your worst placing ever (no sarcasm, read on.)

1. It shows the strength of hockey around the world. That's good for everyone.
2. It will make you regroup as a nation in your approach to development. I don't care who you are, win like Canada has been and you will battle apathy an lethargy toward continual improvement.
3. The horrible taste left in the mouth will drive your youth to push harder.

I mean seriously. Look at your historical record vs. the world - both amateurs and professionals (since Olympics allowed them.) Absolutely no one feels bad for you getting booted from World Juniors! No one.

Did you feel bad when the US Men's BB Olympic Team didn't win gold? Ah, that'd be a "NO." Neither did the world. But it made us regroup, address underlying issues, and improve. Same will happen for Canada. It's actually a very apt comparison if you think about it.

 

[bobber]

DiPietro kept this game close. He was gracious after in his interview and really showed a lot a class. Great kid. Canada was out chanced by a good margin. The Finns played a hell of a game against them. They deserve credit for not giving Canada the room or space to maneuver and forced the play almost the whole game. Canada had some great opportunities where sticks broke on shots etc. but that is expected. The Finns system in this game worked against Canada and resulted in a win. They never played that great previously in this tourney. It's either win or go home.

 

[Scouter]

Twice in 4 years losing to very good Finland teams in the QFs. There's no shame in it - Canada should probably start lowering their expectations in these tournaments. The rest of the world has really closed the gap on them.

We knew this wasn't going to be a very strong Team Canada this year. And unfortunately you had to play a very good 3 seed. Realistically Canada was probably not a top 3 team at this tournament.

Of course compared to the other teams Canada was top 3.

 

[Scouter]

Hockey Canada needs a complete revamp of their entire staff. Stop selecting players based on their stats and size and only from the CHL. Get your staff to actually go look at all or most kids in all of the JR leagues.

On a different topic, start marketing the hell out of CIS. This is very good hockey and can compete against Div 1 NCAA teams but you guys are not doing or saying anything about it other than complaining why are our kids going to the States.

They already do this, they have players from the NCAA.

 

[pheasant]

No one should be surprised at the loss for Canada. It's a short tournament, there's going to be upsets.

 

[13 others]

Fact is hockey is really a global sport now with several countries having legit programs and chances at medals. Days are gone when Canada is the hands down favorite year in and year out. Canada beat Swiss by one, lost to Russia by a goal and lost to Finland by a goal. Any of those games could have gone either way. They could have been 4-0 or 1-3 easily. Hitting a post, broken stick, etc. These moments determine who wins and who loses as the talent globally is that close.

Canada has 440, 000 u20 registered hockey players according to the IIHF. That's more than Finland, Sweden, Russia, Switzerland, Czechs and Slovakia combined.

Face it, if they don't win gold every year that means the team underachieved.

 

[Pouchkine]

You play at home and you play the trap, you dump the puck and barely chase it. What is this idiotic game plan? 2 games in a row with this garbage hockey, well deserved being out.

Canada should absolutely dominate the U20 tournament. If skills and collective play were better thought and learned we would win easily most years in U20, not even playing offense at home is just ridiculous. 7/10 last tournaments in Canada-Buffalo and only 2 titles.

 

[Pouchkine]

Canada has 440, 000 u20 registered hockey players according to the IIHF. That's more than Finland, Sweden, Russia, Switzerland, Czechs and Slovakia combined.

Face it, if they don't win gold every year that means the team underachieved.

In U20 they should be the dominant force.

 

[Fogelhund]

Considering all I heard going into the tourney was that we were weak and that goaltending would have to win for us, I'm not sure why everyone is so surprised.

Top four scorers on Team Canada

#27th pick
#50th pick
#6 pick
Not drafted


Call a spade, a spade... this team didn't quite have the high end talent, that Canada often sends to these tournaments. We've gone through a couple of years. where Canadian forwards, haven't featured strongly at the top of the draft. This should be no surprise.

 

[Whaleafs]

This is what happens when countries trying to develop their national programs hire a bunch of Canadians to run them, and we import players from other countries to play in our major junior leagues. The talent gap will lessen and we won't dominate anymore.

 

[NyQuil]

Canada has 440, 000 u20 registered hockey players according to the IIHF. That's more than Finland, Sweden, Russia, Switzerland, Czechs and Slovakia combined.

Face it, if they don't win gold every year that means the team underachieved.

Well thank god they do because we have a sport as a result.

If Canada just won everything all the time it would get pretty repetitive and boring.

 

[Pouchkine]

Well thank god they do because we have a sport as a result.

If Canada just won everything all the time it would get pretty repetitive and boring.

The real problem is right now skills are being coached out of hockey in Canada and elsewhere. When hockey was great to watch was when it was all about scoring more goals than the other team, now it's all about not making mistakes.