Hockey Canada should be accountable

[13 others]

Really? Not sure which games you watched but he was only on the ice for 2 goals against all tournament. The first, against Russia, his partner, Markus Phillips gets walked, Bouchard is in the right position and Dipietro gets beat on a cross body shot that's hard to save. Did everything right there. On the second, the first Finland goal, again he's in the right spot, blocking any passes, His D partner, Ty Smith is weak in the corner and gets beat, forcing the forward to leave his position, who makes a bad play diving for a poke check. Again Bouchard is in the right spot, blocking any passing plays and Dipietro doesn't track the puck well here and again gets beat by a cross body shot.

So, only on the ice for 2 GA all tourney, neither of which are on him, playing against all the other team's top players.

He was far and away Canada's best D man.
None of this is on any D or goalie for Canada. You're not going to be Finland or Russia scoring 1 goal.
Canada's power play was pretty bad, and i think a big part of it was that the forwards didn't really use the D, and everyone stood still on the perimeter. Really i think that was their problem all tourney, no one went to the dirty areas to score, and Canada was pretty easy to defend against. Against Russia especially, although they got 31 shots, I wouldn't say they had many scoring chances. In TSN's highlight package they pretty much had all the scoring chances since they were so few.

Ya, he sure was in the right position, too bad he didn't do anything.

 

[Thebesthockey]

So, your point is that Canadian fans are incapable of thinking for themselves and just go along with what the media tells them?

most fans have no clue who 75 % of the team is having only followed local players
and when u hear button and co. pump tires thats the source of info for most

 

[NyQuil]

Again, I’m not a huge fan of the registered players metric because we play hockey recreationally here at a level I don’t think other countries do.

Obviously we should be doing better but for a lot of kids who play House League, there’s never any expectation that they will contribute at a high level.

They get 1 or 2 hours of hockey a week.

 

[Pouchkine]

Again, I’m not a huge fan of the registered players metric because we play hockey recreationally here at a level I don’t think other countries do.

Obviously we should be doing better but for a lot of kids who play House League, there’s never any expectation that they will contribute at a high level.

They get 1 or 2 hours of hockey a week.

60 Junior teams in the country is a good indication though.

 

[Dr Pepper]

Yes? Media has an incredible amount of influence on the average person's view of the world after all. It shapes rhetoric and can single handily generate misconceptions that people think as gospel truth (ie immigrants taking all your domestic jobs).

This. Pretty much same thing I've been saying this whole thread. TSN creates this narrative every year that the WJC gold medal is Canada's to lose, and then when Canada DOES lose it's apparently this big tragedy. Which, at the same time, kind of takes away from every team that beats Canada. Like, they weren't supposed to win, how dare they beat us?

I'm surprised they didn't change the backing on the main TSN website to black, like they do whenever someone dies.

Maybe the flag at TSN HQ is at half mast today, who knows. I bet their viewer ratings take a hit with Canada gone, but again that's their own fault.

 

[Kobe Armstrong]

Canada could have 2 teams and still compete for gold and silver.

Maybe in D1A

 

[Pouchkine]

This. Pretty much same thing I've been saying this whole thread. TSN creates this narrative every year that the WJC gold medal is Canada's to lose, and then when Canada DOES lose it's apparently this big tragedy. Which, at the same time, kind of takes away from every team that beats Canada. Like, they weren't supposed to win, how dare they beat us?

I'm surprised they didn't change the backing on the main TSN website to black, like they do whenever someone dies.

Maybe the flag at TSN HQ is at half mast today, who knows. I bet their viewer ratings take a hit with Canada gone, but again that's their own fault.

They lost the big NHL Rights, it's even worst now.

 

[Gold Standard]

60 Junior teams in the country is a good indication though.

of which there are, on average, 15 Canadians on each of those teams. 900 players playing elite level hockey in Canada. +- 500 Canadians playing Div 1 hockey in the U.S.

There are +- 1400 Canadians playing atop of the developmental pyramid. so, discount the 600,000 Hockey Canada participation numbers.

 

[NyQuil]

60 Junior teams in the country is a good indication though.

I just don’t have a lot of time for the absolute registered hockey players figures.

It’s flattering to other countries when we lose, sure.

As a former registered hockey player, I can tell you that I wasn’t very good.

 

[Pouchkine]

of which there are, on average, 15 Canadians on each of those teams. 900 players playing elite level hockey in Canada. +- 500 Canadians playing Div 1 hockey in the U.S.

There are +- 1400 Canadians playing atop of the developmental pyramid. so, discount the 600,000 Hockey Canada participation numbers.

It's probably still more than Czech Russians Swedes Finns combined at that level, that's the point. The structure is there, the teaching and skill development is lacking big time.

 

[57special]

CIS very good hockey that can compete with div 1 ncaa? I don’t know about that

Yeah, it's good hockey, but not NCAA D1 hockey. D1 will always have the advantage of scholarships. If CIS had them, it would be a whole new ballgame , er, puck game .

 

[End on a Hinote]

This is nothing compared to the backlash in the late 90s early 2000s when they didn’t win gold for like 7 straight years.

In retrospect, you could argue that that slump wasnt so bad considering they did no worse than bronze from 1999-2004. Not saying it was necessarily better than what's happened in the past 6 years now (we still have 2 golds after all), but looking back the paranoia we had regarding that slump was pretty silly.

 

[13 others]

Again, I’m not a huge fan of the registered players metric because we play hockey recreationally here at a level I don’t think other countries do.

Obviously we should be doing better but for a lot of kids who play House League, there’s never any expectation that they will contribute at a high level.

They get 1 or 2 hours of hockey a week.

Why do you think a higher % of players in other countries are elite athletes? (They're not) Registered players is good for showing the popularity of the sport and what is the top team sport for athletes within a country. Canada has many times greater chances of finding good junior players.

 

[Cardiac Jerks]

Yeah, it's good hockey, but not NCAA D1 hockey. D1 will always have the advantage of scholarships. If CIS had them, it would be a whole new ballgame , er, puck game .

Even with scholarships being offered the level of competition would have to greatly increase before prospects looked at it as a serious option. It’s simply not a developmental league. You can count on one hand the number of people who’ve played there that went on to the nhl.

 

[canuck2010]

A team that was less than the sum of its parts. Over coached and hamstrung. I kept waiting for the true Canadian team to show up. Then I realized it was all of the other teams. Play fast and be hard on the puck. Too much meaningless playing around with the puck and not enough power hockey to the net.

Any Canadian coach at this level that "deals in reality" and rakes a 17 year old kid over the coals in the national media at this tournament leaves me speechless.

 

[rojac]

Yes? Media has an incredible amount of influence on the average person's view of the world after all. It shapes rhetoric and can single handily generate misconceptions that people think as gospel truth (ie immigrants taking all your domestic jobs).

To me, that is the fault of the people who believe the media not the fault of the media.

 

[FiLe]

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.

The good news for the countries mentioned here is that they only need to produce about 25 or so that can compete with Canada's best.

 

[Pouchkine]

The good news for the countries mentioned here is that they only need to produce about 25 or so that can compete with Canada's best.

At Senior level, at junior level we should DOMINATE most years.

 

[FiLe]

At Senior level, at junior level we should DOMINATE most years.

Nope. As long as Canada can only pick 25 out of those 440,000, the others likewise only need 25 players of their own that are on comparable level to be competitive.

 

[NyQuil]

Why do you think a higher % of players in other countries are elite athletes? (They're not) Registered players is good for showing the popularity of the sport and what is the top team sport for athletes within a country. Canada has many times greater chances of finding good junior players.

Well, I’ve played hockey in Europe as a kid and I can tell you that there are fewer teams that have more ice time and play at a higher level.

It was more of a commitment.

We have a lot of players but it also means that for a lot of those players there will not be a lot of ice time.

By the time kids are 8 years old, the players that you see at the WJCs have already been identified and streamed out into competitive programs while the vast majority of remaining players keep playing for fun.

Those players in the lower competitive leagues will never play Junior hockey. I coached a team of kids who decided to learn to play hockey at 11-12.

From my experience, I didn’t see that happening in Europe to the same degree.

 

[Howboutthempanthers]

Someone already said it on the first page. The rest of the world is catching up. Not realistic to win it every year. You just won it last year.

 

[NyQuil]

Someone already said it on the first page. The rest of the world is catching up. You can't win this every year. You just won it last year.

I don’t think there’s any doubt about that.

Some people are curious as to why they are catching up.

 

[golfortennis]

Even with scholarships being offered the level of competition would have to greatly increase before prospects looked at it as a serious option. It’s simply not a developmental league. You can count on one hand the number of people who’ve played there that went on to the nhl.

Don't forget as well that CIS is now basically former CHL players. Guys who didn't play professionally. So now you're watching the 70th percentile and down of the CHL from about 2 years prior. It is what it is, and it can make for some entertainment, but where is the draw to see the guys you watched play CHL before play again?

 

[OldScool]

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.

Quantity doesnt equal quality.

 

[End on a Hinote]

Someone already said it on the first page. The rest of the world is catching up. Not realistic to win it every year. You just won it last year.

I can only speak for myself, but it's hard to let go of things. I grew up reading about Canadian hockey dominance in the 70's and 80's and as soon and I got old enough to appreciate the sport, other countries had caught up. It's like arriving to the party of the year at 4am, I missed out on the glory years.