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U20: Lake Placid Tournament, August 1st - 8th

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Looks like a complete meltdown in the second period against USA. Oh, have we seen that before....

Tkachuk with 3 goals in less than 4 minutes.
 
Boeser scores his 2nd of the game with an absolute cannon of a shot.

And now Matthews scores on the PP. Sweden is falling apart.
 
SimplySolace said:
How'd Larkin look? Did they play on the same line much today?
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You bet they did.

Larkin looked unreal today. Probably the best player on the ice. He's just on a whole other level. I thought they were double shifting him or something because it felt like he played 30 minutes. I think he just made the most of every shift, so it just kinda looked that way.

Tkachuk looked fantastic with Matthews too.

If I had to rank the forwards I'd go:

Larkin
Tkachuk
Matthews/Boeser

hard to decide between Matthews and Boeser. Matthews is a wizard with the puck, and can hold it for ages, and Boeser tries to get rid of it as fast as possible :laugh:
 
hockey17jp said:
How did Sonny Milano do in the Sweden game?
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He started the game on the 4th line as I think the coaches wanted to have a look at the other US players, but that didn't last long.

I don't have the boxscore in front of me, but I thought Milano had a great game too. Early on, it looked like he was going to be the player of the game. He's just so damn shifty with the puck. A couple times, he took on 4 Swedes and managed to create a chance out of it. He holds onto the puck so well, and creates a lot of time for his teammates to get into position.

Honestly, no complaints with his game today. It's just that other guys stole the show today.

Because I know you'll love to hear it... The announcers were gushing about Columbus prospects all day long. =)
 
This was a gong show hockey day if I've ever seen one. I suppose the only rational thing for the US coaching staff to do is cut team blue and bring team white to the tournament in December.
 
@mikemorrealeNHL

U.S. coach Ron Wilson said there's a good chance they will cut 7 forwards and 3 defensemen by tomorrow afternoon.
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Who do you all see as the cuts? Keep in mind Tuch was injured in the opening period against Finland today and it's not known if he's going to continue. I would imagine all parties will opt to play it safe and send him home. Here's my guesses at the cuts:

F - Christian Dvorak
F - Christian Fischer
F - Jordan Greenway
F - Ryan Hitchcock
F - Nick Schmaltz
F - Alex Tuch* (injury)
F - Dominic Turgeon
D - Brandon Fortunato
D - Caleb Jones
D - Johnathan MacLeod

Notes:

  • Schmaltz going home is my "insert outrage" pick. He was invisible in last year's tournament. And he's basically been invisible this camp so far as well. He's got a ton of skill, but he only sporadically applies himself and that's not usually a good combination for success in the short, intense tournament that is the WJC. I'll still be surprised if they actually send him home but I'm thinking he may be this year's Adam Erne.
  • With three centers (Matthews, Larkin, White) basically already locks for the team, I think one of Dvorak or MacInnis could be going home. Neither have impressed this camp, and that's especially a shame for Dvorak after the year he had, but I think they'll opt to keep MacInnis (given the mutual history) if it indeed comes to that. I hope Dvorak sticks around though so we can see more of him.
  • I knew nothing of Scott Eansor before this camp but I've been impressed in the little I've seen. He was definitely the off-the-wall pick for the camp, but he's chipped in offensively and seems suited for a role on the "pest" line they usually put together. He seems like an easy pick to be cut since we knew nothing of him, but they obviously liked him before the camp and I would imagine he's performed well in their minds as well. Still, I could see him going home and both Dvorak/MacInnis sticking around, but it's more fun to go with the off-the-wall guy as a guess.
  • I think it's a year too early for Fischer or Greenway to have a chance at this team. I like Hitchcock but I think a guy like Bjork is a much better fit stylistically for the bottom six. I've never been a Turgeon fan and I don't see how he makes this team anyway.
  • Defense is a toss up. Fortunato has some nice skills but he's tiny and he's not a dynamo skater to make up for that. Caleb Jones improved a lot last year but his chance should really come next year. I like MacLeod but I'm not sure what role he would serve here. He's not a great skater and he's not going to beat out Carlo/Collins for the shutdown, shot blocker roles either. I'm not a fan of Collins at all but he's in USAH's good graces.
  • USAH has seemed to avoid sending home goalies in recent years, and I haven't seen any indication that's going to change this year, but it's clear Kris Oldham is unfortunately in over his head here. He's here to replace the injured Nedeljkovic anyway and the goalie spots were never much in doubt. I think the team would be better served by going down to three and letting those three (especially Halverson/Sarthou) get more work.

Update on Tuch:
@JulieRobenhymer: Forgot to mention earlier: Alex Tuch hurt his knee in today's game & will remain in Lake Placid, but will not participate on the ice. #NJEC
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