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WC: TEAM USA

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Well, well, well. No one was excited by this roster and it's only been 2 games (1 that counts) but you can't be anything but excited so far. The US and Canada are at a huge disadvantage in this tournament. We often focus on the horrific top player acceptance rate compared to the other countries, and understandably so, but often the bigger issue is we don't prepare for this tournament and the opposition does. We show up, have a couple of practices and 1 exhibition, and then start the tournament. The rest of the teams have training camps, cuts, many exhibition games and practices, etc. where you'd think they're preparing for the start of their regular season instead.

The US was better than Finland today and deserved to win, and they had to beat the IIHF + refs, too. But I'm more excited that the team is playing to its identity - hard, fast, and pressuring all over the ice. They don't look like a team that's only had a couple of practices. Most often in this tournament, we're trying to win on talent alone and that's challenging when you're not getting most, if any, of your top available talent. We have some talent of course but they're playing as a team so far, and that bolds well for their progression through the tournament.

They didn't start strong today but they did well to withstand the expected Finnish pressure out of the gates. Finland (who had the best acceptance rate of top players) was going to come out hard when they're opening their gold medal defense in their home country. The US got some solid saves from DeSmith and they didn't wilt.

The disallowed Coronato goal was one of the most putrid decisions I've ever seen. Every time people complain about NHL officiating (and rightfully so), all you need to do is watch an IIHF game or two to recalibrate your blessings with the NHL. I liked that the team showed some mental toughness in response to this though, something we don't see from so many USAH teams. It would have thrown most USAH teams off the rails but this team just swallowed it and kept moving forward.

I thought generally the guys looked pretty good. DeSmith wasn't tested frequently but he faced quite a few high-quality chances due to some breakdowns and he was always there to bail out the team. Tuch was flying. Garland, O'Connor, and Grimaldi carried forward their momentum from the exhibition, too. Mazur is doing all the little things, as is Bonino. The Perbix + Samberg pairing was mostly strong and I saw good thing things from the others too, although all the defensemen / pairings had some shaky breakdowns.

The two things I'm focused on most going forward are seeing more chemistry on the PP and the defensemen cleaning up some of the mental mistakes that led to more breakdowns than is sustainable. The talent is there to have a good PP, so hopefully that comes with more practice time and games. The defense is pretty inexperienced, so those breakdowns are going to happen, but hopefully, they can limit them going forward as they shed the nerves and have more time together as a team.
 
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SK94 said:
John Marino would be nice add. Another righty would be nice. Long term contract and only one U19 tournament with USA Hockey so why not.
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If we do try to fill the last spot my ranking would be (1) Jack Hughes; (2) John Marino; (3) Luke Hughes. You have to take Jack if he wanted to play but adding a guy like Marino would do a lot to help stabilize the defense as he's such a steady defenseman.
 
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William H Bonney said:
If we do try to fill the last spot my ranking would be (1) Jack Hughes; (2) John Marino; (3) Luke Hughes. You have to take Jack if he wanted to play but adding a guy like Marino would do a lot to help stabilize the defense as he's such a steady defenseman.
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Jack was pretty banged up the last few games. He only played 14 minutes in that eliminating loss. I would say chances for him are 0. He likely will rest up. Most realistic is Luke Hughes with a few of his buddies here...not holding my breath on him either but he would be a difference maker for us if he came.
 
AmericanDream said:
Jack was pretty banged up the last few games. He only played 14 minutes in that eliminating loss. I would say chances for him are 0. He likely will rest up. Most realistic is Luke Hughes with a few of his buddies here...not holding my breath on him either but he would be a difference maker for us if he came.
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Oh yeah, I have no expectations Jack will play. Just that he has to be the first call.
 
William H Bonney said:
If we do try to fill the last spot my ranking would be (1) Jack Hughes; (2) John Marino; (3) Luke Hughes. You have to take Jack if he wanted to play but adding a guy like Marino would do a lot to help stabilize the defense as he's such a steady defenseman.
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If we look at defenders, then definitely Marino. Borgen or McCabe could also be reasonable options if their teams are eliminated.
 
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We technically still have 2 spots available as they have yet to register Luke Tuch. Will be interesting to see if they register him now or try to add another forward instead. We definitely need to add another d-man, especially after our tournament was derailed last year when we lost multiple defensemen to injury. IIRC we were down to 4 defensemen in the medal rounds last tournament and had forwards taking shifts on defense.
 
I'm pretty sure the younger Tuch will play tomorrow.

Hungary has already faced more than 40 shots against Denmark and an early game tomorrow. Hungarian boys will miss their mothers tomorrow.
 
SK94 said:
I'm pretty sure the younger Tuch will play tomorrow.

Hungary has already faced more than 40 shots against Denmark and an early game tomorrow. Hungarian boys will miss their mothers tomorrow.
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That's what I expect, too, but they were (are) at least comfortable with the idea of not registering him.
 
William H Bonney said:
You can't check a player that never had the puck.
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He reached the puck. It is dumb these days that you should have full possession of the puck to be checked. It's almost like you should just let the puck-seeking player take the puck.
 
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SK94 said:
He reached the puck. It is dumb these days that you should have full possession of the puck to be checked. It's almost like you should just let the puck-seeking player take the puck.
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He did not touch the puck. You need to watch the play again. You're off the mark here.

If you can start hitting players because they might touch the puck welcome back to the dead puck area.

It was a textbook interference penalty, Ohtamaa was lucky to only get 2, and was absolutely a dirty hit even if his intent was not for it to be dirty.

 
Okay, I'll admit the puck was a little farther than I remembered.

I still think that in today's hockey there is too many interference calls in fifty fifty situations. It is a bit similar situation when an attacking player dumbs the puck to the corner and defender hits him. I absolutely hate those interference penalties.
 
Walker put himself in a bad spot, no doubt to that. The hit was 100% a penalty in any league. I wish Walker wouldn't have made himself so vulnerable to get taken out like that. Sucks for him as he will be out now and the team who really looked good will now have to either add L. Tuch or hope someone shows up to help.
 
SK94 said:
Okay, I'll admit the puck was a little farther than I remembered.

I still think that in today's hockey there is too many interference calls in fifty fifty situations. It is a bit similar situation when an attacking player dumbs the puck to the corner and defender hits him. I absolutely hate those interference penalties.
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If you are talking about a player dumping the puck from outside the line and then being interfered with that is the reason hockey was garbage for years. Once a player shoots the puck in if the defender even moves in front of him it should be a penalty.
 
SK94 said:
He reached the puck. It is dumb these days that you should have full possession of the puck to be checked. It's almost like you should just let the puck-seeking player take the puck.
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That's interference all day long, and because it was a head shot on an unsuspecting player, should be a major.

Even in the bad old days it would be two minutes, but nowadays that should be 5.

How you can think that is Walker's fault is beyond me. That bolded sentences are puzzling. Walker never had the puck- any hit on him is interference. It's always been that way. By your logic, random hits on players without the puck should be allowed.

Your last sentence is bizarre. Do you not know that yes, that IS the rule? A player cannot be hit until he has possession of the puck.
 
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