WJC: Tournament standouts and dissapointments so far?

[snowkiddin]

Too many blowout games.

I personally believe they should reduce the number of teams in the tournament, but that will never happen.

But I read an interesting solution in The Hockey News this morning: have the qualification for this tournament take place in summer, so that the teams that make it (the Austrias of the world) won’t lose so many players.

Don’t think that would stop them from being smacked around.

 

[Bounces R Way]

As a Flames fan there's been a lot to like with Pelletier. Seems to consistently make the good play and is a forechecking machine. Zary a little quieter but solid in his own zone at least.

Levi hasn't had a ton of work so far but I like his movement. Very efficient. Byram and Drysdale get all the hype but Guhle has impressed me the most relative to expectation on the Canadian blueline. Korczak seems solid too. Schneider and Harley both take too long making decisions. Tomasino is awesome, really like his game. The Perfetti-McMichael-Krebs line has been underwhelming.

From other teams I've liked Gunler, Peterka, Svozil, Soderstrom, Helenius, Knyazev, Boldy, and Groshev. Zegras too but I've been a fan of his for a while now.

 

[Buresflyingelbow]

Russia as a team has looked terrible for the most part. Very unorganized.

 

[ponder]

He's been playing a lot longer than three years; he's only been seriously training for that time. Was a multi-sport athlete before that and never really dedicated to perfecting any one thing.

Yeah, and even when he was still playing baseball and golf, I believe he was playing AA hockey for a few years, which is still pretty competitive. Then got more locked in to just hockey, and moved to AAA, Jr A, and then the OHL. He’s certainly a “late bloomer”, but I believe he’s been a reasonably good/competitive hockey player since he was a fairly young kid, just not playing at AAA+ as young as most top prospects.

 

[GOALOFSSON]

Since I haven’t watched games in group B, I evaluate only group A. From what I’ve seen so far, standouts would be Newhook, Cozens, Levi, Nemec, Niemela and Stutzle. On the other hand, I consider a bit dissapointing performances of Byfield, Peterka and Knazko.

 

[crump]

CZE- Goaltender Parik. Obviously an upset win against Russia. The CZE team played a hard heavy game and took a lot of top Russians out of the game. But at the end of the day Parik stopped everything. He's their "backup".. perhaps he should start from now on.

USA: Zegras and York look dangerous all the time.

Canada: Drysdale is pretty slick. Cozens is a great pick for Buffalo. Tamasino seems clutch too. Levi solid.

Russia: Whole team is sort of underperforming. 1st line totally shuts down against a physical team. Their checking line is good though. SAFONOV is a beast of a young man, if he can find a way to finish more plays he would be intriguing. I like Abramov when he has played.

Finland: Lundell and Niemela are standouts, I like HEINOLA - despite the lack of production, he has been dominant in ice time and controlling the play.

 

[joe dirte]

Since I haven’t watched games in group B, I evaluate only group A. From what I’ve seen so far, standouts would be Newhook, Cozens, Levi, Nemec, Niemela and Stutzle. On the other hand, I consider a bit dissapointing performances of Byfield, Peterka and Knazko.

Lol.... wow you got punked on this post.

 

[joe dirte]

Best dmen in the tourney.... byram, drysdale, york.

Standout forwards... paterka, cozens, zegras, tomasino. I like lundell too. Byfield could swing from disappointmemt to standout with another game like that.

Disappointments? Russia in general. Not lookin good. Podkolzin not bad though.

I expected way more out of askarov.

 

[Karl Eriksson]

Stutzle

 

[Paul4587]

Stutzle is f***ing awesome. I like Byfield but I think Stutzle is going to end up the better player when it’s all said and done.

 

[peconcan]

I personally believe they should reduce the number of teams in the tournament, but that will never happen.

But I read an interesting solution in The Hockey News this morning: have the qualification for this tournament take place in summer, so that the teams that make it (the Austrias of the world) won’t lose so many players.

Don’t think that would stop them from being smacked around.

I’ve been thinking that for awhile to usually the team that gets promoted are a team of mainly 19 year olds and they are to old to play in the tournament they are promoted to. Have it in the summer or even October so that when they are promoted everyone can go

 

[Albatros]

Teams get not only promoted but also relegated from each group and division, the format and the schedule have to work for all levels.

 

[Statsy]

I personally believe they should reduce the number of teams in the tournament, but that will never happen.

But I read an interesting solution in The Hockey News this morning: have the qualification for this tournament take place in summer, so that the teams that make it (the Austrias of the world) won’t lose so many players.

Don’t think that would stop them from being smacked around.

The qualification tourney change has long been an issue brought up by Miller and Ferraro, but I have a bit of a different take. To me this tourney isn't about the individual roster we're dealing with in any given season. The tremendous player turnover on a yearly basis is a gauge of a country's depth. If you win Div II with a certain group of players, then it's up to the next birth year to carry the torch. That's the basis of an age restricted tournament and I love it.

 

[ZEBROA]

Raymond and Holtz not good enough, production wise.

 

[Kshahdoo]

Russia: Whole team is sort of underperforming. 1st line totally shuts down against a physical team. Their checking line is good though. SAFONOV is a beast of a young man, if he can find a way to finish more plays he would be intriguing. I like Abramov when he has played.

Yeah, and we still managed to beat both Americans and Swedes. Imagine, if we played at our full strength.

 

[Fantomas]

People forming strong opinions about players and teams way too early.

 

[Kshahdoo]

Knyazev is much better, than I thought he would be.

 

[stewpac]

A lot of people are saying the Russians have been disappointing however I think they’re focussing way too much on one game. They‘ve had solid wins over both the Americans and the Swedes, looking good in both those games. Against Austria and Sweden their top line has been flying and dominating the score sheet. Considering the outside elements of the game this tournament hasn’t had a lot to be disappointed about, if anything it’s been the Germans unable to ice a full roster.
I for one am looking forward to today’s games setting up for an exciting knock out stage

 

[WetcoastOrca]

Podzolkin has gone from the disappointing to surprising list in two games.
Just goes to show that people form opinions too quickly.
Too much weight is put on this short tournament, probably because for many of us it’s the only time we really get to see these prospects.

 

[joe dirte]

People forming strong opinions about players and teams way too early.

Yeah the best games are just starting today.

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

I like HEINOLA - despite the lack of production, he has been dominant in ice time and controlling the play.

Really? I was waiting for someone to mention him and I'm surprised it came out in the positive comments. I find a lot of his decisions questionable at best, and thought he had a lot of problems with passes and control in the first few games.

 

[Belhammer16]

Really? I was waiting for someone to mention him and I'm surprised it came out in the positive comments. I find a lot of his decisions questionable at best, and thought he had a lot of problems with passes and control in the first few games.

He's literally been the best dman in the tourney, munching huge minutes against teams other top lines and then there is this as well. It's not all about goals for dmen

 

[Nedarb]

Really? I was waiting for someone to mention him and I'm surprised it came out in the positive comments. I find a lot of his decisions questionable at best, and thought he had a lot of problems with passes and control in the first few games.

I must say I was skeptical of all his hype before this tourney. I’ve watched him fairly closely and the way he controls every play he makes is pretty incredible. I’d say he’s for sure been a top 5 d men in this tourney so far.

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

He's literally been the best dman in the tourney, munching huge minutes against teams other top lines and then there is this as well. It's not all about goals for dmen

I haven't said anything about points or goals and I'm not sure shots on goal answers to my doubts.

I must say I was skeptical of all his hype before this tourney. I’ve watched him fairly closely and the way he controls every play he makes is pretty incredible. I’d say he’s for sure been a top 5 d men in this tourney so far.

Must admit I haven't seen Finland's last game apart from the first period. I guess I'll see tonight.

 

[thrillhous]

Really? I was waiting for someone to mention him and I'm surprised it came out in the positive comments. I find a lot of his decisions questionable at best, and thought he had a lot of problems with passes and control in the first few games.

I’ve watched every single game in this tournament and I couldn’t disagree more. He has been excellent. One of the best D in the tournament without question.