Congrats on becoming a mod. William H Bonney you along with Rabid Ranger are my favorite American posters. H.M to American dream(sometimes).
WC: USA at the 2010 World Championship
- Thread starter AmericanDream
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usahockey22flyers
2 years away from being 2 years away
NYRangers1259
Registered User
- Oct 29, 2009
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Prob 0%, i really cant see him hoppin on. Would love to see the added leadership, but i think Burke is tryin to keep the team young.
William H Bonney
Registered User
AmericanDream
Thank you Elon!
hahahahaha, I will take an honorable mention with that group any day of the week!!!
just to share the love, you are one of my favorite Canadian posters....we have argued before, but it was honest debate and I appreciate posters like yourself.....
Now when the 2011 World Cup comes around, we be enemies again!!!
Jersey Fan 12
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- Nov 20, 2006
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That is correct and it is a bit surprising to me, too. In fact, when I asked a friend while watching Flyers-Bruins last night he thought there'd be "thirty or so" (that would have been my guess).
With regards to which Americans in Europe, again, I was surprised by the lack of American players.
In Russia, only Niko Dimitrakos or veteran Deron Quint on defense played significant minutes this year and neither would be considered a huge upgrade.
Only because they played for the Trenton Titans, I'd have liked to see John LaLiberte (Germany) and/or Pat Leahy (Austria) get a shot, but again I'd imagine, they too, wouldn't have been much of an upgrade over the players picked.
Mark Mowers (F, Switzerland) and defensemen Jeff Jillson (Czech) would give the team some experience but are probably older than what USA Hockey was looking for - though Jillson has played in the WCs in the past.
Defensemen Kyle Klubertanz (Sweden), Lee Sweatt (rumored to be signing with the Canucks) and JD Forrest (Switzerland) would have been interesting.
Particularly Sweatt, who split the year between Russia and Finland, winning a league title with TPS. I'd imagine USA Hockey is pretty familiar with him since he played his college hockey at CC and his younger brother Bill went through the USDP.
And I'd imagine Brian Burke was pretty familiar with former Yale Bulldog Jeff Hamilton, who was the top American scorer in Switzerland after playing 15 games for the Maple Leafs.
While it's easy to see that the youth movement worked in Vancouver, it would be nice if at least some of the veteran American players were rewarded with opportunities to represent their country (in similar fashion to the way Team Finland has seemed to infuse youth with their team - while at the same time rewarding some of the elders).
Rabid Ranger
2 is better than one
Come on man, this is name dropping at best. I know the U.S. roster doesn't jump out and scream *CONTENDER!* but the guys you're suggesting are for the most part bottom-feeders.
DAkings20
Kings can't score
http://www.usahockey.com//Template_Usahockey.aspx?NAV=TU_01_03&ID=286614
3-1 win. Okposo(2) and Johnson with the goals.
3-1 win. Okposo(2) and Johnson with the goals.
AmericanDream
Thank you Elon!
most of the names you listed here are from the era of some of the biggest busts and dissapointments for US hockey. I wouldn't want a single one of these guys, as the vast majority of them had their shot and couldn't hack it in either the NHL or AHL....
As for Lee Sweatt, I heard he could be a decent player who might get signed over here in the states/Canada, but that still doesn't mean I would want him here personally. Some of those names leaves a bad taste in my mouth as well as USA Hockey's as guys that should have been decent NHL players, but sadly never made it....
The object of this tournament is to win, adding guys like this to any squad would ultimately assure defeat...
Jersey Fan 12
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Appreciate the feedback from both you and Rabid Ranger!
Haven't been focused on Team USA as much as you guys and was merely looking at things from a statistical perspective. I'm sure the guys who do this for a living - and people that follow it much more closely than I - could probably support the points you make with mountains of evidence to back their decisions.
But as Ranger mentioned, looking at some of the names that are on the USA roster for this team, "contender" does not immediately come to mind.
I imagine in an Olympic year, this group is what it is.
But that being the case, I'd be a little more encouraged if at least a couple of the "old-timers" who were pretty much put out to pasture (Modano, Chelios, etc) were at least given an opportunity to participate.
Haven't been focused on Team USA as much as you guys and was merely looking at things from a statistical perspective. I'm sure the guys who do this for a living - and people that follow it much more closely than I - could probably support the points you make with mountains of evidence to back their decisions.
But as Ranger mentioned, looking at some of the names that are on the USA roster for this team, "contender" does not immediately come to mind.
I imagine in an Olympic year, this group is what it is.
But that being the case, I'd be a little more encouraged if at least a couple of the "old-timers" who were pretty much put out to pasture (Modano, Chelios, etc) were at least given an opportunity to participate.
Jersey Fan 12
Positive Vibes
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Did you see a game story on this anywhere - other than the link above? Would be curious if Merrimack's Stephane DaCosta played for France and how he did against professionals? Also wondering if Charles Bertrand, a French junior who played for Lukko in Finnish juniors this season and is among the ISS' European prospects for the 2010 draft is on that team as well?
William H Bonney
Registered User
We're going to need all those guys to keep it going as well, along with Dubi and at least another d-man (Greene or Yandle), until we hopefully add two more scorers for the Qualification round and beyond.
It's good to see Okposo get 2 goals today. From the games I've seen of Kyle with the Islanders and Team USA, he seems to really go through some pretty drastic peaks and valleys. Hopefully his confidence will be on the upswing here starting the real games.
Note: Thank you Big Blue and Cutty.
William H Bonney
Registered User
USAhockey.com has a blog up for the tournament here:
http://usahockey2.com/usah_blogs/mens/
Nothing of note yet but they usually have good blogs for the international tournaments.
http://usahockey2.com/usah_blogs/mens/
Nothing of note yet but they usually have good blogs for the international tournaments.
Okposo is very young and streaky. You cannot deny his level of tenacity and battle for the puck however. He comes to play every night, he does other things to help his team besides score. Hopefully he can find his scoring touch and get some consistency.
NYRangers1259
Registered User
- Oct 29, 2009
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Anyone know how Krieder did? And how do you guys think they will use him in the tourney for that matter?
It's hard to draw any firm conclusion without seeing the game but a 2 goal win with a 10 shot advantage over France isn't very convincing. I expect the opening games to be close as both Denmark and Germany will be icing teams that have experience playing together. I don't really have a clue what to expect from the Finns as thier squad is mostly new to the wc's but Rinne could make the difference.
usahockey22flyers
2 years away from being 2 years away
AmericanDream
Thank you Elon!
I think I understand in a sense what you are suggesting.....trying to get experienced players who have played in Euro leagues against some of the competition might be a decent idea.....it is just some of those names were probably guys we added years back to previous USA WC teams as fringe AHLers...and got laughed at then...so I cant see the real benefit of bringing these guys around now, except for Esche ofcourse.
The only guy that I wouldnt mind seeing is Jeff Hamilton. I always liked his energy and his game for a smaller player....a 12th or 13th forward role wouldnt be terrible for him imo...
I think Burke and Co. are going in the right direction with what they have....at this point we dont know who they asked or didnt. For all we know, guys like Mike Modano, Craig Conroy, Chris Clark, Mike Knuble, Mike Grier, Todd Marchant, Marty Reasoner, and Brian Pothier all would have played...if asked. It seems that not too many vets even got asked to participate, so I am sure they knew what they would be going in with. If some of those guys accepted and played, we would look a lot better no doubt, but why change the direction that USA Hockey has been striving to produce over the past few years. Youth.
Quick question for you....you seem to be pretty worldly when it comes to US players playing oversees...how is Brady Murray doing? Not sure what league he went to, but I was wondering if he still is out there playing in the Swiss or KHL?
Also, I never saw any confirmed reports about Bryan Berard retiring from the KHL...do you know if he is still active anywhere? I cant seem to find anything about him, as he was probably my favorite player for about 6 years....damn shame with his eye injury, he was the second coming of Brian Leetch. Thanks
William H Bonney
Registered User
Brady Murray played this year in Swiss League with Lugano. In 08/09, he had 26 goals and 15 assists for 41 points in 36 games. This season he had 6 goals and 13 assists for 19 points in 47 games. No idea on the cause for the drop off though.
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