WC QF: May 5 GDT - CZECH REPUBLIC vs. USA 2-3 (OT PS)

[SChan*]

Sweden Sweden Sweden!

 

[ttnorm]

I am stunned! Congrats USA!!!

 

[coyotechrisz]

YEAH! .. USA USA USA!..

i hope to can also win against Sweden.. but what a nice game .. i think the best of this Championship until now!

 

[aonez]

YEAH! .. USA USA USA!..

i hope to can also win against Sweden.. but what a nice game .. i think the best of this Championship until now!

This championships has been really great. Wow, the intensity and heart there is on the ice is incredible.

 

[Bacchus]

wow....Andy Roach, the defenceman makes the cool penalty......and Dopita misses the last one

I would've never thought a DEL-player can score on such a cool penalty-shot! It was great!

 

[wilka91*]

In my opinion this game was kinda boring. Not a lot of nice plays ... just Jagr's and Park's goals.

The Czechs were really under pressure and it proved to be too much. That often happens to European teams.

 

[Bacchus]

I had him getting the OT winner in my prediction

Yeah, I saw it. You were damn close!

I have no problem imagining Andy Roach shooting the OT winner - but I was definatly surprised by his penalty-shot. He literally f***ed Vokoun and was the one (including Drury and Jagr) who deked the goalie out...

 

[Bacchus]

Wonder if the rumours of Pittsburgh and Minnesota having scouts in Czech to look at Roach are true...

Really?

Would be cool if he could finally make his way to the NHL...

 

[ttnorm]

Really?

Would be cool if he could finally make his way to the NHL...

Just the fact that they gave him a spot in the PS means he has caught some important eyes already. I believe he can parlay this into a contract offer and serious look by an NHL team.

 

[Tuggy]

All I can say is Wow.

Congrats to the US on what sounds like it was a helluva game! Good luck against the Swedes.

 

[katodelder]

Would be interesting to see an all North-American final at the Worlds. Has that ever happened before?

 

[teme]

GO USA!!!!!!! Too bad we can't watch the games over here.

You sure are missing a lot, that was one entertaining game. I missed the first period, but second was non-stop end to end action. Vokoun was really good, made an amazing save on fellow Predator Hall. I actually thought USA should've replaced Conklin after the second goal, good thing I am not coaching. Biggest difference was US defenceman, really good group of Gill, Miller, Weinrich and ofcourse Roach who has been good all through the games, the shoot-out goal is a nice reward to him. Oh and what is with Cullen? He kept creating chances and made fools out of Czech defence, I had no clue he has moves like that.

 

[ES]

Does that Roach goal count on the stats sheet? What if every player ahead of him had scored on their penalty shots?

I'm not sure, but in usual statistics only deciding goal is marked, so the result is Czech 2 - USA 3 no matter are the penalty shot result 0-1 or 9-10.

 

[TK79]

Would be interesting to see an all North-American final at the Worlds. Has that ever happened before?

I doubt it, I don't even remember the U.S making it as far as the semi-finals before.. I could be wrong though.. The Czech's choked, pure and simple. They thought they would run away with the game especially once they were up 2-0. But USA just kept working hard and showed a lot of heart.I think it really hurt the Czech team that they only had I game against a top hockey country before the quarters. I doubt USA has much of a chance against Sweden, who have Forsberg and Lidström flying in the game. The Swedes play a much better defensive game than the Czechs, have had stellar goaltending with Lundqvist and will probably score a few on the powerplay with Forsberg, Alfie and Nylander.

 

[The Austrian]

YEAHHH! !! SO GREAT !! Congratulations to TEAM USA !!

 

[korben*]

Would be interesting to see an all North-American final at the Worlds. Has that ever happened before?

All medalists http://www.iihf.com/archive/Ws.pdf

Last time USA and Canada were 1-2 was 1960, Squaw Valley Olympics,
U.S.A. has only two bronzes after that.

 

[Raimo Sillanpää]

Isn't Roach undrafted?

*hopes some SM-Liiga team signs him up, he'd look good here..

 

[Rob]

I think most Euro hockey fans would really loathe an all North American final if it happens.

 

[GG#60]

All I can say is Wow.

Congrats to the US on what sounds like it was a helluva game! Good luck against the Swedes.

Yes it was a really good game, surely the best one i have seen so far in this WC.
The US played better than the czechs and deserved the win. They started off better and had some good chances, not on their horrible 5 on 3 powerplay though. The Czechs replied with 2 goals and it seemed they would skate away with the win as they did so often before.

The US continued to play with grit - Grier and Weinrich led by example - and never gave up.
The tying goal in the 3rd was really bad, it was Havlat i think, who tried to intercept a pass coming from the boards. He ended up scoring past a stunned Vokoun from 10 feet out.

The shootout was a heartbreaker with 2 posts on either side. Jagr tried the same move he made at the Allstar Game shootout and hit the left post.
Nice deke by Roach for the winner.

 

[aonez]

Yeah, I´d definitely watch it to.

 

[Marksman]

That was easyly the best game of tournament. Jan Hlavac will always remember his own goal (2-2 for USA).

Prague must be a quiet place tonight.

That was a textbook tip-in shot if I ever saw one.=)

Well, atleast he didnt celebrate like the japanese guy scoring winner in his own net.

 

[endacka]

Well, what to say... sad, sad evening for Czech hockey.

The first lost and it came in the most important game on the whole tournament. I was impressed by the US performance in this game. Their forchecking was really very good and worked well for them, there were able to create plenty of good scoring chances, sure more than Czechs. On the other hand, Czechs did not play the way they played against Canada, didnt skate that well and were unable to pass the puck and outplay the US team. The US played tough defence, hard hitting, overall very good and FAIR (not like Canada squad) game. They were better and deserved the win.

Congratulations and good luck.

 

[endacka]

Did you see if the US played a more zonal or man to man marking game defensively? In the match against Finland it was back and forth....

It was a lot about skating, I did not suppose the US players to skate THAT well, there were almost none 2on1 or 3on2 situations, they played really well in the neutral and in their own zones. Vokoun played a great game, if there were not his incredible saves against plenty of US chances, it would have been over in the after the first. Czechs had troubles getting over the blue line, most of their attacks were stopped there or even in the neutral zone. If the US team plays like that in the semis, I believe they will go to the finals.

 

[txpd]

This finishes off a great year for Jagr. The worst record in the NHL was the combined record of the games he played in. He was part of the dismantling of two of rosters of the biggest stars in the NHL. Now his hometown hero Czech Rep team goes down in flames in the quarters. whew. how the great have fallen.

 

[Marksman]

Theres one thing I've been wondering... can some one explain me why did Czech coach make such strange choises as his penalty shooters. Watching the game I made my own quick list, which ended up being almost completely different.

Jagr was no-brainer, putting him on the list I can easily understand. But Dopita? Vyborny? Young guy Prucha in pressure situation like that? Havlat, who was very much no-show, pointless in three games?

Why not Rucinsky, Straka, Prospal and maybe Beranek?