Which players raised their stock? Which players hurt their stock?

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Ya, but a 100% healthy and well conditioned Doughty and Makar would help alot there as neither were at their best. Besides, HC brass has shown an unwillingness in the past to bring guys that have any sort of questions about their defense, rightly or wrongly
There's no guarantee they're 100% healthy (or remain healthy) in Milan either. I just see no downside to bringing Bouchard as the 8D in the event one of them is out or if Canada just needs more juice from the backend.

I agree, HC just doesn't like him though.
 
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The breakdown starts at the faceoff where Fox loses Marner, it goes up to Makar at the point and Fox is in front of the net while Hanifin is covering Point at the R post. When Makar dumps it deep around the boards it’s Hanifins job to protect behind the net while still defending Point. Fox should have peeled left to Marner in the corner but instead chases the puck behind the net skating around the R post.

If Fox goes left he’s there when Marner gets possession and Matthews can stay with his man. But because he went the long way around the net Marner is left open with all kinds of time and space.

Now this is where Matthews gets involved in the defensive breakdown.

Matthews has to make a decision, pressure the puck carrier who is left wide open and has a direct lane to the net or stay with the threat in the slot. Now Matthews biggest mistake is not recognizing Fox is completely out of position and should have made the safe play sticking with McDavid.

However, in a fast paced game where decisions have to be made in a fraction of a second, Matthews instinctively pressures the puck carrier assuming Fox is just late to the play and will cover his man in the slot. Instead Fox was behind the net and never really had a chance to get to McDavid.

It’s on both of them, but it’s a huge defensive breakdown that starts with Fox.

It’s funny you mention that the breakdown started at the face off yet you make no mention how Matthew’s was completely manhandled by McDavid on the draw to the point where McDavid was able to go forward cleanly and get a shot. That should never happen on a d zone draw. That was 100% on Matthews. yet you didn’t mention it. Wonder why.
 
It’s funny you mention that the breakdown started at the face off yet you make no mention how Matthew’s was completely manhandled by McDavid on the draw to the point where McDavid was able to go forward cleanly and get a shot. That should never happen on a d zone draw. That was 100% on Matthews. yet you didn’t mention it. Wonder why.

If you want to keep playing this game than Brock Nelson was responsible for the icing that kept a tired group on the ice.
 
It's Fanatics for me for f***ing up yet again. There's no jerseys available in men's sizes for the USA or Canada. They haven't been available in awhile. The NHL desperately needs to get away from this horrid company that somehow created a monopoly on everything.

Imagine new fans tuning into this tournament and wanting to buy a jersey and there's none available. New USA fans after they beat Canada on Saturday? None available. Canada fans who saw their team win last night and now want to buy one? None available.

This is just like the Devils stadium series jerseys last year. So much money consistently left on the table. It's a joke.
 
Slavin - oh my, such a stud player
Binnington - big game player, his stock was that of a future backup but now I can see nhl teams giving him chance after chance to chase the hot streak.
Faber - 😲.
Brady T - premium PF, game changer. USA should have iced him and kreider and Matthews more.

Down -
Kyle Connor - yes might be coaching mistake but clearly he has limitations
Fox - faber outplayed him by a mile. Hes lack of high end physical attributes is evident in a best on best. Everyone is high IQ, only a few is elite physically as well.
 
He was their best forward in the biggest game…. You can say he didn’t get it done, but disappears? What more do you expect of the guy, points on the game tying and go ahead goal, the most dangerous player for either team in OT.

Fox and Hughes were by far the worst players for team USA and are getting less flack than Matthews who was arguably their best.
Don't kid yourself, Brady was team USA's best forward in the Championship match. Could've been Matthews if it wasn't his Selke level blown coverage that lead to the OT winner.
 
Wrong.

Awful puck knowledge if you think that is the right play.

First… Hughes(#86) and Nelson(#29) are correctly covering their points.

Hanifin(#15) is correctly covering the front of the net as he’s the LHD and the puck is in the USA right corner. He’s got Point wrapped up in front.

Fox(#23), the RHD, regardless of the path he took, is going to close down Marner in the USA right corner. Marner is standing completely still and is no threat to score from that position. All he can do is pass. Fox is going to close him down.

Matthews(#34) is the center and the slot threat where his opposing center, McDavid, finds himself is 100% his responsibility. Look at the path. Look at the dots. That’s simple coverage.

Matthews got caught puck watching Marner who, again, is zero threat to score from there or even drive the net as Fox is closing him down.

Matthews’ responsibility on that play is to take Marner’s pass away to the obvious man he is supposed to be covering, McDavid.



Correct.

Obvious stuff.

View attachment 980306


YoU dOnT kNoW hOcKeY
 

Is this supposed to prove something? Marner alone in the corner isn't a threat to put the puck in the net, you don't leave your coverage of the best player in the world alone in the slot so you can go chase a guy in the corner. Have you ever heard the phrase "protect the house"? That means you make sure the area in front of the net is taken care of before anything else is.

It's Matthews responsibility to stay on his man in the slot, not clean up Fox's mistakes.
 
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YoU dOnT kNoW hOcKeY


...he's not completely wrong, though...yes, the Primary mistake was on Fox, there's no denying that...however, Matthews needed to be aware of two things:

1 - Marner is NO threat to do anything but pass at that angle and Fox, while taking the wrong path, is still closing (he can, if he's at all aware of the play around him, see that when he turns)

2 - McJesus is hanging in the slot and is still HIS responsibility

...no excuse for Fox on the play; he caused a problem...however, that problem was egregiously amplified by Matthews leaving McJesus when he did not need to at all...they both had faults on the play...
 
...he's not completely wrong, though...yes, the Primary mistake was on Fox, there's no denying that...however, Matthews needed to be aware of two things:

1 - Marner is NO threat to do anything but pass at that angle and Fox, while taking the wrong path, is still closing (he can, if he's at all aware of the play around him, see that when he turns)

2 - McJesus is hanging in the slot and is still HIS responsibility

...no excuse for Fox on the play; he caused a problem...however, that problem was egregiously amplified by Matthews leaving McJesus when he did not need to at all...they both had faults on the play...

My whole argument originally was that both were responsible, so thank you for agreeing with me

Also why does everyone forget than Marner has feet and could have driven the net. Pass and shoot were not his only options. And as a righty he has an angle at the far corner of he takes a few steps to the bottom of the circle.
 
My whole argument originally was that both were responsible, so thank you for agreeing with me

Also why does everyone forget than Marner has feet and could have driven the net. Pass and shoot were not his only options. And as a righty he has an angle at the far corner of he takes a few steps to the bottom of the circle.

...he could have, and the responsibility of that was on Fox...Matthews bit too early, it happens...again, both had faults on the play...
 
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...he's not completely wrong, though...yes, the Primary mistake was on Fox, there's no denying that...however, Matthews needed to be aware of two things:

1 - Marner is NO threat to do anything but pass at that angle and Fox, while taking the wrong path, is still closing (he can, if he's at all aware of the play around him, see that when he turns)

2 - McJesus is hanging in the slot and is still HIS responsibility

...no excuse for Fox on the play; he caused a problem...however, that problem was egregiously amplified by Matthews leaving McJesus when he did not need to at all...they both had faults on the play...

Agreed. It was poor coordination where Fox made the first mistake, Matthews made the second mistake.

Of the two, Matthews’ was the more egregious error because of who he was supposed to cover and where he was covering him. That doesn’t absolve Fox, as it’s a shared defensive coverage.
 
I concur. What really made me realize this was tonite. How many leaf failures have their been and marner taking a lot of the heat for playoff dissapointment. I’m as anti marner as they come. Marner and his puck over glass penalties because he’s afraid to get hit. Someone had posted a stat on the leaf forum, marner shot distance in regular season is 30 ft, his shot distance in playoffs is 40 ft. But what I think happened is he had strong leaders on team Canada to tell him don’t be afraid to go to dirty areas or open areas , everyone gets hit or knocked down. And where was marner on the winning goal? In the corner where pucks go. Why can’t matthews have these tough conversations with marner. Just shows you what great leaders like Crosby, mcdavid and mackinnon can do with marner that matthews can’t.
Lol you literally just made all that up. You don't know what they told marner or if they told him anything
 
Austin Matthews has gotten himself the reputation that when the games is big and has real meaning, he disappears. Holding the regular season goal scoring lead and then becoming a ghost in the big game or games is not a reputation that any player wants to be known by and if Matthews doesn't get his stuff together and show up in the big games he will be forever known for choking in the big games.
well, he did have the game on his stick twice in OT. which is two times more than any other US player besides Brady. that Binnington stopped him doesn't take that away...you have to get into the situation to be successful before you can be successful.

Matthews certainly did not disappear...he just didn't score, on his many chances.

And he got placed between a rock and a hard place on the game-winner. The offensive space Marner was given in an instant was a red cape to a bull, in hockey terms. you can say Matthews should have just stuck with McDavid...but that doesn't automatically make it all better. Marner and McDavid, or even someone else, could just as easily made a different play for a great shot...that was a golden opportunity for Canada with perhaps your most effective passer surveying the many opportunities.
 
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Agreed. It was poor coordination where Fox made the first mistake, Matthews made the second mistake.

Of the two, Matthews’ was the more egregious error because of who he was supposed to cover and where he was covering him. That doesn’t absolve Fox, as it’s a shared defensive coverage.

...Fox put the rest of his team in a rough spot there so that's why I put more onus on him...again, that's not absolving Matthews at all; he knew who he had in coverage, the best player on the Planet... :thumbu:
 
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"protect the house"?
Your question mark should be inside the end quotation mark. That's the kind of punctuation mistake that can cost a game. This is how trivial you're being. Things happen fast, there's no time to figure out the percentages of whether you can ignore Marner in the corner alone just because it's Marner and not someone who loves to drive the net. "A-man's-left-open-do-I-go-or-not-go?" There's less time to decide than to even ask yourself the question. Shit happens. Fox missed his mark, Matthews had a 50/50 chance of making the best decision, it didn't work out for him or the rest of the US team.
 
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Based on this tournament.

Raised:

Brady Tkachuk - The premier power forward in the game, now everyone knows.
Mitch Marner - A very big game at a big time. That’s big for his narrative.
Jordan Binnington - He may let in the odd softie, but he’s Mr. Clutch for the rest of his life.
Zack Werenski - Not a lot of people watch Columbus. But they should to see him play.

Hurt:

Auston Matthews - I thought he coasted through the first 3 games, and while he got some chances tonight when he got paired with Brady, he once again couldn’t score in the big moment.
Jack Hughes - Looked like a junior player out there.
Devon Toews - He was okay with Makar, bad without. May have played himself off the Olympic team.
Mark Stone - Still a great NHLer, but couldn’t keep up with the pace of best on best.
Adam Fox - He’s good?
Cirelli was IMO the worst player on the ice basically every game.

Matthews blew it…. Again

I knew Slavin was good, but didn’t know he’s THAT good

Marchand still has it

Larkin has hopefully stopped the thoughts he’s just a 2C

Harley is and will continue to be a stud
 
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