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WJC - Byfield Thoughts

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Ive watched him here in Sudbury for 2 years now. He has been a joy to watch over the last 2 years. I was more than excited to see him finally break out at the juniors. Hope he can continue to light the lamp in this tournament and shutdown the negative comments
 
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King'sPawn said:
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This is the thing: structure.

It's hard to put up numbers in 11 minutes of ice time: especially against good teams.

He's playing a smart game and has been doing more to keep his team from being scored on than trying to score. That's why it was great to see him tonight make that little move at the blue line which led to a goal.

The kid is immensely skilled. Anyone that lost their minds like his OHL body of work never happened need to take a deep breath.
 
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Says it all....

“"Definitely in camp, not playing hockey for eight to nine months ... I just had to ease myself back into it almost," Byfield, the youngest skater on Team Canada at 18, said after the win. "Finally found my footing ... and everything just kind of happened tonight.”
 
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Peter James Bond III said:
Now 3rd in scoring...only trailing Zegras and Cozens - both who are: 19 years old, playing #1 lines, playing #1 PP units. Byfield has been on the 3rd line, different
linemates and very little PP time. 2 shots and 2 goals. And..."he's just getting his footing"
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But if he doesn't get one point against Finland total bust again. It's pretty funny. In the words of Aaron Rodgers just R.E.L.A.X. QB will be okay even if he doesn't score another point the rest of this tournament.
 
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King'sPawn said:
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Coach told him to manage the puck a different way? Jives with my hypothesis about what's been going and makes me feel better about my worry that he is content to take a backseat when there are other good players on the team.

This is all a good thing actually: 2OA doesn't have a big head and believe he is bigger than the team. Does exactly what the coach is asking of him even though he has the most pressure to put up points due to his draft status.
 
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It's terrifying to think what he could do given the chance in a lead role next year, now obviously we'd all like him to be in LA, but he's still only going to be 19 in August.
 
killermiller said:
There was that other taller highly touted Canadian center who was average in the WJC (4 points in 7 games) when they won the Gold and had massive growing pains in the NHL before he became a 2 time 100+ point scorer, winning an Art Ross and Hart trophies, multiple all star appearances and an Olympic gold medal....who was that guy again?

Oh yeah, Joe Thornton
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Yes, this is it. I don't feel Kopitar vibes from Byfield. I feel Joe Thornton in him, except with an extra dozen or so goals, minus assists, a year.

Kopitar, when he joined the league, also could have been like a Joe Thornton but he was coached into who he is today, the perennial Selke finalist, two-time Cup champion and two-time leading playoff scorer. Should be interesting to see what LAK can coach Byfield into.
 
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BigKing said:
Coach told him to manage the puck a different way? Jives with my hypothesis about what's been going and makes me feel better about my worry that he is content to take a backseat when there are other good players on the team.

This is all a good thing actually: 2OA doesn't have a big head and believe he is bigger than the team. Does exactly what the coach is asking of him even though he has the most pressure to put up points due to his draft status.
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This is what I was thinking a well. Now after 3 games averaging about 11-12 minutes, Canadian coach clearly has him in a specific role for the team. Its been said before that this is a 19 year old tournament and he only just turned 18 a couple months ago. Doesn't matter if he went 2nd overall, these coaches will always defer to the older players. I think your last line hits it home
 
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Well this is what I wanted to see from our top guy. By definition, young kids will have bad games. It's all about the response...not how you start but how you finish.

I already knew Stuetzle was going to run around the WJC ice like he owned it, he already did that last year and he already did his thing in the men's league. So I'm not comparing the two at this point of the 2021 WJC...QB's journey is not like that.

QB has to make his own journey on his own path at this point.
What I see so, what we already know:
Big-ass huge athletic, fast, skilled dude

What I see that's new (and very encouraging):
Coach-able (I mean, his coach even said so)
Bounces back
Good teammate
Responds well to criticism (we're talking all Canada now, not just OHL/Sudbury-level critics)
Dominant in face-off circle (this one is a very big deal to me, as a Kings fan)

As for the "scores only in blowouts", I know this is a bit tongue-in-cheek but it's not a thing when you're scoring more than half of the blowout points. :) That's not scoring in a blowout, that's blowing someone out.
 
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Rorschach said:
Yes, this is it. I don't feel Kopitar vibes from Byfield. I feel Joe Thornton in him, except with an extra dozen or so goals, minus assists, a year.

Kopitar, when he joined the league, also could have been like a Joe Thornton but he was coached into who he is today, the perennial Selke finalist, two-time Cup champion and two-time leading playoff scorer. Should be interesting to see what LAK can coach Byfield into.
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I watched him play and remind me Eric staal a lot. Anyway, he is gonna be a good player
 
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