The better team one.
Team Canada has amazing talent and some of the best individual hockey players ever assembled. Certainly more talent on paper than USA is as far as depth at every position goes.
Here is (if you aren't already skipping or asleep) some good bads I saw in the tourney for the two teams and such.
Good
I pray to jesus that not only were G Betteman watching this tourney and how great the play were in it but that he takes action to fix the NHL by changing our game to exactly the same as the intl game is. OK, we can leave out some of the penalty rules but as to the bigger ice, automatic icing, two line pass rules (etc) its time to make the change. We have lots of european players in the NHL and the players on average are bigger and more talented (there are simply more of them) than in the past and the bigger ice and other changes would make the game regain its flow in my opinion and take us away from the constant contact away from the puck and the horrid trap crappp.
The effort by both teams. These kids put thier all on ever shift and did the best the could do all out all the time and while some were better than others, I doubt that anyone tried any more or less than anyone else and that is something that you don't see in the NHL anymore all that often.
USA showed allot of class in its celebration by not going out of thier way to shove the win down anyones throats.
Canada showed allot of class by going right to Fluery and supporting him even though he had an average tourney and made his mistakes. It shows allot of character and team behaviour to do so and I thought that were great.
Phanueff. I can't wait to see him in the NHL. Brutal.
Stewart. He looked solid every game and showed leadership skills that were fantastic.
Carter. Everything advertised. He is a dandy with a bag full of moves. Good one.
Pialle. Heart and soul guy who actually drives the net with everything he has. Reminded me of a Deadmarsh kind of guy in his spirited playing style.
Tambellini. He didn't get much ice time as a fourth liner but he did allot with what he were given. I am a homer on him but he showed me allot for the little he recieved.
Parise. Well, he sure showed me and allot of others how much of a mad skilled bloke he is. What a player. He showed allot of every great component you want to see in a kid who is going to be a future captain in the NHL. Wow.
Stuart. Solid. Fierce. Fast. Ready. My neg on him is that he needs to remember that his TEAM is playing too and that he should be setting the example of team first. Other than that, I wouldn't change a thing and think he will be a true NHL great.
Sutter. Good. He has nice skills and had a solid tourney.
Patrick O'Sully. I am happy to see this kid have a great game today as I know exactly what he had to go through growing up. (or have an opinion based on a simmilar experience) Good speed and a real don't quit attitude.
Brady Murray. Proved he could play in the tourney with the players that were there. He looked very good and better than a fifth round pick would indicate. Not a top tier player. Just good enough to be a Jason Blake kind of bloke if he makes potential.
I know I am leaving out allot of talented kids here but those are what comes to mind on the good side right now and since nobody truly cares what I think, I don't mind leaving out some.
The Bad
The officiating were awful in this game and in the tourney in general. At least it were awful both ways.
TSN and its totally biased coverage on all levels during the game play. Not talking about the rest and in between periods stuff as it is Canada's network and should be that way. Pierre though, were not only wrong often, but sounded like a total loon who couldn't say anything good about anything or anyone unless it had a maple leaf on it. He is supposed to be an unbiased reporter of the game and instead, he just made his self look stupid in my opinion. Bad form.
Sidney Crosby. Now first I want to say he is an amazing talent and going to be a great player. I just think that all of the 99 comparisons can be put to rest with him and we can all get back down to him being a great young talent again. He had so many great scoring chances in this game alone if he would only have passed the puck that you have to think that if he ever does learn to use his line mates that he might just be a 99jr. For now, he wasn't as good as he has been hyped to be. Great yes, great one? I don't think so.
Fluery. I feel bad for this kid. I blame his getting shelled in Pitts for destroying his game and confidence and why had an average at best tourney. It looked to me that he is a kid who were rushed into the NHL and since he weren't ready developed some bloody awful habbits while there in order to try and survive and is going to need at least a couple of years in the minors to regain his game. Sad as I feel that if he weren't rushed into NHL service that he just might have been the best ever. Now, who knows.
Getzlav. He were open for some great scoring chances today and in every game I seen him in during the tourney. He just isn't a finisher. Now, granted, I am basing this on this tourney and don't know what he will do anywhere else. I just didn't see anything special in him and feel that he were just an average bloke out there. Good size, good speed and skating, bad finisher, bad effort getting back.
Anderson the ref. That guy truly blew allot of calls and were totally inconsistent in every game I saw him in especially this one. I know it is international but I expect better than that.
The tourney mascot. Most of the time those things smell but at least you tend to know what they were trying to do. This one were awful.
That bobble head whiskey bottle thing that they gave the player of the game. What the heck were that thing anyways?
Well, those are my impressions. I loved the play and the tourney and while I didn't get to see my players do anything extra special the tourney itself were always exciting and certainly more fun to watch than most regular season NHL games as far as I am concerned.
