DownUndaCanuck Posted January 2, 2023 Share Posted January 2, 2023 Czechs going to roll through to the finals surely. Bit of a weird mess on the first goal against but I think they'll lock down this game now, that defence is how you win championships. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DownUndaCanuck Posted January 2, 2023 Share Posted January 2, 2023 Don't see any team beating this Czechia team. Starts with a solid top-4 defence who dare I say is better than the Canucks' and works out from there - offence is easy if they're moving up the ice with ease. They look like a well-oiled NHL team to be honest. Czech-Canada rematch would be great, a solid defence vs Bedard would be interesting but I'd have to give the matchup win to Czech. You win championships with a solid defence, and I think Czech's defence can shutdown Canada's offence better than Canada can defend against Czech's forwards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Heffy Posted January 3, 2023 Share Posted January 3, 2023 (edited) wrong thread Edited January 3, 2023 by King Heffy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaimito Posted January 3, 2023 Share Posted January 3, 2023 Cheering for Swedes over Czech. Weird not to have Russia in WJC. Won't be surprised if US beats Canada in Semis. Having home ice might help though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gurn Posted January 3, 2023 Share Posted January 3, 2023 Article on Canada's "goal tending woes-" https://www.msn.com/en-ca/sports/nhl/why-canada-has-trouble-developing-superstar-goaltenders-today/ar-AA15Vavv?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=U531&cvid=e61e408e303a4beeafb21a857983d02f "How do goaltenders develop without being consistently challenged in a game setting? That’s the question. And Team Canada has yet to answer at the junior level. Second-guessing Canada’s goaltending during the World Junior Championship has become a pastime for hockey fans. Every year it’s one of the main topics heading into the tournament. And the doubting never ends until the final buzzer. I understand why. Team Canada is always stacked offensively. The perception is that only goaltending can prevent the team from winning Gold in every tournament. There’s definitely some truth to that belief. Goaltenders have gone on magical runs and won tournaments almost single-handedly. But the reality is those types of performances are rare. What teams really need at World Juniors – just like the NHL level – is consistent goaltending when the games matter. But therein lies the problem. Most of the games leading up to elimination play don’t matter for Team Canada’s goaltending corps. And the problem is compounded considering, historically, many of Canada’s World Junior goalkeepers have only played on dominant teams from youth hockey on up. On New Year’s Day, former professional hockey player Rob Gherson – who’s now a goalie coach in the greater Toronto area – posted an insightful string of tweets about goaltender development. I was impressed with Gherson’s logic. He’s been through the process himself. 20 years after we were both selected in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft, Gherson has dedicated a great deal of time to his thesis. His main focus is on goalie development in the greater Toronto area. And make no mistake, with the sheer number of players available for top teams, Toronto is a different animal than most parts of Canada. It’s hyper-competitive. Parents are crazy. And the profit motive is real for goalie coaches. But from what fellow pro goaltenders have told me, the development problems Gherson describes in Toronto also happen throughout Canada, especially in the bigger cities. The lack of attention given to the goaltending position is magnified by events like the World Junior Championship. But at this point, as Gherson describes, it’s not actually about a lack of training. It’s about a lack of game feel and experience. I coach goaltenders as well. And without a doubt, the hardest thing to teach is game sense. Some goalies have it. Others don’t. And the only way to get better at reading the play is to do just that: log games in the crease. Today’s young goaltenders have all received specialized training since squirt hockey. Maybe even earlier. From a technical standpoint, it’s not even comparable to when I grew up. We hardly had any specialized coaching. What a 16-year-old goaltender can do today exceeds what most NHL goaltenders were capable of just a decade ago. But what good is all that technical training without having the chance to read the play in a true game setting? As Gherson said, it’s exceedingly difficult to replicate. And the lack of parity exacerbates the problem. That lack of game reps is what haunts Team Canada. Not games played, mind you, but meaningful games. A lot of Canada’s goalies get to World Juniors without having faced much adversity. Or having to win games single-handedly. I’ve been on bad teams before, and it feels like an impossible mountain to climb. You try your best but it feels futile. And you wonder if anyone will ever notice. But when you finally steal a game? It’s an incredible feeling. It keeps you going. But it’s looked at by the hockey world as a fluke rather than an expectation. One thing that Gherson pointed out floored me: the fact that some of these select hockey teams are only playing with one goaltender. That’s lunacy. Canada is effectively casting off quality goaltenders from a young age. Back when I was a bantam, in my lone year of AAA hockey, two goalies were the norm. And our coach – former NHL goaltender Lindsay Middlebrook – refused to play favorites. My goalie partner and I rotated games evenly. It didn’t matter who the opponent was, or what round of a tournament we were playing in. Both goalies played. Despite only playing half the games, it didn’t hurt my career one bit. And I know it helped my goalie partner, who ended up dressing games at the NCAA D1 level. The hard part about what’s going on in Toronto – and Canada for that matter – is that competition for the crease is being driven by the free market. Teams can recruit goaltenders. And it comes down to winning. The best teams want the best goalies. But guess what? As Gherson said, the best goalies end up hardly getting any work throughout the regular season unless playing against one of the top teams. And that’s where I see the biggest deficiency. Evaluating goalies. Because as it stands, winning goalies get the benefit of the doubt. Regardless of how much work they might face. Or how poor the competition may be, once a goalie is labeled a winner, it’s hard to shake that title. And so they go up through the ranks on winning teams. But do those goalies improve? Not always. I’ve seen several goalies labeled as can’t-miss prospects turn into busts. And it comes down to this: the team in front of them was doing all the work. Despite insane numbers during their time playing NCAA hockey, their pro careers fizzled. Gherson was spot on in what he said about goalies on bad teams. They don’t stand a chance. Because eventually, when enough goals go in, the narrative shifts to the goalie not being good enough. That’s wrong. Because a lot of those goalies just need a chance on a competitive team. So much goaltending talent is falling through the cracks in Canada. The problem is I have no idea how to fix it. Gherson made some great points about investing in goaltending development. How every organization needs a goalie guy to help steady the ship. But that takes money and commitment, two things that Canada has shown a lack of in regard to netminders. Canada has produced plenty of NHL goaltenders that played in the World Junior Championship. But as we’ve seen repeatedly, those goalies were far from their peaks. They were learning on the job. Even a phenom like Philadelphia Flyers goalie Carter Hart had doubters during the tournament. I love what Gherson had to say. And I think he’s right. But does Hockey Canada have the guts and dollars to revamp a broken system? History says no. And I tend to agree. Story by Mike McKenna, Daily Faceoff • 1h ago 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BabychStache Posted January 3, 2023 Share Posted January 3, 2023 That was an excellent read. I see a future issue with defensive D as well. It is really exciting to see the offensive D pinch and make a play, but that Slovak game showed how important big, strong, defensive minded players are vital to win. My sons play Football and one thing I really appreciate about it is that there is a position for every body type. My 2nd son is short and stalky, strong legs and thick shoulders. He plays centre. His buddy is 3 inches taller, around the same weight but lanky and fast, he is a receiver. Both contribute equally to the team. I worry about hockey and what it has evolved into in this Country. I doubt Phil Kessel would even make it to Jr these days because of his build and "look." 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-DLC- Posted January 5, 2023 Share Posted January 5, 2023 Wow, this crazy game. That was a nice play/goal (use the boards to move the puck up for himself). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeNiro Posted January 5, 2023 Share Posted January 5, 2023 (edited) 2 hours ago, Muttley said: Nice assist for him on Swedens first goal. Made another nice defensive play to set up Ohgren on a breakaway too. Swedens offense looks way better. Lekkeramaki should have been playing up sooner. Especially over a guy like Lysell who had no points in the tournament and a 5 minute major in todays game. Seems to me Sweden got away from what makes them good. They were trying to play like Finland but they don’t have those types of players. Edited January 5, 2023 by DeNiro Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coconuts Posted January 5, 2023 Share Posted January 5, 2023 Come on Sweden, sink the yanks 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeNiro Posted January 5, 2023 Share Posted January 5, 2023 Pettersson has been very strong defensively. Making blocks, clearing the net, and moving the puck out of the zone efficiently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Heffy Posted January 5, 2023 Share Posted January 5, 2023 Tie game! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redhdlois Posted January 5, 2023 Share Posted January 5, 2023 Crazy game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bounce000 Posted January 5, 2023 Share Posted January 5, 2023 0 points for Lysell this tournament, huge disappointment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeNiro Posted January 5, 2023 Share Posted January 5, 2023 2 minutes ago, Bounce000 said: 0 points for Lysell this tournament, huge disappointment. Team got better when he was tossed. The coach was playing him like he’s a star when he’s not. Carlsson on the other hand is looking like a stud. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Heffy Posted January 5, 2023 Share Posted January 5, 2023 Bold goaltending change. That's an ugly stat line. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coconuts Posted January 5, 2023 Share Posted January 5, 2023 Sweden with the go ahead Pettersson with an assist Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aardvark Posted January 5, 2023 Share Posted January 5, 2023 Wow, this bronze medal game is nuts. 6-5 Sweden at the moment. I was laughing early in the game when it was 2-0 US and the announcer already wrote them off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coconuts Posted January 5, 2023 Share Posted January 5, 2023 Tied up again, what a crazy game 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaimito Posted January 5, 2023 Share Posted January 5, 2023 15 minutes ago, Coconuts said: Sweden with the go ahead Pettersson with an assist Both Pettersson and Lekkerimäki got pts today 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaimito Posted January 5, 2023 Share Posted January 5, 2023 Luke more vocal than QH 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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