Personally I think the one game automatic suspension is enough for Kassian, two games is appropriate for Hrasko and Marincin should be out for the tournament.
In that case your right i would go a bit farther and give him a 2 year ban from iihf events.The one i have a real issue with is the frk spear i forget which canadian he did spear but it was nasty and yes he got 5 minutes thats it.
The Swedes and the Yanks get the byes and Canada play the Swiss and Russia play the Finns in the quarterfinals. I only managed to watch the Canada/Sweden tilt - and the Swedes looked to be the better team for long stretches of the game - ultimately though Olivier Roy was disappointing with his performance and may see the bench in favour of Mark Visentin against the Swiss. If nothing else this loss takes the shine off team Canada and shows all the patriotic claptrap TSN keeps parroting for what it really is: selling the tournament.
Well I'm not thrilled. I don't want to play Canada ever but especially not in the semis. The only thing going for the USA is that they have gotten better each game, while Canada has seemingly regressed. Although that might be more of a result of the opponents. I'm picking Finland and Canada to win their games.
How do you name 9 Americans, and not mention Bourque or Chris Kreider? They were great in last year's WJC, and they've looked like two of the best players this year. Bourque is a bit on the small side, but Kreider is going to be a beast (if you haven't seen him play--picture Pavel Bure speed with a MUCH bigger frame).
He asked about future NHL stars and I don't think either of those two project as perennial all star caliber players. Although Kreider certainly seems to have more upside and easily fits with the category of possible future nhlers. They remind me of Patrick O'Sullivan who was electric for the US in Finland, but could never translate that to NHL success. Ironically a player for Canada in that tournament who was a third liner and really failed to impress was Ryan Getzlaf, while Nigel Dawes and Anthony Stewart were Canada's top players with Jeff Carter.
I remember that than in 2005 Getzlaf was 2nd in tournament scoring behind Bergeron while Stewart and Dawes decline in performance from the 2004 tournament. Yeah the Sweden game highlighted what I thought was going to be trouble for the Canadian which was the defense can't deal teams with good speed and Roy isn't good enough at this level. I seen Roy play since he was 16 for local QMJHL team and after his first two years he stop developing. I hope Visentin will get the nod tomorrow vs Swiss
No i would not day canada regressed the last couple games they have been with with out some key players and others playing hurt.Going into this tournemant the b pool is the much harder pool while pool a is much easier while yes russia had a off tournemant the b pool does have the better teams.The semis could be good but don't think canada is this bad team some are making them out to be keeping in mind they played one of there worst and sweden having one of there best it still went to ot.
Wow, a little sensitive? I say I'm scared to play Canada and try and find anything good going for the US and you make it sound like I dismissed the Canadians like the Swedish coach did in his press conference. Regardless I was kind of hoping at least for this matchup in the final. Instead one of these two will go home with at best a very disappointing bronze medal. Obviously I hope the US wins but I'm prepared.
What a game with the Russians going through to the Semi-finals in OT, coming back from 3-1 to win. Canada threw a lot of rubber at Conz but did find a way to put 4 past him in a 4-1 win. Semi-final go tomorrow with SWE vs RUS and USA vs CAN
The only advantage I see for the US is in net, while Canada probably hasthe slight edge in talent otherwise. It should be a close game decided by one or two moments of brilliance or mistakes. I expect Sweden to handle Russia fairly easily.
the USA-Canada game is tough. I mean, Canada has won 9 straight semi-final games, but they have also been the favorite in just about all of them. This one's different. As a Canadian I'll pick Canada to take it, but as a hockey realist I honestly believe the US takes this one and one of the lowest TV rating gold medal games of all time in this tournament will form as a result
Well this is exactly what I expected to happen. I don't know what to make of the Russian team, they looked like typical underwhelming Russian entries in the prelims and then have some how clawed back from the death twice to get to the finals. They were throughly outplayed by Canada, yet were in the game until the end. I wouldn't put a penny on Russia to win the gold medal against Canada, but I also would not really be shocked if they did manage to win it.
Well Duthie, Mackenzie, McGuire, and Miller are going to be pissed. Now that Visentin shut them up about goaltending, TSN has nothing to b*tch about in terms of Team Canada. Also great game against the Americans. I thought we were gonna lose but we showed up and played our best game of the tourney to pull it off. Time for hockey's great international rivalry in the gold medal game
Canada really came out of the gate flying and never looked back. Couple of early goals really set the pace. The score would of been a lot more out of hand if it wasn't for Campbell who made a few great saves to keep the Americans in it at 3-0. As far as the final go it seems that this Russian side are resilient side, Canada man handle them in the first game with physical play on the boards but I think it could be different this time around.
A bit suprised Canada has done so well considering the team doesnt have the ELITE depth of teams from the past 5/6 years They're good, with Shenn, Johansen, and Ellis being standouts, but the teams of the past years have been stacked with talent. what i like about this team though is that their absolute beasts and are relentless, it really takes it toll on opposing teams. They just ran USA into the ground, keeping the play along the boards and causing turnovers which created lots of odd man rushes into the zone.
I agree with this team not being what it usually is. I mean they are usually projected top 2, and have been in 05, 07, 08, 09, and 10, while this year they were projected 3rd, but still well below the US and Sweden, both of whom we will finish above. It's nice to see the boys continue to exceed expectations in the tournament. This kind of reminds me of the 06 tournament when we were projected to finish 6th, and to actually have to fight Switzerland just to finish 3rd in the group, then we shut everyone up and won our second straight gold.
I agree with the 2006 comparison but we won the group that year going 4-0 (though last game we beat USA with EN goal as they needed to outright win to get the bye).
How anyone projected Canada third is beyond me. I'm still convinced it was a Canadian conspiracy by the media to drum up interest and make a new storyline when it's the same old tale.
Sadly I'd say there is an element of that. More importantly I'd say they were comparing the sums of their parts to determine which whole team is best - we all know that team sports rarely work that way.
I don't see many of players outside QMJHL players I watch live (Couturier, Roy, Despres and Leblanc) but looking at the numbers they put up this year unless there was a major dip in the quality of play of the CHL I don't see how his team was low skill and scoring ability compared to past teams. As far as watching them play this year nothing as change that, they scored the most goal in the round robin, let alone doing it in a tougher group than compared to the past few years. Yeah this team may rely on physical play more because of the size advantage but after watching this team it is hardly the "Blue Collar" group TSN was making it out to be. As far as the final tonight, I doubt this Russian team is going to be the same team we saw in the first game, just hope they come out flying like they did vs USA.
Russia has had to complete two late game miracle comebacks to win both their games. I doubt they can do that three times in a row. The only way they can win is if the Canadian goalie lets in a couple of softies and deflates the Canadians early. Or they do it by the traditional way an underdog hockey team wins a game, they play close tight defensive hockey, take their few chances, powerplay or breakdown and have their goalie play above his ability level. Personally I don't see anything other than a Canadian gold medal Here is a draft comparison breakdown of the Canadian and American roster, which again makes me laugh at how TSN and others were calling the Americans favorites. Remember there is no Russian factor when comparing American and Canadian teams, as NHL teams will simply take who they think is best and not worry about losing them. Defense for Canada Jared Cowen - 2009: 9 Depres - 2009 : 30 Olsen - 2009 : 28 Gudbranson - 2010 : 3 Ryan Ellis - 2009 : 11 Barrie - 2009 : 64 de Haan - 2009 : 12 average draft position: 22, only one non first rounder USA defense Ramage : 2010 : 103 Wey - 2009 : 115 Faulk - 2010 : 37 Duomolin - 2009 : 51 Leddy - 2009 : 16 Forbort - 2010 : 15 Merril - 2010 : 38 average draft position : 53 Two first rounders