All right, we all watched the classic USA vs. Canada game last night and I think we can all breathe a sigh of relief knowing that John Tavares is on our side because, without him, Canada would never have been in the game at all. Let's quickly recap the 1st period events...
1. Kevin Shattenkirk open the scoring on a wrist shot, while flying down the wing. A freakin' wrist shot for crying out loud. I understand a Joe Sakic-type wrist shot, but this guy is 18, common. A QUESTIONABLE goal at best, Tokarski needs to make that save...
2. Canada takes three straight trips to the penalty box to give the Americans an extended 5-on-3, which leads to Jimmy Haynes making it 2-0, while parking himself in front of the net. If it was 5-on-5, you could easily blame the Dmen for blowing their defensive zone coverage, but it was a 5-on-3...
3. Jim O' Brien zips down the wing and blows a shot top shelf over Tokarski's blocker. I've never played goalie, but when you're 2 feet outside the blue paint and you let one of those in, that's crap. I'll let it slide since it was only a preliminary game, but you better be able to stop that sh*t in the NHL.
4. How many people hate the delay-of-game penalty for flipping the puck over the glass? Well tonight, it started the Canadian rally...5. The John Tavares Show begins: he buries his 5th PP marker of the tournament from a scramble in front of the net, 3-1. Then the Americans turn the puck over in their own zone (McDonagh's stick snapped), off to the races goes Tavares who puts on a nifty deke on McDonagh and shelves his 2nd of the night. 3-2.
6. Next, the fireworks go off. DiDomenico gets a stick in the face (he had to leave the bench) while skating by the American bench after the goal. Then, Della-Rovere sucker punches (yes, sucker punch, van Riemsdyk needed an icepack afterwards) van Riemsdyk in the side of the face. No penalties; gotta love the European referees. No hard hits during the game, but after whistle activities are prohibited.
7. The Americans decide to take a too-many-men penalty. Bad move.
8. Eberle does some nice stick handling in tight and shelves (it actually deflects off the Dman stick, off the goalie's shoulder and in) Canada's 2nd goal in five minutes to tie the game at 3. Crazy.
9. Della-Rovere gets called for boarding and serves 2 minutes (WHAT?!). Anyone else see Matt Cooke in this loser?
a) What would have happened if Tavares had never scored and it went into the intermission 3-0?
b) Does Tavares make that same nifty move if McDonagh has a stick?
c) How the crap does no-one get penalties in the stick-to-face/sucker-punch incident?
d) How the crap does Della-Rovere only get 2 minutes for his hit from behind?
And maybe the biggest question I have is... Despite Canada getting the win 7-4 and getting the bye to the semi's... The fact is that... Tokarski allowed 4 goals to an American team that (by Sporer's knowledge) was a very average team (to TSN's knowledge, they were the #2 ranked team in the tournament going in behind only the Swedes), so...
e) What is Tokarski going to do when he plays the power-house Swede's in the final? Does he get the start? Canada's other goalie, Pickard, allowed 1 goal in 2 games while Tokarski has allowed 5 in 2 games.
And finally,
f) IF these two teams do actually meet again in the medal round, how awesome of a game would that be?
This team is definitely Tavares' team. No doubts about that one. He leads the tourney is scoring (8G 4A) and, like I said, carried this team back to life and on to victory. The guy is a beast at 6'0 and 203 pounds and he's kind of a mix between Lecavalier's size and scoring touch with Getzlaf's overal toughness and power-forwardesque type qualities that still make him a threat to score outside 5 feet of the net.
Oh, I almost forgot, that save on Colin Wilson by Tokarski was ridiculous. Wow. Even Pierre McGuire was speechless (thank friggin goodness). Straight up redonkulous. That save may have gotten him the start in the semi-final game...
Here is a quick re-cap of the five remaining teams in the medal round...
Sweden – They have five of the top 10 prospects that are playing at this tournament: Victor Hedman, Magnus Svensson-Paajarvi, Jacob Josefson, Carl Klingberg and Anton Lander. Those five are in addition to LA Kings regular Oscar Moller and Calgary draft pick Mikael Backlund, who have provided much of the scoring up front. Also, of their seven Dmen, FIVE are draft eligible this year. This team was/is the favorite to win gold this year, and have impressed with clinching top spot in the group with a 5-0 route of Russia.
USA – Since the '96 World Cup, the Americans have steadily been creeping up behind Canada and you can look to Salt Lake City's silver medal as proof. The top line of Colin Wilson (NAS), James van Riemsdyk (PHI) and Jordan Schroder ('09 draft) has been lights out as all in the top 14 in scoring and the secondary scoring has been there aswell. Almost half of the team perfects their craft in the CHL, which is a good change for the program. Every player on this team has been drafted, except Drayson Bowman and Schroder; Schroder is ranked as #6, but a strong tournament would have him in the top 3 for sure.
Russia – It's basically the same team every year from these guys... Ovechkin was the star, no goaltending, Malkin was the star, no goaltending, now Filatov is the star, but again, no goaltending. The Russians were ranked #4, but everyone expects this to be a 3-team tournament. This team does boast an explosive player capable of changing the game in Filatov, but no other player is ranked in the top 30 by the ISS.
Czech Republic – no team has been more disappointing then the Czechs. They won back-to-back golds in 2000 and '01, but no golds since then! The Czechs boast 2 players in the top 10 in scoring: Jan Kana (6G 2A) and Ondrej Roman (3G 4A); however, no player is ranked in the top 30, except Richard Panik who isn't even on this team! Seven Czechs play full-time in the WHL, two in the OHL and two more in the QMJHL, which tells me that these players are leaving their country at a really age to better their skills and play against the best juniors that hockey has to offer.
Slovakia – There must be only one good hockey club in Slovakia because fifteen of their twenty-two players come from Orange 20 Puchov. They brought their two top prospects in Tomas Tatar and Marek Hrivik, but the roster is made up of mid-to-late round draft picks and can be really unpredictable. They only lost 3-1 to Sweden, then got trounced 8-1 by Russia, but then they beat Finland 3-2 in a shootout; with a bit more consistency, they could be more of a threat each year.
Cheers.
-Smith
6. Next, the fireworks go off. DiDomenico gets a stick in the face (he had to leave the bench) while skating by the American bench after the goal. Then, Della-Rovere sucker punches (yes, sucker punch, van Riemsdyk needed an icepack afterwards) van Riemsdyk in the side of the face. No penalties; gotta love the European referees. No hard hits during the game, but after whistle activities are prohibited.
7. The Americans decide to take a too-many-men penalty. Bad move.8. Eberle does some nice stick handling in tight and shelves (it actually deflects off the Dman stick, off the goalie's shoulder and in) Canada's 2nd goal in five minutes to tie the game at 3. Crazy.
9. Della-Rovere gets called for boarding and serves 2 minutes (WHAT?!). Anyone else see Matt Cooke in this loser?
So, with all that being said, a bunch of questions entered my mind...
a) What would have happened if Tavares had never scored and it went into the intermission 3-0?
b) Does Tavares make that same nifty move if McDonagh has a stick?
c) How the crap does no-one get penalties in the stick-to-face/sucker-punch incident?
d) How the crap does Della-Rovere only get 2 minutes for his hit from behind?
And maybe the biggest question I have is... Despite Canada getting the win 7-4 and getting the bye to the semi's... The fact is that... Tokarski allowed 4 goals to an American team that (by Sporer's knowledge) was a very average team (to TSN's knowledge, they were the #2 ranked team in the tournament going in behind only the Swedes), so... e) What is Tokarski going to do when he plays the power-house Swede's in the final? Does he get the start? Canada's other goalie, Pickard, allowed 1 goal in 2 games while Tokarski has allowed 5 in 2 games.
And finally,
f) IF these two teams do actually meet again in the medal round, how awesome of a game would that be?
This team is definitely Tavares' team. No doubts about that one. He leads the tourney is scoring (8G 4A) and, like I said, carried this team back to life and on to victory. The guy is a beast at 6'0 and 203 pounds and he's kind of a mix between Lecavalier's size and scoring touch with Getzlaf's overal toughness and power-forwardesque type qualities that still make him a threat to score outside 5 feet of the net.
Oh, I almost forgot, that save on Colin Wilson by Tokarski was ridiculous. Wow. Even Pierre McGuire was speechless (thank friggin goodness). Straight up redonkulous. That save may have gotten him the start in the semi-final game...
Here is a quick re-cap of the five remaining teams in the medal round...
Sweden – They have five of the top 10 prospects that are playing at this tournament: Victor Hedman, Magnus Svensson-Paajarvi, Jacob Josefson, Carl Klingberg and Anton Lander. Those five are in addition to LA Kings regular Oscar Moller and Calgary draft pick Mikael Backlund, who have provided much of the scoring up front. Also, of their seven Dmen, FIVE are draft eligible this year. This team was/is the favorite to win gold this year, and have impressed with clinching top spot in the group with a 5-0 route of Russia.USA – Since the '96 World Cup, the Americans have steadily been creeping up behind Canada and you can look to Salt Lake City's silver medal as proof. The top line of Colin Wilson (NAS), James van Riemsdyk (PHI) and Jordan Schroder ('09 draft) has been lights out as all in the top 14 in scoring and the secondary scoring has been there aswell. Almost half of the team perfects their craft in the CHL, which is a good change for the program. Every player on this team has been drafted, except Drayson Bowman and Schroder; Schroder is ranked as #6, but a strong tournament would have him in the top 3 for sure.
Russia – It's basically the same team every year from these guys... Ovechkin was the star, no goaltending, Malkin was the star, no goaltending, now Filatov is the star, but again, no goaltending. The Russians were ranked #4, but everyone expects this to be a 3-team tournament. This team does boast an explosive player capable of changing the game in Filatov, but no other player is ranked in the top 30 by the ISS.Czech Republic – no team has been more disappointing then the Czechs. They won back-to-back golds in 2000 and '01, but no golds since then! The Czechs boast 2 players in the top 10 in scoring: Jan Kana (6G 2A) and Ondrej Roman (3G 4A); however, no player is ranked in the top 30, except Richard Panik who isn't even on this team! Seven Czechs play full-time in the WHL, two in the OHL and two more in the QMJHL, which tells me that these players are leaving their country at a really age to better their skills and play against the best juniors that hockey has to offer.
Slovakia – There must be only one good hockey club in Slovakia because fifteen of their twenty-two players come from Orange 20 Puchov. They brought their two top prospects in Tomas Tatar and Marek Hrivik, but the roster is made up of mid-to-late round draft picks and can be really unpredictable. They only lost 3-1 to Sweden, then got trounced 8-1 by Russia, but then they beat Finland 3-2 in a shootout; with a bit more consistency, they could be more of a threat each year.
Cheers.
-Smith
p.s. St. Louis had 5 draft picks playing in that Canada-USA game: Alex Pietrangelo, Brett Sonne for Canada and Ian Cole, Cade Fairchild, Aaron Palushaj for the USA.
p.s #2 - Doesn't Eberle look like a stoner? Just what the Oilers need, more druggies. (Torres ring a bell???)
Well, you're right on a couple things. Della Rovere could easily have received a game misconduct for the hit from behind (based on the way Junior hockey cracks down on these things, I'm surprised he didn't).
ReplyDeleteAlso, wasn't it him that sucker punched van Riemsdyk? Refs definitely missed both that and the stick to the face. Both are VERY dirty plays, and don't belong there.
THAT being said...Della Rovere is a gritty Canadian, who bleeds (Canadian) maple leaf red through and through. Did you see him flaunt the crest on his jersey after that dirty hit on Esposito in the Germany game? I like it. When he joins the NHL, I'll probably hate him. He reminds me of Steve Downie. Loved Downie when he was on the team for his feistiness and pure Canadian Hockey grit but I hated him as a Flyer and probably won't change my mind with him as part of the Lightning.
I'm resigned to the fact that I won't like this guy later on, but while I disapprove of his dirty play yesterday, I think he fills a valuable and necessary spot on this team. He gives our team loaded with talent the backbone that defines Canadian hockey.
Also, TSN was saying that just because no penalties were handed out during the game doesn't mean suspensions won't be pending. Apparently, the IIHF reviews the tapes and can still hand down some disciplinary action after the game.
ReplyDeleteAlso, every Canadian bleeds Red & White. What makes Della-Rovere different? Nothing. Every guy shows his sweater after a goal and everyone sings the anthem, the difference is that every other Canadian plays with BRAINS. Passion is good, controlled passion is better.
Eberle's goal was clean shelf, watch it again, dumbass....
ReplyDeletealright, perhaps I'll put it in words you can understand.
ReplyDeleteBrenden Morrow is not the most skilled hockey player (or anywhere near it), but I know damn well that you would not take him off your beloved stars. Why? Because he plays a role. He is a leader, now, yes, but when he was younger, pretty much all he could do was agitate a lot, and score a little here and there. Della Rovere is the same type of player. He fills an agitator type role, and he does it full steam with full blown passion. He's young so he's immature. I already told you that he made some bone head plays. But his position on the team cannot be questioned. He needs to play smarter yes, and Pat Quinn will shape him up. But he ignites some fire for his teammates with his style of play.
I'm actually surprised you're the one I'm having this discussion with. Canadian bluff.
Eberle!!!!!!!!!!! stoner or not.....CANADIAN HERO!!!!!!
ReplyDelete