4 Nations Face-Off
- Thread starter Frank E
- Start date
herman
Well-known member
Guilt Trip
Well-known member
Shouldn't diminish what a great game 34 played. Arguably the best player on the ice. Funny thing, earlier a pass went through Marner and Matthews was robbed by Binner in OT. Helly didn't make the save. Both Leafs had great games and that was great to see. It was the best possible outcome for Leaf fans.
herman
Well-known member
Matthews scoring in OT would have been the only acceptable USA path to victory, for me.
They had the better team overall: better goaltending, better defense, better assholes, and maybe just a hair lower on the forward firepower. But injuries and illness narrowed the gap on defense and nerfed their biggest asshole, while Canada actually made gains adding Thomas Harley and adjusting their roster mix.
They had the better team overall: better goaltending, better defense, better assholes, and maybe just a hair lower on the forward firepower. But injuries and illness narrowed the gap on defense and nerfed their biggest asshole, while Canada actually made gains adding Thomas Harley and adjusting their roster mix.
Zee
Well-known member
He was in a no win situation, so best not to say anything
Man that was a fun game to watch.
L K
Well-known member
Narratives change but if we are looking at it from a Leafs perspective, it almost feels like Marner needed that win more than Matthews. He had an overtime winner. He primary assisted the tying goal AND the winning OT goal. Can't get more clutch than that
dappleganger
Well-known member
I'm still fired up today. That was awesome!
I'm really happy for Binnington. He faced a lot of scrutiny before, and during the tournament and he really came through in the final game.
Mitch Marner had a great game. Matthews had an impressive final game as well. How Matthews didn't score on one of those 4 chances is beyond me.
Also, Brady Tkachuk is a really good player.
I'm really happy for Binnington. He faced a lot of scrutiny before, and during the tournament and he really came through in the final game.
Mitch Marner had a great game. Matthews had an impressive final game as well. How Matthews didn't score on one of those 4 chances is beyond me.
Also, Brady Tkachuk is a really good player.
I just realized that this isn't the first time Binnington has shone in a winner take all contest in Boston. I had completely forgotten that, and just rewatched the highlights and saw that he made a number of remarkable saves then, too. Granted, a lot can change since 2019, but I thought the parallel was interesting.
herman
Well-known member
I would share their BlueSky post instead, but the forum software here is not equipped to embed those.
Guilt Trip
Well-known member
It's a good breakdown and explains why 34 left his post. Split second decision and Marner took advantage.
Arn
Well-known member
Should ditch Finland for the next one and replace them with Russia
Ozzie
Active member
Boston people and Americans in general were so nice to us Canadian fans. And they really know and love their hockey. Locals were offering to buy drinks at bars, and even at the game because we were visitors......and we all talked about where we are from.... some flew in from California and some from Winnipeg, and some of the younger lads drove from Pittsburgh, or PEI to make the scene.
The game really meant a lot to the Americans. It was super obvious how passionate they were. Ratings were 9.3 million in US and 7m in Canada. I was in the lower bowl and I didn't hear any booing of Oh Canada. So credit goes to where credit is due. But I did photograph a guy outside of TD Gardens with the sign that "US will become Canada's 11th Province".
We had cheering battles of "Let's Go Canada' vs "USA, USA". In the bars we were competitive, but at the Gardens where we were about 35% we got drown out by the Yanks. But everyone all joined the "Johnny Hockey" chants.
And it was cool seeing Team USA on their own soil, with the fans going crazy and Free Bird blasting through the arena. And eventually seeing the Canadian flag rise too.
Watching a game live at this speed was a new one for me. I took my Dad to see Connor McDavid beat the Russians in juniors in 2015. 10 years later I see the evolution of his speed and skill to something unearthly, and got to be there when he bulged the twine in OT.
And I admit I was wrong about Binnington..... and Cooper (and DeBoer and co.) were right from the start. Their genuis coaching had the foresight to see that Binner would emerge the TD Gardens villian. I was debating the Americans behind me on the second goal....I said Sanderson's goal was on Canada's defensive failures and they said it was Binnington's fault bc he couldn't control rebounds. But after OT, the guy shook my hand and admitted Binnington stood on his head. And Bostons seen it before in 2019. And Coop knew.
After the game at a local bar we had a toast to Binner.
I was also wrong about Marner.... he was mostly invisible for most of the series and for the beginning of this game, but he became noticeably activated later in the game and eventually got his first assist. Looking at replays, most of the goal credit goes to him because he drew defenders away from Bennett before passing. Same with the Brady Tkachuk goal was made easy due to Matthews hard working wrap around pass.
I saw Matthews and Marner hug in the handshake line, and when the entire US team cleared the ice.... Matthews stayed.... he was almost in tears and for some reason he wanted to be the last US guy staying out there on the ice while Canada got their medals. My seats were close to the US bench and so I tried to yell some encouragement to him. The guy was about to cry and obviously took the loss hard, especially how it went down in OT with him missing multiple chances, and also for not covering 97 on the goal.
From the airport today i called into a Boston Sports radio show and talked about the game (98.5 The Sports Hub). The panel on the show first gave Team Canada it's flowers, and then ripped into Matthews. I don't want to say on this Forum the details of what they said because it may offend some people but i think a lot of sports fans in the US are pinning the loss on him. And some are saying Matthew Tkachuk should have sat out and let Tage play.
I dont know if they showed this on TV but Crosby held the Cup up high over his head. And so did Marchand and MacKinnon. But not McDavid. He only brought it to face high. I guess it's superstition because he hasn't won...... yet. But I agree with an earlier post on this thread that this tournament matured some of the players and I think a bunch of them... especially McDavid and probably Brady Tkachuk, will be playing hockey with more purpose going forward after this.
The game really meant a lot to the Americans. It was super obvious how passionate they were. Ratings were 9.3 million in US and 7m in Canada. I was in the lower bowl and I didn't hear any booing of Oh Canada. So credit goes to where credit is due. But I did photograph a guy outside of TD Gardens with the sign that "US will become Canada's 11th Province".
We had cheering battles of "Let's Go Canada' vs "USA, USA". In the bars we were competitive, but at the Gardens where we were about 35% we got drown out by the Yanks. But everyone all joined the "Johnny Hockey" chants.
And it was cool seeing Team USA on their own soil, with the fans going crazy and Free Bird blasting through the arena. And eventually seeing the Canadian flag rise too.
Watching a game live at this speed was a new one for me. I took my Dad to see Connor McDavid beat the Russians in juniors in 2015. 10 years later I see the evolution of his speed and skill to something unearthly, and got to be there when he bulged the twine in OT.
And I admit I was wrong about Binnington..... and Cooper (and DeBoer and co.) were right from the start. Their genuis coaching had the foresight to see that Binner would emerge the TD Gardens villian. I was debating the Americans behind me on the second goal....I said Sanderson's goal was on Canada's defensive failures and they said it was Binnington's fault bc he couldn't control rebounds. But after OT, the guy shook my hand and admitted Binnington stood on his head. And Bostons seen it before in 2019. And Coop knew.
After the game at a local bar we had a toast to Binner.
I was also wrong about Marner.... he was mostly invisible for most of the series and for the beginning of this game, but he became noticeably activated later in the game and eventually got his first assist. Looking at replays, most of the goal credit goes to him because he drew defenders away from Bennett before passing. Same with the Brady Tkachuk goal was made easy due to Matthews hard working wrap around pass.
I saw Matthews and Marner hug in the handshake line, and when the entire US team cleared the ice.... Matthews stayed.... he was almost in tears and for some reason he wanted to be the last US guy staying out there on the ice while Canada got their medals. My seats were close to the US bench and so I tried to yell some encouragement to him. The guy was about to cry and obviously took the loss hard, especially how it went down in OT with him missing multiple chances, and also for not covering 97 on the goal.
From the airport today i called into a Boston Sports radio show and talked about the game (98.5 The Sports Hub). The panel on the show first gave Team Canada it's flowers, and then ripped into Matthews. I don't want to say on this Forum the details of what they said because it may offend some people but i think a lot of sports fans in the US are pinning the loss on him. And some are saying Matthew Tkachuk should have sat out and let Tage play.
I dont know if they showed this on TV but Crosby held the Cup up high over his head. And so did Marchand and MacKinnon. But not McDavid. He only brought it to face high. I guess it's superstition because he hasn't won...... yet. But I agree with an earlier post on this thread that this tournament matured some of the players and I think a bunch of them... especially McDavid and probably Brady Tkachuk, will be playing hockey with more purpose going forward after this.