Tournament Starts Today

[Kin]

Well, let me play a little devil's advocate here.

1.  Canada hasn't won anything yet, so let's not get too far ahead of ourselves here.
2.  They were probably right that they wouldn't have been able to assemble enough talent to out-talent Canada, Kessel or no Kessel.  They got beat in Sochi with the guys many are suggesting should have been on this roster.  I'm not going to be too critical of them for trying a different angle after getting beat out of all the medals in Sochi.  They tried, and it didn't work.  It's not like this result was any worse than finishing 4th in the Olympics.  I actually would have been more critical of them if they didn't try something different after getting nothing but a participation ribbon at the last Olympics.

I don't think you need to actually see a strategy fail before you know if it's a bad one. If Canada was staffed with, I don't know, nothing but guys like Ilya Kovlachuk or Erik Karlsson then yeah, maybe try hitting them. But this idea that you could wear out Team Canada with semi-talented grinders is crazy on its face. As if Sid Crosby or Joe Thornton or Ryan Getzlaf don't know how to play hockey if they get hit and Brad Marchand or Shea Weber or Logan Couture wouldn't just hit you back.

Like, obviously nobody is going to admit to being intimidated but we saw it when they asked Thornton about America's plans to make it a gritty game. All he said was "Yeah, we can do that too" and even the most cursory glance at the roster would show that.

 

[herman]

Torts also scratched Dubinsky, whose sole purpose in the roster was because his one skill is messing with Crosby.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

Torts also scratched Dubinsky, whose sole purpose in the roster was because his one skill is messing with Crosby.

And benched arguably their best defenceman in Dustin Byfuglien in their opener against Team Europe, which should have been seen as a must-win game since everyone knew they were losing to Canada.

 

[herman]

Torts also scratched Dubinsky, whose sole purpose in the roster was because his one skill is messing with Crosby.

And benched arguably their best defenceman in Dustin Byfuglien in their opener against Team Europe, which should have been seen as a must-win game since everyone knew they were losing to Canada.

This is starting to look like a tank job... Dubious decision making... high profile in-fighting... But what is the end goal? Lowered expectations so they can move to a youth movement after the Team North America showcase?

I can see they had reasons for doing things a certain way in the roster build (flawed as it may be), but then they willingly fumbled the execution of the flawed plan further.

 

[Kin]

No Datsyuk today. Good news for TNA fans.

 

[crazyperfectdevil]

No Datsyuk today. Good news for TNA fans.

I knew there was a reason i liked that team ...who doesn't like some TNA

 

[herman]

I knew there was a reason i liked that team ...who doesn't like some TNA

Yeah, they make fantastic outerwear, perfect for remaining warm and stylish during our winters.

 

[herman]

Russia is starting to pull away with this one. 2-0 partway through 2.

 

[WhatIfGodWasALeaf]

My interest in this tournament just took a nose dive, didn't even watch the Canada game last night.

 

[Redleaf]

My interest in this tournament just took a nose dive, didn't even watch the Canada game last night.

I blame Matt Murray lol. Minus those 2 bad goals against Russia and they would have made it through, no matter what the outcome of today's game.

 

[Kin]

But on the plus side, most of the Leafs acquitted themselves well and aside from Zaitsev there'll be no real chance any of them get hurt going forward.

 

[herman]

But on the plus side, most of the Leafs acquitted themselves well and aside from Zaitsev there'll be no real chance any of them get hurt going forward.

Always looking at the bright side.

 

[WhatIfGodWasALeaf]

We haven't really had a wow moment from Laine, granted he's not got the teammates Matthews has had, but I thought he and Aho would create at least a few highlight reel moments.

 

[WhatIfGodWasALeaf]

Voodoo didn't work, 3-0 Russia.

 

[Beowulf]

Too bad, I was really praying for a North America/Canada matchup as I'm sure we all were. But it is a bit weird to feel so disappointed at being "stuck" with a Russia/Canada matchup. I mean the young guns were great and I know that the rivalry hasn't been what it was for a while but still, I'm not even remotely excited.

 

[Zee]

Too bad, I was really praying for a North America/Canada matchup as I'm sure we all were. But it is a bit weird to feel so disappointed at being "stuck" with a Russia/Canada matchup. I mean the young guns were great and I know that the rivalry hasn't been what it was for a while but still, I'm not even remotely excited.

That's cause Canada will easily win with a workmanlike performance in a tournament nobody really asked for. At least Team North America was fun watching all the young guys

 

[Tigger]

I get the whole US team angst storyline but, and maybe I missed it, where's the Czech team interviews and such, would've liked to hear something from them.

 

[Tigger]

But on the plus side, most of the Leafs acquitted themselves well and aside from Zaitsev there'll be no real chance any of them get hurt going forward.

Always looking at the bright side.

Is JVR not playing tonight?

 

[AtomicMapleLeaf]

But on the plus side, most of the Leafs acquitted themselves well and aside from Zaitsev there'll be no real chance any of them get hurt going forward.

Always looking at the bright side.

Is JVR not playing tonight?

Is that you Dion?

 

[Tigger]

But on the plus side, most of the Leafs acquitted themselves well and aside from Zaitsev there'll be no real chance any of them get hurt going forward.

Always looking at the bright side.

Is JVR not playing tonight?

Is that you Dion?

The Czech team deserved it.