World Junior Championship Chat

[Dean Youngblood]

Canada does not look great in this 1st period vs the Swedes. They are leading off a beauty Schenn goal and stellar play by Roy but other than that they are getting severely outplayed. Isn't this Canadian team suppose to pride itself on outworking their opponents.

75% of the play has been in Canada's zone.

Swede Gabriel Landeskog looks awesome so far in this game. If he keeps it up he will definitely improve his draft stock. He has good size and skates very well. Landeskog has looked like a man among boys in the 1st period.


Olivier Roy is making a case for the starting job for Canada....if he keeps playing this well.

[SeaDawg]

agree about Landeskog, DY. He has been the most impressive player on the ice so far in this game.

Team Canada looks big this year. Lots of tall, lanky players with good reach. And some with some beef too, like Kassian. Canada looks real sloppy so far, but it could be nerves a bit and I think coming off the game against the Swiss, they probably need to adjust to having less time with the puck before the opposition is on them. Sweden is really forechecking hard.

Larsson and Couturier have both been quiet so far, but that is to be expected, I suppose. Neither is getting #1 PP time right now.

I am a bit surprised Canada is going with 4 forwards on the PP. Schwartz has a decent shot, but it seems a bit risky to me.

[Dean Youngblood]

I am impressed with Couturier's composure with the puck. He has good patience and makes smart plays (doesn't force any plays)

Tim Erixon - wow does this kid whine a lot. His expressions each shift are sickening. Whining about missed calls, throwing his broken stick after the refs missed a call. For a dman who's supposedly close to the NHL he needs to show a bit of maturity. You can tell he is a Flames draft pick

[Dean Youngblood]

More observations.

- Jared Cowen is not good. This guy shouldn't have made the squad. For a big man, I am not sure what he brings to Team Canada. He is extremely soft and I don't see him being very defensive this game. He has had several bad turnovers and never wins the battles in the corner

- I am also not impressed with De Haan. He has seen some shifts on the PP and lacks quick and smart decision making. Keep him off the PP

- Ryan Ellis is an elite PP QB and has a rocket of a shot for a smurf.

- Marcus Foligno is a very good hockey player. Smart.

- Louis Leblanc hasn't seen much ice but when he's out there the Canadians seem to be in the oppositions zone.

- Adam Larsson has been extremely unimpressive. His draft stock is dropping for sure.

Best players:

1. Landeskog
2. Kassian
3. Roy

Team Canada has had a bizzillion PP chances.

[SeaDawg]

agree about Larsson. Very unimpressive this game. He seriously seems to be lacking in confidence and made some real poor mental mistakes this game

To build on your comments re: Cowen and DeHaan, I'm not really impressed with the entire defense corps, outside of Ellis. I honestly expected more of them (though this is only one game). Ellis played so much hockey. He had some very long shifts and played the entire PP at one point. That isn't necessarily a huge surprise. He is their best talent back there, but it is also partly because they just don't have many other options (that is also why Schwartz plays the other point). Team Canada in general just seems so concerned about being pushed around by Team USA that they went big and defense-first on the backend. Seems to me they could have used either Murray or Murphy to play with Ellis on the PP and give him a bit of a break.

[Big Ev]

Maybe you should wait until the REAL games (not meaningless exhibition games) before calling Jared Cowen - who was given the "A" and has been dominant this year in the CHL - "not good" and "soft" (which couldn't be farther from the truth by the way). Such a premature comment, Dean Youngblood.

If he DIDN'T make Team Canada that would have been such a dumb decision by Dave Cameron.

Same with Larsson. Wait before the actual competition starts before hating on the potential #1 overall pick. People shouldn't put so much stock in exhibition games.

[slufoot]

More observations.

- Jared Cowen is not good. This guy shouldn't have made the squad. For a big man, I am not sure what he brings to Team Canada. He is extremely soft and I don't see him being very defensive this game. He has had several bad turnovers and never wins the battles in the corner

- I am also not impressed with De Haan. He has seen some shifts on the PP and lacks quick and smart decision making. Keep him off the PP

- Ryan Ellis is an elite PP QB and has a rocket of a shot for a smurf.

- Marcus Foligno is a very good hockey player. Smart.

- Louis Leblanc hasn't seen much ice but when he's out there the Canadians seem to be in the oppositions zone.

- Adam Larsson has been extremely unimpressive. His draft stock is dropping for sure.

Best players:

1. Landeskog
2. Kassian ?!
3. Roy

Team Canada has had a bizzillion PP chances.

Had to bold that DY. ARE YOU SERIOUS? I thought the only thing Kassian had going for him was that he outweighed everyone on the ice by about 30 lbs. He reacts slow, skates slow, and doesn't make great decisions with the puck. Derek Boogard could have scored that goal he got - it was a chip in to an empty net. He might do alright this tournament, but he's got ALOT of work to get his game to the next level. For a guy his size, 2 years removed from his draft year - he should be dominating at this tournament the way Steve Downie did a few years back.

My ranking would have been:

1. Schenn
2. Erixon
3. Landeskog

Roy had a good game, but most of Sweden's shots were from the perimeter.

[slufoot]

LOL. BigE, is that your objective, unbiased opinion?

[Dean Youngblood]

Had to bold that DY. ARE YOU SERIOUS? I thought the only thing Kassian had going for him was that he outweighed everyone on the ice by about 30 lbs. He reacts slow, skates slow, and doesn't make great decisions with the puck. Derek Boogard could have scored that goal he got - it was a chip in to an empty net. He might do alright this tournament, but he's got ALOT of work to get his game to the next level. For a guy his size, 2 years removed from his draft year - he should be dominating at this tournament the way Steve Downie did a few years back.

My ranking would have been:

1. Schenn
2. Erixon
3. Landeskog

Roy had a good game, but most of Sweden's shots were from the perimeter.

Kassian played well on the PP I felt. Clearly his upside is limited and you are right about him that he should be dominating this tournament. Last night he stood out to me. Erixon didn't impress me as much as he did you. He was solid but nothing special in last nights game. I am not sure how you have him ranked above Landeskog.

[Dean Youngblood]

Maybe you should wait until the REAL games (not meaningless exhibition games) before calling Jared Cowen - who was given the "A" and has been dominant this year in the CHL - "not good" and "soft" (which couldn't be farther from the truth by the way). Such a premature comment, Dean Youngblood.

If he DIDN'T make Team Canada that would have been such a dumb decision by Dave Cameron.

Same with Larsson. Wait before the actual competition starts before hating on the potential #1 overall pick. People shouldn't put so much stock in exhibition games.

Big Ev. Did you watch the game? Apparently not. He was SHIT! I knew this post would rattle you but it's an accurate description of last nights game. I am not basing this on anything other than last nights game so you can keep your sens boner. Maybe he will get better next game but last night he was awful (at even strength and especially on the PP). He WAS soft on the puck.

No one is hating on any of these players. They are sharing their thoughts on their play during one (or two) games. No one is writing them off but it's good to hear people's thoughts.

It's unbelievable how biased you are towards Sen prospects. Lehner wasn't all that impressive either last night

[kingstown]

I was entirely impressed with the Swedish forecheck,I thought they bottled Canada up on a number of occasions,for me the best players on the ice were Patrick Cehlin and Gabriel Landeskog

Sweden looked fast and aggressive,Roy was oustanding!

[slufoot]

I've got a killer pic for Big Ev - how do I post an image into a post? When I use the tab, a dobberhockey window pops up that says error 404.

[Dean Youngblood]

I've got a killer pic for Big Ev - how do I post an image into a post? When I use the tab, a dobberhockey window pops up that says error 404.

I get the same error message. I haven't been able to post images either. I usually just post the link (if possible).

[Big Ev]

Big Ev. Did you watch the game? Apparently not. He was SHIT! I knew this post would rattle you but it's an accurate description of last nights game. I am not basing this on anything other than last nights game so you can keep your sens boner. Maybe he will get better next game but last night he was awful (at even strength and especially on the PP). He WAS soft on the puck.

No one is hating on any of these players. They are sharing their thoughts on their play during one (or two) games. No one is writing them off but it's good to hear people's thoughts.

It's unbelievable how biased you are towards Sen prospects. Lehner wasn't all that impressive either last night

I didn't deny that he had a bad game, Dean. You're right. What I said was, hold your horses before writing any players off as these were just EXHIBITION games.

Saying a guy shouldn't make the team based on one bad exhibition game is just completely ridiculous (and you said he shouldn't have made the team, so you weren't just basing that on one game of play).

You're completely wishy-washy in your posts. You say the guy isn't good and is soft in general, but now you say that you were only talking about that game. Yeah mmhmm, right, make up your mind.

It's not bias from my point of view, it's just common sense (also not bais since I also said people are being utterly premature regarding Larsson). If he was a Leafs prospect you would not be saying the same thing, me thinks.

[Dean Youngblood]

I didn't deny that he had a bad game, Dean. You're right. What I said was, hold your horses before writing any players off as these were just EXHIBITION games.

Saying a guy shouldn't make the team based on one bad exhibition game is just completely ridiculous (and you said he shouldn't have made the team, so you weren't just basing that on one game of play).

You're completely wishy-washy in your posts. You say the guy isn't good and is soft in general, but now you say that you were only talking about that game. Yeah mmhmm, right, make up your mind.

It's not bias from my point of view, it's just common sense (also not bais since I also said people are being utterly premature regarding Larsson). If he was a Leafs prospect you would not be saying the same thing, me thinks.

You are probably the most biased poster on these boards n regards to anything team related. If he was a leaf prospect it would make sense because everything about the leafs suck and so does he. IMO, Cowen has always been overrated. I am probably one of the most realistic leaf fans around. I will call it how I see it - regardless of who I cheer for. I will tell you the truth - Burke made a terrible deal for Kessel, Kadri was the wrong draft choice and the leafs will never be good until Burke realizes a full and proper rebuild is in order.

Cowen was shit last year at the WJC and I don't think he will be anything more than a 5/6 dman in the NHL. Time will tell but I don't think he's good.

I haven't seen enough of Larsson so my opinion on him was based on one game but I have seen Cowen play and I don't like him. I am glad he has one fan though

I am a nervous Team Canada fan and it's mostly because of their wishy-washy selections on defence.