Nazem Kadri scores in the shootout for Canada
So I haven’t made any posts in the last few months. A lot of hockey things I should have been on top of, I haven’t been, but it’s my New Year Resolution (one of them) to update my blog on a much more regular basis. Many things I should have been on top of such as Dan Cloutier signing a try-out offer (and getting released) were forgotten. I apologize to the many people who stopped by my blog looking for coverage of when he went batshit crazy. So, now that I’m back and not out for New Year’s, it seems like the perfect time to discuss one the best nights of hockey in a while. Not only did the Canucks comeback from a 3-0 deficit to St. Louis tonight, Team Canada provided an equally dramatic come from behind win against the United States in the World Juniors. I can’t recall being this amped up about a hockey game in a while. It took me a great deal of time to relax, even after Jake Allen sealed the deal for Canada in the shootout.
Honestly, I didn’t see the United States putting together the game that they did against Canada. To me, it seemed as if this was going to be another comfortable victory for Canada but obviously that was a mistake. I should have realized that these two teams have been playing classics against one another for the last few years. New Years’ Eve last year as well as the Semi-finals in 2007 were some of the best games you’ll ever see.
Alex Pietrangelo scores a shorthanded goal to tie the game
But back to this edition, the United States really impressed me with their team speed. It seemed like every player had the ability to find that extra gear to get around the defence and get to the front of the net. A few of the goals tonight went right through the legs of Allen, but as a former goaltender myself, I’ll tell you that when guys come at you with as much speed as the Americans were coming at Allen, its difficult to defend because you have so many thoughts going through your mind about what the player might do and before you know it he’s in the slot winding up his shot.
I didn’t get a chance to watch Jordan Schroeder as closely as I like because I was too busy biting my fingernails as to whether Canada would come back or not, but I thought he played a pretty good game. He scored a nice goal midway through the game and showed some skill here and there. His stats probably aren’t as good as the Canucks were dreaming for (2-2-4, +4), but obviously it has been a small sample size. Danny Kristo (Montreal Canadiens) looks like he’ll be a fantastic player for them. He had the ability to take over shifts with his speed in the first two periods. He didn’t show it as much in the third has the U.S. was back in their heels but he played a great game.
The Canadians looked great from the five minute mark of the third on. Prior to that Jarad Cowan and Ryan Ellis, two guys who are supposed to be among the best on the team looked especially lost. In general, Canada turned the puck over way too many times. Got too many shots blocked on the way to the net and really had no answer to the Americans’ transition game. Hopefully Canada has learned their lesson in case these two teams end up playing each other again in the Gold Medal Game.
Jordan Eberle was absolutely all-world tonight. If he hadn’t been on his game tonight there was no chance Canada was going to win. Edmonton Oilers fans must have been drooling with anticipation of Eberle playing for their team next season. Looking back now, he probably should have made it this season. Even when Eberle took a penalty it led to the shorthanded game-tying goal by Alex Pietrangelo. For those of you with short memories, Pietrangelo played the 9 game try-out with the Blues both last season and this season.
After the game Eberle came out with a rather interesting quote. Obviously he was speaking from the excitement of the moment and while I won’t completely agree with it, its hard to discredit that it almost seems like fate that the Canadian team has won some of the games they have in the last few years. In most cases teams would have lost at least one of the games where Canada has fallen behind.
“It seems like always we find a way to battle back,” Eberele said. “We’ve have something on all the other teams and that’s the will to win, the Canadian heart. We want to win so bad, and that just wins us games. It happened last year and it definitely happend in this game.”
Now Canada, in all likelihood, will match up with Russia in the semi-finals for the second year in a row. Anyone who follows the World Juniors knows what happened last year as Eberle tied the game in the dying seconds. If Canada’s going to win they’ll have to be much smarter with the puck and while the Russians don’t have the team speed to contend with that the Americans do, the team is still full of great skaters, so many of the problems that Canada had tonight will still need to be addressed for Sunday. Getting a good challenge out of the Americans will likely be the best thing that happens out of the preliminaries for Canada as they’ll likely get the message that they need to be better before they get into an elimination game.
Of course there was also the Canucks game tonight. When Keith Tkachuk scored to make it 2-0 I couldn’t help but feel like the Canucks were doomed to lose another game to a team well below them in the standings. I was already thinking of things to write here about how it seemed ridiculous that Vancouver could lose 3 straight to the Blues and how happy I was that they only play them once more this season. I’m still glad they only play them once more this season but I’m in a little better mood now. Of course the Blues eventually made it 3-0 and if it wasn’t for a fluke goal off the defenseman’s skate the comeback might not have even started.
Before the first goal the Canucks were playing terrible but you do have to give credit to the Blues, they were doing a fantastic job of getting into shooting lanes and blocking shots. Mason didn’t really have to make any huge saves because the guys were playing so well in front of them. Much like the Americans, the Blues were doing a great job using their speed of turnovers and in transition to catch the defense flatfooted. If it wasn’t for Luongo making a number of difficult saves in the first period I don’t think the Canucks would have had a chance at this one. In the end, Luongo’s stats don’t look great in this one, but I feel like he was a key part of giving the team a chance to get back in the game.
Henrik Sedin celebrates his game-tying goal with Christrian Ehrhoff
The Sedins also seemed like they weren’t on the same page tonight. It actually seemed like Alex Burrows was carrying that line for most of the night. Daniel and Henrik couldn’t find each other with the puck and just seemed lost in general. Henrik did come through at the end of the night and Daniel had the bank in goal but it definitely wasn’t their best performance. Again, credit does go to the Blues for collapsing down on them and not letting them back plays. Henrik alluded after the game that they didn’t use their defense as much as they should have to try and get shots on goal. In the end they still found a way to get on the scoresheet which is what good players do.
To make one final comment, the referees tonight were all over the place. While I won’t say that they decided the game one way or the other (I’m sure Blues fans will disagree) it seemed like they made some questionable decisions. While the rule about tape on your hands is no tape above the wrist, I don’t think having your thumb taped is really in the spirit of the rule. There is no way that the tape on Rypien’s right hand had anything to do with Crombeen getting cut. You can also argue that the penalty in overtime should only have been a two but I don’t think it really would have mattered in the end as Ehrohoff scored just as it was heading into the second minor. Luongo was also knocked around a bunch of times without any calls. It probably wouldn’t have mattered since the power play was attrocios but it’s worth pointing out if I’m going to pick apart the refs. Again, I don’t think they decided the game but made some questionable decisions both ways.
Canucks head to Dallas for a game Saturday morning. I’m not sure what to expect for that one. The last time the Canucks played a morning game they played awful in Carolina. That was also the last time Raycroft got a start. I’m not sure if Vigneault has said which goaltender will start on Saturday but I wouldn’t surprised to see Raycroft in goal since Luongo has played twelve in a row now and this is one of the last opportunites that they’ll get to throw Raycroft in for a while. On the other side of it, it’s tough to play your starter when every point is huge. We’ll see soon enough I guess.
Posted by Simon 
