FunkyBlueFish203 Posted January 4, 2005 Share Posted January 4, 2005 I don't understand how my team's penalty box did not remain empty. I didn't think we were that reckless, we were not even that physical. Yes, we made mistakes but not enough for the refs to keep blowing the whistle on us every minute. The penalties really irritated me. The Russians were going down too easy as well, a fact that wasn't lost on the players and announcers alike; that was a very bad display. I'm very angry about the loss. Mad enough to break someone's face. I have never seen such a pathetic display like Team Russia's. When T J Hensick scored that last goal against Sweden, he didn't do any celebrating, and that's what you're supposed to do if you're winning in a landslide. You don't flop and dive or dislodge nets for the entire game or throw your gloves at the opposition or have your trainer taunt the other kids. I didn't expect this from Ovechkin and Malkin. And Rudalov. I hope someone lines him up for a hit and gives him a big one. Someday these kids are going to be in the NHL and will square off against each other. Guys don't forget. This sort of crap puts the classy Russian players to shame. I hardly think Russia whooped us last night or played that much better than us. Despite being a man down for almost the entire game, we held up pretty good. I don't care about the empty netters. The coaching was horrendous throughout the tournament. To his credit, Montoya sobered up quite well in the last 2 games despite a shaky start. Nothing can justify Team Russia's behavior in last night's game. You play with class and that's how you get your opponents to tip their hat to you. If not, you get your ass whooped by someone else. I have lost respect for the Russian hockey organization. I hope Canada totally destroys them on Tuesday. Team USA certainly wasn't as strong as last year but they were still decent. It's rough chemistry-wise because these boys don't play together for the remainder of the season. They did a decent job. Montoya was good last night. By the second period he had faced close to 35 shots. The biggest factor is defense, and that's what killed us this tournament because the core was very young. Once Bourque was lost, it's like we were playing with 1 d-man, Suter. Discipline was also a big factor. Playing from behind combined with playing a man down for most of the game doesn't present the best chances. When your top line can't generate offense, it's also a problem. No worries. We did okay. Missed opportunities come to mind when you lose a tough game like this but that's a part of it all. Played a good game and went down fighting. Hope we can use our anger constructively and pull out the bronze. Still doing the U-S-A chants here. The guys playing international hockey in the big tournaments for us right now don't constitute the best team and it's the whole thing about the gap between the guys who're done, guys who're here and guys who will be here. We're going to struggle at the 2006 Olympics and the World Championships, and that's okay because the U-17, U-18 and WJ teams haves shown a lot of promise over the last few years. The NTDP has done a great job churning out talent. I can't wait to see these guys in the big boys uniforms. I love Fritsche and Montoya and O'Sullivan and Stafford and everyone else. They play hard, they play with heart and they play with pride. Good show. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruins4777 Posted January 4, 2005 Share Posted January 4, 2005 ^nice analysis, i disagree about montoya....but nice analysis regardless. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FunkyBlueFish203 Posted January 4, 2005 Share Posted January 4, 2005 bruins4777, you don't think Montoya got better later on in the tournament? I realize he continued his trend of an early goal or two but he completely saved our bacon in period 2 against the Swedes and the Russians. His peformance was way below the show he put on last year and I'm not saying he put on solid shows in the last 2 games, just that he performed better than he had in the 1st 4 games. A shaky defense didn't aid him, not like they could do anything about the 50-foot goals he was giving up, but a shaky d-core didn't help him at all. Derek made a good point about that using Richter and the Rangers as an example. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek21 Posted January 4, 2005 Author Share Posted January 4, 2005 Nice analysis Funky. I hear what you're saying. Agreed on the coaching. But overall, this team just wasn't as good as last year's. They had better D and Parise and a great performance from Montoya. That magic was gone this year. And yes, Eaves did a better job than Sandelin. But Sandelin didn't have as much to work with. Why Jack Johnson wasn't selected is a mystery. Just one correction for ya. Bourque was a forward. Not D . Maybe they should have selected Robbie Earl as well. He's tearing it up for Wisconsin. Oh well. On Al, he played better the last two games. But he was still flopping around last nite too much. He needs to work with our goalie coach Allaire. I think his problems can be fixed. Hope they take the bronze tomorrow. That would be a nice finish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weekes Head Posted January 4, 2005 Share Posted January 4, 2005 Will the bronze medal game be televised? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruins4777 Posted January 4, 2005 Share Posted January 4, 2005 bruins4777, you don't think Montoya got better later on in the tournament? I realize he continued his trend of an early goal or two but he completely saved our bacon in period 2 against the Swedes and the Russians. His peformance was way below the show he put on last year and I'm not saying he put on solid shows in the last 2 games, just that he performed better than he had in the 1st 4 games. A shaky defense didn't aid him, not like they could do anything about the 50-foot goals he was giving up, but a shaky d-core didn't help him at all. Derek made a good point about that using Richter and the Rangers as an example. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Derek did make a good point, but also factor in that richter was getting up there in the ages when his downslide started, and richter played the type of game that required speed and reflexes, richter was going up in the ages and slowing down which hurt his game. This was another factor. So i don't think the montoya is applicable in this case. As for montoya getting better? Yeah he got better, but certainlly not enough. I wasn't even asking for a performance as good as last year, just a solid performance. As much as you want to paint the U.S. defense as "shaky" there is no distracting from the fact that he played poor at times. The true clutch and best goalies make saves when the game is on the line. Montoya did this at times after his team was coming back from a huge deficiet, but remeber montoya PUT THEM in that deficiet. True clutch would continually keep them in the game. Kari lehtonen for example was dominant at the WJC in his chance as starter, despite a very mediocore finnish defense. Sure the finnish defense had best dman joni pitkanen, but what outside of that? Very little. If your going to say, its only because lehtonen is a better prospect? Then what about hannu toivenen, he carried a team that wasn't even supposed to place past an alexander ovechkin led russia. The fact is montoya was shaky, so what if he made a couple big saves at certain times, his overall play was not there. He should have been better and he knows that, consistency is a huge part of goalies games, and he needs to learn that. If you didn't notice I'm not the biggest montoya fan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruins4777 Posted January 4, 2005 Share Posted January 4, 2005 Will the bronze medal game be televised? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Thank god yes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek21 Posted January 4, 2005 Author Share Posted January 4, 2005 Here is today's first result. Germany wins ! But Team USA couldn't even beat Belarus. That kind of sums things up: 01/03/2005 1st 2nd 3rd Total BLR 2 1 0 3 GER 1 1 2 4 Rink: Ralph Engelstad Arena Surface: ICE Attendance: 7580 Game summary First Period 1-BLR : Alexey Ugarov (2) 01:29 (Zakharov) 2-BLR : Alexey Ugarov (PP) (3) 13:52 (Zakharov) 3-GER : Fabio Carciola (1) 17:15 (Blank) Penalties: 01:05 - GER: Robert Dietrich (22) - 2:00 Hooking 01:05 - BLR: Vadzim Karaha (9) - 2:00 Unsportsmanlike 07:49 - BLR: Vauhen Haranin (6) - 2:00 Hooking 07:49 - GER: Marco Schutz (8) - 2:00 Boarding 12:16 - BLR: Team Penalty (0) - 2:00 Delay of Game 12:39 - GER: Benedikt Schopper (11) - 2:00 High Sticking 13:44 - GER: Moritz Muller (12) - 2:00 Checking from Behind 13:52 - GER: Moritz Muller (12) - 10:00 Misconduct 20:00 - GER: Sachar Blank (23) - 2:00 Tripping Second Period 4-BLR : Konstantin Zakharov (2) 05:22 (Volkau, Karev) 5-GER : Alexander Janzen (1) 12:45 (Kink) Penalties: 05:58 - BLR: Alexei Savin (10) - 2:00 Hooking 08:09 - BLR: Alexey Ugarov (18) - 2:00 Cross Checking 14:39 - GER: Benedikt Schopper (11) - 2:00 Holding 17:46 - BLR: Aliaksei Shahau (19) - 2:00 Tripping Third Period 6-GER : Marcus Kink (PP) (1) 13:44 (Carciola, Blank) 7-GER : Andre Reiss (PP) (1) 18:07 (Busch) Penalties: 01:45 - GER: Kai Hospelt (18) - 2:00 High Sticking 05:08 - BLR: Aliaksei Shahau (19) - 2:00 Interference 07:04 - GER: Jens Baxmann (29) - 2:00 Roughing 11:53 - BLR: Artsiom Volkau (28) - 2:00 Holding 17:29 - BLR: Aliaksei Shahau (19) - 2:00 Elbowing Shots on goal: BLR: 12-11-6 (29) GER: 13-9-6 (28) Power-play conversions BLR: 1/6 GER: 2/7 Goaltenders BLR: Stepan Goryachevskikh 24 SV, 60 min (L) GER: Youri Ziffzer 26 SV, 60 min (W) Officials Milan Minar ®, Tobias Wehrli, Anders Karlberg, Team record BLR: 1-5-0-0 GER: 1-5-0-0 BLR: Zakharov- 3 points (1-2-3) Ugarov- 2 goals Goryachevskikh, 4 GA, 24 saves GER: Kink- PP goal and assist Blank- 2 assists 2-7 PP Ziffzer, 3 GA, 26 saves Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weekes Head Posted January 4, 2005 Share Posted January 4, 2005 Will the bronze medal game be televised? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Thank god yes. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> What channel? I checked ESPN and ESPN2's listings, neither had it listed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek21 Posted January 4, 2005 Author Share Posted January 4, 2005 Will the bronze medal game be televised? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Thank god yes. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Are you sure? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruins4777 Posted January 4, 2005 Share Posted January 4, 2005 (edited) What a suprise lazy kastisyn, did nothing. Um...as for rough...err i thought i heard it was? Maybe derek can give a better answer. I'm 99 percent sure it is. edit:i guess not....i was so sure i heard it somewhere. God if it isn't bagh. Edited January 4, 2005 by bruins4777 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek21 Posted January 4, 2005 Author Share Posted January 4, 2005 Here is the second result. Slovakia edges Switzerland: 01/03/2005 1st 2nd 3rd Total SVK 2 0 1 3 SUI 0 1 1 2 Rink: Ralph Engelstad Arena Surface: ICE Attendance: 7820 Game summary First Period 1-SVK : Tomas Bulik (2) 00:29 (Ruzicka, Barabka) 2-SVK : Peter Olvecky (3) 18:13 (Jencik, Mikus) Penalties: 04:21 - SVK: Stanislav Lascek (20) - 2:00 High Sticking 05:39 - SUI: Kevin Romy (21) - 2:00 Hooking 08:59 - SVK: Tomas Bulik (11) - 2:00 Cross Checking 11:59 - SVK: Juraj Gracik (12) - 2:00 Boarding Second Period 3-SUI : Yvan Benoit (2) 06:28 (Wick) Penalties: 03:56 - SVK: Tomas Bulik (11) - 2:00 High Sticking 08:38 - SUI: Christian Haldimann (18) - 2:00 Tripping 09:05 - SUI: Patrick Von Gunten (10) - 2:00 Hooking 10:51 - SVK: Peter Olvecky (26) - 2:00 Hooking 17:05 - SUI: Philippe Furrer (7) - 2:00 Boarding 19:07 - SVK: Boris Valabik (9) - 2:00 Hooking Third Period 4-SUI : Kevin Romy (3) 08:36 (Stancescu, Kaser) 5-SVK : Marek Hascak (1) 13:07 (Zagrapan) Penalties: 03:30 - SUI: Matthias Bieber (14) - 2:00 Roughing 10:28 - SVK: Marek Zagrapan (8) - 2:00 High Sticking 14:40 - SUI: Yvan Benoit (12) - 2:00 Roughing 14:40 - SUI: Yvan Benoit (12) - 10:00 Misconduct 15:40 - SUI: Clarence Kparghhai (23) - 2:00 Slashing 19:34 - SVK: Stefan Ruzicka (23) - 2:00 High Sticking Shots on goal: SVK: 9-5-12 (26) SUI: 6-16-10 (32) Power-play conversions SVK: 0/8 SUI: 0/8 Goaltenders SUI: Michael Tobler 23 SV, 58:54 min (L) SVK: Jaroslav Halak 30 SV, 60 min (W) Officials Jyri Petteri Ronn ®, Joseph Ross, Anton Seminov, Team record SVK: 4-2-0-0 SUI: 2-4-0-0 SVK: 3 different scorers- Bulik, Olvecky and Hascak (GW) Ruzicka- assist Halak, 2 GA, 30 saves SUI: 2 different scorers- Benoit and Romy Wick and Stancescu- assist each Tobler, 3 GA, 23 saves in 59 mins Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruins4777 Posted January 4, 2005 Share Posted January 4, 2005 yay ruzicka!!! How many points for my boy ruzicka? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weekes Head Posted January 4, 2005 Share Posted January 4, 2005 99 percent, eh? I'm going to have to kill you if you're wrong, I'm afraid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruins4777 Posted January 4, 2005 Share Posted January 4, 2005 99 percent, eh? I'm going to have to kill you if you're wrong, I'm afraid. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> maybe i'll lower it to 50-50 then.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek21 Posted January 4, 2005 Author Share Posted January 4, 2005 And the final result was a classic match between bitter rivals that needed sudden death: 01/03/2005 1st 2nd 3rd OT Total FIN 1 0 2 1 4 SWE 1 1 1 0 3 Rink: Ralph Engelstad Arena Surface: ICE Game summary First Period 1-SWE : Carl Soderberg (4) 07:12 (Salmonsson, Ericksson) 2-FIN : Ville Mantymaa (1) 15:25 (Hokkanen, Korhonen) Penalties: 02:39 - FIN: Risto Korhonen (5) - 2:00 Holding 19:15 - FIN: Teemu Laasko (28) - 2:00 Cross Checking Second Period 3-SWE : Nicklas Bergfors (PP) (1) 14:13 (Videll, Soderberg) Penalties: 02:47 - SWE: Johan Fransson (5) - 2:00 Holding 07:57 - SWE: Per Savilathi-Nagander (14) - 2:00 Holding 11:27 - SWE: Mattias Hellstrom (15) - 2:00 Hooking 13:17 - FIN: Lauri Tukonen (27) - 2:00 Slashing Third Period 4-FIN : Aki Seitsonen (1) 07:08 (Makkonen) 5-SWE : Nicklas Bergfors (2) 12:35 (Svanberg, Soderberg) 6-FIN : Teemu Nurmi (1) 19:10 (Nokelainen) Penalties: 01:17 - FIN: Teemu Laasko (28) - 2:00 Slashing 03:03 - SWE: Nicklas Bergfors (16) - 2:00 High Sticking 04:00 - FIN: Bench Bench (0) - 2:00 Too many men 09:01 - SWE: Nicklas Grossman (12) - 2:00 Holding OT 7-FIN : Janne Kolehmainen (1) 01:37 Penalties: No penalties Shots on goal: FIN: 7-7-12-1 (27) SWE: 10-13-14-1 (38) Power-play conversions FIN: 0/5 SWE: 1/5 Goaltenders SWE: David Raitio Berguv 23 SV, 60:53 min (L) FIN: Joonas Hallikainen 35 SV, 61:37 min (W) Officials Thomas Schurr ®, Lars Schoeter, Miroslav Valach, Team record FIN: 3-3-0-0 SWE: 2-4-0-1 FIN: Nokelainen and Makkonen- assist each Mantymaa- goal Haallikainen, 3 GA, 35 saves in 61:37 mins Kolehmainen- OT winning goal (1:37) SWE: Soderberg- goal and 2 assists Bergfors- 2 goals Salmonsson, Ericksson and Videll- assist each Raitio Berguv, 4 GA, 23 saves in 60:53 mins Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruins4777 Posted January 4, 2005 Share Posted January 4, 2005 (edited) I'm really suprised turkonnen's impact on this tournament was so small...I was hoping that rask would have played...i guess he's played so much already Edited January 4, 2005 by bruins4777 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FunkyBlueFish203 Posted January 4, 2005 Share Posted January 4, 2005 Nah. The bronze medal game is not being televised in the US. Derek, I thought Sandelin was a poor choice for coach. Yes, I'm all for using a full bench but he made several errors. The biggest one that comes to mind is not playing Robbie Scremp enough. Apparently he had some problems with Scrempie's attitude and wanted to teach him a lesson; I don't think he picked the right time. If he had a problem with Schremp, he should not have picked Schremp, period. And not selecting Robbie Earl was definitely a bad error. The guy has been playing very well in Wisconsin, and they haven't had a player like that on the Badgers since Dany Heatley left. As shaky as team USA was, they were still decent, and besides the obvious problems something else that disappointed me the most was the fact that we had 8 returnees from last year's team and I was waiting for someone to step up and take charge, and no one did. bruins4777, I hear ya on Montoya. After watching his play in this tournament, quite a few people were wondering if the Rangers made a mistake drafting him 6th overall, and I say no. Goalies who have had success at the WJC have a hard time repeating their performance the following year, especially because of being drafted. Montoya is not the only one. Marc-Andre Fleury and Kari Lehtonen followed a good show at the WJC with similar problems the next year. A good showing at the WJC raises their stock and helps them get drafted high, as in the case of each of the aforementioned goalies. A recent article on ESPN.com suggests that a shaky peformance could be the result of nerves, but most importantly because of a goalie's mental frame. Being drafted implies to several players that they have to move on to the next level; they've achieved something and made a mark at one level and it's time to move on to the next, i.e. work at earning a spot on an NHL team that drafted them or win a college championship or what have you. Marc-Andre Fleury is still a terrific young goalie with great potential, as are Kari Lehtonen and Alvaro Montoya. Anyway. Just hope the guys show up and play well in the bronze medal game today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SueNJ97 Posted January 4, 2005 Share Posted January 4, 2005 I noticed nobody mentioned the interview they did with Lou during the USA-Russia game. It wasn't very long (interviews with Lou never are) but he was more effusive than he usually is when he talks about players in describing Parise's development. When he was talking about Zach, something close to a SMILE came over his face. No, he didn't talk about the CBA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Posted January 4, 2005 Share Posted January 4, 2005 Marc-Andre Fluery had a GOOD showing at the World Juniors? The vast majority of the populace of this country would like to see his head on a plate... Seriously, I think his faux-pas at the World Juniors was his unravelling and thus he has had poor showings since.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FunkyBlueFish203 Posted January 4, 2005 Share Posted January 4, 2005 Marc-Andre Fluery had a GOOD showing at the World Juniors? The vast majority of the populace of this country would like to see his head on a plate... Seriously, I think his faux-pas at the World Juniors was his unravelling and thus he has had poor showings since.... <{POST_SNAPBACK}> If you read what I wrote you'll see I'm referring to the good performance in 2003 games and saying he followed it up with a poor show in 2004. Same goes for Lehtonen and Montoya who followed up good performances at the WJC with a poor showing the next year. You don't think Fleury did well in 2003 ?!? Read it careeeeeeeeeeeeefully Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Posted January 4, 2005 Share Posted January 4, 2005 If you read what I wrote you'll see I'm referring to the good performance in 2003 games and saying he followed it up with a poor show in 2004. Same goes for Lehtonen and Montoya who followed up good performances at the WJC with a poor showing the next year. You don't think Fleury did well in 2003 ?!? Read it careeeeeeeeeeeeefully Oops.... I'm at work and chose to read my acquisition form carefully and just browse the board. Another reason to only read the board at home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruins4777 Posted January 4, 2005 Share Posted January 4, 2005 bruins4777, I hear ya on Montoya. After watching his play in this tournament, quite a few people were wondering if the Rangers made a mistake drafting him 6th overall, and I say no. Goalies who have had success at the WJC have a hard time repeating their performance the following year, especially because of being drafted. Montoya is not the only one. Marc-Andre Fleury and Kari Lehtonen followed a good show at the WJC with similar problems the next year. A good showing at the WJC raises their stock and helps them get drafted high, as in the case of each of the aforementioned goalies. A recent article on ESPN.com suggests that a shaky peformance could be the result of nerves, but most importantly because of a goalie's mental frame. Being drafted implies to several players that they have to move on to the next level; they've achieved something and made a mark at one level and it's time to move on to the next, i.e. work at earning a spot on an NHL team that drafted them or win a college championship or what have you. Marc-Andre Fleury is still a terrific young goalie with great potential, as are Kari Lehtonen and Alvaro Montoya.Anyway. Just hope the guys show up and play well in the bronze medal game today. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I hear ya on schremp. I have no idea what this attitude crap is about. I think its just BS. Schremp is great and never made a mistake on ice and was fantastic offensively, what a poor coch to pick. As for montoya and the poor repeat? The only two goalies i can think of who did that were fleury and montoya. I honestly don't remeber lehts ever repeating poorly.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Posted January 4, 2005 Share Posted January 4, 2005 Bronze Medal update: 1-1 after 1. (start of 2nd) Olesz took an unsportsmanlike for skating towards the opposition goalie at the start of a period. They were all warned that they were going to call it and Olesz did it anyway. But, the Americans didn't think it well deserved and wasted the powerplay away with only a sole shot on net. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Posted January 4, 2005 Share Posted January 4, 2005 Correction. 2-1 Czechs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.