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Canada Defeats Slovakia; Learns Something |
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Ryan Nugent-Hopkins would be dominant if he played in Europe.
Dominant.
Gretzky-like numbers.
Why? Because European-style hockey and the 200' by 100' ice surface favors players who can skate, and use their stick effectively.
Canada won their World Junior Hockey Championship game against Team Slovakia on Friday morning, but things didn't start out too promising. The problem? Team Canada was playing like the Flyers circa 1974. A number of Slovakian players were absolutely steam rolled, and two Canadian forwards, J. C. Lipon and Anthony Camara, were thrown out of the game for bringing the pain. In Lipon's case, it was a dirty hit. In Camara's, the hit was clean and within the rules.
I continue to have questions about the team Hockey Canada put together for this. It's obvious to me and to anyone who follows hockey that the game is different from North America to Europe. Hey, Linus Omark is a terror this season in Switzerland. If he was in the NHL, he'd be more terrible than terror. A team like Slovakia can put up a decent fight in a WJC game because they're quick. A whole team of Omark-type players. But in a brawl, they wouldn't stand a chance.
After a few Canadian forwards were thrown out of the game, Canada's coaches were forced to play Nathan MacKinnon, and he looked fantastic. He's the type of player that equals wins at a WJC tournament. On a line with Jonathan Drouin and Ty Rattie...Are you kidding me? Those kids were throwing the puck around at will. A thing of pure beauty. MacKinnon has sick hands and dirty dangles.
I still don't know if this is a championship winning team. Yes, they did a great job coming back today. Nuge was amazing, when he got ice time (minutes were restricted due to all of the Canadian penalties). Up front, Ryan Strome looked solid, Jonathan Huberdeau looked NHL-ready, and Mark Schiefele...Ummm...He was good, but...
Schiefele. I need to discuss his play for a minute. He won the Player of the Game award for Team Canada. Had a goal and an assist. Threw some big hits. Was on the receiving end of some big hits. Dove about 12 times. Couldn't skate more than 10' with falling down for some reason.
I'm not sure if my eyes are bad or something. Some people commenting on Twitter while watching the game kept saying what a warrior Schiefele was. I kept wondering if he was missing a skate blade or something. Diving makes me sick. If I wanted to see guys rolling around like they've been shot after physical contact, I'd watch soccer. Schiefele's the type of player I loathe and think is completely overrated. Yes, he has skill, and yes, he can win games for you. He could be Messier-like: Big; intimidating; an offensive force and leader. Instead, he's going to turn out Kesler-like, and that's sad. A 40 goal guy you want to choke the crap out of and everyone hates.
The composition of Canada's defense is weird. Dougie Hamilton looks big and slow, and Ryan Murphy is a clown. Morgan Rielly has been perhaps the best player on Team Canada after Nugent-Hopkins, and Xavier Oullet should have won the Player of the Game against Slovakia. Scott Harrington and Griffin Reinhart were more or less invisible, which isn't always a bad thing when it comes to defensemen.
The biggest question mark continues to be in goal. It's not that Malcolm Subban played a bad game, because he didn't. He wasn't exactly heroic either. He was good enough. He was meh. But he looked shaky with the puck. He can't control rebounds. He looks like he's fighting it. I hate to see what will happen when he faces a team with a few world class snipers, like the Russians.
Overall, an okay game for Team Canada. In part because they won, and in part because they learned something in the process.
The lesson? We need more of Nuge's line and more of MacKinnon + Drouin. If Lipon and Camara get suspended, it will likely help Canada more than hurt them. The World Junior Hockey Championship is more ballet than brawl.
Edmonton Oilers Blogger • 
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