Fans that got up at 4am to watch a mighty struggle between Team USA and Team Canada had to be wondering why they bothered waking up early, as the Americans took advantage of a listless Canadian squad in a 5-1 victory at the World Juniors in Ufa, Russia
Team captain Jake McCabe and Johnny Gaudreau had two goals and Jim Vesey scored for the Americans, while Anaheim property John Gibson was stellar between the pipes, making 33 saves.
The U.S. jumped out took the lead as McCabe, a Buffalo Sabres prospect, scored at 7:18 on a point shot that beat Canadian goalie Malcolm Subban. Less than nine minutes later, McCabe scored again on a shot which Subban was screened by Toronto first rounder Morgan Rielly, that gave the Americans a two goal lead after 20 minutes.
Canada appeared to be on their heels early in the middle frame and the U.S. took advantage of their opportunities, as Calgary prospect John Gaudreau used Leafs first rounder Tyler Biggs as a screen and wristed one high over Subban to extend the lead. Less than five minutes later, the Americans broke the game open, as Vesey’s nice individual effort chased Subban from the net after allowing four goals on 16 shots in favor of Jordan Binnington.
The Canadians tried to open things up offensively in the third in an attempt to get back into the game, but Gibson was spectacular, making a number of difficult stops to squelch any chance of a comeback.
Ty Rattie scored early in the period to narrow the lead to 4-1, but Gaudreau scored a breakaway goal late to end any doubt.
The Americans will await the winner of the Russia - Sweden game to see who they will face in the Gold Medal game Saturday morning, while Team Canada will play in the Bronze Medal game at 4am Saturday.
What do you think was the main problem with the Canadian squad?
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As we monitor the ongoing negotiations in New York City, one of the more intriguing new wrinkles that may be a possibility whenever a new CBA is agreed upon is the expansion of the number of teams that qualify for the playoffs.
Sportsnet’s Nick Kypreos mentioned yesterday that discussions have taken place regarding the possibility of increasing the playoff pool from 16 to 20 teams, presumably starting this season.
Although it hasn't been brought up in negotiations both #NHL#NHLPA have had internal discussions on 4 more teams qualifying for playoffs
The idea may appear as a quick fix or gimmick to keep markets interested to the very end of the season and as a mechanism to bring in more hockey related revenue, but according to former NHL GM Doug Maclean, the possibility of adding four teams to the postseason has been discussed for at least five years. The higher-ups in the league undoubtedly are intrigued at the prospect of a play-in game, as NCAA College Basketball has done the last two years and as Major League Baseball implemented this year with the addition of a second wild-card team.
With the addition of two more teams, the likely result would be a one-game elimination with the 7th place team hosting the 10th place and the 8th hosting the 9th. If the season ends as it traditionally does on a Sunday, the four play-in games could take place in between when the playoffs normally start, which is the following Wednesday or Thursday.
If you use last year's standings as an example, the East would've seen Washington hosting Tampa Bay and Ottawa against Buffalo, while in the West the matchups would have been San Jose against Dallas and Los Angeles with Darryl Sutter as coach facing his old club, the Calgary Flames.
Fan and media reaction to this has been skeptical, as the NHL would then have the most teams qualifying for the postseason of any professional sport and would have an 82 game schedule to eliminate only 1/3rd of the league.
This could just be one of many rumors that have come up over the last few weeks that when the final agreement is reached will not see the light of day, but if both sides are amenable to increasing the playoff pool, in spite of the reality that it does slightly lowers the importance of the regular season, fans will likely grow to accept it and like the fact that their team has a slightly better chance at playoff glory.
If Toronto finished in 9th or 10th place and won the one game playoff to advance to the round of 16, would you consider it as a diminished accomplishment??
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The Toronto Marlies continued their winning ways with a 6-0 demolishing of the Hamilton Bulldogs in front of 7851 fans at Ricoh Coliseum Wednesday evening.
The Marlies special teams were again key to their victory, scoring three goals on the power play and one goal shorthanded.
Keith Aucoin scored two goals, Joe Colborne, Ryan Hamilton, Jerry D’Amigo and Greg McKegg had single tallies and Ben Scrivens made 14 saves for 13th win and second shutout of the season.
With the victory, Toronto’s home record improves to 12-2-1.
The Marlies next game is Saturday afternoon, as they face the Rockford IceHogs at Ricoh Coliseum, before heading out on a six game, 16 day road trip.
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