Day three here in Lake Placid was rather successful for Team USA as Team Blue defeated Sweden 4-3 in overtime (goals by Connor Murphy, Adam Clendening, Emerson Etem and Vince Trochek) and Team White defeated Finland 5-3 (goals by Kenny Agostino, Justin Holl, Brian Ferlin, Rocco Grimaldi and Justin Faulk). The USA HOckey powers that be had a lengthy meeting last night to determine who was going home this morning as they reduce the roster to a more manageable number. To be clear, anyone sent home today still has a chance to prove their worth over the next four months and earn an invitation to selection camp in December. Here are some of my thoughts on the guys:
- Connor Murphy is really good at hockey. For a big guy (6'3, 200), he is an excellent skater…so fluid and what a slapshot. His goal seemed to find the back of the net before I even saw it leave his stick. I spoke with him after the game and he's loving the pace of the games and while sometimes that causes guys to rush, he realized that he had more time and space that he thought which allowed him to make smarter decisions with the puck. He also said this camp was "just like those t-shirts you wear when you're ten and you love hockey so much…Eat. Sleep. Play Hockey, because that's all we're doing." Apparently, they tried to get a ping pong tournament going to change things up, but the paddles in the Olympic Training Center - think athlete's village - aren't any good.
- Adam Clendening was one of the final cuts from last year's team and has made a very good impression these past three days. It's amazing how well he can thread that puck through traffic and hit his target right on the tape. Sometimes you just sit there and wonder how'd he do that? Yesterday he took a very accidental penalty as Blue rushed up the ice, the whistle blown calling offsides, but apparently no one on the ice heard it as Clendening fired the puck past a very engaged in the play Johan Gustafsson and even started to celebrate. He got two for unsportsmanlike conduct, but as soon as he came out of the box and skated towards the bench coach told him to turn around and a stretch pass was headed his way for a breakaway. He skated right in on Gustafsson and roofed it glove side.
- I was really impressed with how disciplined Stephen Johns has been these past two days. Last year, was a rough one as he struggled with figuring out when to run a guy through the boards (when he had the puck) and when not to (when he didn't) and how to use his strength effectively, but this year, it's like he's a completely different player. Jeff Jackson (head coach at Notre Dame) taught him well! It's too bad Jarred Tinordi de-committed from Notre Dame because he was running around like buffoon. He made some solid plays at the blueline, but took FOUR very undisciplined penalties…what I call like to call two minutes for being stupid. He needs to work that out and fast.
- I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the stellar play of Jack Campbell, who is penciled in as the starter of this team come December, but since we know he's sticking around, I want to chat about Harvard-bound Stephen Michalek. This guy is going places! Saturday was his 18th birthday and to make it memorable, Joe Exter called him that night and asked if he could get to Lake Placid by 9am the next morning. While he wondered why they needed five goalies, he said, "When USA Hockey calls, you don't ask why, you just show up." While he was part of last year's US team at the Ivan Hlinka Tournament that won silver, he's never played against players this talented and the good news is that he held his own. While he has the slimmest of slim chances to make this team, he definitely has made a good impression. I'm excited to see how he plays at Harvard - who, by the way, has one of the best recruiting classes in the country.
- Must have been something about the number 12 in this game (worn by Tinordi) because Patrik Nemeth was also spectacularly undisciplined. First, he skated off the line well before the US national anthem was finished. Then, he checked a guy from behind and served two minutes. Then, he did it again. On his way to the box, he mouthed off to the ref in language unfit for print. When Etem scored on the ensuing power play, he continued to mouth off as he left the box earning him another two and a DQ. Fun times for the Dallas prospect….
- On the brighter side, Johan Sundstrum had a tremendous game. a role player on last year's team, he is now wearing a letter, playing on the top line, in all situations and is thriving. Very excited to see more from him as the week progresses.
In the late game:
- Rocco Grimaldi plays with no fear. He might be 5'6 (a stretch), but he attacks the puck like he's 6'5. There was one time where he shadowed a guy who was 6'3 and he kept looking back at Grimaldi wondering why he couldn't shake this guy away. He doesn't care who you are, how big you are or how talented you are, he's gonna come after you with everything he's got. When I asked him about it he said, " I can't play timid. If I do, not only does the opponent know it, but it could also lead to injuries. So, I just get after it. I'm not younger…I'm just smaller." He's also an absolute stud on face-offs.
- I mentioned him yesterday, but Seth Jones has really opened some eyes these past three days. As Dean Blais said, "He's big and strong with lots of potential and he's only 16. It's not a matter of if he'll be drafted in the first round, it's a matter of how high." I asked if Blais had made his pitch to him about joining him at Nebraska-Omaha in two years and he laughed and said, "No, but only because we're not allowed to recruit while we're here…but he is intriguing."
- Speaking of Blais, he said the determining factor between who goes home and who stays is compete level. "If guys expect to just show up and make this team, it's not going to happen." He also expressed how hard it is to not compare this team with the team he won gold with two years ago. He looks around the room and asks himself, who has the vision of Cam Fowler or the leadership of Derek Stepan? He knows that these are different players and a different team, but it's a good guide when he's looking at the qualities certain guys can bring to the table.
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Cuts were announced at 9am. Here's who's heading home:
Stephan Michalek - only because they had to send a goalie home
Kevin Gravel - like I tweeted yesterday, I'm a big fan of what he brings to a hockey team, but I don't think he's versatile enough for this team.
Robbie Russo
Tyler Biggs - Rather surprised by this one…think he caught a raw deal here, but more on that later tonight.
Kevin Hayes
Matt Nieto
Bryan Rust
Brian Cooper
Justin Holl
Scott Mayfield - He came on strong yesterday and earned two primary assists against Finland, but it might have been too late.
Chase Balisy
Ried Boucher
Phil Lane
Shane McColgan
Michal Mersch
Julie
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