O, Say Can Casey By The Dawn's Early Light (sabres mittlestadt usa canada iihf world juniors)

sabres mittlestadt usa canada iihf world juniors

O, Say Can Casey By The Dawn's Early Light

By GARTH'S CORNER

Dec 30, 2017 • 1:33 pm

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USA-Canada outdoors in the snow to me was more than a hockey game.

It was a communal gathering. This was life in a northern town at it's finest.

It was blue collar folks hanging, drinking beverages with white collar folks. Millenials high- fiving retirees. Americans hugging Canadians. All the while razzing one another after a goal was scored. The mood in the room was celebratory, hopeful and joyous. It felt to me like gathering with friends and strangers to watch a Tragically Hip concert live. Gord Downie would have loved the dramatic theatre aspect of the USA-Canada game. I thought of Gord as I watched the Zamboni flood the ice prior to the shootout. What metaphors would Gord use to describe this sensory scene? I thought. Perhaps one day in the near future, a young poet troubadour will have been inspired by this experience to pen a lyrical recollection of the events that unfolded before 44,000+ hockey fanatics live in Buffalo, while tens of millions of other hockey lovers watched the game on live TV all over the world. Hockey is the glue that bonds the world together. The big blue marble becomes a very small place when it's viewed through the prism of hockey. Hockey is the language we can all understand. It allows total strangers to communicate with one another.

Don't we need more harmony and unity in these weird, turbulent and uncertain times we live in?

I felt the Christmas spirit. It was alive.

The game was played before a raucous, record crowd. Aesthetically, the game was beautiful. Being there was like living in a freshly-shaken snow-globe for 6 hours of bliss. Stylistically, the players on both benches took what elements Mother Nature had given them and refined it into an entertaining, intense, physical brand of hockey. The fans were treated to another North American classic that ended dramatically against the backdrop of the same Lake Erie snow squalls that served as the 12th Man for the Buffalo Bills during their recent snowball fight with the Indianapolis Colts on December 10.

From the opening faceoff of USA-Canada, until the shootout winning goal was scored, lake effect flurries fell from the hockey heavens over Buffalo like dust from Timbits. It was a joy to behold. The beautiful game being played against a fluffy white back drop. I marvel at the way the players for both teams competed. The game was heavy, fast, physical and at times nasty. Just the way we like it in these parts. Credit to the operations crew who dry scraped the ice during stoppages in play.

There's quite a bit of snow out here in Buffalo 😂🌨

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Thanks, IIHF

The USA vs. Canada extravaganza ended three hours ago and I still can't breathe.

Casey Mittelstadt is the new Harry Potter. Mittelstadt's wand is as deceptive and deadly as Harry's legendary twig.

If I hadn't been there in person to witness the game first hand, I would have missed how fully and completely dominant Mittelstadt and Team USA were for long stretches of the 4-3 shootout win for Team USA.

Amid the snow squalls delivered by the Alberta Clipper jet stream, Team USA rallied from 3-1 deficit to force OT. Team USA then scored the only two goals of the shootout to silence the 20,000+ Canadian fans in the stands in this outdoor game classic.

Kieffer Bellows and Brady Tkachuk scored in the shootout for Team USA while all three Canadian shooters shanked their shots.

"I just came down the left side," Bellows said after the dramatic Team USA win.

"I kind of analyzed what I was going to do, depending on the goalie’s position. I just thought five-hole was the best opportunity for me, and I tried to shoot it as quick as possible."

Casey Mittlestadt, selected 8th overall by the Buffalo Sabres in 2017, added three primary assists to fuel USA's come from behind wind. On this day, Mittelstadt was the catalyst that started teh comeback for his team. Mittelstadt scored a grotesque goal to tie the game vs. Slovakia on Thursday night. USA would lose to the Slovaks. On Friday, Mittelstadt ignored the elements and the fatigue and recorded three primary assists for Team USA. Mittlestadt now leads all WJC point getters with 3 goal sand 3 assists in three games played.

Mittelstadt earned Player Of The Game honors vs.Team Canada.

Thanks, IIHF

"The game, the crowd, everything was amazing," Mittelstadt said. "The snow came down hard especially in the second period. At the same time it made it that much more fun. It was a little different than a normal game. It felt like you’re back outside on the pond."

Brady Tkachuk has been a tower of power for Team USA. Maybe one day soon, he and Mittelstadt will be riding shotgun with Jack Eichel in Buffalo. Tkachuk is going to be a top five pick at the 2018 NHL Draft and Buffalo will be a lottery pick. Sabres fans drool over the prospect of having Tkachuk-Eichel-Mittelstadt as their top trio in two season's time.

You can never say never.

Team USA carried the even strength play for the majority of the 65 minute game.

Canada won the special teams battle by scoring two first period PPG (Makar and Dube) against the young Americans. Canada led 2-0 after twenty minutes of play.

Rather than wilt under the pressure of teh bright lights and crappy wintry weather, Mittelstadt and Yeam USA dug in their edges and began to fight back with fury.

Late in period two, with USA on the 5 on 3 PP, Kiefer Bellows ripped a laser past Canadian goalie Carter Hart to make the score 2-1 Canada.

Moments after the Bellows goal, Canada's Boris Katchouk beat USA goalie Jake Oettinger to restore Canada’s two-goal lead after 40 minutes of play.

Early in the third period, Scott Perunovich breathed new life into the lungs of Team USA by burying a Casey Mittelstadt feed to make it 3-2 Canada.

That got the Americans going, and even a lengthy timeout to scrape the ice couldn't slow them down. Just 34 seconds later, Mittelstadt fed Brady Tkachuk with a tape to tape beauty and he beat Hart clean to tie the score at 3-3.

Both teams minded their P's and Q's in OT. Neither team wanted to make the aggressive mistake that would lead to teh turnover that would end the game.

"It was something you can’t really put into words," USA warrior Ryan Poehling said after the dramatic USA victory.

"I think we got a little bit of everything. The first period was great. There was really nothing, no snow. Then in the second period it came down pretty hard. Toward the end of the game and the shootout, it ended up stopping. So we got everything. It was something special."

Indeed it was special.

The win moves the Americans into second place in Group A with five points, two behind Canada.

Tkachuk said it best when he recounted his experrinces of playing in the largest, most dramatic game in IIHF World Junior Hikcey Championships history. "We were all telling each other to trust the game plan, and that this could be a storied event, so we stuck with it and were very happy with the outcome," Tkachuk said. "The ice was really good and it was even better with the snow coming down. You could feel the energy from the fans; it was an experience I'll never forget."

One of my favorite moments of the day was when Tkachuk thanked the ice crew for their hard for in keeping the ice in great shape in trying conditions during the game.

#BradyTkachuk thanked the ice crew for all their hard work after the win. #WorldJuniors

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#Sabretooth and #BillyBuffalo are enjoying the snow! ❄️❄️

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**

I love this dude's piss and vinegar!

Tarps off for the boys!

Speaking of tarps off for the boys...

My boys give zero pucks about hypothermia.

I love these savages!

****

Oh, by the way.

The Buffalo Sabres defeated the New Jersey Devils by a score of 4-3 in OT on Friday night.

Not to be outdone by Team USA's casey Mittelstadt, Jack Eichel potted two goals.

Rasmus Ristolainen scored his first goal of the season 2:37 into overtime to give the Buffalo Sabres a 4-3 come-from-behind win against the New Jersey Devils at Prudential Center on Friday.

The Sabres (10-20-8) next play the New York Rangers in the 2018 NHL Winter Classic at on Monday.

**

Perhaps Mittelstadt, Bellows, Tkachuk, Oettinger and the young Americans will be singing the Team USA victory song on January 5 when the #WJCInBUF gold medal game will be played.

Here, Eichel, Matthews, Larkin and Team USA gave it a whirl a few years ago.

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