My fellow Canadians who don’t give a darn will probably tell me one of the games was on TSN. They own the rights to the international competitions when the CBC isn’t shoehorning their way into things. I am not sure if either was on TSN, but for those with the interwebs the games are always available for streaming. Now as a blogger who is not above the law I can tell you that to stream a hockey game is against the law and reprehensible and I do not encourage that behaviour. As a fan of hockey I can tell you a simple google search and a rudimentary knowledge of the big 5 sports streamers will get you anything you need…though you will need to rough the Swedish commentary. Luckily the Swedish commentary is only hard to follow when they are following the Scandinavian countries as they pronounce the names so fluidly you need to think twice about it, the other names are easy to pick out. I really like “Merko Dyyyno!… I always figured it was an “a,… but I’m not Slovakian.
What the hell was I discussing? Oh right, day two. Day two was lame…ok I can’t say it, my coal heart was resuscitated by the Slovaks marching up and down over their ancient enemy. You know, my history background is coming back; I need to just shut up about it and get on point.
The point
There is none.
We saw the competitors for the bottom and 4-6 at best go at it…wooo. I did enjoy it, but I’m still cynical. Maybe it’s this delicious Spruce Ale, or just a general lethargy over watching two teams destined for the bottom be proving grounds for other teams destined for near bottom.
In all honesty let’s get my review before I pass out in a blank sheet of bitter nothingness.
Slovakia 9 – Germany 2
For a second straight game Germany was punked. For a second straight game Dominik Kahun was the best German out there. He was excellent in a pile of steaming…you know. Glad Draisaitl got his act together, he looked much more involved and with less giveaways. He added two assists, though you could credit one more to him on a bad read that led to a Slovak goal. As a top-5 hopeful on a poor team he really is facing the worst odds, if he doesn’t perform well people criticize over the lack of ability under pressure, if he does, he is criticized that he can’t perform as well on his own team or isn’t doing enough. I added that because Dano was an absolute monster for Slovakia last time around on a similar position yet nobody even then paid attention to him. Draisaitl has the added bonus of being in the WHL and a star, yet trust me, if he doesn’t perform well or above what people have set for him the hounds will be out in the media, especially by draft day.
This was an ugly game all around, though I was glad that my two favourites were prominent in the win. Marko Dano so underused in the KHL was brilliant again…again. His third WJC and the Columbus first rounder is a star again. His line with Peter Cehlà¡rik was excellent and I loved that the two had strong chemistry. Cehlà¡rik a Bruins afterthought in the 3rd round has been the best under 19 player in the Allsvenskan in Sweden and remains at the moment a brilliant roll of the dice.
Martin Reway of the Canadiens deserves equal praise as the two aforementioned. He was excellent. His speed and creativity were noticeable every shift. He didn’t have the kind of offensive pressure and danger in their own zone Dano had, but if the Germans made one mistake he would take it off the rush to an immediate scoring chance. Loved his patience and awareness. Great start for him with 4 points.
I relished the comment sections on the internet because we all knew what was coming. Canada wins 7-2…Slovakia 9-2…Canada is a failure, BLOW IT UP!!! Overreact. I’ll wait and see…shizza; I’m really getting cynical in my old age.
Finland 5 – Norway 1
Finland misses their big hitters. The Granlund’s are gone, Armia is gone, Barkov is gone, Salomaki is gone, Terà¤và¤inen and Lehkonen are the last of their “top-tier… group. I mean, Kapanen has a shot at becoming that next year, but like Terà¤và¤inen in his draft year, he just isn’t there yet. The thing Finland has is defense and goaltending.
Goaltending has been terrible for Finland the past few years. I’ve made the easy pun jokes on them before and if interested you can look on the archives of my blogs for them, but Juuse Saros is the best goalie they’ve had in a while despite his obvious issue…size. The 5’11 phenom went in the fourth round for being too short, yet has been one of the best performing 18 year olds in SM-liiga history. He was great against a Norwegian team that had a few (10) more chances than they should have had.
In general it was a one line game.
Lehkonen (Canadiens) – Terà¤và¤inen (Black Hawks) –Mà¤enalanen (Predators)
Other than that Finland was in the sand. Henri Ikonen was decent but surprisingly bad defensively for a guy who I know as a PK specialist in the OHL.
The thing I liked was that the Finnish defense is strong. Pokka-Lindell was an excellent pairing, 90% of the time out there they had the puck. Extremely impressive. Let alone an obviously 60% Ristolainen playing extremely well. He looks hurt, had a few moments to blast the puck and passed it up, something he rarely ever does…that and he had a player lined up for a massive hit and went for his stick. Something is up, yet despite it, he was good. Imagine Mà¤à¤ttठon this squad…now that would turn them from pretender to contender. A top-6 of Pokka- Mà¤à¤ttà¤, Ristolainen (Healthy) – Lindell and Vainonen – Honka would be amazing.
Not much else to say of day two. Maybe comment more you buggers…
Day Three should be interesting.