World Junior Hockey Championships (WJHC 2013)

[Bender]

Plus Quinn is a presence behind the bench. I'm convinced these players don't even pay attention to the coach. Quinn is a pretty hard guy to ignore.

Exactly.  You don't mess around on Quinn, not for a second.  That said, the kids who played for him all said he was an amazing coach and really good to him - probably because they didn't mess around on him.

His style is the right one to have in this tournament.  He likes the offense to play almost run and gun, and gets his defesne engaged in the attack .. I think a little too much for the NHL now but perfect for international tournaments.  His success demonstrated he could get a bunch of teenagers ready to play in a big hurry and on a short run like this, keep them engaged and motivated. 

no coincidence the last two times Canada won gold, Quinn was coach. They haven't won gold since.

What I don't understand is why they split Ouellette and Reilly when he served as catalysts before.

Seems like a comedy of errors really. Imagine the team without guys like Strome, Scheifele and RNH? Wed probably be lucky to be top 4 and if we were wed be 4th easily.

 

[Jalili]

I know you can't base it entirely on what happens at the WJC but if I have the #1 pick this June...I don't know if Mackinnon is in the mix. He may not be the #2 choice.

It seems like that kind of draft year where there's a top tier of 5 or 6 guys but no standout or marquee guy.. yet.

 

[Kin]

I know you can't base it entirely on what happens at the WJC but if I have the #1 pick this June...I don't know if Mackinnon is in the mix. He may not be the #2 choice.

It seems like that kind of draft year where there's a top tier of 5 or 6 guys but no standout or marquee guy.. yet.

I disagree. I think, and again this is based on not a ton of information, that Seth Jones looks like a pretty clear cut #1 at this point.

 

[ZBBM]

So I haven't watched any of the games....  How did Rielly play?

And, on a side note, once again the geniuses at THN blow the WJC progno.  They had Canada as a lock for gold and pronounced the Swedes "dogs."

 

[Bender]

"@markhmasters: Spott didn't offer a fiery pre-game speech bc didn't want to change routine; says that may have been a mistake; ditto for day off on Tuesday"

The hell??

 

[Bender]

So I haven't watched any of the games....  How did Rielly play?

And, on a side note, once again the geniuses at THN blow the WJC progno.  They had Canada as a lock for gold and pronounced the Swedes "dogs."

Rielly had good flashes but Spott underutilized him for no reason. When given minutes he looked good with Ouellette. When he didn't get minutes and demoted he basically couldn't play his game IMO.

 

[LittleHockeyFan]

shoot me if I'm speaking out of turn, but I wonder if putting all the big guns on a line together was a mistake. RNH, Scheifele and Huberdeau all together? Seems to me in the past, keeping guys together who already have chemistry works well. Saw bits of it here, especially with Strome and Ritchie. Wondering if he mighta had more spread out strength if, for example, he'd kept Scheifele with Barrie linemate Anthony Camara too. I'm not overly familiar with some of the players on the team, but along the same lines of those of you thinking Murphy was overused/Rielly underused, I'm thinking the team coulda used more of Camara's game. Especially against the Americans. Others?

oh well.....

 

[Corn Flake]

Perhaps find out if Quinn wants to before we book every Christmas/holiday period for the rest of his life to coach juniors? 

"Hey Pat, would you like to coach again every year for the forseeable future in a role you have a proven track record of success? "

He wouldn't say no.  Guaranteed. Guys like Quinn are dying inside every day they aren't in the game.  And besides, it realistically isn't going to be "forever".. it's probably a 3-4 year thing. 

It's just really a message that "this is now Quinn's team until further notice, and we are dumping the annual picking of the coach business that hasn't worked for four years now."

 

[Bender]

Why does Scott Harrington keep getting praise? I really haven't noticed him at all.

 

[ZBBM]

So I haven't watched any of the games....  How did Rielly play?

And, on a side note, once again the geniuses at THN blow the WJC progno.  They had Canada as a lock for gold and pronounced the Swedes "dogs."

Rielly had good flashes but Spott underutilized him for no reason. When given minutes he looked good with Ouellette. When he didn't get minutes and demoted he basically couldn't play his game IMO.

Thanks.  I guess this shows Rielly has to be a top pairing guy to be most effective.

 

[Bender]

So I haven't watched any of the games....  How did Rielly play?

And, on a side note, once again the geniuses at THN blow the WJC progno.  They had Canada as a lock for gold and pronounced the Swedes "dogs."

Rielly had good flashes but Spott underutilized him for no reason. When given minutes he looked good with Ouellette. When he didn't get minutes and demoted he basically couldn't play his game IMO.

Thanks.  I guess this shows Rielly has to be a top pairing guy to be most effective.

I mean its ridiculous when you think about it. Canada had no offense and very little offense from the back end outside of Ouellette and Rielly so why not use them more and get some quality chances out there? Rielly had a great end to end rush later on and Spott decided to use him later on the game. Why wait? He also juggled the lines in ways that I thought were silly. I don't know, I really think Spott did not do the team any favours.

 

[dappleganger]

So I haven't watched any of the games....  How did Rielly play?

I haven't seen a player with that much speed heading into the offensive zone in awhile. The problem was he was surrounded by 4 opposing players when he got there.

He didn't do anything impressive on the defensive side of the play that I saw which is probably why his minutes where cut.

 

[ZBBM]

So I haven't watched any of the games....  How did Rielly play?

I haven't seen a player with that much speed heading into the offensive zone in awhile. The problem was he was surrounded by 4 opposing players when he got there.

He didn't do anything impressive on the defensive side of the play that I saw which is probably why his minutes where cut.

Are you saying he's just an amped-up version of Tomas Kaberle? 

 

[dappleganger]

I know you can't base it entirely on what happens at the WJC but if I have the #1 pick this June...I don't know if Mackinnon is in the mix. He may not be the #2 choice.

Nugent-Hopkins didn't even make the junior team in his draft year so I don't know how much stock GM's will put in Steve Spott putting him on the 4th line. Obviously his performance in the WJC doesn't help but I'm sure his performance over the rest of the season and in the Memorial Cup, if Halifax makes it, will determine his draft status.

Rick Nash had 3 points in his draft year WJC. Didn't hurt him I would say.

Definitely disappointing that MacKinnon didn't step up.

 

[dappleganger]

So I haven't watched any of the games....  How did Rielly play?

I haven't seen a player with that much speed heading into the offensive zone in awhile. The problem was he was surrounded by 4 opposing players when he got there.

He didn't do anything impressive on the defensive side of the play that I saw which is probably why his minutes where cut.

Are you saying he's just an amped-up version of Tomas Kaberle? 

No, not quite. It seems Rielly shoots first and asks questions later.

Maybe more of a Paul Coffey. 

 

[dappleganger]

What a terrible collapse on the first goal. Absolutely atrocious. They all panicked like chickens with their heads cut off.

COVER YOUR POINT MAN!!!!

That is all.

 

[Bender]

So I haven't watched any of the games....  How did Rielly play?

I haven't seen a player with that much speed heading into the offensive zone in awhile. The problem was he was surrounded by 4 opposing players when he got there.

He didn't do anything impressive on the defensive side of the play that I saw which is probably why his minutes where cut.

Yeah but the rest of them weren't any better at all! He was one of the better +/- players heading into the game. I thought Murphy was beyond garbage defensively in comparison and Hamilton looked beyond ordinary.

 

[Kin]

Nugent-Hopkins didn't even make the junior team in his draft year so I don't know how much stock GM's will put in Steve Spott putting him on the 4th line. Obviously his performance in the WJC doesn't help but I'm sure his performance over the rest of the season and in the Memorial Cup, if Halifax makes it, will determine his draft status.

Rick Nash had 3 points in his draft year WJC. Didn't hurt him I would say.

Definitely disappointing that MacKinnon didn't step up.

For me it's less about the fact that he didn't really do anything than it is the fact that Jones and, to a lesser extent, Drouin did look good.

 

[dappleganger]

Nugent-Hopkins didn't even make the junior team in his draft year so I don't know how much stock GM's will put in Steve Spott putting him on the 4th line. Obviously his performance in the WJC doesn't help but I'm sure his performance over the rest of the season and in the Memorial Cup, if Halifax makes it, will determine his draft status.

Rick Nash had 3 points in his draft year WJC. Didn't hurt him I would say.

Definitely disappointing that MacKinnon didn't step up.

For me it's less about the fact that he didn't really do anything than it is the fact that Jones and, to a lesser extent, Drouin did look good.

That's true. I give him a pass because he was stuck on the fourth line, rightly or wrongly. The top pick is definitely clouded now.

 

[bustaheims]

For me it's less about the fact that he didn't really do anything than it is the fact that Jones and, to a lesser extent, Drouin did look good.

He certainly hasn't looked like the type of player he has been hyped up to be. There was a point where people seemed to touting him as a generational talent type.