11/05/24
January 04, 2005
World Jrs. Final Tonight: For hockey fans this will have to tide you over til the World Championships (baring some sort of act of God). A matchup between Canada and Russia should produce the best game of the tournament. The game is being hyped as Sidney Crosby vs. Alexander Ovechkin and it should be a classic. It will hopefully put a exclamation point on what has otherwise been a fairly dull tournament.
This has hardly been a dull tournament - Canada and Russia have at least 3 or 4 guys (Canada has some would say 6 or 7) that would be playing this year if there was an NHL. Tomorrow's stars.... Today!
posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 06:38 PM on January 04, 2005
If I had my way, I'd send a bunch of these Canadian kids as part of the World Championship team. I have no interest in watching some of the NHL Lockout Stars play in the World Championship. BTW, it might be all about Crosby vs. Ovechkin for some, but I'd pay money to watch Dion Phaneuf play the game too. He's the heir apparent for Scott Stevens and big time hits.
posted by grum@work at 07:35 PM on January 04, 2005
fucking ESPN2. no broadcast stateside.
posted by garfield at 09:38 PM on January 04, 2005
What garfield said. How does Ladd look? Assuming there ever is NFL hockey in my fair city again, I'd like to get a lowdown on him before he puts on a 'Canes sweater.
posted by NoMich at 09:43 PM on January 04, 2005
6-1. sweet. Unfortunately I didn't get to watch any of it. and I don't have ESPN2 to blame.
posted by gspm at 09:55 PM on January 04, 2005
It was good. Getzlaf bangs in a drop pass 51 seconds into the first period. Canada hangs on through a bunch of Russian power plays, including a one-minute two-man advantage, a product of some bad Canadian decisions and some good Russian diving. After Canada goes up 2-0, Russia shoots through a crowd to beat Glass. The second period brought a cavalcade of Canadian goals and massive hits on Alexander Ovechkin, who eventually had to leave the game with a strained shoulder. Major upside to the lockout: by the end of it, Dominik Hasek will be dead and Jeff Glass will be the Sens' starter.
posted by DrJohnEvans at 10:21 PM on January 04, 2005
Goddamn. Sheer domination. Phaneuf looks like he could step into the 2 spot on Calgary right fucking now. Carter's a first line player. Bergeron is Tanguay-esque. Crosby looks like Forsberg. Richards like Neiuwendyk. Crazy shit. Or maybe I'm just jacked from the throttling.
posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 10:41 PM on January 04, 2005
phaneuf was freaking awesome.
posted by juv3nal at 10:45 PM on January 04, 2005
Did Andrew Ladd play?
posted by NoMich at 11:13 PM on January 04, 2005
Major upside to the lockout: by the end of it, Dominik Hasek will be dead and Jeff Glass will be the Sens' starter. Am I the only one not much impressed by Glass? He let in some real softies throughout the round robin. Don't tell me you're a Hasek-hater, Dr John....his last game in the NHL was a Cup winner, don't forget. Anyway, this wasn't even a tournament. I couldn't watch these last few games, but the earlier tournament rounds told me everything I needed to know: nobody can touch Canada, and it'll probably be that way for the next few years. I was hoping for a better showing by Sweden and Finland. What's happened to their hockey programs? There have been almost no big prospects out of either country for quite a while, and their Junior teams looked lost out there.
posted by Succa at 09:38 AM on January 05, 2005
his last game in the NHL was a Cup winner Not to split hairs, but Hasek did play for the Wings last season. C'mon, you don't remember the debacle that was Hasek/CuJo/Legace, with CuJo spending a little time in the AHL? Reminded me of the Lions' Kramer/Peete/Ware 3-headed monster...
posted by MeatSaber at 10:11 AM on January 05, 2005
Phaneuf shines, and I have to say it was interesting to think that there were people like Ray Borque and Wayne Gretzky in Grand Forks over the holidays. Despite some stupid moves by the people in charge, the attendance was the second best ever, which I'm going to guess had more to do with the proximity of Canada and their fans than anything else...
posted by chris2sy at 10:29 AM on January 05, 2005
This tournament was a little dull in my mind because the outcome of a game was never really in doubt for Canada. There was never any real tension. Actually watching hockey again was a great thing... heck I was even watched some locked-out NHL'ers playing in the Spengler Cup the other day for a hockey fix. Watching Martin St. Louis play AGAINST Canada was wierd. Ladd did play, and played very well. Both he and Getzlef had an unbelievable tournament. Unfortunately neither of them play with anything near that well day in and day out for the WHL Calgary Hitmen. Glass made the saves he had to against the Russians, but it is very hard to stay sharp as a goalie when you only get 7 shots a game. Phaneuf played very well, dished out (and took) some big hits. His shots from the point had the goaltender(s) ducking. The Canadian team was stacked and is simply in a different league. Mind you if the NHL had been playing this year Phaneuf along with Bergeron, Ladd, Getzlaf would have not been available to this team. Even minus those players I don't think the outcome would have been much different. A couple scouts interviewed after the game said this team could easily be dropped right into the NHL and been one of the better teams in the league. They could be one of the best teams at the World Championships for that matter. I think only 2 or 3 guys will be eligible to return next year from this team so it will be a whole new ballgame next year. As for attendance there is no question it was because of it's proximity to Canada. I really believe Canada is the only country that really cares about the World Jrs. very much. To everyone else it's a nice little tournament for the kids. The fact that the top 3 watched programs on TSN (the Canadian equivalent to ESPN) are all World Jr. games should give some so idea of how much this tourament means to Canada
posted by camcanuck at 10:55 AM on January 05, 2005
NoMich, Ladd assisted on the first goal (with a beautiful pass into the zone to a streaking Carter) and on the third goal. His line was one of the most dominant. He did take a dumb cross-checking penalty when the game was still up for grabs, though. Succa, I won't curse Hasek's name to my dying day, but I wasn't impressed with his latest stint (especially his first game when he dressed as Legace's backup, but didn't bother to put any padding on, and then held up the game for ten minutes when Legace got injured and Hasek had to get dressed). I'm willing to chalk up the round-robin soft goals to the utter lack of shots Glass faced. He was solid in last night's game, especially through the multitude of Russian power plays in the first period, and only let in a goal when he was screened.
posted by DrJohnEvans at 11:01 AM on January 05, 2005
A couple scouts interviewed after the game said this team could easily be dropped right into the NHL and been one of the better teams in the league. I think the next CBA should feature this. It'd be awesome. "Canadian Juniors beat up New York Islanders".
posted by DrJohnEvans at 11:04 AM on January 05, 2005
Thanks DJE.
posted by NoMich at 02:48 PM on January 05, 2005
Am I the only one not much impressed by Glass? He let in some real softies throughout the round robin. Don't tell me you're a Hasek-hater, Dr John....his last game in the NHL was a Cup winner, don't forget. Well, it's not like he had a lot of work. I mean, team Canada never trailed in the entire tournament, so it's not like there was a lot of pressure on Glass. And not like he had a lot of shots against, either. Underworked goaltenders tend to always look worse than overworked ones, even if they get better stats. The only exception to this rule, IMO, has been Brodeur.
posted by mkn at 12:38 AM on January 08, 2005
go canucks!!