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
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.
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".
Thanks DJE.
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.
