London totally dominates

[CaptainCrunch]

It wasn't even a fun game to watch. this was a whistle to whistle domination by London, they managed to completely shut down the next one, and showed that there was a huge talent drop off after Crosby on that lineup.

[Flickered Flame]

The game was over as soon as they scored the ppg. It was a bad goal to let in because they almost had the penalties killed off.

Congrats to the Knights, they had probably the best season ever in CHL history.

[kn]

It just shows you hockey is truly a team game.

It was interesting to see after Syvret and Perry held the trophy, Schremp pushed Prust in as the next guy to touch it. Prust is definitely a heart and soul guy and popular with his teammates. I'll be interested to see how he does in Omaha.

Does this take the shine off of Crosby at all?

Another question, is Syvret a first rounder now? I really haven't seen enough of him to comment.

[Maritime Q-Scout]

London played a great game, I felt bad for Desjardins as he had a very good tournament, wasn't the liability I expected him to be. Rimouski's second line left their skills back in Quebec so it seemed. Congrats to the London Knights, truely deserving of the Memorial Cup.

[Claeren]

Or maybe they only looked skilled because they play in the Q?

Am i the only one who noticed over the course of the tourny how much Rimouski players checked opposing players head-on with their sticks? Where anytime they went body to body they would lead with their hands/sticks? It was ugly to watch....


In regards to Crosby i am stuck. Either Prust is a first rate prospect sure to make the NHL (making me a homer) or Crosby is in a lot of trouble in regards to being the 'next one'... ? I am of the mind that Flames like Yelle, Neimenen, Neilson, and Weimer will give Crosby a hard time not to mention the Maltby's and Draper's of the NHL...

Crosby will be good, and will of course show flashes of brilliance. But anyone expecting him to be the 'next one' or to reset the record books, any of them, in the current NHL has another thing coming. Crosby is going to be hounded all game every game by players a lot bigger, stronger, and faster in the NHL; Players who don't make dumb CHL mistakes and players who play the man instead of chasing the puck and being made a fool of. He may emerge in the regular season when too many players take games off, but come playoffs i see little reason that Crosby will accomplish more then he did tonight if he is the go to guy on a team....

If he is the second or third star type guy on the team then he is definitely not the 'next one' - although he may well be very successful in that role...


Claeren.

[TheIceStorm]

Crosby was the leading point getter in the tourney, and got at least 2 points in every game except for the final. So one game where he doesnt socre, and he is the next Daigle? I guess you are more of an expert than the hundreds of scouts out there that have been following him for years.

[duncan]

who called him the next Daigle?
Crosby will struggle at the next level, where the checking is better, and the players are bigger and faster. Hunter put Prust on Crosby after the first period of the opener, and he shut him down for 5 periods. Crosby struggled when the checking picked up at the WJC too.
Prust is in the Draper/Maltby mold. Good speed, great penalty killer, great checker, decent hands. He will also drop the gloves, and hold his own. Great Sutter pick

[habernac]

Crosby will also have a better supporting cast wherever he ends up. I think he'll be just fine. A very talented and positionally deep team took it to him. He can't do it all himself against opposition like that.

[Maritime Q-Scout]

Crosby leads the Memorial Cup in scoring at 18 (in his 17 yr old season) getting as one poster said, atleast 2 points per game with the exception of one, but he'll struggle at the next level?

Crosby lives, breaths, and eats hockey, Daigle happened to be very tallented in a game he didn't have the heart for.

Crosby won't have much trouble adjusting.

[Sylvanfan]

Don't forget that this was the second end of a back to back game. Any player in the world has trouble playing against a very strong team after having played a lot less than 24 hours earlier. I mean how often does Iginla play well in both games in a back to back set? London was far and away the top team in this tourney, and are definitely in elite company when it comes to Junior hockey. Calling them the best ever is fully warranted.

[Frank the Tank]

Originally posted by kn@May 29 2005, 07:14 PM
It just shows you hockey is truly a team game.

It was interesting to see after Syvret and Perry held the trophy, Schremp pushed Prust in as the next guy to touch it. Prust is definitely a heart and soul guy and popular with his teammates. I'll be interested to see how he does in Omaha.

Does this take the shine off of Crosby at all?

Another question, is Syvret a first rounder now? I really haven't seen enough of him to comment.

Syvret is undrafted. Someone should pick him up after this display though. Man can that kid move the puck around....

Have to agree with a few Crosby comments here. I'd like to see him fight through some of the NHL checking to see what he is really made of. Seemed like he was looking for calls to go his way because of who he is. Didn't like that aspect of his game at all.

[JiriHrdina]

^^^I think Crosby was at times man handled and wasn't getting the calls that he should have. If the NHL is serious about opening up the game for the skilled players they need to call the infractions that are preventing those players from excelling. No questions, Crosby will have to learn to work his way through checking - but - i thought at times he was getting the shaft during the tourney.

[flambers]

Originally posted by Sylvanfan@May 30 2005, 09:34 AM
Don't forget that this was the second end of a back to back game. Any player in the world has trouble playing against a very strong team after having played a lot less than 24 hours earlier. I mean how often does Iginla play well in both games in a back to back set? London was far and away the top team in this tourney, and are definitely in elite company when it comes to Junior hockey. Calling them the best ever is fully warranted.

I agree, history shows the team with the bye to the Final usually wins. It would of been a better game if there was a day between games.

[Hanna Sniper]

Originally posted by flambers@May 30 2005, 05:59 PM
I agree, history shows the team with the bye to the Final usually wins. It would of been a better game if there was a day between games.

It could also be because the better team earned the bye in the first place. And in most cases beating the other team in the round robin also. While i understand what you're side of the coin is saying and I don't totally disagree with it, but I don't think that it would have changed the outcome of the game. It's an excuss and nothing more in my eye's

[flambers]

Originally posted by Hanna Sniper+May 30 2005, 03:19 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Hanna Sniper @ May 30 2005, 03:19 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-flambers@May 30 2005, 05:59 PM
I agree, history shows the team with the bye to the Final usually wins.# It would of been a better game if there was a day between games.

It could also be because the better team earned the bye in the first place. And in most cases beating the other team in the round robin also. While i understand what you're side of the coin is saying and I don't totally disagree with it, but I don't think that it would have changed the outcome of the game. It's an excuss and nothing more in my eye's [/b][/quote]
Yah, I do agree London is a great team but remember London earned the first place with an OT goal. I still believe the format does not work. The team going into the final has a huge advantage. London still probably would of won but the game would of been competitive.

[Hanna Sniper]

Sorry Flamers, I really wasn’t just talking about the Knights game. I was going off your “history” part of the quote as I believe you’re referring to the stat (I think it’s) 15 of 16 times the bye team has won the cup and I wasn’t intending to sound like I was saying Knights would have won regardless type post.

I do understand what you’re getting at, and yes it would be great if both teams had equal days off…. BUT both teams know heading into the tournament that if you want that extra night heading into the Championship game then all you have to do is earn it. It’s not an advantage to one team over the other as ALL four teams had an equal chance at earning the No.1 seed it just happens the loosing team doesn’t.

[flambers]

Originally posted by Hanna Sniper@May 30 2005, 04:54 PM
Sorry Flamers, I really wasn’t just talking about the Knights game. I was going off your “history” part of the quote as I believe you’re referring to the stat (I think it’s) 15 of 16 times the bye team has won the cup and I wasn’t intending to sound like I was saying Knights would have won regardless type post.

I do understand what you’re getting at, and yes it would be great if both teams had equal days off…. BUT both teams know heading into the tournament that if you want that extra night heading into the Championship game then all you have to do is earn it. It’s not an advantage to one team over the other as ALL four teams had an equal chance at earning the No.1 seed it just happens the loosing team doesn’t.

I agree, all teams know the format and they are equal going into the Memorial cup. As a fan I just do not like the format. All the games were really exciting to watch except the final (I watched the game and it was the worst game I seen). Its like that every year. The organizers need to make a change.

[Sylvanfan]

I think they give the extra day off between the final round robin game and the semi final because you can't predict who will be in the semi-final. The tournament is set up in a way where the final round robin game goes on Thursday so you have a situation where a team plays Thursday and than has to turn around and play Friday in the semi-final. So potentially you can have the second seed team forced to play Thursday and Friday and that would benefit the third place team. This way it is at least fair in that both teams in the semi-final come in with at least one rest day, and the advantage to the top seed is that they get a team that played one extra game the day before. The only real way to fix this would be to hold the tourney on the May Long weekend, and hold the final on Monday after taking Sunday off. Still I think London would have won regardless as I predict in 10 years we'll look back at that team and see they had better players than the 92-95 Kamloops Blazers teams did. Still I remember the Loops being that team that won the semi's and than winning the 92 final with 15 seconds left live in Seattle. Good times.

[Flickered Flame]

I agree that they will give a day off between the semi and the final. But I also think they will change the overtime format of the round robin games. I think we will see a 5-10 minute OT followed by a shootout if still tied after the OT period. The Rockets were really hurt by playing that long overtime game and then having to play the following day. It is great to see that they are looking and willing to make changes to make the tournament better and to equal out the playing field.