[GDT] Latvia vs. Canada, Mens Hockey at 10:00 AM Mountain

[FireGilbert]

Go Canada! Wow, those are ugly jerseys though. Why do they need three different jerseys for a six game tournament?

[19Yzerman19]

Originally Posted by codynw

I can't think of many defencemen that are on par with Doughty right now. Only ones I can think of are Suter, Keith and Weber. Maybe Pietrangelo too?

Well, each person sees each player differently (obviously depending on how much they see of him; we probably see more Doughty and Keith than we do Subban). But statistically, here is the comparison between all 7 Canadian D over the past three years.

Spoiler!

What those say, in order:
Graph 1: Vlasic, Hamhuis and especially Weber get the toughest defensive assignments in terms of where the coach is starting them. Doughty and Keith get the easiest minutes. PK had one year of very easy minutes, and two years of incredibly tough minutes.

Graph 2: The green bar shows how many shot attempts the other team gets against each defenseman compared to when they're not on the ice, so lower is better. The red bar shows how many shots for a defenseman's team gets when he's on the ice compared to when he's off, so higher is better. Blue is the combined differential. PK basically crushes everyone here, while Keith is surprisingly bad compared to his teammates.

Graph 3: Simply, the number of shot attempts on average surrendered by a d-man's team while he's on the ice. PK's about on par with Doughty, Vlasic, Hamhuis.

Graph 4: The number of shots the opposing team generates while each D-man is on the ice on the penalty kill, compared to the NHL average and the team's average. The only guy better than PK here is Pietrangelo. Keith is surprisingly awful on the PK.

[cDnStealth]

Originally Posted by FireGilbert

Go Canada! Wow, those are ugly jerseys though. Why do they need three different jerseys for a six game tournament?

Because $

[GirlySports]

ooooo goalie was lucky to stop that from Benn

[19Yzerman19]

I've been waiting for Benn - Getzlaf - Perry the whole tournament. Salivating now that it's finally arrived.

[MyFlamesFirst]

I thought kunitz had that for sure.

[GreenLantern]

Kunitz..

[M*A*S*H 4077]

Kunitz and Crosby........

[GirlySports]

I think these are finally the real Canadian lines. Babcock's been hiding his cards.

[19Yzerman19]

I was going to give Kunitz mad props for that breakaway stretch pass, that was awesome, but then he misses an empty net... well, at least they look sharp.

Ugh, Tim Peel reffing... hope this is the last we see of him.

[Muta]

There's some sick part of me that wants to see Latvia win this game, only because that would absolutely awesome and shock-worthy.

[19Yzerman19]

Originally Posted by 19Yzerman19

^ You think? I'll watch but it seems to me that you've got a couple of guys about at the red line (who drop back when pressured), a couple behind them near the blue line, and either one guy up forechecking or one guy back deep.

Okay, so far this is exactly what I see from the Latvians on the Canadian breakout... A high forechecker, two guys just behind the red, and the defensemen near the blue line.

[Superflyer]

Damn I can't watch this. I guess since our head office is out of the US CBC and TSN will not show it and NBC only gives me 5 minutes

[codynw]

Downloaded the TSN app since it wouldn't stream from my browser. I am using way too much data this month.

Did I miss anything? I just tuned in like 1 minute ago.

[19Yzerman19]

See... ugh. Regardless of what else you might believe, if there's one thing that's incredibly obvious, it's that Keith should be the LAST guy playing minutes on the penalty kill. There's a reason Hjalmarsson and Oduya are the first PK pair on Chicago. Vlasic or Hamhuis should be getting those minutes... If nothing else, just to let him rest so he can play 5 on 5 and PP minutes for us.

[nik-]

Old Man Upset is lurking today. I'm going to be nervous all game.

[GirlySports]

Healy's an idiot, how can the Canadians not have a book on this guy. They have scouts.
The kids played the entire World Championships last year plus the Olympic qualifying event.

And he plays in the AHL!

Our scouts aren't stupid like you.

[mdubz]

Is there a player named Georgie Poo-jacks?

[Daradon]

Latvia impressing me. Still think it's almost a given we win, but I don't think it's a blowout.

They are playing with some major heart, you can see it. Nolan has been excellent for them.

[kirant]

Originally Posted by nik-

Old Man Upset is lurking today. I'm going to be nervous all game.

It reminds me a lot of the Norway game. Latvia is giving everything they have to Canada as pretty much every game they play will be their gold medal game.

Originally Posted by GirlySports

Healy's an idiot, how can the Canadians not have a book on this guy. They have scouts.
The kids played the entire World Championships last year plus the Olympic qualifying event.

And he plays in the AHL!

Our scouts aren't stupid like you.

And he is a Lightning prospect. Yzerman probably has some good information on him.