[GT] WJC Day 2: SWE vs CZE (12pm MT), GER vs CAN (4pm MT), USA vs AUT (7:30pm MT)

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

I also blame Edmonton. It's probably their fault that Zegras is in the Pacific Division as well.

It absolutely is. They had the 8th pick and took Broberg, Zegras was taken 9th. All they had to do was find a team not in the pacific who wanted Zegras over Broberg and trade the 8th pick to them - easy peasy. Yet, in classic Oiler fashion, they screwed everything up by stubbornly keeping their pick. How dare they?

[jg13]

Time to redo the prospect ranking. Zary shouldn't be top 20. No wonder we passed on him twice and still managed to get him. I'm actually surprised he didn't drop to the 3rd round.

[TheScorpion]

I hope that's sarcastic...

[Moneyhands23]

Sarcastic or drunk

[Burning Beard]

Originally Posted by Moneyhands23

Sarcastic or drunk

That should be the new title for every game thread from now on. Hahahaha.

[jg13]

Originally Posted by TheScorpion

I hope that's sarcastic...

I guess it's hard to tell when a post is sarcastic for you when you post things like this

"Without Kucherov, they may not even make the playoffs."

and are 100% serious.

[stang]

Originally Posted by jg13

I guess it's hard to tell when a post is sarcastic for you when you post things like this



and are 100% serious.

Also this

Markstom>Price

[SuperMatt18]

They should really just change the format of this tournament and make it more like how the Women’s Olympic tournament was set up.

12 teams overall.

Group A: Seeding Bracket
Canada
Russia
USA
Sweden
Finland
Czech Republic

Group B: Qualifier Bracket
Switzerland
Czech Republic
Slovakia
Austria
2 other qualifiers

All of the 6 teams in group A make it to the quarter finals and their round robin games are for seeding. The top 2 teams of the qualifying bracket make it to the quarter finals as the 7 & 8 seed.

You’d get more evenly matched games, the top teams all play each other at least once, and it wouldn’t end up in these games that are just complete blowouts.

IMO it would result in a much higher quality of tournament overall.

[Scroopy Noopers]

Originally Posted by jg13

I guess it's hard to tell when a post is sarcastic for you when you post things like this



and are 100% serious.

Ahhh I see the relevance.

[topfiverecords]

Originally Posted by jg13

I guess it's hard to tell when a post is sarcastic for you when you post things like this



and are 100% serious.

He said “may”, not “won’t”. Anything’s possible. If say Vasilevski got hurt, they may miss their top scorer. Cup winnings teams do often start slow out of the gate. Fortunately for them they’re in the Central and not the East. If they were in the East division there would be no room for a hiccup.

[topfiverecords]

Originally Posted by stang

Also this

So jealous.

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by SuperMatt18

They should really just change the format of this tournament and make it more like how the Women’s Olympic tournament was set up.

12 teams overall.

Group A: Seeding Bracket
Canada
Russia
USA
Sweden
Finland
Czech Republic

Group B: Qualifier Bracket
Switzerland
Czech Republic
Slovakia
Austria
2 other qualifiers

All of the 6 teams in group A make it to the quarter finals and their round robin games are for seeding. The top 2 teams of the qualifying bracket make it to the quarter finals as the 7 & 8 seed.

You’d get more evenly matched games, the top teams all play each other at least once, and it wouldn’t end up in these games that are just complete blowouts.

IMO it would result in a much higher quality of tournament overall.

I'm not sure it would, this is why the women's game is stagnant. It takes years, even decades, of beatings to get better. Look how much Switzerland has improved. In fact, Switzerland would now beat the Czechs on most days.


And if the Germans weren't handcapped and on back-to-back days, they would have held Canada to a more respectable score. The goal of the tournament is not only for quality, it's also for development of players all over the world.



The smaller countries may not be competitive all the time as a collective but they keep improving. A first overall pick (Hischier) from Switzerland would have been a pipedream 10 years ago.

[SuperMatt18]

People always use that argument but I don’t see how these games make those nations better.

Investment into developmental programs at the youth level is what has made countries like Swiss and Germany improve, also their young players coming over to play in the CHL & NCAA has helped as well.

I don’t see how Germany or Austria getting killed last night made either of those countries get better.

Allowing them games against each other that really mean something, while then still playing against a top team in the quarter finals is a much better outcome than what we saw last night.

[Scroopy Noopers]

Originally Posted by SuperMatt18

People always use that argument but I don’t see how these games make those nations better.

Investment into developmental programs at the youth level is what has made countries like Swiss and Germany improve, also their young players coming over to play in the CHL & NCAA as helped as well.

I don’t see how Germany or Austria getting killed last night made either of those countries get better.

Well, excluding them certainly won’t make them better.

[Aarongavey]

Originally Posted by topfiverecords

He said “may”, not “won’t”. Anything’s possible. If say Vasilevski got hurt, they may miss their top scorer. Cup winnings teams do often start slow out of the gate. Fortunately for them they’re in the Central and not the East. If they were in the East division there would be no room for a hiccup.

It still was a terrible take, the Lightning without Kucherov probably have a top 10 group of forwards in the NHL. Point is better than 70 percent of teams top forwards in the league, and they have Stamkos, Killarn, Cirelli and Palat after that. Add to that arguably the best d-man in the league and a top 3 goalie and I think the Lightning will be fine.

As for Zary being a bad pick after watching a game against Germany, that is laughable. There are Canadian born forwards taken above Zary in last years draft that were unable to make the team.

[SuperMatt18]

Originally Posted by Scroopy Noopers

Well, excluding them certainly won’t make them better.

They wouldn’t be excluded though, they’d still be at the WJC.

The 6 group A teams would each play against each other for seeding.

Then the 6 group B teams play against each other with the top 2 teams qualifying for the quarter finals.

It’s all still at the WJC, just means better balance for the groups.

Playing meaningful games against competition that is closer to their level of play will be more helpful to a players development than games like last night will be to Austria or Germany.

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by SuperMatt18

People always use that argument but I don’t see how these games make those nations better.

Investment into developmental programs at the youth level is what has made countries like Swiss and Germany improve, also their young players coming over to play in the CHL & NCAA has helped as well.

I don’t see how Germany or Austria getting killed last night made either of those countries get better.

Allowing them games against each other that really mean something, while then still playing against a top team in the quarter finals is a much better outcome than what we saw last night.

If they played each other you'd never know if they were any good or not. And having them play in just one QF game isnt enough. The players are being seen in the best-on-best round robin phase of the tournaments. Again, i think yesterday was an anomaly and Austria's quite out of their element, it's only their 3rd ever appearance in the main tournament, but that happens some years. They beat good teams to get here.

[topfiverecords]

Seems the only thing posters want to do this week is drive-by call out things as terrible takes and not actually partake in discussion. Every page on every thread has some epic crustiness. Scroll and let it go.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by Sandman

I disagree. From the goaltending on out, they may have the second most talented team on paper in the tournament (tied with Russia). That said, they didn’t look like they had the cohesion, or team play that they should, to beat the top teams.

Well that is where they should rank. But I would put Sweden ahead of them, personally, as well as Russia. Zegras has looked great, but beyond that, am not seeing the dynamic players that we have seen over the last few years.

[SuperMatt18]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

If they played each other you'd never know if they were any good or not. And having them play in just one QF game isnt enough. The players are being seen in the best-on-best round robin phase of the tournaments. Again, i think yesterday was an anomaly and Austria's quite out of their element, it's only their 3rd ever appearance in the main tournament, but that happens some years. They beat good teams to get here.

I think people put too much stock into what 3-4 games in this tournament mean to the development of these countries. .

And those are just the groups based on it historically. You can change it each year.

If Switzerland finishes 3rd and the Czechs finish 7th then the following year the Swiss are in group A and the Czechs are in group B.

It would be a much more compelling tournament in the structure I proposed. Every game is more competitive and means more. Even the announcers last night were talking about how Germany’s game against Canada didn’t really matter and all that matters are the games against Switzerland and Slovakia.

It was an anomaly for Germany last night but games like last night happen every single year, and every single year it’s the same argument that somehow getting embarrassed is good for these countries. I just think there is a better solution right there.