2023 WJHC from Halifax/Moncton

[442scotty]

And only 2 minor Flames picks playing in the whole tournament.

[bluejays]

Didn't watch the game but when did Czech Republic be known as Czechia? I haven't heard the reference before.

[2ArmBands]

These guys seem more interested in getting on the hilight reel vs actually playing a team game. Couple of Michigan attempts and another dozen or so toe drags… cool I guess?

I guess I’m just getting old but I miss the days of Team Canada playing an imposing physical game and just controlling games with their physical style. I know hockey is generally transitioning away from that style of game but I do miss it.

[TheScorpion]

Originally Posted by 442scotty

Hard to get excited for the world juniors when the Flames NEVER…. EVER…. have any decent Canadian team picks playing! Dube the last one?

Pelletier was pretty good for Canada

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by bluejays

Didn't watch the game but when did Czech Republic be known as Czechia? I haven't heard the reference before.

The Czech government officials wanted to have a shorter English name for their country after it became independent and separated from Slovakia. They wanted something that resembles France, which is the shorter version of the official name, the French Republic.

Any Czechs I've talked to absolutely hate the name change, especially just to make it easier when literally no one had trouble with it before.

[icarus]

Originally Posted by jayswin

Any Czechs I've talked to absolutely hate the name change, especially just to make it easier when literally no one had trouble with it before.

Likewise, I have a Czech friend and she just rolls her eyes when I call it Czechia. The other day I heard the Czech ambassador to Thailand on the radio and he kept referring to the Czech Republic so I guess even government officials still prefer the old way.

[Jay Random]

Originally Posted by jayswin

Any Czechs I've talked to absolutely hate the name change, especially just to make it easier when literally no one had trouble with it before.

It doesn't help that when Hitler devoured Czechoslovakia in 1939, he used Slovak separatists as catspaws to divide the country. Slovakia was ‘independent’, taking orders from Berlin, right through WWII. The other half of the country was briefly referred to as Czechia before the Germans annexed it outright.

With a history like that, the name naturally stands to be unpopular.

[midniteowl]

The Czech government officials wanted to have a shorter English name for their country

Why not just call themselves Czech? Czechia really sounds like some toys for little kids.

[Jay Random]

Originally Posted by midniteowl

Why not just call themselves Czech? Czechia really sounds like some toys for little kids.

Czech is the name of the nationality, not the country. You wouldn't have countries named English, French, German, or for that matter Canadian, would you?

[calgaryboy]

Originally Posted by jayswin

Any Czechs I've talked to absolutely hate the name change, especially just to make it easier when literally no one had trouble with it before.

Exactly. Everybody hates it in here. Nonsense. Nobody uses it.

[Goriders]

I was listening to one of the tournament previews and the talking heads were saying this team was as good as the 2005 version. Which was essentially an NHL allstar team.

I almost laughed when he said it.

[Scroopy Noopers]

Originally Posted by Goriders

I was listening to one of the tournament previews and the talking heads were saying this team was as good as the 2005 version. Which was essentially an NHL allstar team.

I almost laughed when he said it.

It’s the closest we’ve had to a team that offensively stacked.

[TheScorpion]

Finland beating Slovakia but I'm really intrigued by Germany next game. Guy to watch: Julian Lutz.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

Dallas might be one of the best drafting team in the NHL right now in terms of bang for buck

Originally Posted by DoubleK

It's crazy how good that team is at drafting. Virtually every d man they select turns out to be elite.

It does seem like Dallas has been drafting really well, and there is no question that they knocked it out of the park in 2017, taking Heiskanen (3), Oettinger (26), and Robertson (39) with 3 picks in the top 40.

And with that comment about defensemen (I have had similar thoughts), I thought I would take a look and see just how much better they have been at drafting D-men than the Flames have been. So I looked at the last 10 years, and the Stars have drafted 24 defensemen, with 4 first round selections, and the Flames have drafted 18 D-men, with 1 first rounder. Here is a list of the players that have played at least 1 game in the NHL:

Dallas - Picks: 24. Played an NHL game: 3

14, 2014, Honka, 87 (pick, year, player, games played)
3, 2017, Heiskanen, 307
18, 2019, Harley, 34

Calgary - Picks: 18, Played an NHL game: 5

198, 2013, Gilmour, 37
60, 2015, Kylington, 168
53, 2015, Andersson, 333
66, 2016, Fox, 238
16, 2017, Valimaki, 110

The only defenseman the Stars have drafted in the last 10 years, that is an established NHLer is Heiskanen, who was drafted 3OA. All 3 of the D-men that have played an NHL game were first rounders.

By comparison, the Flames have done substantially better, and have done so with 2nd and 3rd round picks.

If we go a little further back (15 years), we can add Klingberg and Oleksiak and a couple other lesser names for the Stars, and Brodie and Kulak for the Flames, and the total number of established NHLers evens out.

The Stars have drafted more defensemen, and have used more first round picks on defensemen, but other than Heiskanen (who was the #3 pick), it is difficult to make the case that Dallas has done better drafting defensemen than the Flames have. And outside of the first round, I would definitely give the edge to the Flames.

(Note: DAL used their first 4 picks in the 2022 draft on defensemen, so they may see some results from that, in the future)

[GirlySports]

Saw a graphic flash on the screen this morning. I believe this is the 6th time that Canada lost its opening game. In the previous 5 tournaments, Canada failed to medal in all of them.

[Scrambler]

Heja Sverige!

[Roof-Daddy]

Germany hanging with Sweden so far.

[DoubleK]

@Enoch Root

Esa Lindell was a Stars pick. 475 GP.

Nobody in their right mind would take the Flames draft picks over the Stars.

[bigrangy]

^even with Lindell you take the Flames picks easily

Fox/Heiskanen is a wash
Honka/Valimaki is a wash
Andersson/Lindell is a wash at best for Dallas
Then you have Kylington vs Harley who should be pretty good but isn’t yet.

On the topic of the WJC, really disappointed to see Stromgren basically as the benchwarmer. Did not expect his junior career to be this disappointing after his solid draft year.

[DoubleK]

Fox never played a game for the Flames?

Why not add Tim Erixon to the list if we are moving the goalposts?

Valimaki didn't make the team out of camp and was waived.