[GDT] Ongoing 2025 WJC Game Day Thread

[Knut]

Boneheaded Coaching too. No practices because the players were tired should be enough to disqualify Cameron from ever coaching this or high level hockey again.

Pinelli was the other team’s best Defensive forward. Neutralized all of McKenna’s offence.

[Paulie Walnuts]

The US has a stall for Johnny and a banner up for Johnny and Matty. Idc I’m cheering for them.

[Sofa GM]

Originally Posted by Sandman

They didn't take their best roster, but the one they did take is good enough to be competing for gold under a different coach.

Can’t disagree with you completely, very poorly coached. But do think they lacked puck moving and offensive creativity from the back end and just didn’t have enough finish. I think that was highlighted by pretty poor performances by Cowan and Yager (and Ritchie wasn’t great either). Certainly not to drag the roster construction back up, but having a few more offensive weapons available allows the coach (if we had a competent one) to play with line combos to generate offence.

I think type of defenseman picked for the team play, in general, a brand of the game successful for the North American style of the game but doesn’t transfer well to IIHF style. Think that got displayed a little with some of the penalty calls, agree with them or not.

I feel bad for the players, these kids are competitors and not a one showed up with intention to put forth a poor performance. Don’t think they were prepared properly, by the coaching staff, and it showed.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by KootenayFlamesFan

O'Neill kind of mentioned a few minutes ago that (paraphrasing) in a tourney like this you bring your best players and make some of the highly skilled players fit into roles. Don't go so heavy on bottom 6 players. Then if you need a gamebreaker or 2 they're already on your roster.

I think we'll (hopefully) see a new mindset next year with the evaluation camp and selections. Something has to give.

Yeah, wasn't it 2010 when they had Toews playing 3rd line C? He was one of the best Centres in the NHL but not better than Crosby or...I forgot who was #2.

Top end players can play lower-end roles and be bumped up, its a lot harder to get lower-end players to step into Elite roles.

Originally Posted by Teroy

What would you have done; bench some of them?

Dont put yourself in that position in the first place.

[Junglist]

Originally Posted by Locke

Yeah, wasn't it 2010 when they had Toews playing 3rd line C? He was one of the best Centres in the NHL but not better than Crosby or...I forgot who was #2.

Top end players can play lower-end roles and be bumped up, its a lot harder to get lower-end players to step into Elite roles.



Dont put yourself in that position in the first place.

Toews was the 13th forward if I remember correctly.

Edit - Or maybe it was Morrow.

[Beninho]

Good thing they brought Andrew Gibson cuz he looked ok in a pointless scrimmage. Mr. 7 OHL points put up 0 points like expected while playing big minutes and numerous #### ups. Who could’ve saw that coming! Hockey Canada is run by idiots

Not even worth discussing why Oliver Bonk made this team as there is no actual rational reason except internal politics.

[iloveicedhockey]

Has anyone checked on what Zayne is up to tonight?

[Junglist]

Originally Posted by iloveicedhockey

Has anyone checked on what Zayne is up to tonight?

Scoring in the OHL.

[Nammer403]

Originally Posted by iloveicedhockey

Has anyone checked on what Zayne is up to tonight?

Busy lighting the lamp

https://twitter.com/user/status/1874978954253369452

[Calgary4LIfe]

Dave Cameron should have just said no. It is almost as if he really, really hates coaching but feels you aren't allowed to say no to Hockey Canada.



Silver lining: Hockey Canada will never ask Dave Cameron to coach this tourney again.


While I am in total agreement that this roster was not the best roster that should have been selected, this roster is MUCH better than what Dave Cameron made it perform like. At the very least, even if you feel this roster sucks, Latvia and Czechia don't get by Canada. This team was still more than good enough to medal, with a solid chance at the gold. Instead, it was all disjointed, undisciplined and crumbled before our eyes. Yes, there should have been better players, but this roster should have played much better. Exhibit A: DIckinson. His usage made him look like a guy who should give up on his dreams of playing in the NHL one day, rather than one of the best talents in the world at his age.

[stemit14]

Also didn’t care for McKenzie’s take on the roster. He was defending the roster saying that there was no guarantee the players others thought should be there would have produced in this tournament. He argued that Ritchie and Cowan dominate the OHL and they didn’t produce so there’s no guarantee the players that were omitted (he used Sennecke as an example) would have produced.

Of course it’s not a guarantee. There are lots of prolific scorers in Junior that do not produce much at the World Juniors. But if you bring as many of these skilled players as possible to the tournament, you give yourself the best chance of at least a few of them producing.

Canada really needed players like Misa, Sennecke, Parekh and Yakemchuk at this tournament. Who knows which one of them (or any of them) would have produced or created chemistry in the roster but it would have at least maximized the chances of having some top end elite offensive talent break out in this tournament.

[iloveicedhockey]

Originally Posted by Nammer403

Busy lighting the lamp

https://twitter.com/user/status/1874978954253369452

Absolute beauty of a goal as well! The goalie made a move about a second after it was already by him.

[Scornfire]

Originally Posted by Teroy

What would you have done; bench some of them?

Is this Sarcasm? Because yes. Cowan getting multiple shifts after his idiot penalty against the USA and being out there to serve up a freebie doesn't happen with a serious coach. Sam Dickinson being thrown back out there after his confidence was visibly broken from the hand goal so he could turn the puck over umpteen times when there was only a few minutes left in the period is given some time to collect himself with a serious coach

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by jayswin

What? How do you always have such odd takeaways from everything, lol. The failure of this tournament was the team brought out and their terrible execution, not the promotion of the tournament.

I mean this is why TSN is defending the Canadian performance and blaming the refs. It's their baby.

[CgyFlamesftw]

Would have to agree with many. This was the most unwatchable , unskilled team Canada I’ve seen in 20 years . So much talent left off roster, a ####ing chimpanzee could have selected better ffs.

[PaperBagger'14]

Originally Posted by Sandman

I disagree, this roster is still better than any team at the tournament, other than maybe USA. They are too good to be eliminated early by the Czechs, they should STILL be competing for gold, but the coach didn't have them properly prepared for each game, didn't properly address the discipline issues, didn't play the right line combinations, and didn't employ a system that would bring success.

Sorry Sandman but this team lost to Latvia and was not significantly better than Germany. As much as the coach bungled the lines, the penalties committed by the players were an arrow to the knee. If it was just a close game against Germany, then yeah I think most people could write off a bad night, but losing to Latvia was inexcusable.

You could have 3 toddlers in a trench coat manage a few practices and run the bench for Canada vs Latvia and still have the Canadians win by 5.

[Roughneck]

Originally Posted by Locke

Yeah, wasn't it 2010 when they had Toews playing 3rd line C? He was one of the best Centres in the NHL but not better than Crosby or...I forgot who was #2.

Top end players can play lower-end roles and be bumped up, its a lot harder to get lower-end players to step into Elite roles.

Lines become pretty fluid when you're at a best on best. The scoring/shutdown lines kind of form over a 1-4 typical setup. How the lines started the tournament weren't how they finished.

The tournament started with Crosby and Bergeron, and Getzlaf and Perry having Nash and Staal rotate as their wingers. Natural chemistry for Getzlaf and Perry, and hoping Crosby and Bergeron would rekindle their chemistry from the 05 World Juniors. Marleau-Thornton-Heatley was brought onto the team as a line, and stayed as a line (also Boyle joining them on the PP with their choice of Hall of Fame calibre defensemen to round it out).

Toews and Richards originally had Iginla and Morrow on their line as the guys rotating as the 13th forward But it was Nash-Toews-Richards that ended up clicking as the shutdown line, with Staal and Iginla clicking with Crosby, and Bergeron being relegated to the 13th forward. Toews ended up leading the team in scoring, so does that make him the #1, #2, #3, or #4 centre? Who really knows.

In the Gold Medal Game it was Getzlaf who had the most ice time in terms of centres (17:52), Toews second (17:19) and Crosby third (16:52). Thornton was a distant fourth (13:33) so Canada basically had three #1s and #4, which is really how it should be for Canada at a best-on-best.

[SuperMatt18]

Predictable outcome in the end.

The team just didn't have enough talent and the skilled guys they did take just didn't have very good tournaments.

I blame the coaching more than I blame the players though TBH, poor selection from the start and then they just didn't look prepared in any of the games, and the coaches just kept cancelling practices.

[dino7c]

Honestly, good

Time for changes

[KipperFaNaTic]

What the F!?! Why are you allowing kids a rest day in a short tournament when they’re freaking teenagers? They could get hit by a truck and recover quick enough to play.

As a low level youth coach I would never entertain cancelling a practice for rest, much less during the playoffs. This decision by the coaching staff is baffling to me considering this laziness is happening at the highest level.

WTF!?! This cancelling of practices must be investigated by HC.